Chapter 29
“Wake up, sweetheart. Lunch is here.”
Leia scrambled through clouds of sleep and warm sheets. “Don’t you mean breakfast?” She sat up and brushed back her hair. Lean, gentle hands replaced hers and took over the task.
She almost didn’t want to open her eyes because that breathlessness that knocked her sideways each time she looked at him was getting out of control.
“Open your eyes, Leia.” Unlike when they fucked, this was a gentle command.
She opened her eyes, and he smiled at her. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
His gorgeous face made her chest ache, especially when he smiled at her like that. “Hey. What time is it?”
The sun blazed through the bedroom, bathing him in white light that accentuated broad shoulders, wavy hair. Unable to resist, she caressed his face.
“It’s nearly one o’clock.”
“What?” She glanced out the French windows and frowned. “I’ve been asleep for six hours?”
His smile widened. “City-hopping and insatiable sex catches up with you eventually. You dropped like a log almost mid-orgasmic scream this morning.”
Her face flamed. They’d barely checked into their hotel in Cannes last night before he dragged her into the bedroom where he surprised her by letting her go on top and giving her free rein over her orgasm.
The power of her position had gone to her head.
She’d ridden him with every last ounce of energy she had, which had been nearly depleted after the bathroom episode in Vienna and the dash two hours later to the airport to board the jet.
“Come on, the food’s getting cold.” He drew back the sheets and held out his hand.
She got up, semi-conscious of her disheveled state next to the sharply pressed black slacks and open-necked white shirt he wore. He caught her close, curled his hand around her throat and kissed her deep and long. A little of her agitation evaporated.
Pulling away, he tugged her to the dressing room of their Louis XIV decorated suite and grabbed another pristine white shirt from the hanger. He waited till she pushed her arms through and buttoned it up. “That should do for now. You can get dressed after we eat.”
The Indigo Lounge Cannes sat on La Croisette Boulevard and overlooked the perfect blue waters of the French Riviera. From their penthouse balcony, the view to the marina on the right was picture perfect, small sailboats and launches slipping between fuck-off yachts with practiced ease.
Noah pulled out a chair and she sat down. At the far end of the table, a laptop and papers were spread where he’d been working. He strode over, picked up the hotel phone and spoke in rapid French.
She watched him pad back to her, his body relaxed but no less smoldering.
He nodded at her plate. “I took a gamble and aimed for somewhere between frogs legs and escargots, and burger and fries.”
“I’ve braved the former and yep, it’s an experience I’d rather pass. The latter is a weakness I’m trying to stay away from.” She lifted the lid on her plate, inhaled the aromas and smiled. “Almost perfect.”
He relaxed in his seat and raised a brow. “What did I get wrong?”
“Stuffed peppers with chicken and the truffle scrambled eggs—yum. The roasted zucchini, not so much.”
He picked up the serving spoon, lifted the zucchini off her plate and onto his, and replaced it with two of his stuffed peppers. Then he poured a glass of chilled Sancerre and passed it to her.
“Is this going to cost me?” she joked.
He winked. “Of course, baby. But nothing you won’t be dying to pay.”
Leia thanked her lucky stars she was seated. The power behind his smile hit her like a blow to the gut and radiated throughout her body.
She’d noticed that he’d been smiling more in the last twelve hours, and she couldn’t help but think the bathroom episode had something to do with it.
His words rushed through her head, filling her with equal parts excitement and apprehension.
Could she survive Noah King in the outside world, away from this ephemeral bubble they’d created with sex?
Despite what she’d revealed so far, he didn’t know nearly enough about her to make the declarations he’d made in Vienna. But telling him any more risked bringing the ugly outside in. Not just yet…
“You’re frowning. We can order something else if you want.”
She shook her head. “No, this is great.” She picked up the cutlery and took a bite of the stuffed peppers.
With a groan of pleasure, she tucked in, not stopping until her plate was clear and the wine half finished.
