Chapter 7
Noah watched her cheeks burn and wondered again if he was doing the right thing by setting his sights on such an innocent.
Then the bite on his mouth throbbed, and he remembered the sass that had followed, and his pulse pounded all over again.
Every nerve inside his body screamed at him to grab her and rush them to the nearest private area, preferably his suite.
But he cautioned himself to take it slow.
It was important that he arm himself with everything he needed to know about her before he made another mistake. Another mistake would be unthinkable.
He’d known her for a short time, but he couldn’t imagine causing the woman in front of him any upset. He watched her sip her drink and waited for those fascinating grey eyes to meet his.
“I’ve only seen hairstyles like that on rock stars. Are you an undercover rock star, Leia Michaels?”
She laughed. “What’s the point of being a rock star if you choose to be undercover?”
“Okay, let’s cross that off the list. You’re a sleepwalker with a penchant for alternative hairdressing?”
Her white, even teeth, which could cause him serious harm—or serious pleasure—glistened in the low light as her smile widened. “Nope.”
“Then why?”
He followed her slim fingers as they lifted to the side of her head. She caressed the shaven track slowly, the movement so intimate that his stomach clenched. He watched the smile slowly leave her face, replaced by a pensive, almost haunted look.
Walls .
“It just felt… right.”
Noah wanted to push for more, but he held his tongue.
He knew all about wanting to keep one’s innermost self under lock and key.
In a little over six days he would walk away from her and from whatever the week held for them, to return to the life that he showed to the world.
He didn’t need to pry into hers beyond finding out what would bring them the most pleasure in the time they spend together.
He tried for a smile even though it felt a little skewed. “It’s more than right. It’s incredibly sexy.” Against that rich tumble of hair, that sexy swathe just begged to be caressed.
He took a sip of whiskey and, unable to stop himself, drew closer, crowding her, invading her space. She inhaled sharply but didn’t pull away. He liked that. Hell, it turned him on even harder.
Stormy grey eyes darted to his and stayed. Another huge turn-on, her eyes. The expressions flitting through them made him want to keep gazing into the mesmerizing depths and decode her every thought.
“Thank you,” she responded politely to his compliment.
He caught a glimpse of that stud again, saw it glint on her tongue.
“Open.” He made his command firm.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction, but she complied a second later.
“What stone is that?” he asked.
“A pink diamond.”
Jesus . A diamond-studded blowjob. He was sure he incinerated a few million brain cells just from processing that information.
“Did it hurt? The piercing, I mean.”
“Yes. Very much.”
His nostrils flared. “Was it worth it?”
A small smile and a sip of champagne before she answered. “At the time, I wondered what the hell I was thinking. But then the pain became secondary. I was already in love with it. And it achieved the results I wanted.”
Intriguing. “Which was what?”
“Independence. I was sixteen and hated being ordinary.”
“At the risk of sounding clichéd, baby, anyone who thinks you’re anywhere near ordinary is a damn fool.”
Another blush that spiked another flame straight to his cock. Hell, at this rate, he’d blow his load long before he got anywhere close to what he had in mind for them.
“My mother was horrified. I got an earful about how I’d ruined my body.”
“But you didn’t give in and take it out?”
Her mouth curved higher. “I was a budding rebel. We came to an agreement. I wouldn’t get the lobe full of ear studs I was threatening to buy, if I got to keep this.”
“She agreed?”
She nodded. “I guess she figured the stud was less… visible than the ear studs would ever be.”
“Where was your dad in all of this?”
The cloud of pain that blanketed her face made him curse silently. “He wasn’t around. He died when I was twelve.”
He cupped her cheek and relaxed when she turned her face into his touch. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She looked up at him. “Your turn. What was the most rebellious thing you did as a kid? I bet there were plenty.”
“You wound me, baby.”
“But I’m right.” It wasn’t a question.
Noah shrugged, enjoying the banter despite the growing urgency of the need bubbling beneath the surface.
“I learned to play poker when I was fourteen. I wanted a set of wheels badly and sweet-talked my best friend’s older sister into teaching me how to drive before I was legally allowed to.
On my sixteenth birthday, I organized a poker tournament in my friend’s basement.
I made thirteen thousand dollars that night and went out and bought a hot rod the next day.
I knew I would be in deep shit when my dad found out, but I also knew he couldn’t ground me forever.
Plus the car I got—a Chevy 63 Impala—was his personal weakness.
He halved my punishment a week later and drove me down to the DMV to get my license after I passed the exam. ”
One beautifully shaped brow arched. “So you’re saying you get your way more often than not?”
He drained his drink and set the glass down. Reaching forward, he slid a hand around her nape, his thumb caressing her smooth-as-silk skin beneath her jaw. “If it’s something I really want, I never let it get away.”
