by Zara Cox
“If you want we can add a couple more? Private villa or private boat in Bermuda?”
The rod of tension lanced too quick for her to disguise it. Those astonishingly perceptive blue eyes started to narrow. Breathing out, she forced her body to relax. “Villa, please. I don’t like boats.”
“Sea sickness?”
“Something like that.” She deliberately kept her tone light and scrambled to banish the ugly images that threatened to flood her mind.
His expression told her he’d noticed her evasion. But he nodded. “Villa it is.” He entered the request and glanced back at her, his eyes zeroing in on her mouth. “Shall we leave the rest for later?” he murmured, his head dropping closer.
Reading his intent, her breath evaporated from her lungs. She started to nod and remembered his warning.
“Yes.”
He pressed another button and soft R&B wafted through the suite. The beats held enough of a throb to vibrate through her body. Or maybe it was just her heart beat going to overdrive at the thought of kissing Noah King again.
Whatever.
Anticipation inundated her as his lips touched hers. This kiss was different from the first. For one thing she hadn’t given herself the time to stop freaking out about the electrifying effect of his mouth before she bit him.
His tongue traced the outline of her mouth, breached her open lips to graze over her teeth. She barely managed to curb the overwhelming need to bite him again.
What the heck was wrong with her? When had the thought of biting anyone become a turn on? But she’d bitten this man. And he’d bled.
She touched the tip of her tongue to the tiny cut on his lip. His shudder echoed hers.
He broke away and stared at her, his breathing harsh and uneven. Pure, unadulterated lust arced between them setting off sparks she could almost see dancing in the air.
“God.” She realized she’d vocalized the wonder burning inside her.
He nodded once. “You see how this could never be light between us, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said huskily.
His hand crept over her nape, gripped her harder as he pressed closer. Sprawling back against the seat, he tugged her over him until she straddled him.
Then he proceeded to explore every exposed inch of her. Her neck. Her arms. The small of her back bared by her forward tilted stance. She gasped with each touch of his warm, rough hands.
Then his hand circled her throat again. That possessive, powerful hold did things to her she couldn’t coherently describe. It was a statement of ownership that was also oddly soothing. He pressed gently, until she could feel each heartbeat through his fingers.
Any thought that she would in any way be in control because she was on top evaporated when his other hand curved over her waist, imprisoning her against him.
Slowly, he pulled her down and took her mouth again. But this time he controlled the kiss. He gave her just enough to make her whimper shamelessly.
“Please.”
He gave in to her plea, deepened the kiss, let her hands wander feverishly over his chest, shoulders, her fingers spear through his silky dark hair before he pulled his mouth from hers with a deep groan. “Jesus, baby. Kissing you is like standing in a field in the middle of a fucking lightning storm.”
She emerged from a sensual haze long enough to notice her top was slipping off one shoulder...that the tops of her breasts were exposed to his heated gaze.
He traced a finger over her left breast and snagged it in the corner of her top. She noticed the faint trembling in his hand and her breath caught.
“Take it off.”
“I thought our clothes were staying on?”
“I said my clothes would stay on. I didn’t say yours would. I didn’t say I wouldn’t spread you over me and let you ride me until I came in my pants like a fucking teenager. And I sure as hell didn’t promise not to finger you to orgasm and taste your sweet cunt as you lost your mind. Did I?”
Chapter Ten
The rough, filthy words washed over Leia and another jagged shudder ripped her from head to toe. Her fingers convulsed on his hard-muscled shoulders, her nails digging deep.
He stared into her eyes as he passed his thumb over her silk covered nipple, then caught the bud and squeezed hard, wringing a cry from her. “Did I, baby?”
She shook her head jerkily.
He curled his fingers into her hair and pulled her away from his neck. Sizzling eyes pierced hers. “Vocalize.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Good. Then take your top off before I rip it off.”
She couldn’t move. Because what he was doing to her skin was mesmerizing. Paralyzing enough to keep her locked on top of him.
“Leia.” The command was rough. Implacable.
“I-I can’t move.”
Blue eyes, dark and swirling with turbulent emotion captured hers. “Need help?”
“Yes.”
He rose slowly from his reclined position until he was sitting upright. His hands covered hers on his shoulder, meshed his fingers through hers and lifted her arms over her head.
“Stay.” He removed his fingers from hers and grasped the edge of her top.
Leia swallowed. In a few seconds, she would be naked from the waist up.
He’d see.
Every self-preserving instinct screamed at her to stop him before it was too late. He’d told her intended to dig deeper. Letting him see the evidence of her broken spirit she was trying desperately to piece back together would make him demand answers.
Because Noah King wasn’t a man who glided blithely through life. He wasn’t a man who would ignore the questions right in front of him.
He would see.
He lifted her top a few inches, then stopped. “Hell...baby, you’re wound so tight. I’m almost afraid to touch you in case you splinter into a million pieces.”
She wanted to slam her hands on his; stop him from uncovering the secrets she desperately wanted to hide.
But she couldn’t move. Something about him compelled her to stay where she was. Do as she was told. Because something told her the reward would be indescribable.