She sat back against the cushioned seat and basked in the sun’s warmth.
“How long do we have before the zero gravity experience?”
“We’re not going. I cancelled it a few minutes ago.”
For some reason, a spark of irritation fizzed through her at his answer. She put her wine down. “I’m sitting right here, Noah. You could have asked me what I wanted before you cancelled it.”
His gaze narrowed on her face. “You have shadows under your eyes, and you’ve yawned three times in the last five minutes. At the very least you need to be awake for an experience like that. Otherwise it’s stupid and dangerous, and I don’t risk what’s mine.”
The possessive stamp in his voice rattled her further. “Be that as it may. I’d like a say in whatever plans you made on my behalf.”
“I want to take care of you?—”
“I can take care of myself!”
His gaze sharpened. “I get the feeling this isn’t about a cancelled trip. What’s really going on, Leia? And please do me the courtesy of not saying ‘nothing.’”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Great. Let’s hear it.”
“Last night… What you said?—”
“That you’re mine? You are.”
She swallowed. “I don’t… I’m not sure if I can be yours.”
His face froze into a taut mask, his eyes boring into her like lasers.
“Why the hell not? It isn’t arrogance to believe that you wouldn’t be here doing what you’ve been doing with me if you weren’t free to be mine.
You’re not a liar and you’re not into mind games.
But I’ll ask you anyway. Are you fucking someone else back in Miami? ”
“No!”
He visibly relaxed, but his eyes didn’t waver. “Do you plan to?”
She pressed her mouth together and shook her head.
“Vocalize, Leia. I need to hear the words.”
“Why?” she flung at him. A part of her recognized that she was picking a fight purely based on the overwhelming need to give in to what he wanted, what she’d begun to crave…
Noah King and everything he had to give her.
“You can have any woman you want, Noah. Why do you want me when you barely know anything about me?”
“I want you for the same reason you want me. For the same reason you let me tie you to the bench last night. We connect beyond the here and now. Beyond the fact that we’ve only known each other four days.
I crave your surrender. You crave my control.
I promised you the stars, and I intend to give it to you.
You just need to be brave enough to take it. ”
“My ghosts are very real, Noah.”
His fist clenched. “Those are fucking excuses.” His deep voice vibrated in the space between them.
“I warned you when we met that I don’t do light.
I never have. The one-night stands were different, but they were not light.
You don’t get to walk away because you’re scared, Leia.
So if you want out of this incredible thing we’ve created, you need to find a better deal-breaker besides your ghosts. ”
She toyed with the rim of her glass, not wanting to hope, not wanting to contemplate what awaited her back in Miami.
If she was daring to dream of the possibility of Noah in her future, there was a lot she’d have to tell him.
“Even if I was selfish enough to ask you to accommodate all my baggage, what’s to stop you hating me if I can’t accommodate yours? ”
His jaw flexed. “Explain.”
Her pulse jumped under the searing intensity of his stare.
“From what I overheard of your conversation yesterday, Ashley is waiting for you in Miami,” she blurted.
It was something she’d pushed to the back of her mind, not wanting it to taint the precious few days they had in their erotic bubble. Now it loomed large.
“My lawyers are taking care of it.”
“She doesn’t strike me as the type to let herself be handled.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she wants. One way or the other, she will be handled. She has no hold over me, Leia. Not anymore.”
“But she gets to you.”
His eyes swept down, then back up. “Yes, she does. It’s not easy to admit that she brought out traits in me that made me despise myself.
But it’s over and done with. Now, do you have any other issues you want me to address, or can I take you back to bed and remind you why you won’t be walking away when we get back to Miami? ”
He was angry. And aroused. But she caught the underlying vulnerability in his voice when he spoke of his ex.
Sure, he’d layered it with thick anger, but it was there.
Whatever number she’d done on him still festered beneath all the raw masculine alpha male posturing.
She’d wounded him. And he hated the reminder.
“You can take me back to bed.”
