Black Falcon: Complete Series Collection by Michelle A. Valentine

myself. There’s still something between us...”
    “But?” he prompts.
    “We can’t act on it. Things have to go slow. Maybe after Diana sees I can actually do this, she’ll take me seriously. Once that happens, maybe we can give us a shot.”
    Noel traces my lips with his finger. “I don’t think I can live without at least kissing these. How about we make another deal?”
    I tilt my head. Noel always has some sort of scheme brewing. Before he has a chance to set the terms, I come up with my own that I can live with while getting this project done. “How about for every kiss I give you, I get ten minutes of uninterrupted time working on the charity?”
    Noel smiles at me. “Sure, I’ll agree to that. But I warn you, if you kiss me like you mean it too much, I won’t promise to hold off.”
    A fierce blush spreads all over my face.
    “How about we start with one right now?” he asks.
    Before I can answer, Noel pulls my lips to his. The warmth of his mouth is so familiar. I close my eyes and shut off my brain. Nothing else matters but the here and now. This kiss—the one I’ve been reliving in my mind for years—is finally happening. My lips part, and his tongue finds mine, swirling around in a well-practiced routine. A sound of intense need catches in the back of his throat, and I press my body against his.
    His hand slips under my shirt and brushes the skin on the small of my back. I shiver. The feel of his skin floods me with desire. I can’t remember ever wanting Noel as badly as I do now. Maybe it’s because I know what I’ve been missing,or maybe it’s because he’s turned into an incredibly attractive man. Either way, he’s the only thing in the world that I want right now, and I can’t get close enough.
    My hand flies into Noel’s hair as he slides his hand down the length of my body. His fingers dig into my thigh before he hitches my leg around his hip. He pushes his pelvis into mine, and all that separates us are a couple of thin pieces of fabric. His erection strains against his boxers—Noel wants this just as much as I do. He trails kisses across my jaw. I toss my head back and arch my chest into him.
    “Oh God, Lane. You smell fucking amazing.”
    A shudder rips through his body as I moan in his ear. I pull back. All I can focus on are his blue eyes, alive with intense need. He wants me to say I need him, that I want him to take me. But I can’t do that. We have to slow down.
    I push him back a little. “Wait a second. We agreed to only kiss.”
    “You can’t kiss me like that and not expect me to get turned on.”
    I turn away from him and blush.
    Noel pulls my face toward him. “Don’t. Don’t be ashamed. It’s incredibly sexy when you let yourself go like that. I never knew you had that in you.”
    “People change. I have grown up a little. I’m not that same silly, naïve girl you knew in high school.”
    He grins. “Well, I liked her too, you know. But this version of you is downright fuckable.”
    My face heats up and I roll away from him. Noel sits up and pushes off the bed before grabbing his shirt from the floor.
    “Where are you going?”
    He grabs a towel out of one of the drawers. “To take a cold shower. I have a feeling I’ll need a lot of those these next two weeks if we keep kissing like that.”
    I flop back onto the bed when Noel shuts the door. He has no clue the same goes for me.

Chapter 12
    ––––––––
    T he next morning, I wake up before Noel and creep out of the bedroom with my cell in hand, doing my best not to wake him. I dial Aubrey’s number and look at the clock. It’s only a little after eight. She’s going to kill me for waking her, but I have to know that she got to her hotel okay.
    She answers on the fourth ring. “Hello?” Her voice is raspy and slow.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, but I wanted to know what your plans are today.”
    She giggles. “Stop, Riff.”
    I roll my eyes. “You’re still with