Chapter 8
Leia thought Noah would let loose another of those devastating smiles once she confessed the yearning that pounded underneath her skin. Instead, he gave a solemn nod and inhaled a long, steady breath.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
She tried and failed not to shiver at the look in his eyes when his gaze collided with hers. She searched frantically for something else to cover the fact that every time he so much as breathed, she had taken to staring at him like a dopey teenage groupie.
“You don’t like my valet.”
His mouth compressed. “I don’t like the hard-on in his eyes when he looks at you. For his own sake, I hope to hell he stays away.”
“Or you’ll stare laser beams into him every time he comes close to me?”
He shrugged. “I have a lot of weapons in my arsenal should the staring not work.”
She laughed. His eyes darkened as his gaze swept over her face.
“Fuck, you’re beyond stunning when you laugh.” Again, he said it in that intense low voice, which vibrated over her senses like the most beautiful musical instrument. Unable to speak around the volatile emotions swinging through her, she started to lower her gaze. He caught her chin in a firm hold.
“No. Don’t look away. You’re going to hear me say that a lot. So you might as well get used to it. You. Are. Fucking. Exquisite.”
“Noah…”
“Do you know what I think of when you say my name like that?”
She shook her head.
“I think of all the bad, fucking filthy things I want you to do to me with that tongue stud. The things I know you want to do to me.”
Fire stormed through her cheeks, the flames rushing through her body all-consuming. It embarrassed the hell out of her that he could produce such feelings in her with the barest effort. It also made her a little irritated.
“You think you know what I want just because we kissed once?”
He regarded her with shrewd knowing eyes that made her want to run and hide. She forced herself to keep her gaze square on his. “I know you’re here for a specific reason, but you’re unsure as to how to get what you really want. But you want to find and conquer it immediately.”
“You reminded me just now that we only have a few short days. What’s wrong with going after what I want?”
The look in his eyes told her she’d asked the wrong question. Hell . She didn’t want him thinking she was some sort of sophisticated bed partner, but neither did she want to put him off with how utterly green she was. Perhaps shutting up was her best option.
“What’s your favorite food, Leia?”
“Italian.”
He nodded. “Think of it this way. Great sex is like waiting in your favorite restaurant for your favorite dish but with all the time in the world to eat it. The breadbasket is yours to devour the moment it arrives. But the first course takes a little bit of time to happen. Then, when you have it, you breathe it in, savor every mouthful. When you’re done eating, you should feel happy and sated, with each nerve ending alive from the experience, rather than discomfort by indigestion because you gorged. ”
“A food-sex analogy? Really?”
He shrugged. “I like food. I love sex. I crave control. I tend not to do the first two at the same time, but I can make an exception if you grant me the third.”
“So you’re not the whipped cream, eating-sushi-off-naked-bodies type?”
Intense blue eyes scoured her face. “No. I prefer that nothing come between my mouth and your body. I want your taste pure and undiluted.”
“What if you don’t like what you taste?” Leia couldn’t believe she’d said the words. But she refused to blush again. Or look away.
“I will.” Succinct and confident.
She envied those traits very badly. He intrigued her more by the second. “You seem very sure. What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not. I can smell you, sweetheart. That need clamoring through you right now? That insatiable craving that no amount of reasoning or ignoring or fucking other people can assuage? It rides me too.”
Her senses jumped at the hard, rough note in his voice. “And you think you can make it go away?”
He took a sip of his drink before he answered, a look crossing his features that set her hackles rising in alarm. “Hell no. But I can make it a whole lot better. I can make it so you can have a decent night’s sleep and not wonder whether you’re going to die from it. We can do that for each other.”
The intrigue escalated. Made her wonder what kept him awake at night. Whether he had nightmares like she did. Whether he slept with the light on like she’d done since she was seventeen.
“There’s just one thing wrong with your assessment of me, Noah King.”
He drew closer, not resisting the pull of their magnetism. “Which part did I get wrong?”
“The part about me… fucking other people.” She whispered the words, part of her afraid to say them out loud.
Every atom in Noah’s body froze as the impact of her words slammed into him. “Elaborate.”
“I don’t… I haven’t fucked for a very long time.”
“Say that again.” He leaned closer, his breath non-existent.
“I haven’t been involved with anyone in a very long time.” Her voice broke and a tremble coursed through her.
His instinct blared a loud warning. But he was too hung up on the idea of her, virtually untouched, needy and ripe for him, to heed it too much.
Turning to face her fully, he caught her chin in his hand. “How long is a long time, Leia?”
Grey eyes, wide and stormy, clashed with his. He had a feeling she wanted to look away, to hide her expression, but she kept his gaze. Somehow she’d trained herself not to back down, not to look away. That turned him on more than he knew was reasonable.
His cock hardened, nudged desperately against his zipper. He needed to calm the fuck down before he did something rash, like bend her over the lounger and fuck her unconscious.
Her tongue slid across her lower lip. Her reflex was purely from nerves, but it made his blood fire to volcanic levels.
“Does it matter?” she asked.
“Only insofar as it would dictate the pace at which we take things.”
“Would you care whether you hurt me or not?” Again, there was that curious note that sent bad tingles down his spine.
This time, he heeded them. “Of course I would. I’d never hurt you.”
“That’s… that’s good to know.”
He frowned as another tremble raked her. “Hey, are you okay?”
She gave a shaky laugh and jerked her head away, dislodging his hand. “No.”
He clenched his fists and braced his arms on his knees, fighting the need to touch her. Deep down, he sensed she wouldn’t welcome his touch. She was far too skittish. Which made a part of him wonder what the hell she was doing here. “What’s going on, Leia?”
Her breath shuddered out. “The way you say my name…”
She was deflecting, changing the subject. He decided to allow her a little wriggle room. But he was determined to get to the bottom of this mercurial creature who turned him on more than he’d been turned on in a very long time.
“What about it?”
“You say it like you like it.”
He smiled. “That’s because I do. More than I think is wise, in fact.”
“You don’t have a Star Wars fetish, do you?”
He laughed. “No, not a Star Wars one.”
Her eyes darkened to a stormy grey that told him he’d sparked her interest. She was so easy to read, her every expression clear for him to see. The thought excited him more than he cared to admit.
“But you do have fetishes?” She moistened her lips, and heat throbbed in his groin.
“Don’t we all?” he replied.
“Tell me one.”
“No.”
Surprise lightened her eyes. “And here I thought we were getting to know one another.”
“We are. But it’s better for you to know what I want when you’re in the situation.”
One corner of her mouth tilted. He desperately wanted to taste her smile. “You don’t strike me as the kind of man who sticks to safe and predictable subjects, Noah King.”
“I’m not. Which is why I don’t want to scare you off, Leia Michaels. You intrigue me. I intend to take this very carefully because the last thing I want is for you to bolt.”
The seductive eyebrow arched higher. “Bolt? I’m made of stronger stuff than you imagine me to be.”
“No. You’re not. Despite what you want to make me believe, you’re very fragile.
” He gave in to the urge and smoothed his hand over the shaved swathe at her temple.
“Someone broke you, Leia. Some vile, faceless motherfucker that I intend to hunt down and wipe off the face of the earth. And before this week is through, you’re going to tell me who that person is. ”