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  Table of Contents

  Meant To Be

  Publication Information

  Dedication

  Meant To Be

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Also Available

  Thank You

  Meant To Be

  by

  Sophia Ryan

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Meant To Be

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 by Sophia Ryan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Diana Carlile

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com

  Publishing History

  First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2018

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-2453-1

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To all the loverships that started as friendships. You rock for being bold enough to risk it all.

  Meant To Be

  Florida Georgia Line blared from the radios of a dozen or more pickups in a circle at the secluded wooded site where the just-graduated class of Loveland High was rocking out. The sultry beat pulsed through valedictorian Claire Corbie, thrumming every nerve in her body that was already standing at attention since her gaze locked on Noah Wolf the second he’d arrived.

  The guy had the perfect name for his looks, actions, and temperament. Messy dark hair and striking silver eyes gave him a sexy, intense look and air of mystery. She’d spent years analyzing every expression on his handsome face and hot body and could now translate most of them. It had given her an edge in understanding him better than anyone else and strengthened their relationship.

  Like a wolf scouring the landscape for threats or treats, his intense gaze had pinpointed her, too, from the second he’d alighted from his pickup. For the past half hour, he had been making his way toward where she sat on the open tailgate of Jena’s pickup.

  Every group of friends he passed stopped him to say hi, and he obliged, sharing a word, a laugh, a hug, or handshake. That was the kind of guy he was, and one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him years ago. They had been best friends since tots but never ventured out of the friend zone. That would change tonight. She was leaving for college in a few weeks, and this might be her last chance.

  Noah navigated the last group and headed straight for her, his silver gaze melded to hers. A quickening flutter low in her stomach rushed trickling moisture between her thighs as she watched him come for her, realizing with a jolt that he looked like a wolf come for its prey.

  “Don’t look now,” Jena whispered beside her. “But Noah’s headed this way.”

  “I see him,” Claire whispered back through a grin.

  “I’m practically coming in my panties at the thought of what you’re going to do to that sexy hottie tonight,” Jena said, again in a whisper.

  Hoping she had the courage to see it through, Claire mumbled, “Me, too,” and let her smile widen as Noah completed his final steps to where she sat.

  Jena squeezed her hand and slid off the tailgate. “Hi, Noah. Bye, Noah,” she said with a smile and started to walk away.

  “Something I said?” he asked with a grin and held out his arms.

  Jena laughed and hugged him. “You just reminded me that I’m overdue for some loving. I’m off to find Garrett.”

  “I saw him at the bonfire,” he said.

  “Ah, my little pyro. Well, you guys have fun,” Jena said, and with a wink headed off to find her pyro.

  Noah hopped up next to Claire and slid his arm around her neck. “Hey, Wolf-Bird,” he said and pulled her in for a hug, kissing the top of her head.

  “Hey, Wolf,” Claire said, smiling up into his face.

  She was the only one who called him Wolf. Like he was the only one who called her Wolf-Bird, because her last name—Corbie—meant raven in Scottish, and Wolf-Bird was another name for raven.

  “Is that my beer?” she asked, nodding to the half-full bottle in his hand.

  He grinned and held it out.

  She accepted it and took a swig, imagining she could taste his lips on the lip of the bottle.

  “You got here late.” She hooked one leg over his and rocked her foot, the flip flop swinging by one painted toe.

  His hand settled hot on her thigh. “Yeah, with all the family here for my graduation, I had a hard time getting away.”

  “Your brother’s new girlfriend is a bit high-strung. What’s her name again? Vicki?”

  “No, it’s Victoria.” He said it like an English royal might say the former Queen’s name.

  “I’ll be sure to slip and call her Vic at the barbeque tomorrow,” she said and took another swig before handing him the beer.

  His fingers wrapped around hers as he took the bottle, not letting her go for a few heart-stopping moments.

  “You do that, Wolf-Bird. I’ll be right beside you to save you from her claws.” He took a sip. A sip. Not his usual gulp.

  She chuckled. “My fierce warrior.”

  “You still spending the night at Jena’s?”

  “Uh, no. Jena informed me that she’s spending the night with Garrett, so I’ve officially been uninvited.”

  “That sucks.”

  She shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “So what’re you doing instead? Just going home?”

  She sighed. “I guess. I’d rather not, but I’m already so over this party.” He held out the beer, but she waved it off. “Nah, I’m good. Kill it.”

  Instead of drinking it, he poured it on the ground and tossed the empty into the bed of Jena’s pickup.

  “Wanna do something else?” he asked before she could question the odd action.

  “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

  In a move almost too quick to notice, his gaze darted to her breasts that were half-spilled from her deep V-neck wrap shirt, then back to her face. The spark in his eyes, like a storm on the verge of releasing a torrent, sent need shimmying through her body.

  “It’s fucking hot tonight. I was thinking of going to the lake for a swim. Wanna come?”

