Chapter 14
His slack-jawed shock unequivocally rammed home to her that she’d said the words. Invited the ghosts to lunch. A shiver slammed through her, followed closely by several more.
She pushed away from the counter and strode quickly from the kitchen.
What the hell was wrong with her? She’d had the makings of what promised to be a weeklong relief from remembering everything that was fucked up in her life. Instead, she’d dragged her past kicking and screaming into the present.
Seeing the crackling fire, the rug and the champagne just waiting to launch the scenes she’d been dreaming of since she met Noah King, she froze in the middle of the room.
“Leia.” His voice was steady, strong, betraying none of the horror he must surely feel. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
Enough time had passed and the world had long since moved on from the gruesome events, which had occurred the summer of her seventeenth birthday, but she still recalled the whispers and the looks of horror on people’s faces like the images were branded on her brain.
“I’m guessing you want to call the driver?”
Firm hands gripped her arm and turned her around. His gorgeous, heart-stopping face held irritated surprise. “Why the hell would I want to do that?”
“I promised you I wouldn’t let in the ghosts. I’m sorry, I don’t… I’ve never voluntarily told anyone about this.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what came over me. I’ll understand if you want to end this before it gets too?—”
“So your past isn’t a goddamn fairy tale. Trust me, sweetheart, mine isn’t a bundle of laughs either. But I’m damned if I’ll let you walk away because you assume I can’t handle what you just said.”
“This wasn’t what you signed up for. I didn’t plan on spilling my guts.”
“I got that impression when you ran from the room. Why did you run?”
The sound that left her throat couldn’t have been deemed as laughter. “Are you serious?”
His mouth twisted. “Sure, I guess as small talk goes that was a hell of a doozy, but need I remind you again that I don’t do light?”
She looked up into his face and realized he meant it. “So this is what you wanted to know about me?”
“I want to know as much of you as you’re willing to share, sweetheart. Nothing you say to me will make me walk away.”
“Don’t to be too sure about that.”
His intense gaze probed until her skin tingled.
The hands on her arms moved up, cupping her shoulders before they caressed higher to her neck.
Both hands circled her neck in a bold and possessive hold that fractured her breathing.
One thumb tilted her chin up, and he stepped closer until his nose almost touched hers.
“ Nothing ,” he breathed. “Do you hear me?”
This close, the blue of his eyes was so mesmerizing, she couldn’t look away. And she didn’t want to, despite the real fear that Noah King could unravel her with minimum effort. “Yes.”
“Good.” He didn’t move away or release her. “So, now we’ve dealt with the small talk and thrown in a dash of heavy. Tell me what you want to do.”
The heat from his body was warming hers, burning away the cold that had invaded when she’d blurted out words she needed to keep locked away.
“I don’t want to talk anymore.”
He stilled, then his fingers tightened a touch. “No, baby. We can change the subject but you will talk. I’ll need to hear everything you’re feeling, everything you’re thinking. That’s the only way this works. Understand?”
Could she do it? She’d spilled enough in the less than twenty-four hours she’d known this man than to anyone else, besides Warren.
The police who’d investigated the incident at the time didn’t count.
Even the psychiatrist, who Warren initially hired, hadn’t been able to coax more than monosyllables from her in the three months she’d seen him.
After Dr. Hatfield, Warren had agreed with her that therapy was a waste of time.
They’d found their own way to heal.
The ease with which she vocalized her every thought to Noah frightened her.
“Leia?” His voice was a sharp blade cutting through her jumbled words. But the arms, which came around her and pulled her back into his body, were surprisingly gentle.
“Will you return the favor?” she asked before she lost her confidence.
A slow smile spread across his face. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear everything I think of you and your incredible body?”
She raised one eyebrow. “ Quid pro quo .”
He laughed, and she could’ve sworn her heart stopped. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, sweetheart.”
Closing the tiny gap between them, he kissed her.
It was hard and unapologetically demanding in a way that promised there would be no going easy.
She reveled in it, desperately in need of anything that would wipe away the memories that washed through her mind as fresh as if they’d happened moments ago.
“Hey, I’m losing you.” He bit her lower lip, pulled it into his mouth.
“I’m here,” she groaned. “Do that again,” she pleaded.
He bit her again. Harder. The shudder of pleasure rocked her to her toes. She leaned into him, eager to feel more of his hot body against hers. Hands gripping a taut bicep, she raised up on her toes and threw herself into the kiss.
