Intimate Friends (4 page)

She picked up the phone quickly.
Noah's number.
Her stomach did a little jump. What the hell was that about?

"Hey, is everything okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry…I just…I couldn't sleep," he said . “Hotel rooms kind of freak me out.”

"That's okay, I can't sleep either." She sighed. "I've been reading the same page for ten minutes." She hugged her book to her chest. “How'd the nerd squad do?”

"
Noah
…"
she said, her voice stern, chastising.

"
Emma…"
he mocked, making her giggle. "What are you wearing?" he repeated.

"Well, actually, I'm in one of your old t-shirts. One of the ones you were going to throw out last summer, until I stole them." There was silence on his end of the line, until she heard him cough a little.

"Noah?"

"Which one?"

"Which t-shirt?" she asked, looking down and pulling the shirt out in front of her, reading it upside down. "Uhh…looks like University of Texas."

There was another silence, and she was about to call his name again when she heard him whisper, "Do you want to know what
I'm
wearing?" She could hear the smile in his voice, and she tugged her t-shirt down low over her knees, squirming underneath the covers a bit. "Umm…sure," she said nonchalantly, trying to sound calm.

"Just my boxers…"

"Umm, which ones?" she asked hesitantly, repeating his question from earlier.
That's what you were supposed to ask, right?
She wondered to herself.

"Grey…with, uh, navy stripes." She could hear his breathing grow deeper, and imagined him touching himself, maybe thinking that she could do it better. She let out a stuttering sigh, and thought of the boxers he had on last Sunday night. They were green and blue. Plaid. When he was hard they strained against his cock, and she remembered pushing them down, over his strong thighs...who knew he had such strong thighs?

"Em?" She heard through the phone, and she sat up a bit straighter, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Noah," she whispered. "I'm just not…I mean, I can't…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…wait," he interrupted. "Don't apologize…" He paused for a few seconds, then said, "Listen, I've got an idea. Put the phone on speaker, and just lie back and relax…close your eyes." Emma looked at the phone skeptically, but she did as he asked.

"Now, I'm going to tell you…umm, what I'd like to do, you know…if I was there. Right now. And you're going to tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable, okay?" Even though she knew this was a bad idea, she nodded. Eagerly.

“
Noah
,” she whispered, not sure if he could even hear her over the phone's tiny speaker.

"And then I would kiss you…for a really, really long time…until you did your little sigh…"

"What sigh?" she interrupted.

"Last Sunday, when we were in your bed, kissing and gettin' busy." She grinned at his
gettin' busy
voice. "You broke our kiss, and you did this little sigh in my ear, and that was my signal to get things moving."

"Okay," he continued. "So…you just gave me your 'Emma's gotta have it' sigh." She gave a little huff at his teasing tone, and he chuckled. "And I reach up, under that ratty old t-shirt, and run my hand up your stomach…your skin's so soft, and smooth, and warm." He breathed into the phone, and Emma swallowed . "Do you think you'd like that?"

"Yes." She curled up closer to the edge of the bed, to hear his voice more clearly.

"And then, if you wanted me to, I'd move my hand up a bit…and touch your breast…and kiss your nipple...and scrape it, with my teeth, just to hear you gasp.” He paused for a minute, and Emma held her breath in anticipation. “And then I'd probably start going a bit crazy, because oh my god, Em…you feel so good."

Emma hovered near the phone now, hugging her pillow close to her chest, wishing that it was Noah in her arms. She sighed, her body melting at the sound of his voice.

"That's it…that's your sigh," he whispered into the phone, and Emma hid her face in the pillow, too full of longing to speak.

"Em? You still with me?"

She cleared her throat. "Yeah." She wondered why there were tears in her eyes. There was something about his words, even more than his touch, that made her ache for him. "Umm, don't stop, okay?" she squeaked, and he said "no way," and then she froze when she heard a knock on the other end of the line.

"Aww, man," Noah growled into the phone.

"Mr. Jordan?" She heard faintly—it was one of Noah's students, but she couldn't tell which one.

"Just a minute," he mumbled into the phone, and she heard him fumble around the room for a minute and head to the door. She couldn't hear the entire conversation, but it sounded like some of the kids had gotten into a fight.

"Just go down there and tell them to calm down, and I'll be there in a minute," she heard Noah say before he headed back to the phone.

Emma hung up and hugged her pillow tight to her chest. He shouldn't be making her feel this special and desired. He was just a friend. Right, just a friend. She wasn't even fooling herself anymore.

****

The final bell of the day pealed through the halls, and Noah gave a silent prayer of thanks. It was Friday, and prom weekend, and the whole school was a little nuts. The kids were out of control, and all the teachers were spending their conference periods patrolling the halls, making sure that they remained relatively free of alcohol, drugs, and/or public displays of teenage sex.

The day's crazy schedule had brought him into contact with Emma much more often than usual, and he found himself practically sprinting to her office as kids slammed lockers and barreled past him towards the parking lot. His arms ached to hold her.