  Did she ever. Not only because it was fucking hot, but also because it was the perfect opening she needed to enact her plan. “I don’t have a swimsuit with me.”

  “Me neither. But that’s never stopped us.”

  She’d swum with Noah at the lake in the dark many times in just her underwear. But tonight, she’d swim naked and let him and the full moon see everything. Maybe then he’d understand what she wanted without having to embarrass herself by saying it.

  She grinned. “Sure, why not.”

  He slid off the tailgate. “Ready?” That he seemed in a rush to get alone with her at the lake surprised but pleased her. Maybe he had a plan of his own?

  “Yeah, hang on.” She slid off the tailgate, too, and reached into the cab of the pickup to grab the overnight bag she’d packed. “Lead the way, Wolf.”

  He took her bag, wrapped his hand around hers, and led the way.

  ****

  “Everything okay?” he asked after they’d been on the road a few minutes.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You’re not talking a mile a minute.”

  She was a talker
, so her silence probably seemed weird to him. Since they left the party, she’d been focused on trying to force the rehearsed words from her mouth, words that would tell him exactly what she wanted in case the skinny-dipping tactic failed. But her whacked out nerves wouldn’t let them come. Part of her worried he’d be so disgusted by her confession that he’d end their friendship. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine. You seem anxious.”

  “I guess I am.”

  “About what? Going away to college?”

  She opened her mouth to tell him the truth but lost her nerve. Instead, she honed in on Godsmack screaming from the radio. “Nope. Your taste in music.” She switched the station. Bad Wolves came on. Fitting.

  He laughed at her dig but side-eyed her like he thought she was lying. “There’s a joint in the ashtray. Fire it up if you want. It always makes you feel good.”

  Yeah, it did, but she didn’t want dulled senses tonight. She wanted them alert and able to feel everything she hoped Noah would do to her. But she would take advantage of this opening he’d handed her.

  “No, thanks. But you know what would make me feel good?”

  “What’s that?”

  She held her breath and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Your dick in my mouth.”

  “Ha,” he snorted. “I’ll whip it out for you.”

  He laughed. She didn’t.

  “Wolf, I’m serious.”

  His head jerked toward her, and his gaze grabbed hers. She saw the confusion, the surprise, the desire flickering there. She saw his throat bobble as he swallowed. Saw the pulse in his neck throb a little faster. Saw shock morph to anger.

  She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth in dread when he veered off the road to the shoulder, slammed on the brake, and threw the gear into park.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Claire,” he said, his low voice a growl, his expression fierce.

  Wow. She had fucked up already. Big time. But the words were out. The only way to go was forward.

  “I’m not fucking with you,” she said, her fierce tone matching his.

  He said nothing for a long, silent moment. Then he unbuckled his seatbelt, practically vaulted from the pickup, and stormed around to her side.

  She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned so she could face him.

  He pulled open the door, his kissable mouth inches from hers. “You need to say that again. And I need to see your eyes to know what the fuck you’re thinking.”

  Keeping her eyes tight on his, she reached out her hand and cupped the bulge in his jeans then rubbed it from his balls to the cockhead straining the zipper. “I want to suck your cock ’til you explode. I want to taste your cum in my mouth. And when we get to the lake, I want to fuck you. All night long.”

  His breath had become labored, like hers, and she could see the war waging behind his eyes. She understood, having fought the same war, but never had she so badly needed him to go against reason and say yes.

  He backed away a step, then two, but then rushed back to her, reached out, and dug his hands into her hair at the back of her head. He yanked her in, obliterating the distance that separated their mouths. He kissed her hard, his mouth ravaging hers, his tongue mastering hers, his taste consuming her, his passion giving her the yes she craved.

  Wanting to strike while the mood was right, her hands flew to his jeans, unfastened them, and reached into his boxers. His cock was thick and hard as a rock, drops of moisture already beading at the slit. If that wasn’t a sign he wanted it as much as she did, she didn’t know what was. She pulled his cock from his boxers and stroked him, loving the feel of him in her hand, like silk over hard metal.

  A moan left his mouth at her touch, and he broke off the kiss. His features were still intense but no longer angry, and his eyes—his stormy eyes—were almost pleading for her to start before he changed his mind.

  “Suck me, Claire,” he added for good measure, his low voice ragged and needy. His hands in her hair cupped the back of her head and applied gentle pressure as if urging her downward. Not that she needed urging. He was so ready he throbbed. She was so ready she could fucking swallow him whole.

  This was not the time for tentative little licks and shy strokes to tease his appetite and hers. Not when they were both starving. She leaned over and took him hard, deep into her hungry mouth.

  Hearing his sharp, quick grunt, she rolled her eyes up to see his face. His eyes were squeezed tight, his lips parted in ecstasy. It thrilled her that her mouth on him was bringing him such pleasure.

