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“Why do you need to hear it, Noah?” she asked, her pulse accelerating again when his grip eased and he began trailing his fingers down her inner thigh.
Eyes so unbelievably blue they seemed unreal darkened before his eyelids swept down. “Because I have monsters too. Monsters that scream very loud at times like these. I want to make sure I hear you above their noise.”
“You will.”
He nodded. “Good. Between your ghosts and my monsters, we might struggle to hear ourselves above the noise. But I intend to make you scream so loud, you’ll drown them out.”
This time when she tried to get up, he didn’t protest. Raising herself on her elbow, she cupped his cheek, gloried in the roughness of his stubble as he turned his head to kiss her palm.
“Fuck me, Noah. Is that clear enough?”
He groaned. “Shit. I thought it was cute and sexy when you blushed before you said fuck. Hearing you say it like that makes me so fucking hard.”
He reefed the thermal top over his head, ruffling his thick black hair in the process so it flopped over his forehead. The combination of his heart-stopping face and deep, mouth-watering chest was too much. She gasped in a euphoric breath at all that incredible maleness.
He stopped and stared at her. “What?”
“You’re magnificent.”
A faint flush spread across his cheekbones. “I think you win the gorgeous stakes hands down, sweetheart.” He pushed her back down, his gaze drifting over her legs, which were still propped on his naked chest, and across her flat belly to her breasts. His stare lingered long enough to cause a sizzle between her legs.
“Your nipples are so pretty. I want to lick them for hours.”
Her back arched in direct reaction to his words, offering them up to him in a silent plea. He refused, choosing to kiss her feet again, her ankles, her calves until he reached her thighs.
Finally, he parted her and saw her underwear for the first time. Sliding his forefingers underneath the edges, he rubbed his thumb over the material. “Interesting lingerie.”
“It’s… it’s what I do. Design them, I mean.” His raised eyebrows made her shake her head. “Later, please. I’ll tell you later.”
He smiled. “Just get on with it?”
“Please,” she gasped.
“You will learn patience, Leia Michaels.”
“Yes, Noah,” she responded in her most agreeable voice. Anything to make him hurry and put his hands and his mouth on her.
“Fuck. You’re determined to cut me to shreds, aren’t you?”
She frowned. “What? Why?”
“Never mind. We’ll explore that later, too.” He kissed the sensitive skin of her inner left thigh, his eyes fixed square on hers, absorbing her every reaction. Her mouth dropped open on a wordless gasp as he used his teeth, then his stubble on her quivering flesh.
“Do you like that?”
She nodded jerkily.
“Vocalize. Remember, I don’t hear, you don’t get.”
“Yes, I like that. I want more.”
He started to turn his head, then paused with his mouth inches above her mound. He breathed her in, swallowed hard as his eyes connected with hers.
“You smell incredible, baby. I can’t wait to taste you.”
She curbed the urge to scream for him to do it now. She was learning very quickly that fast and hard didn’t mean the same thing to him as it did to normal people. She would be lucky if he allowed her to come this side of sunset.
She moaned, half in frustration as he dropped lazy kisses down her right thigh. Her fingers dug into the sheets, her back arching off the bed when he grazed his chin over her clit.