Awake At Dawn (Wildflower Series Book 2)

I WOKE TO the smell of Gemma on my sheets.

Summery, sweet, sinful. I spent most of the night with my nose pressed into her hair, which smelled like tiger lilies just as much as it looked like them.

I wanted to wake up to this smell every morning. I wanted to wake up with the fresh memories of her taking my cock in every way I wanted. I wanted to wake up with her whimpers still echoing around me.

I didn’t just fuck Gemma Briggs last night. I fucked myself over, too.

Sliding inside her while she looked up at me with those big, blue eyes was possibly the best feeling I’d ever experienced in my entire goddamn life. There was no hope for me to deny our chemistry anymore. Not after knowing how perfect it was when we finally let it play out.

Being with her was so much better than I ever could have imagined. And I’d imagined it a lot. So soft and hot and wet and Gemma. The way she’d blossomed under my touch like I’d awoken something dormant in her—that was probably my favorite part of all of it. She looked at me like she’d never felt the things I could make her feel. Like she didn’t know they were possible.

I wanted to see that look again.

I wanted to see that look over and over again.

Starting now.

I swung an arm out, looking for the beautiful redhead I’d fucked seven ways to Sunday, long into the night. But when my hand hit nothing but blankets, I frowned into my pillow and opened an eye. And then another when I realized that the other side of the bed was empty.

My mind started to race, wondering where the hell she might have run off to, when I heard the echo of voices trailing down the hallway and into my room.

And not just any voices.

One was Gemma’s—I’d recognize that anywhere.

And the other was male.

Jumping out of the bed, I threw on a pair of sweatpants and ran a hand through my hair before going to investigate who was in my goddamn apartment.

“It was so nice of you to watch her, thank you,” Gemma said, her voice sickly sweet. Or maybe I was just sickened by it because she wasn’t talking that way to me. While still in bed. Where she should be. Preferably underneath me. Or on top of me. Fuck, I could just imagine what she’d look like with her⁠—

“Of course, Gemma.”

I made a face. Matt. Matt had just said her name, and everything about it sounded wrong.

“Let me know if there’s ever anything you need help with,” Gemma offered politely, and I internally groaned at her comment as I quickened my steps.

Why did I have to buy such a fucking huge apartment?

“Well…” Matt started, and I gritted my teeth as I rounded the corner into the foyer and saw Gemma standing at the open door, wearing nothing but my shirt with my dog tucked under her arm.

Seriously? She was standing there in my shirt, with my dog, and this asshole was still going to try to make a move? Because I knew that was what was about to happen. And that must mean he was pretty fucking dense.

“There’s nothing that I need,” he went on. “But I’d love to take you to dinner sometime if you’d be interested.”

“Oh, I⁠—”

“Hey, man,” I interrupted, sliding in next to Gemma and giving Matt a tight smile. His eyes widened with alarm at my sudden arrival. Especially when I wrapped my arm around Gemma’s waist, pulled her tight into my side, and then slid my hand over her stomach.

“Hey,” he stuttered, his eyes falling to how my fingers spread over Gemma’s little bump.

Shit. I hadn’t meant to do that. It was just where my hand naturally fell, and now Matt seemed to be making rapid assumptions while he stared at us.

Not that I cared.

As long as those assumptions got him to back the fuck off.

“Oh, I had no idea you were expecting,” Matt said, still half-stunned as he lifted his gaze back to Gemma’s face.

A nervous little laugh emerged from Gemma’s lips as she shrugged. “I’ve just started to show, so I don’t expect people to notice.”

Her body was tense beneath my touch, and I moved my thumb in circles, a hopefully soft caress as I tried to convey that I didn’t mean to out her or make it obvious. I wasn’t sorry for interrupting whatever the fuck was going on when I walked up, but I was sorry for revealing secrets that weren’t mine.

Matt nodded woodenly, and I didn’t mind the letdown in his expression. It told me he wasn’t about to hit on Gemma again, not for a long time.

