Seven Sleepless Nights
: Chapter 10

NOAH MESSINA

In the movies, when wives threw cups at their husbands’ heads, they always missed by a country mile and the argument ended with them kissing passionately and quickly making up.

Not in my world.

Not with my wife.

Teagan’s aim was fucking perfect and I staggered backwards when the china teacup hit me square between the eyes. The porcelain shattered into a million pieces from the impact of it imploding against my skull before spraying all over our kitchen floor.

‘Jesus Christ,’ my best friend, Lucky, choked out, falling off the stool beside me in his bid to replace cover. ‘Run, Noah,’ he commanded. ‘Fucking haul ass, man.’

‘Yeah, you better run, turncoat,’ Teagan snarled, stalking into our kitchen, looking every inch the adorable lunatic I knew her to be, with a double breast pump bustier attached to her chest – or a double titty milker, as Colton liked to call it. All I knew was that it was fuck-off expensive and helped my wife nurse our daughter when her mastitis flared up. ‘Because I know you put him up to this!’

‘Was that necessary?’ I snarled, pressing my fingers to my forehead and then growling when I felt the familiar dampness of blood. ‘Goddammit, Thorn. You’re a fucking lunatic!’

‘And you’re a lying bastard!’ she snarled, stalking forward with a side plate in her hand.

‘Thorn!’ I slipped around the other side of the island and grabbed the laptop. ‘Back the fuck up, baby,’ I warned, holding it up like a shield. ‘Don’t even think about –’

Crash.

‘That’s my computer!’ she screamed, watching as it dropped to the ground, right along with the shattered side plate she’d tried to maim me with.

‘And that’s my head you just split open, you little fruitcake!’ I yelled back at her, feeling droplets of blood trickle down my brow. ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

‘Yeah, well, you need to get used to bleeding again, don’t you?’ she sneered, looking wholly enraged. ‘What do you think is wrong with me, Mister fucking Machine Messina.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘Mister comeback kid himself.’ Her scowl deepened. ‘Mister fucking cage fighter who doesn’t tell his wife shit anymore!’

Oh shit.

I paled. ‘Thorn, just calm down.’ I held my hands up. ‘I was going to tell you.’

‘Oh, you were?’ Furious, she prowled towards me. ‘When did you plan on doing that, Noah? When you were back in the fucking cage?’

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Lucky reach up from under the island, grab the knife stand, and move it far away from my recently post-partum wife.

I sagged in relief.

Thank fuck for that.

‘Baby –’ Holding my hands up, I tried to placate her, but let’s be honest; trying to placate a hormonal Teagan was like trying to cuddle a starving lion. ‘It’s a title shot that comes with a shit ton of money whatever the outcome. I couldn’t just walk away from it.’

‘There will be no title shot,’ my wife spat, closing the space between us to shove me in the chest. ‘Because you are retired! As in R. E. T. I. R. E. D and if you don’t phone that jackass boss of yours up, you’ll be Dolly Parton-ed.’

‘Dolly Parton-ed?’

‘D. I. V. O. R. C. E. D,’ Teagan hissed, hands clamped firmly on her hips. Meanwhile, I was struggling to give the argument my full attention when the motorized part of the breast pump machine strapped to her hip continued to rumble while the bustier and the two plastic containers attached drew milk from her nipples. ‘Me and little J.O.E will be skedaddling out of here.’

‘Your son’s name is Finn,’ Lucky reminded her from his hiding spot behind the island. ‘Just saying…’

‘And you don’t live here anymore so feel free to leave at any time,’ she shot back, turning her prickly sarcasm on him. ‘Just saying…’

‘Wait.’ I frowned in confusion, bringing my focus back to the matter at hand. ‘Who’s J.O.E?’

‘It’s in the song,’ Teagan ground out, swinging her attention back to me. ‘Google it.’

I made a mental note to do just that – after I performed some cutting-edge damage control on my little ball of hormones. ‘Thorn, you know I’ve been thinking about coming out of retirement for a while now. We’ve talked about it, baby. I thought you were warming up to the idea.’

‘I was humoring you,’ she countered huffily. ‘Like I humor our son when he asks for a pet shark. It doesn’t mean I’m seriously considering the notion.’

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Humoring me? What am I – four?’

‘Well, you sure as hell act like it.’ Temper tears filled her eyes. ‘You’re not going back in the cage and that’s final.’

‘Thorn…’

‘It’s not happening, Noah,’ she growled, hands moving to rest on the plastic containers full of breast milk. ‘I forbid it.’

‘Not even for thirty-five?’

‘Not even –’ Her words broke off and she paused, tears trickling down her cheeks. ‘Wait… when you say thirty-five, you’re not talking about thousands, are you?’

