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Her beautiful eyes shifted nervously over the present. “O-open it.”
He pulled the strings apart and tore away the wrapping. For several seconds he stared at the painting, then he frowned at her.
Her face fell. “You don’t like it. I’m sorry… I just thought the color blocks would match the monochrome in the living room?—”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You buy me a Mondrian and are surprised that I’m lost for words?”
“I didn’t buy it exactly…”
His frown deepened. “You stole it?”
A tiny smile crept over her face. “Of course not. It belonged to my father. After he died, my mom packed up all his art and stored it at the bank. But he left everything to me and I thought… I thought…”
Beyond its blinding worth, the exquisite art was breathtaking enough to rob him of further words. Knowing it had belonged to her father, a man she’d loved, made Noah’s insides shake. He stared at the mostly white background, the preciselines, the blocks of blue, grey and red, and wondered when exactly he’d fallen in love with Leia Michaels.
He was still shaking when he hung the Mondrian over the white tiled fireplace in the living room. He didn’t want to see her face, didn’t want to watch that luscious mouth and give in to the craving slashing through him. When she curled her arms around her waist and smiled at the painting, Noah was sure he’d never wanted to kiss her more than at that moment.
She sighed. “It looks perfect there.”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “Thank you.”
Her smile blew him away.
Turning her around and away from him, he clamped his arms around her waist and lifted her high. She curled her legs backward, hooked her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.
Fuck. So trusting sexually. He would give his right arm to have her trust him with everything she cared about. And maybe she did, maybe she didn’t.
He was so confused right now, he couldn’t think straight.
Taking a deep breath, he reined in his feelings and headed down the hall toward the bedroom.
One fucking step at a time.
Starting with making her sob with ecstasy as promised.
23
Vocalization had been a huge thing for them right from the start. So Leia was not sure how she felt about being gagged. Heck, not sure was the understatement of the millennia. She was completely naked and perched on the side of the bed, and her gaze followed Noah. As he disappeared inside the specially built room within his walk-in closet, she bit back the hysterical urge to yell at him to stop.
Doing that would end with more than a ball-gag in her mouth.
She loved Noah—yes, she was finally willing to admit that openly and honestly to herself—too much and too selfishly to jeopardize whatever time they had together. She passed a hand over the spot above her ear.
Watching him shave her this morning had been a singularly emotional moment for her. She’d dared to imagine them together like that in the far future, her love an open statement and not a secret guarded under lock and key in her heart.
At one point, his gaze had connected with hers in the mirror. She’d fooled herself into believing her emotions were reflectedin his eyes. He’d looked away, and the foolish fantasy had disappeared.
Now, as he walked back into the room, her apprehension escalated, fluttered up to entwine with the excitement bubbling in her chest. Dropping the bullwhip, ball-gag and a velvet-wrapped package next to her, he stared down at her.
His blue eyes gleamed with savage intentions. “Any last requests?” he teased.
Unable to stem her jangling nerves, she licked her lips. “You like me vocal, Noah. I won’t be able to talk with a gag in my mouth.”
White teeth bared with a wicked grin. “I’m aware of that. We’ll just have to find another way of communicating.”
Slightly reassured, she watched him reef his black T-shirt over his head and drop it. Unbuckling his belt, he lowered his zipper and kicked his jeans away, leaving only his briefs on. With her fear slightly abated, hunger dug deeper furrows in her. Her fingers framed his cock and stroked him before he grabbed her hand and imprisoned it.
“Let’s establish a few rules, sweetheart. You don’t touch me until I give you permission.”