“Well, congratulations to you both,” he said, offering a weak smile.

“Oh—”

“Thank you,” I interrupted Gemma with a grin before dropping a kiss on her shoulder. I let my hands drop from around her before putting them out, indicating I could take Winnie. My pup was growing, and I knew it couldn’t be comfortable holding a wiggling dog like that.

Gemma obediently passed a happily yipping Winnie to me, and my face was covered with puppy kisses within seconds of having her in my arms. I laughed before setting her on the ground and turning back to Matt.

“Thanks again for helping out, man,” I said, trying to keep my tone in check.

“No problem.” He nodded, a bit sheepish. “I’m a big fan, so whatever you need to win games, you know?”

I chuckled, thinking it was interesting that he’d never mentioned he was a football fan before.

“I’d be happy to get you tickets to a home game,” I said, sticking my foot out as Winnie tried to make a playful escape out the door. She bounced back and ran back down the hallway instead. “As a thank-you. Just let me know which game, and we’ll make it happen.”

He perked up, a little bit of his disappointment fading. “That’d be amazing. Thanks, London.”

I nodded and decided that was enough of this conversation. Especially since Gemma still stood next to me, wearing far too little for my comfort. After saying a quick goodbye, I shut the door before Matt even had the chance to turn away.

Whatever. He could think I was an asshole; I didn’t care.

Gemma turned on me the moment the door closed. “I can’t believe you just did that,” she said with a shake of her head and a reluctant, creeping smile.

“Did what?”

“Implied that you’re—” She cut herself off and pushed past me. “I can’t even with you, Noah,” she laughed.

I followed her down the hallway, enjoying how my shirt lifted just enough to see the curve of her ass as she walked.

“You can’t even with me?” I repeated. “That’s not the way you were acting last night. Do I need to remind you about how you begged for my⁠—”

“Noah!” She turned around with wide eyes, giving me a little shove that caught me off guard enough that I stumbled into her and wrapped her in my arms sloppily.

“Yes?” I whispered in her ear.

“I didn’t expect you to be so…so…” Her words came out breathless, labored. Like just the thought of last night made her pulse tick up. I could relate.

I kissed the hollow beneath her ear, sucking a little. I couldn’t help it. She just tasted so fucking good, and I wanted more.

“So what, Em?”

“I didn’t think you were the type of guy to get so possessive after sleeping with a girl once,” she said before moaning when I found that spot that drove her wild, nipping at it. “I think you scared poor Matt.”

My lips wandered her skin while I tried to wrap my head around what she’d just said. It made me irrationally pissed. Irrationally because she was absolutely right—I’d never felt possessive over a girl before. Pissed because, for some reason, she was lumping herself in with my hookups as though I was done with her.

“Poor Matt?” I repeated after gathering myself, drawing back to raise a brow at her. “He tried to ask you out while you were standing there, half-naked in my shirt. Matt deserved to be put in his place. As far as being possessive…that was pretty fucking innocent compared to what I wanted to do.”

Her wide blue eyes met mine. “What did you want to do?” she whispered.

“Oh,” I said, dropping my voice to a dangerous pitch. “I’m so fucking glad you asked.”

After looking over Gemma’s shoulder to check on Winnie and see that she’d already made herself at home, curled in a ball on the couch, I spun us around and walked Gemma backward toward the front door.

“First of all, let’s get one thing straight,” I muttered, enjoying the way Gemma gasped when her back hit the door, and my growing hard-on grazed her stomach as I pressed against her. “You’re not just some girl I slept with once.”

“What am I?”

What was Gemma?

Fuck, I wished I could answer that question with confidence, but I had no idea how to categorize her. She didn’t belong in a box with a label on it.

“Noah, it’s okay,” she whispered, misunderstanding my momentary silence. “I know.”

Why did she keep saying things like that? Why did she know, and I didn’t? She seemed so sure about what we were, and I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around it.

“You know what?”

“That this is just sex. Right?” she murmured. “Really, really…good sex.”

