Soaring with Fallon (Big Sky 4)

“No.”

“Because I’ve been over here, falling in love with you for weeks now, and you don’t seem to have an issue with just jumping ship the second something else comes along.”

“You…wait. What?”

“How does that surprise you?” I ask, dumbfounded. “I don’t invite people to shack up with me at my house. I don’t confide in them, let them submerge themselves in my life the way you have as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. I introduced you to my family. This doesn’t happen for me, Fallon. Not until I met you.”

“Noah,” she whispers, watching me carefully. She’s gone pale, and the shirt she’s holding falls to the floor. I hurry to her and scoop her up into my arms, relieved when she wraps herself around me, holding on tightly. “I thought I was in your way.”

“Bullshit.”

“I assumed.”

“Don’t do that,” I reply and lay her on the bed, covering her with my body. Her head is cradled in my arms, and my pelvis is nestled between her legs. “You talk to me about everything else, and you didn’t even consider that we should talk about this, too?”

“No,” she admits. “No, because I’m independent, and I thought having my own space was the right thing.”

I nudge her shorts down her legs and my pants over my hips, and when I’m free, I tip my forehead against hers.

“I don’t have a motherfucking condom.”

She smiles softly. “It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods, and I don’t argue. I slide home, buried to the hilt, and have to bite my lip to keep myself in check.

“Never done this before,” I mutter.

“I disagree, we’ve done this plenty.”

“Not like this,” I reply and, still without moving, lay my lips next to her ear. “You’re mine, Fallon. Do you understand?”

“Oh, yeah.” She contracts around me. “I understand.”

“I’m not going to last long like this.” I ease out and back in, glorying in the feeling of her without the rubber separating us. “Damn it.”

She wraps her legs and arms around me, holding on tightly. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Her sweet words undo me, and I let go, crying out as the orgasm moves through me.

She’s still holding me as I recover, brushing her fingers through my hair.

“You’re not moving in here,” I inform her. “Jesus, this place is falling apart.”

“It’s a leaky faucet,” she says with a grin. “It’s hardly falling apart.”

I slip out of her, and once we’re cleaned up, I start tossing her things back into her bag.

“Noah, I told Jenna that I’d be moving in here,” she says, her hands on her hips. “I can’t just leave on the first day.”

Without a word, and with my eyes pinned to hers, I take my phone out of my pocket and dial Jenna’s number. I put the cell on speaker.

“Hey, Noah.”

“Hi, Jen. Hey, I’m just letting you know that Fallon doesn’t need your place after all.”

“Oh, I figured you’d just be there for the night,” she says with a laugh. “It was pretty obvious you came to take her back to your house. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. I can still pay you for the month if you like.”

“Hey, this is my responsibility—” Fallon begins, but Jenna interrupts.

“Nope, we’re good. Thanks, guys, and have a good night.”

“Thanks.”

I end the call and pull Fallon to me, kissing her silly. “You belong with me, sweetheart. Not across town, or even down the street. With me.”

“Thank you,” she whispers. “About what you said earlier.”

I watch the nerves settle into her green eyes and try to soothe her by running my hand down her back.

“It’s okay,” I reply. “You don’t have to say it back if you’re not there yet. I know it’s fast, but I can’t help how I feel. And I won’t apologize for it.”

“I don’t want you to apologize for it,” she says. “I just…I just need some time.”

“I’ve got all the time in the world.”

I watch as she finishes putting a few things into her bag, and follow her to the kitchen where she retrieves her kettle.

“Are you ready to go home?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah. Let’s go home.”

* * * *

“So she’s going to live there indefinitely,” Max says two days later. We’re having lunch at Ed’s Diner, enjoying burgers and shakes and catching up on everything that’s been happening. “I mean, I like her. She was sweet at the BBQ, and Willa enjoys her classes.”

“But?”

“It’s fast.”

I cock a brow. “Dude. You asked Willa on a date and proposed like four minutes later.”

“I’ve known her my whole life,” he says but shakes his head. “You know what? You’re right. Who am I to talk? I’m happy for you, and I do like her. She lights up when she looks at you.”

“Yeah?”

“You haven’t noticed?”

“I thought maybe it was wishful thinking.”

He laughs. “No, I see it, too.”

“How’s Willa? And Alex?”

Alex is Willa’s nine-year-old son. Max legally adopted him when he married Willa. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place at the wedding.