  His taste, a slightly soapy-salty-sweet tang, fed her hunger and accelerated her desire, both for him and for what she was doing to him. She alternated strong sucks with long licks up and down his rod, letting her tongue swirl over his cockhead, lapping the pre-cum at his slit like a hungry kitten laps cream.

  His wetness triggered her own. Her pussy was pooling moisture between her legs, weeping for attention—from his fingers, his tongue, the fucking delicious cock in her mouth.

  Fuck! She had Noah’s massive cock in her mouth, and he was rocking his hips back and forth toward her, demanding his release. She tightened her lips around his girth and sucked hard, feeling the drag of his slick flesh as he fucked her mouth.

  This moment was a dream come true, and when Noah’s cock swelled and pulsed and his breathing became short and choppy, she realized it was seconds from getting even better.

  “Ah, fuck, Claire,” he said, and a glance upward showed her he was mesmerized by the sight of his cock disappearing into her mouth then partially reappearing, like an impressive magic trick. Finding her eyes on his seemed to be what pushed him over.

  “I’m coming. I’m fucking…ahhhhh, Claire, ahhhh, baby.” Then he growled like the wolf he was and shot his hot, thick cum deep into her mouth.

  Not wanting to waste a drop of his precious essence, she had positioned his cockhead at the opening of her throat so she could swallow in time with his shots.

  He shuddered and stabbed a final time into her before stilling. Her mouth softened its grip, but her lips and tongue continued their slow, loving strokes to finish him off completely. Only then did she ease back and search his face to determine how he was feeling about this leap out of the friend zone.

  A look of pure bliss had softened those silver eyes to a silky gray, and she could almost see the tension rising from his body like wisps of smoke curling into the night air.

  “You okay?” she asked as she tucked his well-sucked cock back into his boxers.

  He smiled and reached for her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her fully, giving his answer, showing his appreciation. Continuing the kiss, he laid her back on the seat, and she felt his hands at her shorts. He unsnapped them. Unzipped them. Then broke the kiss to focus on easing them down her hips, her thighs, her legs, and off.

  His hands slid up to her bent knees and spread her thighs, opening her barely covered pussy to his gaze and touch. Like she’d done with him, he boldly leaned in, head between her legs, and mouthed her panty-covered mound. At the shock and joy of his touch, a rough groan left her throat and she arched up against his mouth.

  Noah slid his finger beneath the soft, damp material of her panties and into her wetness. While he stroked her slick tunnel, he mouthed her pussy lips and her clit, which was standing needy at attention, ready to be sucked and flicked. Her hands rose to her breasts, feeling herself up to add to the mind-blowing pleasure he was building at her core.

  “Ahh, Noah,” she murmured and opened her eyes to watch him devour her. The overhead light let her see everything her best friend was doing to her, and seeing it sent her barreling toward her climax. But she wanted to come in his mouth, on his tongue, not in her panties.

  As if he’d read her mind, his hands went to the waistband of her panties and looped a finger on either side of the scrap of lace, ready to strip it from her body.

  Suddenly too vulnerable, too out of control, she stopped him, her hands on his. “I can
do it.” Her voice and her body trembled.

  “Yes, but I’m going to do it,” he said and quickly slid her panties off and let them join her shorts on the floorboard. His hands again gripped her thighs. “Because I want to eat your sweet little pussy.”

  She whimpered at his words and spread her legs wider for him, urging his mouth to keep his promise. She groaned as he licked and lathed her slick flesh, each swipe streaking heat and need through her. He sucked her clit, then flicked and flitted his tongue over it, again and again, her body tightening and soaring with every touch.

  Suddenly she felt too hot, too feverish, too out of control. Her body was not her own. It belonged to the man lying between her legs, his mouth sending her to her limits.

  “Please don’t stop,” she gasped.

  In response, he renewed his efforts until she was clenching her bottom lip between her teeth at the intense pleasure surging through her. Everything around her blurred except for the wolf between her legs, ravaging her pussy.

  Another perfect stroke triggered her climax, and she released all control, letting him take her all the way. Her throat opened up in a loud, long cry, and her body arched up against his mouth to ensure he pulled every quiver from her.

  Her heart pounded in her head as her spent body melted into the seat, still connected to this world only by the continued gentle lap of Noah’s talented tongue.

  “Noah. Noah.” Eyes heavy, she sighed his name, no energy left to talk or even close her liquified thighs although he’d already risen and stood over her, looking down at her satiated body with a wet, satisfied grin. Fuck, she loved this man.

  ****

  Sitting next to Noah on the seat, his arm around her shoulders, it felt like she’d found her true place in life. She grinned at the joy invigorating her and let her gaze return to his profile, his mouth, his lips that tasted like her. Her body flushed when she thought about everything that mouth of his had done to her minutes earlier and everything it would do to her minutes after they got to the lake house.

  They drove over a slight rise, and there it was. The lake and lake house where she’d spent so many summers with Noah and his family. She tried not to think about the fact that this might be one of her last if her plan didn’t work.