Poppy: Mature Content Ahead

Charred marshmallow stuck to my fingers as I bit into a s'more, but I didn't care. The gooey sweet goodness melted on my tongue and sent a sugar rush through my veins that was sorely needed after hours of drinking wine coolers and floating in the pool.

We sat around an impressive fire, faces bathed in amber glow and shadows. Luke and Jenny heatedly debated the proper way to roast a marshmallow—burned to a crisp or lightly browned. Lydia slept on a towel, her half empty drink in hand, and a smear of chocolate on her chin. And Noah...

He sat next to me. Silently staring into the flames while I debated going for a second s'more. It wouldn't satisfy the craving inside of me. The one Noah stirred up when he traced his finger across my chest earlier. I gritted my teeth and debated tipping his chair over. Where did he get off treating me like I was diseased and then winding me up?

"Ok, ok. Poppy, who's right? Me or Luke?"

"Think about it for a second," Luke warned when I immediately opened my mouth to answer. "It might make all the difference one day between getting a ticket or not if I ever pull you over."

Noah grunted, pulling my attention to him. "I have it on good authority you've never given a woman between the ages of twenty-one and fifty a ticket."

"Is that true?" I burst out laughing. "Why?"

"It's not what you think," Luke grumbled. Plastic crinkled as he wrestled a marshmallow out of the bag and put it on a roasting stick. "They just look at me with their big eyes, and I can't do it."

"Big eyes. Big tits..." Jenny rolled her eyes.

He threw a marshmallow. The white cube bounced off her head and fell directly in the middle of her cleavage. Luke froze as Jenny plucked it from between her breasts and tore into it with her teeth. I cleared my throat and looked away, feeling as if I was intruding.

Noah must have gotten the same vibe from the two of them because he stood, tapped my knee, and jerked his chin toward the waterfall. He stopped by the cooler to pull two fresh drinks from the ice. Settling on the same rocky ledge I'd fallen from earlier, I realized we were a lot farther away from the others than I thought. Between the distance and the darkness, I wondered if they could even see us.

"It's breathtaking during the day, but I think I like it even better at night," I said, taking the drink he offered me and staring across the water.

Noah nodded and sipped his beer. His next words were soft. "I come out here a lot around this time."

Never still because of the waterfall, the surface was now a choppy reflection of the dusky sky. Bits of pink and purple and indigo flashed along the waves, and the spray that hit my fire warmed skin was cold enough to make me shiver.

"Here," Noah said, tugging his shirt over his head and handing it to me. "You're cold."

I stared at the t-shirt like it might bite me. "I'm fine."

"Put the damn shirt on, Poppy."

His bossy tone rankled me, but I snatched it out of his hands and pulled it over my head, immediately becoming engulfed in his scent and warmth. I'd never understood girls in school who used to steal their boyfriends' hoodies. Until now. Why did this man have to be such an ass?

"I'd have a shirt if you hadn't made me leave mine behind," I muttered just to be irritating. Maybe I was a bit of an asshole, too? Or maybe he brought it out in me.

"Sure. Your corpse would look great wearing it." There was just enough moonlight to make out the scowl on his face.

"Please, I would have been fine. I did a synchronized swimming stint in high school. I can hold my breath for a long time."

"I couldn't get the shirt free. You think you were going to pull it free?"

"Adrenaline is an amazing thing. Mothers have been known to lift cars off their children."

"Children." There was amusement laced in his tone now. "It was a t-shirt."

The t-shirt I'd had no intentions of removing. Not in this bathing suit, and certainly not in front of him.

"Whatever. It would have been fine."

"Can't you just say thank you?"

"Thank you?" I pressed my hand over my breasts. "You want a thank you?"

"It would be nice. I saved your life. You're actually becoming quite indebted to me between the bar and the pool."

"All of those things are canceled out by the window peeping, the chicken, and your atrocious attitude!"

We had both set our drinks down and scooted close enough together until our noses almost touched.

"I never had a bad attitude until you showed up."

"Oh, and how am I responsible for that? I haven't done anything to you."

He closed his eyes. Like he was praying. Then they snapped open, and I could see the desperate desire simmering in them. Desire I was sure he could see reflected in my eyes.

"You drive me mad, woman," he growled, gripping a handful of my shirt. His shirt.

I knew what would happen next if I gave him the least indication that I was receptive to it. It would complicate everything. Even more than it already was, but right now, I didn't care. Hadn't I just spent the last years of my life wrapped in another person's wants and needs? It was time to take what I wanted, and right now, I wanted Noah Hayes.

