Chapter 10
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 back. Sizzling eyes pierced hers. “Vocalize.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Good. Then do as I say and take your top off.”
She couldn’t move. 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 from his reclined position. 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 he intended to dig deeper. Letting him see the evidence of the broken soul 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 needed to hide.
But she couldn’t move. Something about him compelled her to stay where she was. Do as she was told because the reward would be indescribable.
“Will you break if I touch you, Leia Michaels?”
She exhaled. Inhaled. Struggled to find a modicum of the balance she’d fought so hard to regain 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 drift 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. His fingers hadn’t stopped tracing them.
From a broken acorn…
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, he trailed his mouth upward, toward his initial goal.
A different emotion slammed into her, every breath craving the impending contact.
His mouth closed over a 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 bold and heavy through his slacks.
He turned his attention to the 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 pants 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 hers, 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 experienced the melting 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, Leia 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,” she moaned.
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.”
“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 nails digging into his scalp. “Yes! Please, God, yes.”
“Shit. The more you beg, the wetter you get. You know what that does to me, sweetheart?”
“N… no.”
“It makes me want you to beg for hours until I’m drenched.”
“No! Please… Noah!”
Strong fingers trapped her clit in a pincer motion between his knuckles.
Still rubbing the back of his hand into her sex, he flicked his thumb hard and fast over her plump nub.
Just when she thought the torture couldn’t get any worse, he squeezed her harder, then drew his jaw roughly over her nipples.
Shocking pain erupted into a shower of pleasure so strong her back bowed under its 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.