He shoved his chair away, and she witnessed for herself just how aroused he was. Before he could scoop her up, she placed a hand on his chest. “Some women like angry sex, Noah. I’m not one of them.”
He leaned both hands on the arms of her chair and lowered his face to hers.
“One day you’ll trust me to know exactly what you want.
You’ll trust me to know how to fuck you into a mood or out of it.
” He brushed his lips over hers. “And you’ll know that me being angry doesn’t translate to angry sex.
Sex between us is sacred. It will never be an outlet that causes distress, but a joy that lifts our souls.
Tell me you understand that?” he rasped against her lips.
She curled her hand over his heart, absorbed its steady beat, and her world tilted beneath her feet. “Yes, I do.”
He picked her up and walked her past the billowing muslin curtains that framed the French windows, past the living room with eighteenth-century chandeliers, Carrara marble floors and gilt-frame mirrors.
In their bedroom, he laid her on the rumpled sheets of their four-poster bed and started unbuttoning her shirt. Looking into his face, Leia couldn’t deny that something had shifted again between them, taken them another rung up from the bathroom incident.
Their initial white-hot chemistry was transcending into something else, something she couldn’t quite describe. The raw, unfettered need in his eyes reflected the need writhing inside her.
“Noah…”
The phone beside the bed rang, startling them both. He released the last button and sat up, reefing his hand through his hair.
“This had better be important.” He grabbed the handset and barked, “King.”
He listened for a beat. “Who is this?” His voice was less irritated, but puzzled eyes shifted to her. “It’s for you.” He held out the phone to her and leaned against the bedpost.
She sat up and pulled her shirt closed. Noah saw it and his jaw tightened.
“Hello?”
“Hello, my dear. Who’s your friend?” Warren asked.
Her gaze flicked to where Noah lounged, arms folded, narrowed blue eyes firmly on her.
“His name is Noah.”
“Does he know who you are?”
More than I would ever have believed possible. But she knew what Warren was asking: Does he know how damaged you are? Sucking in a short breath, she answered, “No. I don’t think so.”
“Will you be volunteering that information?” Warren pressed, his voice eerily unflappable.
“Maybe, I haven’t given it much thought.” Liar .
“Are you sure?”
“You taught me to trust my instincts, Warren. It doesn’t help me if you let me start questioning them.”
Noah’s interest sharpened, his eyes narrowing further.
“That wasn’t my intention. I was merely urging you to exercise caution. Don’t do anything foolish.”
Too late…
“I won’t.” She caught a strand of hair and twisted it between her fingers.
Noah rose from where he sat and prowled closer. Catching her chin in his hand, he raised her face and stared at her, his expression fierce. His sheer willpower bore down on her with compelling force. She swallowed. “Do you need anything else? I have to go.”
Warren’s pointed hesitation was a cool rebuke for rushing him. “I sent you the documents the board needs signed days ago. Production won’t start on the autumn collection until we have your signature. Your delay in returning them is unacceptable.”
His tone made her feel like a recalcitrant child. “I’m sorry, it skipped my mind.”
“If you could see to it, I’d like to have it back by close of play today.”
Demanding hands slid along her jaw and down to her throat to curl over her nape. The hold grounded her and made her soar at the same time.
“S… sure. I’ll take care of it… Bye, Warren.”
“Leia?”
“Yes?”
A tiny pause. “I’ve missed you.”
She answered with the part of her that wanted everything to stay the same. The part that fought the changes and decisions she didn’t want to make. “Me too.”
Noah took the phone and dropped it into its cradle. He parted her shirt and divested her of it. Then he undressed without taking his eyes from her.
Prowling onto the bed, he parted her thighs and settled himself between her legs. God, he felt so right there.
His thick cock probed her entrance, but he didn’t slide in. Instead, he speared his fingers into her hair and continued to stare down at her.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Who was that?”
“Warren Snyder.”
“He’s not a ghost.”
“No.”
“Is he an obstacle?”
“No. He’s my savior,” she whispered.