Chapter 31
I’ve got us.
Leia tried to stem the giddiness in her heart but failed completely. A full day and a half after Warren’s call and her conversation with Noah and her breath still caught each time she replayed those three little words.
She adjusted the off-the-shoulder diamante strap of the cream designer Grecian gown, which she’d bought in Cannes for the masked ball, and tried to stop the stupid smile from spreading across her face.
After shattering her completely with slow, sizzling lovemaking yesterday, Noah had collapsed onto the bed and pulled her close.
In the bathroom in Cannes, she’d been so busy absorbing the flood of sensation that came from breaking her sexual boundaries that she hadn’t taken the time to savor the pure bliss of Noah taking her skin-to-skin.
Yesterday had remedied that, had shown her the sublime beauty of feeling him within her without barrier.
When he came inside her, she’d cried all over again.
Noah’s face too had held a stunned wonder that echoed through her.
The profound feeling had silenced them for a long time, until Noah had brushed his mouth across hers and pulled the sheets over them.
“The rest of today is room service, TV, and vegging-out day.”
“Are you sure? I’m feeling really energized. Maybe we should revise that sex-in-zero-gravity thing.”
He grinned. “It sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. I’ve decided I like gravity much better. It keeps me anchored between your legs whenever I want. I’m not messing with that dynamic.”
Her laughter drew an answering one from him. He’d slid his fingers through her hair and called her beautiful. She’d returned the gesture and called him a charming rogue.
They’d talked for hours after that, both silently agreeing to stay away from volatile subjects like saviors and ex-fiancées.
Besides cars, guitars had been his second love. He’d learnt everything there was to know about bass guitars before he’d turned eighteen. And given both his car and guitar collections to his younger brother who lived in Chicago when he moved from New York.
His closed expression as he’d said that had prevented her asking why.
She picked up her gold and cream mask and threaded the ivory plumed feathers through her fingers. There were parts of themselves they’d have to uncover eventually. If they stood a chance of attempting anything close to a healthy relationship, she needed to tell him what happened five years ago.
Her hands shook and she sucked in a breath. The bedside phone rang. She picked it up.
“Whose bright idea was it that we dress in separate hotels?” His voice rolled over her like a decadent dessert she couldn’t get enough of.
“It’s a masked ball, Noah. No point in making the effort if you know what I’m wearing.”
“I took you shopping yesterday. I already know what you’ll be wearing.”
She smiled. “Wrong. I chose three dresses, so you have a 33 percent chance of getting it right.”
“Sweetheart, every curve of your perfect body is imprinted on my brain. Picking you out of a crowd, mask or no mask, will be as easy as breathing.”
She didn’t doubt him. The amount of time he’d spent exploring her body in the last thirty-six hours made her face redden. “I feel a distinct sense of disparity as far as exploration is concerned.”
“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll give you the chance to address that injustice as soon as I sate my hunger for you. What underwear do you have on?” he demanded, his voice low and deep.
Heat flared across her skin. “White leather and lace thong. No bra.”
“No bra,” he repeated.
“I can’t wear one with my gown.”
“Damn.” His voice had grown lower, heavier. “Who’s driving you to the ball?”
“Bjorn’s picking me up in five minutes.”
He cursed again. “Make sure he keeps his hands to himself. Or you’ll feel mine on your ass.”
“Yes, Noah.”
He fell silent for several heartbeats. “You will say those two words to me every day, at least a dozen times.”
“What will I get in return?”
“Me. At your feet.”
She gasped. “Noah.”
“Hang up now, Leia, before I storm over there and put a big fucking hole in this evening’s plans.”
She hung up and dropped the phone on the bed. From the moment she laid eyes on him, Noah had set her emotions on overdrive. Now they were seriously threatening to spiral out of control. He dominated her with his presence, his words, his looks, his insatiable appetite.
In five short days, she’d become addicted to him. Wanted him in her life despite the caution that they might not survive full disclosure of her past. She loved his domination of her, loved losing her control to him.
Before she’d boarded the Indigo Lounge, she’d only read about dynamics like that in books. The reality of it… Hell, she could never have imagined it. He’d branded her, imprinted himself on her skin and on her psyche.
As crazy as it was real and tangible, she was falling in love with Noah King.
