"Ride me, Sabella," he bit out again. "Oh yeah, baby, rub against me." He was rubbing against her, his h*ps thrusting against her, digging his flesh harder between her thighs.
She lowered her hands and gripped the material of his T-shirt, dragging it up his back. She had to touch. She had to feel his flesh beneath her hands. She whimpered as his lips came back to hers, as she pulled and jerked at the material until he suddenly shifted, drawing his upper body back just enough to tear the shirt over his head before he was back to her. Kissing her. One hand in her hair, the other kneading her ass.
Oh yes. This was what she needed. The heat of his body seemed to sink into hers. She could feel him burning against her palms as she let them stroke over his shoulders. She could feel a crisscrossed roughness, the scars she had known marked his body. Her nails scraped over his flesh before he nipped at her lips again and she dug her nails into his flesh with a cry and held on.
Because they were moving. The world was twisting, tilting, until she felt her back meet the leather of the couch and heard the thump of his duffel bag as he pushed it to the floor and came over her.
His lips never left hers. He didn't give her a chance to think and she didn't want one. His hands gripped her shirt, tore it out of her jeans, and before she could process the action he had it and her bra above her br**sts.
A hard, peaked nipple felt his beard first. It scraped over the tip, drawing her back into a arch a second before his lips brushed it, then his mouth took it.
His h*ps pressed harder into the vee of her thighs. He rode her mercilessly, taking her despite the material separating them, driving her closer to a brink she hadn't known in years. Her h*ps lifted to him, writhing back, rubbing into him as her head dug into the cushions of the couch and her fingers dug into his shoulders, holding him closer.
It was so good. So hot and liquid. Little starbursts were exploding before her eyes, sensations ripping across her nerve endings.
"Now." He jerked back, grabbed her head roughly and lowered his chest to her. "Touch me, damn you. Touch me, Sabella."
She bit him. Her teeth buried into hard, thick muscle before the wildness of the act took over. She nipped at the hard flat discs of his male ni**les, licked at them, sucked at one. Her hands roamed over his back, only dimly acknowledging the scars there.
His h*ps jerked against her, ground against her. And she wanted those jeans off. Wanted hers off. She wanted the thick, heavy length she could feel tearing into her. Thrusting and driving her past the point of pleasure or pain.
The blood was rushing through her body, pounding through her head. She was close. So close. She bit at his chest again, feeling him stiffen, hearing his curse.
Then he was pulling away from her, jerking back, his savage gaze slicing to the back door of the apartment as he jerked her bra and T-shirt over her br**sts.
And still, she heard the pounding.
"Belle? Belle Malone? It's Sheriff Grayson. Belle. Open the door or I'm going to open it myself."
Noah raised her to a sitting position as she tried to pull her shattered senses back into some semblance of order. She watched as, still shirtless, Noah stomped across the apartment, into the kitchen, to the door that led to the side of the garage and the deck.
The scarring on his back wasn't atrocious, but it was painful to see. On his left shoulder was a tattoo, a black sun pierced by a scarlet sword. It looked as tough and sexy as the rest of him. And just as dangerous.
She could feel a chill washing over her now. Icy reality flooding her system as Rick Grayson stepped into the kitchen, his brown gaze finding her immediately as he kept a careful distance between himself and Noah.
"You okay, Belle?" His eyes were narrowed, his hand resting carefully on the butt of his gun as Noah closed the door carefully.
Sabella stared at Noah. His eyes were wilder than before, almost lighter, terrifying, lit with an inner fire that had her heart racing in excitement and in panic.
"Belle? Why don't you come on outside with me, talk to me for a bit." Rick's eyes hadn't left Noah.
Sabella shook her head before pushing her fingers through her hair and giving a hard, mocking laugh. Rick had talked to her like that at the funeral.
Just let me and Sienna hold you here, Belle. He and his wife had stood on each side of her as she swayed next to Nathan's casket. It's gonna be just fine here, Belle. See. It's all good, honey. We're just gonna stand here a minute and then it will be over with.
Rick was her best friend's husband. Sienna had stood with her, cried with her, hurt with her. And Rick had talked to her just like that. Like a child that needed a careful hand.
"Rick, meet Noah Blake." She waved her hand to Noah as he stood against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed against his bare chest, his back turned away from her. "Rory hired him."
Rick watched her carefully as she forced herself to her feet. She didn't want to move. She wanted to curl herself into a ball and rock away the pain rising inside her.
"Belle, honey, your chin looks braised," Rick stated. "You come outside with me for a minute now, okay."
Belle rubbed at her chin and frowned before moving to the mirror hanging on the wall. She brushed her fingers over the little bruise, then to her neck where the faint redness and another mark was now showing.
"He has his own bruises then," she said, turning to Rick. "He bit me. And I bit him back."
Rick's eyes narrowed on her. She felt as though she were going to shatter as she picked up her purse and moved to the door.
"We don't need to talk. Rick," she told him.
"I think we do, Belle." Rick moved between her and Noah. A buffer? She looked at Noah, saw his eyes, the warning in them. No, no one would ever get between them and survive unless he allowed it.
For now, he was just standing there, watching, waiting.
She turned back to Rick. "You interrupted a hell of a make-out session and I appreciate it." Her smile was brittle, shaky. "But it wasn't his fault. I think I might have bit him first. But you can ask his opinion if you like. Personally, I'm going home."
"Belle, someone called in a report that you were being harassed by this man." Rick caught her arm as she moved to pass him. "I have my deputies outside that door. You're protected here, honey, you know that. Do you want me to make this man leave?"
She stared back at him in shock. "You what?'"