Noemi woke and for a long moment, she just reveled in the feeling of Rafa’s arms wrapped around her. She pretended that it wasn’t complicated at all—that this was just how things were supposed to be. That they had no other responsibilities other than to hold each other.
She opened her eyes and looked up at her sleeping companion. Rafa’s long, thick, dark eyelashes rested on his cheeks as he slept, and at rest, he looked younger than his forty years and less… troubled.
God, he was beautiful. She traced the shape of his lips with her finger and he smiled. The way he looked at her when he opened his eyes made her entire body flush with warmth.
“Good morning.” Noemi whispered.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
She kissed him. “If we both have morning breath, does it count?”
“Nope.” He chuckled and kissed her again. “You okay?”
Noemi nodded. “I am.” She smiled a little sheepishly. “Sorry for freaking out on you last night. It was just so unexpected, you know?” She placed her hand on his bare chest. “I’m still not quite believing it.”
“Well, it happened.” He took her face in his hands. “And I would like it to happen again and again… but I know you have reservations. Look, however you want to handle this is fine by me. Keep it between us? Cool. You need some time? No problem. Just don’t push me away.” He pressed his lips to hers tenderly. “I turned away from you once. I’ll always regret it.”
They made love again slowly and then luxuriously showered together. Afterward, Noemi made them both eggs. “I’m not much of a cook.”
Rafa put a forkful into his mouth, and Noemi giggled as she saw him try to arrange his face into something other than revulsion. “Told you.” She took his plate away. “I can do toast.”
“Or we could go out for breakfast. No?”
Noemi gave a nervous smile. “I live close to the hospital…”
“Gotcha. Then toast is fine, baby. Listen, do you have to be at work today?”
She shook her head and Rafa smiled. “Good. Want to spend the day together? We can stay in or go out of the city.”
“I’d like that.”
Rafa drove them out of the city, down towards Mount Rainier, and they hiked along a light mountain trail with Mouse. Noemi usually loved exploring, but today her attention was wholly absorbed by this man. She realized that even with all the time spent with him and Thomasina, she barely knew him.
Rafael Genova had always seemed quiet, tranquil, and even a little aloof. This Rafa, however, was fun, goofy—and God, she adored him. He held her hand as they walked, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. His smile lit up his face. He teased her about her walking prowess. “Come on, young ‘un,” he said in his best Grandpa voice when she moaned about being tired.
“You exhausted me last night,” she giggled and yelped as he tickled her.
“Baby, if you think that was exhausting, just wait… that was nothing.”
Noemi caught her breath as he took her tightly in his arms, and he kissed her so passionately, her head whirled. “You better keep that promise, Mr. Genova.”
“Oh, believe me, I will,” he murmured, and pleasure flooded her body. His green eyes were fixed intensely upon hers. “There isn’t anything I won’t do to you if you let me, beautiful girl.”
After that, she couldn’t wait to get home. In the car on the way back to Seattle, she slid her hand onto his groin and stroked him through his pants. Rafa smiled at her. “Tease.”
“Punish me later,” she quipped gently, but the thought of him dominating her made her sex flood with wetness, and she licked her lips slowly.
When they were back at her apartment, she pressed her body against his. “Rafa… do whatever you want to me. I want you in every way.”
Rafa crushed his lips against hers, pressing her against the wall. His hands went to the zipper of her pants and tugged it open. Noemi tore at his clothes.
They never made it to the bedroom. Rafa fucked her hard on the hallway floor, making her scream as she came, then she straddled him and rode him, completely uninhibited.
She urged him to blindfold her or tie her up, whatever he wanted, just so that she could feel like she was his in every way. Every mental wall she had ever built came tumbling down as they spent the next two days making love and talking and laughing.
Loving.
At the end of their time together, those few days that they had been able to devote to each other, reality inevitably set in. There was Bepi to consider, plus their families and their work. Rafa kissed her before he left to pick his son up. “I guess this is where we start to figure out the future.”
“I guess so.”
“Can I call you later?”
Noemi grinned. “Do you even have to ask?”
The apartment felt empty without Rafa in it. Even Mouse sniffed around the rooms looking for him. “I know how you feel, boo,” Noemi told her dog, and then she grabbed the dog’s leash. “Come on! Let’s go walk it off… grab your ball, Mousie.”
She walked the dog for what seemed like hours, then as she returned to her street, she saw two of her neighbors outside on the sidewalk. She greeted them, and they turned to her.
“Noemi… we’ve called the police.”
“What’s up?”
“Sweetheart, we think someone broke into your home. We heard a commotion, and of course, we went to investigate. Joseph went in and someone hit him.”
Noemi was horrified. “Oh my God! Is he okay?”
Phyllis, the elder of the two women, nodded. “He’s okay—just a little shocked. Ruby is taking care of him. Anyway, whoever was in your apartment got away…”
Noemi felt sick. “Are you sure Joe’s alright?”
“Oh yes, dear. But Noe, I wouldn’t go into your apartment until the police get here,” Phyllis put her hand on Noemi’s arm as Noemi moved towards the building. “We don’t know if anyone else is in there, dear.”
The police took their time in her apartment and eventually, the lead officer came out and asked her to accompany them inside. “I’m afraid there has been some vandalism, Doc. We need you to tell us if anything is missing, and I must warn you, someone wanted to leave a message. You might find it a little distressing.”
Noemi had no idea what that could be until she saw the word scrawled in paint across her wall and her heart sank.
Whore.