“Will you break if I touch you, Leia Michaels?”
She exhaled. Inhaled. Fought to find a modicum of the control she’d fought so hard to grasp these past five years.
“I won’t break,” she whispered. Pleaded. “Touch me.”
Keeping her gaze trapped, he slowly lifted her top over her head. “Keep your hands up.”
Both hands braced on her back now, he lowered his gaze. His eyes widened ever so slightly and he swallowed. “No bra.” He looked back up. “Why?”
She fought not to squirm under the heated force of his regard. “Don’t need one. My breasts are too small...”
“Your breasts are fucking perfect.”
He started to lean forward, his mouth parting. Her nipples puckered, anticipation straining every nerve in her body.
At the last moment he froze. Leia almost groaned in pain but another fiercer anxiety washed over her as he tilted his head to the left side of her body. Her skin burned when his eyes zeroed in on the single line of writing marring her ribcage.
Heart racing, she watched his fingers slowly drifted over the tattoo. He read the words, absorbed them. Then he looked up at her. The question in his eyes was unmistakable.
She shook her head, pleading silently with him not to ruin the moment.
“Vocalize,” he rasped, his voice low and thick with questions.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Don’t ask me. Please, Noah. Not right now.”
His gaze went back to the words. The words his fingers hadn’t stopped tracing. Gripping her waist tight with his left hand, he tilted her sideways.
When she realized his intent, her heart slammed wildly against her ribs. “No.”
“Yes.”
He kissed her there, right where the words were etched into her skin. His hot mouth anointed the
words, before his tongue traced each letter.
When he was done, his trailed his mouth upward, toward his initial goal.
A different emotions slammed into her, her every breath craving the contact she knew was coming.
His mouth closed over her nipple and she cried out. Shivers of delight coursed through her as his mouth worried the nerve-sensitized bud. He suckled. He grazed, then caught it between his teeth, groaning deep when her whole body convulsed in helpless reaction. She didn’t realize her hips were grinding into his erection until hard hands gripped her waist, forcing her down further onto the thick cock outlined boldly through his trousers.
He turned his attention to her other nipple and liquid heat dampened her panties. Raging need pooled between her legs, her clit swelling and rubbing urgently against the seam of her trousers with each pump of her hips.
“Holy fuck. You’re so goddamn hot.”
He flicked open the button on her leather pants and pulled down the zipper.
Keeping his eyes on her, he slid his fingers into her panties and grazed her clit with his middle finger.
She jerked, her mouth dropping open to suck in precious air.
“You like that?”
“Hmmm.” His finger stilled. Compelling blue eyes probed hers until she found her voice. “Yes, I like that.”
He moved the digit. Toyed with her nerve-engorged flesh.
Leia felt the melting radiate from her core outward. Molten and all encompassing, pleasure drowned her from that simple touch of his finger on her clit.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she rocked her hips in time to the sensual drumbeat.
“What else do you like, Leia Michaels?” he crooned against her skin, the rough stubble of his jaw creating delicious friction between her breasts.
She wanted that friction elsewhere. Between her thighs. But there was no way she was capable of moving off his lap right now. Besides, she was certain she wouldn’t last that long. Not this first time. The pleasure was already too overwhelming.
So she did the next best thing.
Shifting sideways, she clamped one hand in his hair and tried to move him to her nipple.
His superior strength thwarted her easily, merciless eyes drilling a refusal into her.
She whimpered. “Please.”
“You beg me for more even as you get wetter. Why do you need more, baby?”
She ground harder into him, pain chasing pleasure as the storm built faster and more ferocious inside her. “I want...”
“Tell me.”
“I want to come. Now.”
“Why?” he demanded, giving her just enough to keep her going but not enough to break the storm.
Her fingers convulsed in his hair, a sob rising in her throat when he whisper-grazed his stubble over her nipple for a bare instant before he pulled away. “Because it hurts.”
Electric heat lit his eyes. A thin sheen of sweat broke over his forehead and his mouth parted as he continued to drink in her reaction to his touch. “I want it to hurt a little more, baby. Can you take it?”
She shook her head, her senses screeching at her not to risk losing so much control.
A look of disappointment settled over his face. Terrified he would stop she grabbed him tighter. “I’m willing to...try.”
He immediately changed the angle of his touch. Two fingers slid on either side of her clit, his knuckles digging into her bones with enough pressure to snap her teeth into a tight clench. “Oh God!”
One hand splayed over her lower back, holding her steady as he teased her with a merciless rubbing that shoved dry sobs into her throat.
“Tell me how you feel, sweetheart,” he demanded hoarsely.
“I feel...tight, like I’m on a leash. It’s...it’s tightening and I can’t break free...”
Another fleeting pass of his stubble over her nipple. The coil wound tighter.
“Do you want me to set you free, baby?”
Her fingers convulsed in his hair, her nail digging into his scalp. “Yes! Please, God, yes.”
“Shit. The more you beg, the wetter you get. You know what does to me, sweetheart?”
