Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1)(77)

I kissed him back, allowing my arms to wrap around him. His fingers gently massaged my neck, releasing the tension, erasing my unease. The kiss became a drug and I craved more with every touch. Our bodies twined so tightly to one another, I had no idea where I began and he ended.

Noah felt strong and warm and muscular and safe and he smelled, oh, God, delicious. I couldn’t stop kissing him if my life depended upon it: his lips, his neck, his chest, and Noah seemed as hungry as me. We rolled and we touched and we shed unwanted clothes. I moaned and he moaned and my mind and soul and body stood on the edge of pure ecstasy.

And I waited. I waited for that moment of pausing for protection and then the burning pain my friends described, but Noah never stopped and the pain never came, not even when I whispered his name and praised God several times in a row. Both of us gasped for air while kissing each other softly and I struggled to comprehend I was still a virgin.

He shifted off of me and tugged me close to him. My entire body became lazily warm, happy and sated. I listened to his heartbeat and closed my eyes, enjoying the relaxing pull of his hand through my hair. “Noah,” I whispered. “I thought …” we were going to make love.

He tipped up my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We have forever to work up to that, Echo. Let’s enjoy every step of the way.”

My mind drifted this way and that. Mostly between focusing on his heart, his touch and the sweetest word I had ever heard: forever.

One clear thought forced my eyes open again. “You’re putting me to sleep.”

“So?” he asked a little too innocently.

I swallowed. “I’ll have nightmares.”

“Then we’ll have an excuse to do this again.”

NOAH

The familiar ring tone jerked me awake. My arms and legs were wrapped like tentacles around Echo, my nymph who lay sleeping with her back pressed against me. I released my grasp of her stomach to reach for the cell in my jeans, which had been tossed during our earlier activities.

“Hello?” I cleared my throat.

“Noah?”

“Yeah?” I didn’t recognize the man on the other end. Echo remained blissfully asleep. I edged away from her, tucking the blanket tight around her slender form. Millions of thoughts raced in my exhausted mind. Had something happened to Isaiah or Beth? Were they hurt or in jail? Keesha or Mrs. Collins would have called if it were my brothers.

“It’s Owen Emerson. Echo’s dad.” He paused.

Rubbing my head to wake my brain, I kept my mouth shut as I walked to the other side of the basement. It wouldn’t be a good conversation starter to mention that his daughter lay in my bed, half naked.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but Echo left this morning rather upset with me and she hasn’t come home.” I craned my head to check out the clock radio on the floor next to the bed. Two in the morning. Her dad must be on the verge of a coronary. Oddly enough, he didn’t sound like a rabid pit bull. “She turned her phone off and I’ve called her friends. Lila gave me your number and said she could be with you.”

The blanket rose and fell with the steady rhythm of Echo’s breathing. She’d come to me tonight, trusting me. If I told him, he’d come and take her away, breaking my heart and possibly her trust in me. “Mr. Emerson …”

“Please, Noah, she’s my daughter. I need to know she’s okay.” I’d never heard a man sound so desperate in my life. Almost as desperate as my own need to know Jacob and Tyler were safe.

“She’s here.” My heart stopped beating, waiting for the patented father ass-chewing.

“Is she okay?” He sounded … relieved?

“Yeah. She’s asleep. Has been for a while. I’d hate to wake her.”

He paused again. “When did she fall asleep?”

Best guess? “Sometime near one.”

“And she’s slept through?”

Good thing I knew Echo’s sleep patterns, or lack thereof. Otherwise, I would have thought this an odd line of questioning. “Yes, sir. Not a peep.”

I waited in heavy silence as he debated his options: have me wake her to tell her to go home or let her sleep. “Do your foster parents mind her being there?”

“No.” They were at the lake, but even if they were here and paid enough attention to notice I’d brought a girl home, they’d only remind me that she couldn’t live here once she got knocked up.

“Can I speak to them?”

No. “They’re asleep.”

“Of course, of course. Echo mentioned that you have a foster sister. I’m assuming she’s sharing her living arrangements.”

Technically—”Yes.” When she was here, Beth did sleep on the bed.

“Have her call me the moment she wakes up in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Noah, thank you for telling me the truth.”

“You’re welcome.” I hung up and crawled back in bed, burrowing into Echo.

I WOKE TO EMPTY ARMS. ECHO had kept her warm body close to mine all night. A vise gripped my chest. Where was she?

My eyes opened to find the sexiest sight in the world. In black bikini underwear and a tank top, Echo stretched out next to me. Her sketch pad lay on the bed, pencil moving rapidly in her hand. A photo of my brothers was propped up on the pillow.