“Right,” I said slowly, ignoring the dip in my stomach at the implication that our connection was merely physical. I should be happy. Relationships weren’t the name of my game. There was no way I could promise her what she needed, so I should be relieved. “Just sex,” I repeated.

Saying it left a sour taste on my tongue, and Gemma scrunched her nose as though she didn’t like the way it sounded coming from my mouth, either.

She cleared her throat. “Like friends with benefits.”

Friends. She fucking knew I didn’t like that word when it referred to us, and I rolled my eyes.

“Or roommates with benefits,” she tried.

“That makes it sound like you moved in just so I could use you for sex,” I said flatly, hating to even hear those words aloud.

Gemma shook her head. “No, Noah. If anything, we’re using each other. Just like our original deal. I’m here to watch Winnie. We might as well have some fun at the same time.”

I sighed and shook my head. I should be elated right now at what she was proposing, but something didn’t sit right.

“Then you tell me,” she encouraged when I didn’t reply, looking up at me with those blue eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life right now, Noah. I don’t know what’s going to happen in a few months. But I know that last night…” She sucked in. “I know I liked it.”

I sighed, wishing I was good at this. Wishing I knew how to handle this better. But I was out of my depth, and my focus was dwindling as Gemma lifted her hips, purposefully teasing my hard cock with her soft curves.

“If you want a friend with benefits, then it’ll be me,” I rasped, thinking I’d give her whatever she needed right now because I didn’t know what would happen in a few months, either. “As long as you know how much I like you, how much I like fucking you, how much I’m not done fucking you, and how I need guys like Matt to know that. And I also need you to admit that the benefits last night were more than just really good.”

“Amazing,” she corrected, her voice threadbare, wispy. “Really…really amazing.”

Heat filled her eyes as though she was remembering it. Like she was replaying it in her head, the moment I’d slid into her for the first time. Or the moment she’d fallen into a million pieces, my name on her lips. The whole night had been a whirlwind, but I’d remember every fucking second of it for as long as I’d probably live.

“And you only liked fucking me?” she asked, her voice dropping as she used my own tactic against me.

I tipped my hips against hers, letting her feel how much even just the memories affected me. “I loved fucking you, Em.”

“I loved it, too,” she whimpered, rocking up to meet me, beat for beat. What a perfect fucking match she was.

“Enough to do it again?”

She nodded eagerly, and I groaned inwardly.

“Then turn around so I can show you exactly what I think about you saying that you’re just some girl I fucked once.”

Like the good girl she was, Gemma spun and faced the door. Her sex-tangled hair flowed down her back, and I smoothed a hand over it. Despite the messy look, it was silky and smooth, and I finally got to do what I’d thought of so many fucking times.

I wrapped it in my fist and tugged. Gemma’s head flung back, her body arching beautifully as she braced her hands on the door. I slipped my free hand beneath her shirt, bunching it up to her hips so that pretty ass was on display for me. I gave it a little smack, testing how Gemma would react.

Her breath hitched, visibly halting before returning to taking quick, unsteady gasps.

God, yes. Our living arrangement was about to get a hell of a lot more fun.

I worked my sweatpants down and over my hips with my one available hand, refusing to release her hair now that I had it in my grip. My dick sprang free, and I let the head trail down the rim of Gemma’s ass. She shivered, arching further for me, handing herself over.

So I took the invitation and guided my cock between her legs, dragging the tip through her wet cunt and groaning at the reintroduction. Meanwhile, Gemma squirmed, wanting more, and goddamn did I want to give it to her.

“Fuck, Em,” I breathed. “You sure you want it like this?”

“I’m sure,” she panted, spreading her legs wider to prove her words. “Just—” She broke off with a moan when my dick grazed her clit. “Please, Noah.”

I chuckled, even though every ounce of need coursing through her body was also destroying mine. It had only been a handful of hours since I’d been inside her, but it felt like an eternity. I needed her.

