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Her hand trembled in his. “I won’t be alone with him. I promise.”
He wanted to ask her whether she was hurt anywhere else, but Noah didn’t think he could handle an answer in the affirmative.
Despite knowing she would be attending the charity event, a bolt of shock had rocked him when he’d seen her standing in front of him. Especially after Snyder had arrived alone.
One look at her injured wrist and everything had ceased to register in his brain.
He suppressed a grim smile. When Shannon had reminded him tonight of the detrimental effects of repressing his emotions, he was sure she hadn’t meant him to smash another guy’s jaw. Her wandering fingers had told him exactly how she expected him to unleash his emotions…
Leia’s hand moved beneath his.
He turned his head and captured her gaze.
Fear. Excitement. Hunger. He tracked the emotions across her face, and a different monster took hold of him. One that wanted to consume her until there was nothing left.
He cupped her cheek with his free hand. “You belong to me now, Leia. No inhibitions. No excuses. You sacrificed yourself for him. I accepted your sacrifice. Now, you’re completely and irrevocably mine.”
He rubbed his thumb along her lower lip. Her mouth dropped open. He used it to breach the soft tissue, took control of her mouth and explored. His nail scraped her stud, triggering a bolt of electricity up his spine.
“If I want to fuck this mouth for a solid hour, you’ll let me. If I feel like eating your ass until you drown in your own juices, that’s what I’ll do. But remember this—the second you say stop, all bets are off and I bury that motherfucker in the deepest, darkest hole. Understand?”
Her eyelids fluttered down, and she mumbled around his thumb. He slowly withdrew his digit and smeared her saliva over her pink mouth. “Speak.”
Wide eyes threatened to drown him. “Yes, Noah.”
A savage part of him regretted her easy compliance. The dark part, which craved to punish her for allowing herself to be hurt, wanted an excuse to go after the bastard.
When the car stopped in front of his building, he was almost relieved. Alighting, he looked up at the steel and glass structure and acknowledged he couldn’t continue living in this soulless place anymore.
First thing tomorrow, he’d rectify that.
For now…
Tucking her right side into him so he wouldn’t aggravate her injury, he walked them to the elevator and pressed the button for his floor. In her heels, she came up to his jaw. The scent of her shampoo tickled his nostrils as he breathed her in.
Their eyes met… meshed in the mirror opposite.
He positioned her in front of him and slowly circled her tiny waist with his hands.
“If this wasn’t an office building, I’d commence your punishment right now. I’d bend you over and fuck you raw right here,” he growled in her ear. He pressed himself forward and delighted in her shameless shiver when his rigid cock jumped against her ass.
The elevator stopped, and he guided her forward. He only bothered with the lights he needed to get them to the bedroom. Stopping before his bed, he shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and flung it over the dresser before facing her.
“First you shower. Then we’ll talk. Then I fuck you.”
He started to walk away, but stopped when he noticed she wasn’t moving. “Problem?”
She held up her wrist. “I can’t undress myself. The chambermaid at the hotel helped me get dressed earlier.”
Struggling to preserve the last of his endurance, he closed his eyes. If she couldn’t undress herself, she couldn’t take a shower on her own either. Inhaling deeply, he retraced his steps.
First, he removed her jewelry and placed it on thenightstand. Then he steadied her, so she could kick her shoes off. He caught hold of her jacket, started to pull it off. She tensed.
“Noah…” A trace of apprehension darted over her face.
He saw why a second later. A large, purpling bruise covered her right shoulder.
“What the fuck?” He pulled the jacket off her shoulder, remembering in time to take care with her wrist. Smaller bruises covered her upper back.