Snowflakes In Autumn (A Novella)

Sixteen

Faith awoke when Noah kissed her cheek softly, then felt his body move from the mattress. "Stay," she mumbled, unable to manage more than that.

"I have to go to work, little snowflake."

She turned her body and forced him back down on the bed, nuzzling into his chest and resting her hand on his lower stomach, moving her fingers atop his scar. Noah didn't put up a fight and held her.

"You have enough time to have your way with me again, don't you?"

Noah let out a tired laugh above her. "My alarm went off half an hour ago. I'm already running late, and the next time I have my way with you, I want to take my sweet ass time."

The memories of the night before brought a smile to Faith's face as she remembered his fingers in her, on her, controlling her body. Then another memory hit her that wasn't as pleasant as the last. "We didn't use a condom last night, did we?"

Faith never had sex without a condom. As she barely knew the few men she'd slept with, it would have been foolish to go without. Last night she'd been so desperate for him to be inside her, it wasn't something she'd thought about. But now that she was, Faith couldn't remember him putting one on, but remembered feeling his climax within her.

"No, we didn't use a condom. I don't have any here because I never bring women back to my house," Noah explained. "I keep some in my car, but didn't even think about it last night. It's normally the first thing I think about, but I guess my mind was on other things."

When Faith didn't respond, Noah appeared to guess her thoughts. "You aren't on birth control, are you?"

That was her worry. "No. I had it my first semester of college, because it was cheap through your university clinic, but once I left, I never bothered. I wasn't having sex nearly enough to bother with the expense."

Noah pet her hair and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll book an appointment for birth control and use condoms until then, and I'll bring you the morning-after pill on my lunch hour today."

Faith let out a sigh of relief. She'd completely forgotten those pills existed. Normally, she wasn't so reckless, but something about Noah made her act on impulse.

"As much as I'd love to stay in bed and worship every inch of you, I really have to get to work." Noah kissed her quickly before rolling himself out of bed. "My credit card is still where you left it. Do me a favor and use it today."

Taking in the glorious sight of Noah's naked body, Faith had a troublesome time forcing the words out of her mouth. "I used it yesterday."

"But you held back," he told her before walking across the hallway naked to get to the bathroom.

Of course she held back. It wasn't her money.

Faith got up from the bed and found him in the bathroom just as he started the shower. "Why do you keep wanting me to spend your money?"

Noah looked her body up and down, taking every inch of her in. "You're killing me, Faith."

Nudity was never something she was uncomfortable with. She didn't let her naked freak flag fly willy nilly, but it wasn't that big deal to her. "Well?"

"It isn't about the money, Faith, it's about me wanting this place to represent you as much as it does myself. I want to walk into every room and feel like your a part of it. I need you to set up roots here so I can feel like I have you back for good."

Oddly enough, those words made her blush more than being exposed in front of him.

"Now get in the shower with me, little snowflake."

When Noah extended his hand, Faith took it and followed him into the shower, allowing herself to be drenched in the hot water.

"I bet you never thought you'd say those words to me."

Noah let out a quiet laugh behind her and picked up the body wash she'd bought the day before and began lathering her body with his hands. "No, I never thought I would, but I'm not all that surprised about how this turned out either. You've always been the biggest and best part of me, Faith. When I lost you, I lost myself and had to make up this whole new version just to look like I was moving on and living. Without you, I was just surviving."

His hands cleaned her breasts, then her stomach, then lower yet. Faith moaned as he rubbed her, more than just cleaning her body.

"You asked me how angry I was at the restaurant. Losing you for so many years made me a bitter man. But having you back, I wonder if it was all just fate waiting to bring you back to me, so I could have the woman you've become rather than the child I lost."

Noah turned her around so her back was against the far wall, away from the water, then lifted her leg to the top of the tub. She watched with hazy eyes as he dropped to his knees and devoured her with his mouth, his tongue stroking between her folds and coming up to tease the bud.

If he had hair to grab her fingers would tangle in it. Instead, she just leaned back against the cool wall and stared at his mouth on her, feeling his fingers slide into her with ease. Faith groaned out his name, which only fueled him further. She breathed in the steam mixed with the scent of peonies, trying to concentrate on anything other than the man between her legs who touched her in a way no one had done before.

Despite not having an issue with nudity, having a man's tongue on her like this had been too intimate of an act for her. She'd never allowed it.

"Noah," she groaned out once more, "I'm close."

Like he was in her head, Noah knew exactly what she wanted, and slid a third finger inside her. His mouth licked and sucked and nibbled her until her teeth clenched and convulsive waves crashed through her.

"Every inch of you is perfect," she heard Noah speak before placing a lingering kiss on Faith's inner thigh.

That word wasn't one ever used to describe her. None of his sweet nothings had been uttered to her before, and Faith knew wouldn't be uttered by any man after. There could be no other man after Noah Scott. He was it. "No one's perfect."

"Perfect to me, little snowflake. Every inch of you is perfect to me," he explained, a corner of his mouth turned upwards. "And perfect for me. Perfect fit. Perfect match. Perfect everything. Two flawed souls creating something perfectly flawless."