He leaned in and savored her the way he’d been dying to for the last ten minutes. Her soft mouth opened beneath his, and Noah groaned at the intoxicating taste of her. She tasted of champagne and hot, sexy possibilities.
This time he dove deeper, flicked his tongue against hers and pushed past until he got what he wanted. The first scrape of that diamond against his tongue made his blood surge hotter.
“Fuck, you go straight to my head,” he murmured against her mouth.
She made a small, impatient sound and opened her mouth wider. Her fingers curled into his hair, her nails scraping his scalp to drag him even closer. That greedy little move set him on fire.
Reluctantly, he pulled away. “Slow down, baby.”
“Why?” she breathed against his mouth.
“Because I don’t want the first time I fuck you to be a rushed job. You deserve better than that.”
She pulled away and stared at him, wide eyed. “What makes you think you know what I deserve?” The question was a rough, confused demand. One that ripped across his senses.
He frowned. “You want to clue me in on what’s going on, sweetheart?”
She stared at him for several more seconds before she shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing’s going on. I just… I’m not very savvy as to what—” She stopped and pulled in a long breath.
He caressed her nape until her shoulders lost a little of the tension that had seized her. “I guessed as much, which is why I want to take this slow.”
She flicked him another glance, her eyelashes quivering as she lowered them. “You must think I’m a complete nut job.”
“Yes, I do.”
Her shocked laugh eased a little more of her tension, just as he’d intended. “I guessed right, then. You’re no gentleman.”
“And you’re no lady. You bit me within half an hour of meeting me.”
Her gaze dropped to his mouth and the tiny cut, raw again from their fevered kiss. “You’re going to make sure I never forget it, aren’t you?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On where else on my body you intend to use those perfect, sharp little teeth.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I don’t!”
“You will if I tell you to. If you agree to what I want, you won’t have a choice but to obey me.”
“Noah…”
“You whisper my name as if you’re about to divulge a dark, dirty secret.” He let his hand drift down over her collarbone to rest on the pulse hammering at her throat. “Are you?”
“I—”
“Miss Michaels, sorry to interrupt.”
Noah fought the irritation spreading rapidly through him. Teeth set to grit, he looked up at the blond beefcake, but the other guy’s gaze was riveted on Leia. “The ground crew in Switzerland would like to know if you’d be interested in the heli-skiing or the glacier climbing.”
“What’s the rush?” Leia asked.
“There’s a snowstorm moving in where we’d originally planned to stage the heli-skiing event, so we need to confirm final numbers before we move it to another venue.” The guy took a small step back when Noah continued to glare at him. “I can come back later, if you’re not decided yet?”
Satisfied his “hands off” message had gotten across, Noah hid a small smile and glanced at Leia. “Do you ski?”
“Yes, since I was a kid.”
Noah turned to the valet. “Put us down for heli-skiing for two.” His tight smile left the other man in no doubt that he wouldn’t tolerate any further interruptions, and, to his credit, he received a small nod before they were left alone.
“What makes you think I don’t want to climb a glacier?”
“There are some new experiences you want to enjoy on this trip. That isn’t one of them.”
The brow, which had arched with her previous question, rose higher. He wanted to trace the beautiful curve with his fingers, see if her skin was as soft and delicate as it looked.
“You sound very sure about that.”
“I am,” he answered.
“Do you feel like expanding on that at all or should I just take your word that you know my every wish? If I were to agree to what you’re proposing, would you take over my whole life for the next seven days?” Irritation snapped through her voice.
Noah’s pulse drummed at her spirit. “Did I tell you what I do for a living, Leia?”
“We hadn’t quite reached there yet. And at this rate, I’m not sure we will.”
He smiled at her curt response. “I’m a venture capitalist. Which means I gamble astonishing amounts of money on knowing what people desire, sometimes even before they know it themselves.
You’re irritated that I made the decision for you.
But I’m willing to bet you’ve never climbed a glacier, correct? ”
Her nostrils flared. “No, but that’s beside the point.”
He leaned in closer, drawn to her like a doomed moth to a fucking flame.
“I have. The preparation alone can take up to four hours. We have six and a half days before this thing ends. Do you really want to spend another half a day exploring how to climb a glacier? Or would you rather spend that time exploring me?”
Wide eyes met his. “So you’re saying you chose for me for my own good?”
“Our time together is short. I took a quick way to resolve an issue. You can be pissed off, but you’ll agree it saved time. So what’s your answer?”
Her lips slowly parted, and a breath oozed out. “To what?”
“To everything.”
She hesitated.
“Don’t be afraid, Leia. Say it out loud. Tell me what I want to hear.”
“I’d much rather spend the time exploring you.”