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He opened his eyes and watched her. Her gorgeous lips were parted as she desperately pulled in oxygen. The resulting frantic heaves of her chest brought his attention to her magnificent breasts.
Shit, could he use any more adjectives? The wordperfectdidn’t exist for him because as far as he was concerned nothing would ever achieve that status in his eyes.
And yet, witnessing Leia’s orgasm, that word sprang into his mind and grew as he watched the flush spread across her skin, heard her soft moans as her body continued to bow under the extreme power of her release.
His gaze drifted down, over the silky soft skin of her taut belly that spoke of a physical care regime. Bartitsu. She took care of her body. All through her exquisite writhing, her thighs had clamped him hard, gripping him as if she’d never let go.
He welcomed that strength, grew heady with the thought of pushing her to her limit.
Trailing his hand back up her body, his gaze locked on the tattoo and the questions tumbling through his mind froze on one line.
From a broken acorn…
What the hell had happened to her?
The overwhelming need to know drove the last of the haze from his brain. Even though his cock throbbed with an almost life-threatening demand to fuck, he smashed down the need and helped her up.
The globes of her breasts were redder, as were her nipples, from the rough treatment of his jaw. A primitive part of him gloried at marking her this way, but the urge to stamp his possession all over her had him turning his hand to cup her soaked sex.
She jerked upright, her wide eyes clashing with his. “I can’t.”
“You can and you will. But not right now.”
A wave of relief washed over her face. “So does this count as my first high?”
He cracked a smile. “This is a bonus. Call it a trial run before we get down to the double highs of extreme skiing and extreme fucking tomorrow.”
She swallowed and gave another little shudder.
Unable to drive the question from his mind, he glanced back at the tattoo.
She tensed. He gripped her harder between her legs, and her breath puffed out.
“I warned you I don’t do light, sweetheart. Did you think I was joking?”
Her breath fractured. “No, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bare my everything to you so soon. You have my body, Noah.Use it. Use me. I won’t break. I’m much stronger than you think. But this…” She pointed to her side. “Not yet. Please.”
The impulse to probe was strong. But hell, she wasn’t the only one with baggage who didn’t want it to be examined.
What had happened between them just now had been overwhelming enough, despite the ferocious hunger it’d triggered.
The urge to plunge a finger inside her, test her tightness, rushed through him. He barely managed to stop himself. If he gave in, confirmed just how snug and lush she was, he’d never leave this suite tonight. He contented himself with rubbing her slick heat.
But still… “You’ve just proven that you can handle the deep end, Leia. And you knew I would need to know more the moment you took your top off.”
She shuddered. Whether it was from his harsh demand or from his relentless rubbing, he wasn’t entirely sure. “What do you want from me, Noah?”
He looked up, his senses reeling at her mingled vulnerability and beauty. His fingers grazed over her ribcage. “I don’t want to wonder about this when I fuck you. I want to see your eyes fill with pleasure and not the shadows I can see in them now. That may be asking too much too soon, but I warned you I was a greedy bastard. I want to make you scream in pleasure that’ll make you forget why you’re broken. If only for a while.”
“Why is that so important to you?”
For all his hard demands, Noah wasn’t prepared for that question. Nor was he ready for the words that spilled from his mouth. “Because for the next seven days, you’re mine. And I absolutely refuse to share you with ghosts.”
Leia fought not to panic at the hard demand in his voice. She was no longer helpless, no longer the girl who’d cowered in the corner, biting her nails until they bled because she believed the madness in her world wasallher fault.
Noah King had no right to make demands of her.
Her ghosts were her business, her secrets to keep.