With one hand on the back of his head, I didn't have to push or pull to bring his mouth to mine. He was already there.

His tongue swept inside, tangling together with mine as I opened wider for him. Realizing our position wasn't optimal for making out, Noah put his hands on my lower back and came up on his knees, dragging me with him. When I felt his hardness against my belly, I moaned, the sound spurring him to intensify the kiss. Calloused palms gripped the globes of my ass, and fingers dipped between my cheeks, spreading them apart in a kneading motion as he pulled me closer to him.

I shuddered. Every nerve ending was on fire, but it wasn't enough. The way his lips moved against mine and his tongue thrust in my mouth—it was a pale imitation of what our bodies could actually do together.

"Tell me you want this," he gasped against my mouth.

"The only thing that could make you more of an asshole right now is if you stopped doing this."

He gripped the ends of my hair, and my head yanked back as he pulled. I asked Philip to pull my hair once, and he told me I needed to see a shrink. Maybe I did, because at this moment, I would have done whatever Noah told me to do. There was something about feeling helpless when faced with his strength, but safe at the same time, that struck all the right chords inside me.

"Sit on the edge of the rock, legs open and hanging over the edge."

My butt plopped down so hard and fast, my teeth rattled. It earned a dark chuckle from Noah as he lowered himself into the water. Cool, wet fingers wrapped around my ankles, and I squealed as he dragged me toward him.

"Better."

Better was not just my legs dangling over the edge. I held tight to the edges of the rock, keeping myself balanced on the ledge by the tiniest fraction of a butt cheek, and since my upper body strength was deplorable, I knew the only reason I hadn't slid off and into the water was because Noah's shoulders propped up my thighs.

Noah peppered kisses along my leg and untied the sides of my bikini bottoms, letting the front fall forward and exposing me completely to him. I trembled, desperate to feel his mouth on me, but also wondering if this was the moment to tell him no man had ever done this to me.

"Noah, I—ahhh!"

He surged forward. There was no gentle lick or teasing around the edges. He latched on and sucked hard. I grabbed him by the hair and threw back my head as pleasure rippled through my body. Noah grunted, not in pain but approval and pressed in closer, switching techniques as my thighs shook around his ears.

"That, that right there," I whimpered when he circled my clit with his tongue, then flicked twice.

That was all I had to say to get him to repeat the movement, each stroke ramping up the tension in my core until I came, arching my back and falling off the rock with a moan. The cold water was a shock to my heated skin, but it didn't slow the waves of pleasure pulsing through me.

Noah treaded water, holding me against his chest as I came back to earth. When I raised my head to look at him, he dropped a lingering kiss on my mouth, leaving a tangy sweet taste behind that had to belong to me. It should have been embarrassing, but it only piqued my curiosity. I ran my tongue over my lip to find any traces left and enjoyed Noah's strangled gasp. He liked that? What if I told him I wanted to lick myself off his cock?

I opened my mouth to say just that, but approaching footsteps had us springing apart like guilty teenagers. A flashlight swept over the water, hitting Noah first, then me as I paddled to the shore.

"You fall in again?" Jenny asked. Was it just me or did she sound winded?

"Fancied a nighttime swim."

"She fell in," Noah lied.

Luke and Jenny laughed, clearly believing him over me. Especially since I was wearing Noah's t-shirt. I glared and almost pulled myself out of the water, stopping when I spied my bottoms just a few inches away from Luke's feet.

"Alright, well, Sleeping Beauty is finally up, and unless you two want to camp out here, we figured it was time to head back."

"Be right there."

"Noah, wait," I hissed when he climbed out. Water rolled down his perfect abs, glinting silvery in the moonlight and momentarily stealing my train of thought.

"Yes?" He picked up my bikini bottoms and twirled them around. "Looking for these?"

"Actually, I am. I can't walk back like this."

"Sure you can. My shirt is long, and your ass cheeks were already hanging out. You can put your shorts back on, and no one will know."

"I'll know," I grumbled, tugging the sopping ends of the shirt down. Normally, I would ring it out some, but lifting the hem to do so would show everything. Not that it should be a concern, considering the man just had his mouth there. "Why are you keeping my bottoms?"

"I guess I want to see how much you want them back."

To finish what we started. Those unspoken words hung between us.

"And," he said, shoving them in his pocket and winking. "Because I'm an asshole."