I smirked. ‘No, baby.’

‘Well shit,’ she sniffled, eyes glued to mine. ‘That changes things, huh?’

My grin widened. ‘I know.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Lucky muttered, casually slinking back on his stool now that the imminent danger was gone. ‘Thirty-five million dollars for one fight.’ He blew out a whistle. ‘I’m in the wrong damn business.’

Lost in thought and strangely silent, Teagan continued to stare up at me for several moments before shaking her head. ‘Nope.’ Sniffling, she wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘There’s not enough money in the world that can make me change my mind about this –’

‘I’m doing it, Thorn.’

‘We’re a team.’ Her brown eyes turned to slits. ‘We make our decisions together.’

‘Not this time.’ Folding my arms across my chest, I glared right back at her. ‘I’ve got this, Thorn. I’m in the best shape of my life, and that money will set our grandkids up, never mind our own –’

‘Grandkids that you won’t be around to see if something bad happens,’ she reminded me, defiance wafting from her in waves.

‘Bad shit happens every day,’ I countered. ‘We can’t prevent that, but I am trained to fight, Thorn. I can control that, and you know that I’m safer in a goddamn cage than anywhere else. Fighting is what I’m programed to do.’

‘Then stay home and fight with me!’ she hissed, throwing her hands up. ‘We don’t need more money.’

‘Thorn, you know I love to spar with you, but I need this.’ I stared hard at her, willing my wife to hear me – to see what I needed so badly. ‘I need this for me, baby,’ I repeated. ‘I really fucking do.’

‘It’s like that, huh?’

‘Yeah, Thorn. It is.’

‘Ugh.’ Groaning in frustration, she did a little shimmy-shake and stamped her feet. ‘You’re an asshole.’

‘But you love him,’ Lucky offered, not bothering to hide his smile.

She sagged in defeat and nodded. ‘But I love you.’

I mentally grinned in victory.

This was as close to having her blessing as I was going to get.

‘Do you want to hug it out, Thorn?’

‘Maybe.’ She shrugged sheepishly. ‘Do you want a band-aid for your, uh, head?’

Rolling my eyes, I closed the space between us and pulled the little viper into my arms. ‘Maybe.

TEAGAN MESSINA

‘Let’s roll, wife,’ Noah announced, sauntering into our bedroom later that night, fresh from a shower. ‘It’s eight-thirty. The kids are sleeping. The house alarm is on. My nephews have been banished back to The Hill. Are you ready to fuck?’

‘Oh my god.’ Tossing the remote down, I rolled off our bed and landed on my hands and knees with a loud thud. ‘Is this what we’ve come to?’ I groaned, hoisting my fat ass up before smoothing down my vomit scented shirt. ‘Scheduled shagging?’

Shrugging, Noah placed the baby monitor down on the night stand and whipped his wife-beater over his head. ‘It was your idea,’ he offered, tossing the shirt in the laundry hamper I was supposed to sort through earlier – but didn’t – before moving for his sweats. ‘We can fuck, or we can just order in some Chinese and pass out on the couch.’ He dropped his sweats. ‘Netflix and a coma?’

‘No, no, we can fuck,’ I sighed, eyeing the bulge of the beast. ‘But I smell,’ I warned, yanking my shirt off. ‘I haven’t showered in like three days, and I’m leaking breast milk.’ That was a lie. I had showered this morning, but with a preschooler, a toddler, and three-month old to care for, it may as well have been days instead of hours.

‘Oh baby, I love it when you talk dirty,’ he shot back with a wink. ‘Such a turn on.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Rolling my eyes, I padded over to him and gestured to my saggy-skinned belly. ‘Okay, buddy. You’ve got exactly twenty-seven minutes to make me feel good before the Kardashians come on.’

Noah cocked a brow. ‘Twenty-seven minutes? Your show doesn’t start until nine.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ I blew out a breath and reached behind my back to unsnap my nursing bra and free the girls. ‘But you’ll need at least three minutes to get my snacks.’ I smiled sweetly up at him. ‘You know how hungry I get when I’m post-horny.’

‘Well, I’m present-horny, which means I’m gonna eat that pussy, and then I’m gonna eat your sexy little ass, so you might wanna record your show, Thorn.’

My eyes widened. ‘Jesus Christ, Noah!’

‘Mom jeans off, Thorn,’ he ordered, prowling towards me, ‘And get on your back.’

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

God.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quickly stripped off my jeans and panties before diving onto our California King bed. ‘You’re so fucked up,’ I told him, unable to wipe the smile from my face, as I rolled onto my back.