Bursting into Emma's office, Noah stared at her for a long moment. She gave him a shy smile, and it was so sexy he felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him.

"Umm…I have to, you know…" He walked to her and kissed her, his lips caressing hers, her breath catching in her throat as his hand cupped her neck gently, pulling her forward. The kiss grew deeper, and hotter, and Noah felt Emma's hands run over his chest, up his shoulders to the back of his head, crushing his mouth over hers. Their breathing became erratic, and Noah knew they needed to stop, while they still could.

"Em," he said hoarsely, as he moved back from her lips. "We have to go, like...now." She nodded wordlessly, her eyes wide—she seemed stunned by their desire, and her cheeks were flushed and damp.

Noah's hands were shaking so badly it took him three tries to push the key into the ignition of his car, and once they were on the road he looked forward seriously, trying to concentrate on driving, while the smell of Emma's perfume and the sight of her bare knee in the corner of his eye made him cough and adjust himself in his seat. At the next red light, he glanced over quickly, and saw her looking back at him, her eyes full of longing.

"We're almost there," he said, reaching over to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.

"Almost there," she echoed.

Noah pulled into Emma's parking lot a little too quickly, and was lunging over the armrest as soon as he stopped the car. His lips strayed over her face, and his hands wandered over her ribcage. Emma whimpered, and he gasped, "C'mon."

Once the front door was closed behind them, Emma was in his arms, and the hours of waiting had made him so desperate that he kissed her, hard, and knocked her back against the wall of the entryway with a
thud.
He stopped quickly, to see if she was okay, and she whined in protest, pulling him back to her lips, trembling with need.

They ripped at each others clothes, frustrated, moaning with hunger and impatience. He pinned her against the front door and blanketed her with his chest.

"Em, Em…love you…love you so much." He was so wrapped up in her feel and smell and slick heat he thought he might weep with desire. When he bent his knees and entered her, he realized that she was already coming, her cries ringing in his ears as he pumped her savagely, uncontrollably. When he finally reached his climax it overwhelmed him, and he groaned long and low against her shoulder as he shook helplessly over her.

It took a few seconds for Noah to hear her calling his name as she ran her hands under his shirt and up his sides, slick with sweat. Her fingertips traced his chest, following the trail of hair above his belly button, making him jerk his stomach muscles in tightly, his entire body over-sensitized. The sounds of their panting filled the apartment, and he felt a sense of dread at her silence.

"Em, God, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" He looked at her warily. He'd been so rough—they'd never done anything like that before. He saw that her face was flushed, and her cheeks were red and irritated from his stubbled chin. She swallowed hard and shook her head, and they leaned against each other, overwhelmed with emotion, until his legs grew numb. He realized that he still held her, pinned against the wall, half-dressed, her skin dewy and warm.

After dinner, and a lot of talking, and some more kissing, they made love again, in bed this time. This time it was slow and gentle and sweet, and they both fell immediately asleep, legs entwined, hands resting on each other's hips possessively.

But by midnight Noah was awake, staring at her bare shoulder, golden tan, with a sprinkle of freckles. He touched it lightly with his fingertip.
Man, I am a selfish bastard,
he thought guiltily as his lips followed the trail of his finger down her shoulder and arm, landing at her wrist, which rested lightly on her stomach. He knew she was exhausted, but he couldn't help himself, he had to touch her, smell her, feel her skin against his lips.

She stirred, waking slowly, as he continued to kiss her wrist, dragging his lips slowly across her velvety skin. She grabbed the curls on the back of his head, tugging them gently until he pulled his head up to hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry…I can't stop." His breath was warm on her cheek, and she cupped his face and kissed him softly, her lips cool and dry from sleep.

"Don't stop," she said.

Chapter Seven

Emma heard the air-conditioner whirring in Dr. Coburn's office as the silence between them lingered. She cleared her throat and uncrossed, then re-crossed, her legs.

"I don't…" She paused, looking out the window. She began again "I don't know what else to say."

"Well, let's back up." Dr. Coburn took off her glasses and placed them on the table beside her. "You said that you're sleeping with your best friend, Noah, and that you think he might be in love with you." Emma nodded silently.

"No, no." Emma gave a sad smile. "I love him. Of course. More than anything. But I'm not sure that I'm
in
love with him."

"So, help me out here. Are there religious differences? Money problems? Sexual dysfunctions?" Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the doctor. They both knew such problems didn't exist. She shook her head slowly and looked down at her lap.

"Well then, Emma, I'm curious. What's holding you back? Noah's divorce was finalized over a year ago. From what you've told me, I think he loves you very much. Why are you unsure?"

Emma sighed dramatically. “Well, for one thing, I'm moving to London in a few weeks.”

“Why?”

“For graduate school—I know I've talked to you about this before,” Emma said impatiently. Why was Dr. Coburn being so confrontational? If she wanted to be nagged, she could get that from her mother for free.

“Yes, you've told me that you're going, I just don't think you've ever explained why,” she said evenly.