“N...no.”
“It makes me want to make you beg for hours.”
“No! Please...Noah!”
Strong fingers pincered her clit, trapping the throbbing nub between his knuckles. Still rubbing the back of his hand into her sex, he flicked his thumb hard and fast over her clit. Just when she thought the torture couldn’t get any worse, he squeezed her harder, then played his jaw hard over her nipples.
Shocking pain erupted into a shower pleasure so strong her back bowed under the intensity. From beyond the realms of comprehension she heard the rip of clothing and the sharp hiss of pain. But she was flying, the extreme rush of her orgasm beyond anything she’d ever experienced.
Chapter Eleven
The haze washing across his vision threatened to drown him. With each second that passed, Noah was further drawn into the certainty that she was made for him and him alone. The one who could pull him from the dark spiral of cloying hunger.
He opened his eyes and watched her. Her gorgeous lips were parted as she desperately tried to pull in oxygen. The resulting frantic heaves of her chest brought his attention to her magnificent breasts.
Shit, could he use any more adjectives? The word perfect didn’t exist for him because as far as he was concerned nothing would ever achieve that status in his eyes.
And yet, witnessing Leia’s orgasm, that word sprang into his mind and grew as he watched the flush spread deeper across her skin, heard her soft moans as her body continued to bow under the extreme power of her release.
His gaze drifted down, over the silky soft skin of her belly that belied the taut muscles that spoke of a physical care regime. The same went for her thighs. All through her exquisite writhing, she’d clamped him hard, gripping him as if she’d never let go.
Trailing back up her body, his gaze locked on the tattoo and the questions tumbling through his mind froze on one question.
What the hell had happened to her?
The overwhelming need to know drove the last of the haze from his brain. Even though his cock throbbed with an almost life-threatening demand to fuck, he smashed down the need and helped her up.
The globes of her breasts were redder, as were her nipples, from the rough treatment of his jaw. A primitive part of him gloried at marking her this way but the urge to stamp his possession all over her had him turning his hand to cup her soaked sex.
She jerked upright, her wide eyes clashing with his. “I can’t.”
“You can and you will. But not right now.”
A wave of relief washed over her face. “So does this count as my first high?”
He cracked a smile. “This is a bonus. Call it a trial run before we get down to the double highs of extreme skiing and extreme fucking tomorrow.”
She swallowed and gave another little shudder.
Unable to drive the question from his mind, he glanced back at the tattoo.
She tensed. He gripped her harder between her legs and her breath puffed out.
“I warned you I don’t do light, sweetheart. Did you think I was joking?”
Her breath fractured. “No, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bare my everything to you so soon.”
He knew she wasn’t talking just physically. Knew too that what had happened between them had been outside of the norm for either of them.
The urge to plunge a finger inside her, test her tightness rushed through him. He barely managed to stop himself. If he gave in, confirmed just how snug and lush she was, he’d never leave this suite tonight. He contented himself with rubbing her slick heat.
“You’ve just proved that you can handle the deep end, Leia. And you knew I would need to know more the moment you took your top off.”
She shuddered. Whether it was from his harsh demand or from his relentless rubbing, he wasn’t entirely sure. “What do you want from me, Noah?
”
He looked up, his senses reeling at her mingled vulnerability and beauty as his fingers grazed over her ribcage. “I don’t want to wonder about this when I fuck you. I want to see your eyes fill with pleasure and not shadows I can see in them now. That may be asking too much too soon, but I warned you I was a greedy bastard. I want to make you scream in pleasure that’ll make you forget why you’re broken. If only for a while.”
“Why is that so important to you?”
For all his hard demands, Noah wasn’t prepared for that question. Nor was he ready for the words that spilled from his mouth. “Because for the next seven days you’re mine. And I absolutely refuse to share you with ghosts.”
***
Leia fought not to panic at the implacable demand in his voice. She was no longer helpless, no longer the girl who’d cowered in the corner, biting her nails until they bled because she believed the madness in her world was all her fault.
Noah King had no right to make demands of her.
Her ghosts were her business, her secrets to keep.
So why was she still firmly in his lap? Why wasn’t she freeing herself from that compelling, possessive hold and bidding him a firm, curt goodnight that would make Warren proud?
Warren.
What would the man she’d let assume a huge role in her life think of all of this?
Take control. Keep control...
The fingers between her thighs moved, demanded her attention. A helpless shudder ripped through her, powerful despite the tsunami-proportioned orgasm that had flattened her moments ago.
She looked into steady, hot blue eyes and forced down a swallow.
“I won’t lie to you, Noah. The ghosts are real and present. But they won’t be a problem between us. I won’t let them.”
He opened his mouth and she placed her fingers on his lips. “Please. Trust me.”
His eyes darkened and he stared at her for several heartbeats before he nodded. “Tell me one thing.”
She exhaled. “Okay.”
He touched the side of her head, then gently probed her mouth to graze his forefinger over her tongue piercing. “Did these come before or after your ghosts arrived?”
“The piercing was before. The hair was much later. Six months ago.”