‘If I’m fucked up, then what does that make you?’ Noah chuckled, wasting no time in pinning me to the mattress with his big body.

‘Your fucked-up lover,’ I replied, stretching up to press a kiss to the curve of his stubbly jaw. ‘I’m still mad by the way. About you coming out of retirement? Yeah, I’m so not over or okay with it.’

He sighed heavily. ‘Can we pause it? At least for tonight?’

‘Yeah.’ I sighed right back at him. ‘I’m too horny to use hurting words.’

‘Good,’ he agreed, nuzzling my neck with his lips. ‘Now, quick; sit on my face before one of our devil-spawn wakes up.’

I was sprawled out on top of my husband, my legs spread wide open, knees on either side of Noah’s face, as he fucked me with his tongue. He used one hand to thumb my clit, while the other was busy fingering my ass, and I honestly couldn’t cope with the sensations rushing through my body.

Moaning around the thick ridge of his shaft, I took him deeper in my mouth, forcing back the urge to gag when the broad head of his cock slapped against the back of my throat.

I was too close, the pressure he was creating inside of me about to burst with every touch to that little bundle of nerves or flick of his tongue, but I wanted to get him there first.

Rocking on his face, I reached down and cupped his balls in my hand, resting my weight on the hand I had wedged on the mattress.

I went free-falling closer to the edge as Noah slid his finger deeper inside my ass and suctioned his lips around my clit, and it took all my will power to not explode.

Swallowing down a jolt of pre-cum, I sucked my lips in, pulling tighter on his shaft and rolling his balls in my hand until I felt his body tremble violently beneath me.

A hot explosion erupted in my mouth, heat spurting down my throat, as his thrusts became jerky. I swallowed him down, milking every last drop of him with my lips and tongue.

Tearing my mouth away, I fell back on my knees, still fisting his cock in my hands as I rode his face, my entire body jolting with every delicious invasion of his tongue as he speared my pussy.

Restless and impatient, I dragged my hand up and down his shaft, desperate for the dirty, fucking carnal way he made me feel. I felt him switch from a semi to rock hard between my fingers and I longed to drag him between my legs and have him fuck me until I couldn’t see straight. I craved the invasive feeling of him inside of me. He was too big for me, too much, and I loved the feel of him breaking me in.

‘I’m gonna come,’ I cried out, banging my hips down on his face, unable to take the sensations as they echoed through my core. A slow spasm began to build inside of me, sending mini vibrations through my body. ‘Noah, I’m so fucking close…’

My flesh ignited in a flush of burning heat when I felt his teeth tug on my clit. He slid a second finger inside me and I went off like a firework, coming hard on his face.

‘Jesus,’ I strangled out, breathing hard and fast, as I rolled onto my back beside him. ‘My ears are ringing.’ Exhaling a shuddering breath, I twisted my face to look at my husband. ‘You tongue-fucked me so good, it messed with my hearing.’

‘Hmm,’ Noah mused. ‘Pity it didn’t mess with your ability to speak.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Nothing, baby.’

Nuzzling into his chest, I suckled on his taut flesh. I knew that was his weak spot, that small slither of skin on his collar bone. The low growl of approval that tore from Noah’s throat caused my clit to throb with anticipation.

He was so fucking beautiful that it hurt.

All I wanted to do was lie on my back and have him fuck me.

Thankfully, my husband was a like a finely tuned machine; untiring and relentless.

In one swift move, he was on top of me again, hips nestling between my thighs, cock thick, hard, and ready for round two, as he ran his tongue up the length of my neck, stopping to suckle and bite on my flesh. He was caging me in, letting me know in no uncertain terms who was running the show.

Fine by me, I thought to myself, I could take a night off.

Not interested in another round of foreplay, Noah covered my mouth with his and slid home, pushing himself deep inside of me. The movement was so comforting that we both groaned in unison. I knew that comforting was a weird phrase to define the sensation of having your husband enter you, but that’s how I felt. My connection with this man was on a deeper level than anything I’d ever experienced before.

Sure, we fought like a pair of rowdy teenagers most days, but the man had saved me. Hell, he was still saving me. Daily. He never gave up on me. No matter what I said or did. I never had that before. When my mother died, I kind of gave up on the idea of unconditional love. It was something I’d felt once, but once she passed away, I pushed it to the back of my mind and moved on.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would replace that comfort and acceptance from the hostile boy next door. The boy that drove me batshit crazy and close to the brink of insanity.

But I did.

When we lost Einín and I completely fell apart, Noah was grieving, too, and still, he continued to push me, to make me rise, make me live. He kept my heart beating. And now I was here, happy to breathe again, because of him. Because he refused to give up on me. Because he refused to live in a world without me in it.