His hand tightened around her throat, restricting her breathing in a way that made her treasure each breath. Stunned, she realized her senses were heightened, her pulse hammering in her head as her world grew hazy with need and desire.
Her fingers tunneled into his hair, holding on to him as pleasure screeched across her senses.
One arm circled her waist, and he lifted her high. “Put your legs around me.”
Complying brought her hot center flush with his rigid cock.
Unable to resist, she rubbed herself against him.
He stumbled after a single step and dragged his mouth from hers.
“I’m pretty sure there are condoms somewhere down here, but I don’t have time to search.
But, sweetheart, we won’t make it upstairs if you keep rubbing that sweet cunt on me like that.
So be a good girl and hang on a few minutes, okay? ”
“What if I don’t want to be a good girl?” She flexed her hips once more, the blaze in his eyes and his urgent pants empowering her in a way she hadn’t felt empowered in a long time.
He took another step toward the stairs. “Then you’ll find yourself ass up, face down in front of the fire getting the slowest, rawest roasting of your life.”
Her breath hitched and her fingers clenched in his hair at the raw, potent image his words evoked. He stopped and one brow slowly lifted. “Is that what you want?”
Leia wanted him so badly that she almost said yes. But she also had a feeling going slow the first time would drive her insane. “I’ll behave. For now.”
He laughed and carried on walking, swiftly scaling the stairs and turning into a wide hallway with two doors. He entered the right doorway and over his shoulder, Leia saw the stunning glass room opposite.
She gasped but barely managed to say a word before she was sailing through the air. Her back hit the bed, and she bounced once before Noah stayed her with a splayed hand on her belly.
“We’ll explore the rest of the place later. Right now, I need to fuck you more than I need to breathe.” He started to lift her top, then paused. “Are you ready?”
She read the concern in his eyes.
Her inadvertent confession about her past still lingered in the air. “I’m fine, Noah. I promise.”
He continued to stare down at her, his nails slowly grooving the skin above her navel, sending goosebumps racing over her body. “Once you’re naked, once I put my hands and my mouth on you, I won’t let you go.”
She grabbed the bottom of her top and slid it over her head, baring herself from the waist upwards.
His fierce growl echoed around the room. “Fuck, baby, you won the race fair and square. But please don’t drive me over the edge before I get the chance to pleasure you a little.”
In answer, she hooked her thumbs into her leggings, ready to tug them off. He stopped her with a hard grip.
“Leia!”
“Yes?”
“Slow the fuck down.”
Her gaze dropped to the hard, thick bulge between his legs, and she squirmed on the bed. “But I want you now.”
Bending forward, he kissed her. Slowly, teasing his mouth over hers, then catching her lower lip between his teeth, making her squirm harder.
“When we fuck, I will pull your hair and grab your throat. I’ll dig my fingers into you and use my teeth.
And that will be for starters. What comes after that will depend on how close you are to screaming.
Because I won’t stop until I make you scream.
And even then, Leia, I may not stop. I may be so fucking lost in your hypnotic beauty that I may go too far.
If you think you can’t handle that, or you’re not ready for that, then tell me now.
Don’t give me hope. Don’t take me to the edge and leave me there.
I’ve had that happen before. It fucking tore me apart.
So think very, very carefully before any more clothes come off. ”
“I want that, too. I want everything.”
His throat bobbed and he nodded. His thumbs replaced hers, and he started to slide her leggings off. When he paused mid-thigh, she groaned.
“You need to learn a little patience, sweetheart. Trust that I’ll give you what you need.” He planted a hard kiss on her mouth and sat back on his heels. When she started to rise, he stopped her with a look.
“Stay.”
Swallowing, Leia relaxed against the pillows and watched him lift her feet to plant them on his chest. She flexed her toes, dug them into his pecs. A hard smile twisted his lips.
“Looks like I’m going to have a tough time taming you, my little rebel.”
“You can do whatever you want to me. I just need this… first time to be quick. Please.”
He froze. “Why?”
She shook her head, supremely conscious that she’d let yet another important piece of her brokenness through. What was it about Noah King that made her lose her senses to the point of spilling her guts?
“Answer me, Leia. Or this ends now.”
She took a deep breath and scrambled to find the appropriate words that wouldn’t make him recoil from her. “The last time I did this, it wasn’t very… satisfying. I need new memories. Please.”