The limo crawled along Husova Street towards the Clam-Gallas Palace. Beside her, Bjorn made small talk that she absently participated in, but inside, Leia’s pulse was jumping with the decision she’d made on the way over.
She would tell Noah before they returned to Miami. He would be horrified and judgmental… or he would not be. Either way, she wouldn’t have to nurse the fear of the unknown. Pursing her lips, which threatened to tremble, she drew in a breath as the limo stopped in front of the Baroque Palace.
Music from a string quartet drifted out onto the square cobbled courtyard.
She entered the vast entry hall and mingled with other costumed guests. Leia tried not to look too conspicuous as she sought out Noah.
She recognized the blowjob couple from the plane by the guy’s ginger hair. He was dressed as Ca?esar and she as Cleopatra, and their costumes worked despite their coloring. The other woman caught her staring and waved.
She lifted her hand to return the greeting and felt Noah’s presence. Heart thumping, she started to turn. Rough hands closed over her shoulders.
“About damn time you got here,” he rasped in her ear.
“Noah, you’re ruining the whole idea of the masked ball. You’re not supposed to know who I am.” Her protest was half-hearted since she’d been busy seeking him out. Seeing him in front of her, broad-shouldered, the sculpted perfection of his face, that unapologetic maleness , her mouth went dry.
“Fuck that. I’ve been without you for four hours. You were supposed to be here a half hour ago. What the hell took you so long?” His hand drifted up and down her back a few times before dropping to her ass. Then he did that squeeze-pull thing that brought her flush against his hard body.
“We hit a bit of traffic.”
His mouth grazed the part of her cheek the mask didn’t cover before he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I’ve missed you. It’s been a little hellish imagining that Nordic beefcake’s eyes all over you.”
“Bjorn was a perfect gentleman.”
Electric-blue eyes raked her up and down. “Are you sure you don’t want to ditch this thing? We’ll make up the rest of your highs in bed.”
Temptation weakened her knees. “I just got here. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful baroque palaces in Europe. Allow me a moment of culture before you attempt to debauch me.”
He smiled. “To be properly debauched we’d have to do it in a church. Actually, there’s a room upstairs that we can pretend is a church. The fireplace is large enough to be an altar. I can worship your tight little cunt there.”
She giggled. “‘Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced.’”
He took her hand, placed it on his arm and steered her away from the crowd. They found a square recessed space overlooking a side street, and he pulled her close. “You can’t quote de Sade unless you’re sitting on my dick. It’s a prerequisite. You can recite the whole thing while I make you come.”
She grinned. “I don’t know all of it, just the dirty bits.”
He laughed, his blue eyes twinkling down at her. His fingers traced the white ropes she’d used to twist her hair into a Grecian style and touched the gold dangling earrings. “I’ll teach you the rest while you ride my dick. I’m generous like that. God, you look breathtaking, Leia.”
She settled her hand on his chest, absorbing his heartbeat. “Thank you. I love your mask.”
The winged black silk and onyx design covered him from forehead to nose. As he looked down at her, a lock of hair fell over his eyes. She brushed it back and he caught her fingers in his, brought them to his mouth. “I’m glad you’ve seen beneath it. Not a lot of people have.”
Her heart stuttered then sped up. It was now or never. “Noah, before this goes any further, there’s something I need to tell you.”
His smile fractured around the edges. “Words that makes me wish all over again that we weren’t stuck in this place. Tell me.”
Violin strings from the quartet struck a high-pitched chord, and she shook her head. “It can wait till we get back. I just wanted to lay the foundations before I chickened out.”
Blue eyes narrowed. “How bad is it?”
She shivered. “If I could keep it a secret forever I would.”
He reached out and brushed his knuckle over her cheek. “Just say the word and we’ll leave. And whatever it is, if it’s shaped you into the beautiful and generous person you are today, you have nothing to be worried about.”
“Even if it’s shaped out of self-reproach?”
He froze. “Then you’ll have to find a way to forgive yourself or live with it. Don’t let it pull you down.” His hand drifted down to where her tattoo branded her skin. “You’re already halfway to finding closure, sweetheart. You took a bold step in coming on this trip. Don’t stop now.”
She shook her head. “This was one step, taken under the heading of desperation.”
“I’m glad you took that step. If you let me, I’ll help you figure out the next. Will you?”
“I… I can’t let you offer that yet. Not until you know.”