Noah Messina quite literally loved me back to life. When my world caved in on top of me, he strode into the carnage and dragged me back to the safety and protection of his arms. And now we had an army of our own. The babies he had promised to give me, he had provided. The loving home he vowed we would have, he came through. Loyalty, fidelity, love, he’d given me everything and more…

‘Noah,’ I whispered, reaching up to touch his face as he moved inside of me. ‘You have my blessing.’

‘Thorn.’ A pained groan escaped him and he pressed his brow to mine. ‘Fuck, Thorn…’

‘When you come out of retirement, I’m going to be right by your side,’ I continued, feeling my eyes burn with emotion as he continued to make my body float with sensation. ‘And every time you step foot in that cage, I’m going to be in your corner, cheering you on.’

‘Thorn.’ His lips landed on mine; hard, hot, and a little desperate.

‘Because you matter to me,’ I whispered, kissing him back. ‘Because you’re everything to me.’

‘Noah! Get the hell in here!’ I screamed an hour later, unable to feel my body.

Unable to feel a goddamn thing.

Trembling from head to toe, I fought to balance myself on the edge of the bathtub.

My heart was racing, my eyes trained on the evil bastard prowling towards me.

‘You’re going to die, you imposturous freak,’ I hissed and then yelped loudly. ‘You and every member of your family!’

‘What?’ Noah demanded, barging into the bathroom and almost blowing the door clean off the hinges in the process. ‘What’s wrong?’

Even though I was in the middle of a personal crisis, I had to stop and take a moment to appreciate how fucking handsome my husband actually was.

Noah stood in the middle of our ensuite bathroom, clad only in a pair of black boxers, with one hand in his just fucked hair – courtesy of yours truly – and the other hand curled around the trigger of a gun.

‘Jesus Christ, Thorn,’ he growled, eyes landing on me. ‘I thought you were dying in here.’

‘Kill him!’ I demanded – okay, I screamed at the top of my lungs – as I pointed at the huge hairy spider in my bathtub. ‘I want him dead!’

‘Would you shut the fuck up?’ he whisper-hissed, eyes bulging. ‘You’ll wake the damn dead with all that yodeling – not to mention the babies!’

‘You won’t be able to make any more babies if you don’t save me,’ I warned him in a threatening tone. ‘Now, be a gentleman for once in your thuggish, criminal-filled life and rescue a poor damsel in distress, dammit!’

‘Damsel my ass.’ Rolling his eyes, Noah walked over to where I was being held hostage and reached into the tub –

‘Omigod! Don’t touch him, you freak!’ I screamed, heaving in disgust. ‘Take his life, Noah. Do it. Be brutal. He doesn’t deserve your mercy.’

‘Relax, drama queen,’ Noah shot back with a smirk, as he carried the spider out of the bathroom.

‘You did not just touch it!’ I shuddered in revulsion and clambered to my feet. ‘You better disinfect those fingers before you come near me again.’

Clad in Noah’s t-shirt and a pair of black panties, I gingerly padded downstairs after him, determined to make sure that my eight-legged attacker was gone for good.

When I reached the bottom step, Noah was closing the front door.

‘Well? Did you take his life? Hmm? Did you make him pay?’

‘Kill a defenseless spider?’ He arched a brow in disbelief. ‘And what would that make me?’

‘The best husband in all of the land,’ I replied, deadly serious.

‘I didn’t kill the damn spider, Thorn. I set it free.’

‘Ugh.’ I pressed a hand to my chest. ‘I think you broke my heart just now.’

‘You’re ridiculous,’ Noah said. ‘And weird.’ He frowned. ‘You’re ridiculously weird.’ He shook his head and I could see the wheels of his brain shift into gear. I was fairly confident that I knew what he was thinking, too. How the hell did I end up with this lunatic?

Whatever.

I owned my crazy.

Shrugging off the notion, I jumped off the bottom step and pattered into the kitchen, heart set on a big-ass bagel for a mid-night snack. My plan was thwarted, however, when a huge, tattooed arm came around me.

Hooking his arm around my waist, Noah tugged me back to him. ‘I was so fucking right all those years ago.’

‘You were?’ I breathed, eyelids fluttering when he leaned in to nuzzle my neck.

‘Yeah.’ He pressed a hot kiss to the curve of my neck. ‘The crazy in me needs the crazy in you.’ He pressed a kiss to my cheek. ‘Thank you for your blessing, Thorn. It means more than you know.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Sighing heavily, I turned around and wrapped my arms around his waist. ‘I love you, baby daddy.’

Chuckling, he tightened his arms around me. ‘I love you back, brat.’

Follow the adventures of Noah and Teagan in the Carter Kids series