Noah couldn't help the stupid grin that spread over his face every time he thought about Marcella telling Oscar that he was the one table man she trusted and that he had proposed and she was going to say yes. Not that she had given him that yes yet but wishful thinking or not, he was sure it was only a matter of time because she had told him she would not be returning to Perth. The smile split his face again. She would stay; she wouldn't run away again. He would make sure of it.
They'd left the yacht and walked to the car waiting for them thanks to his cousin. Noah's steady gaze brushed over Marcella's thighs appreciatively as her flimsy skirt rose over them when she got into the low-slung sports car that gleamed in the bright late afternoon sunlight.
"Nice car," she commented as he settled himself into the seat next to hers. "Why am I not surprised that you would drive a car like this rather than a Holden or a Toyota?"
"In a world full of Ferraris and Lamborghinis this baby is pretty tame," Noah laughed.
"Hardly," Marcella laughed as she felt the first powerful roar of the engine. "Is it a long drive to wherever we're heading now?" She asked thinking about the time she had slept away on the gently rocking yacht and lamenting that his plans to parasail had been cancelled.
"Not long, it depends on the traffic," he shrugged. "Twenty minutes to half an hour, maybe.
"You think you'll be able to open this baby up once we're out on the highway?" Marcella asked, her green eyes glittering with excitement.
"Why, you in a hurry to get there?" Noah chuckled
"No," she murmured, getting a glimpse of the deep turquoise water as the road carved its way along the rugged coastline. "But, let's just say, speed does it for me as much as the free-falling we did this morning." The fact that Noah hadn't pressed her further on what she had said during her facetime chat with Oscar allowed her to relax and put off all of the drama that would rear up to greet them again tomorrow. For just this one day, she wanted to let go of all the reasons why she shouldn't get more involved with Noah Zenati and recapture the feelings of earlier.
Noah arched his eyebrows. He knew what an aphrodisiac it was when racing his car or bike. He always had a feeling of mastery and power mixed with pure dread, which was an incredible challenge. At full throttle on a racing track, there was almost the feeling of being omnipotent which made him believe that injury was utterly impossible, despite the fact, that his life was littered with injuries because he had pushed the limits too far and risked too much. He wouldn't do that with Marcella. It was hard not to push her though for the answers he wanted tonight. He grimaced as he shifted in his seat. A badly healed rib was still a tender reminder of his last risk with speed and testimony to the fact that injury was very much possible for anyone who pushed the limits, no matter their expertise. Not that it would ever alter his love of extreme sports and the great outdoors.
"Speed turns you on?" he asked glancing at Marcella. The question hung in the air for a second as he accelerated sharply along the twisty road.
"Yeah, it does," she admitted answering him honestly. Marcella shifted in her seat while she gazed at the breathtaking landscape. The postcard views of quaint little homes and estates that were perched high in isolation on rocky escarpments made her wish that she had the talent to paint. The scenery was truly spectacular, and evidence that there were some things that humans couldn't mess up.
"Good to know," Noah said, smiling as he came to the highway and accelerated to cruising speed. Once comfortable, he stretched his arm along the back of her seat and rested his hand in the silky curls of hair at the nape of her neck.
Marcella closed her eyes to savour the speed of the car and the scent of his closeness which seemed to permeate her senses. As his long fingers worked gently beneath the fall of her dark hair, she was aware of several thrilling sensations at once. His palm was curved into the space between her shoulder blades, and his fingers caressed her bare skin with a steady, tender stroke.
Noah's words and the intimacy of his touch began to work on her imagination, triggering deep sensual flashes of allowing him to get to third base before her words and the news of Oscar's arrival had derailed what had been drawing them closer together all day. Despite the air circulating around her, she grew warm and flushed as if she were back in the stateroom with him. Noah was seducing her mind with his careless touch, making her imagine his tantalisingly light stroke all over her body once again.
He slowed the car to a stop at a crossing, and as it idled he began to play with the lobe of her ear, arousing the sensitive point where the delicate flesh met her jaw then, he dropped his hand and trailed his fingers down her bare arm, brushing the side of her breast with a feather stroke. It took all her control to keep her eyes on the road ahead, but she couldn't help letting out a shuddery sigh.
"Feeling good, Puddin'?" He asked with a half-smile.
"Pudding?" she grimaced. "That could earn you a foul ball if you call me Pudding again."
"Noted," he chuckled and seemed to consider what he was going to say next. "Honey is still not totally objectionable, I take it?" he asked carefully.
"It's better than Pudding or Princess," Marcella admitted. "Why the strange need to give me some sort of pet name?" She sighed, but it was a sigh of contentment rather than of frustration. She felt better than good after the release of sexual tension in her earlier orgasm. Beneath the feathery light material of her skirt, her body was alive with sensation. Her breasts felt fuller, and she was acutely aware of the way her nipples were jutting against the soft fabric of her top. She stole a glance at Noah's profile and saw a small smile playing around his lips. He was intentionally trying to get her aroused, she realised, and it was working.
It took a second for her to make her decision and she made it in light of the promise to herself to throw caution to the wind and experience all he was offering her during this day he had planned for them. It was shameless, she knew, mostly since they were in broad daylight on a surprisingly well-used highway where he had to keep an eye on traffic. But that was tough luck for him, she decided; he'd started it by trying to arouse her again, and now he would just have to deal with the consequences of that.
A breath quivered in her throat as her fingers drifted down to her thigh and slipped under the hemline of her skirt. Marcella squirmed in the seat as her hand came to rest on the moist crotch of her panties. She slipped a finger between the soft wet folds of her pussy and let out a sexy sigh.
"You don't mind if I explore a little, do you? I mean it is your fault that I feel this way after all," she pointed out to him expecting him to back off.
"Be my guest," Noah replied huskily, "I'd like to see that." While they had constantly bickered, teased and flirted with each other over the last few weeks, this was a different side to Marcella, and he couldn't complain about being accused of being the one to bring it out of her.