“Are you always this impatient?” I murmured, leaning in to brush my lips along the curve of her ear. She trembled beneath my touch as I slid my hand beneath her shirt, cupping her breast in my palm and squeezing. So perfect. The tits of a fucking angel. “Or is it just for me and my cock?”

Gemma’s breath faltered as I teased her entrance, slowly tilting my hips. “Just for you.”

“And my cock,” I added. A very important part. “Say it.”

“And your cock,” she repeated obediently, her voice dripping with desire, and I smirked.

“There you go,” I murmured and rewarded her by gradually feeding my cock into her dripping pussy. “You want to know what I wanted to do as soon as I saw you standing in front of this door half-naked while another man flirted with you?”

She nodded, seeming unable to talk. Probably because she was holding her breath as I slowly pushed into her blissfully warm body.

“Breathe, beautiful,” I reminded, kissing her neck while playing with her breasts, tweaking those pretty nipples. “I’ll tell you when you breathe.”

When I felt her inhale, her chest expanding beneath my touch, I grinned. She was unbelievable, and right now, she was mine. And if she wanted to hear just how mine she was, I’d tell her.

“I wanted to slam the door in his hopeful face and then let him listen while I fucked you against the other side of it.”

To make my point extra clear, I slammed all that way into her beautifully tight pussy, groaning from the heat licking up my body. Tightening my grip on her hair as she moaned, I grabbed her hip with my other hand and pulled out, only to thrust inside her again. “You’re right, Em. I’m not possessive about girls I sleep with once. But the minute we came together last night, I knew once would never be enough. Not for you, angel.”

“Yes,” she sighed, melting beneath my touch. Her body was mine to mold. Mine to play like the instrument it was. “Yes, Noah.”

Such a sweet fucking sound.

But it wasn’t loud enough for me.

“I want to hear you.” I picked up the pace, thrusting steadily and letting the sounds of slapping skin fill the hallway. “I want him to hear you. Let him hear how fucking off-limits you are.”

Gemma whimpered in response, and I shook my head. That wasn’t good enough for me.

Deciding she might need extra incentive, I reached around her body and slipped my fingers between her legs. I got momentarily distracted by the feel of my cock slipping in and out of her sweet cunt, but then I found what I was looking for. And when I stroked a finger over her clit, I wasn’t disappointed.

“Oh my God,” Gemma groaned. Loudly.

I guess she wanted me to work for those sounds.

Luckily, I was more than happy to do that.

“Noah,” she cried as I thrust deeper with my cock and flicked my finger over that little spot that drove her wild. “Oh my God, Noah.”

“That’s it, angel,” I breathed. “That’s exactly it. My name is the only name I want to hear come out of your fucking mouth like that, got it?”

She nodded, and my thrusts grew desperate, needy. Fuck, I wasn’t going to make it. My entire body shook with the need for release, and I didn’t know if I would make it long enough. But there was no way in hell I’d let this end without wringing an earth-shattering orgasm from Gemma’s body.

I gave her hair a little experimental tug, and when she gasped, I gripped it harder, holding on for dear life while she took every single drive of my hips beautifully. Meanwhile, I focused on her clit, drumming my finger over it steadily until I could feel her body tightening against mine.

Her groans grew louder. She started rocking her body, taking everything she could from my cock and my touch. She wanted it, all of it, and fuck, I wanted her to have it. Her fingers curled on the door, searching for something to hold on to, and I knew she was about ready to lose it.

And when she did…she screamed.

Gemma screamed, chanting my name as I fucked her through her release before coming just as hard as she had. If not harder. My cum filled that tight cunt to the brim, and I knew it would be dripping down her legs by the time I pulled out.

Fuck.

I sagged against Gemma’s shaky, twitching body and knew she was about to collapse. So before we could fall to the floor, I scooped her into my arms.

“How would you feel about a bath?” I asked, brushing a soft kiss over her lips. God, I didn’t know how I’d ever stop kissing her now that I’d started.

She lifted a brow. “Do you think the tub is big enough for two people?”

I nodded with a smirk, walking us back toward my room.

“Big enough for two people.”