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“Noah…”
His eyes darkened, and when he spoke it was in a low, fevered whisper. “I think I’m in serious danger of becoming addicted to you, baby.”
17
The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he shouldn’t have said them. Especially not seconds after experiencing the most mind-blowing orgasm he’d felt in a long time. From his knowledge, words like those could go either way.
She would either take them as leave to burrow deeper into his life. Or she would see them as a way to lead him around by his cock, the way Ashley had started to do the moment he’d admitted he was into her.
Bitterness encroached and he slammed the lid on his memories. He’d been deaf, dumb, and blind to her wiles for a stupidly long time. He refused to live in that place a moment longer.
“It’s a good thing you’ll be gone in six days, huh?”
A shadow crossed her face, and he thought for a moment he’d upset her. “Yeah,” she replied lightly, her delicate eyelashes sweeping down to stare at his mouth. “Short, hot and fantastic. No room for addictions.” Her gaze rose, and he saw nothing but carnal anticipation in the endless, mesmerizing grey.
Perversely, a different sort of irritation lanced through him.
Hell, he was losing his mind. He should be glad she wasn’t angling for more than he could give.
She’d just proven she had the potential to be what he wanted. She could be the near-perfect tool to blunt the edge of his clamoring need. In twenty-four hours, she’d given him the high he’d craved for years.
A high he knew couldn’t exist in his everyday life. He needed to take what she was offering. And walk away when they were done. Not get annoyed because she agreed with him.
“I’m a little rusty on after-sex etiquette. Should I be content with this silence?” she asked.
He refocused on her face—on her words—and was once again struck with the jagged innocence that blasted from her in intermittent waves. He remembered how tight she was… her confession of not having had a good sexual experience.
Fuck. Her age—another thing he’d forgotten. Just how many sexual partners had she had? And what did her last one do to her that she was desperate to forget?
The irritation grew, turned darker. He tried to shake it off but it lingered.
Jesus… What the fuck was wrong with him?
He jerked back into reality when she moved away, disengaging his still-hard cock and drawing a shudder in the process. The sense of immediate loss had him reaching for her. She released herself from his hold with a strength and dexterity that spoke of specialist, possibly martial training.
He frowned. “Where are you going?”
She shrugged, rose from the bed, grabbed her panties and headed for the door. “I’m giving you space.”
It took another minute to find his voice again, having been rendered speechless by the sight of her incredible body. She was lean and curvy in all the places that mattered, her hair falling down her back in reddish-gold waves. He itched to bury hishands and face in that silky mass, but he stopped himself from lunging for her. “I don’t recall asking for space.”
“Take it anyway,” she threw over her shoulder. Her voice had grown cooler. She was withdrawing from him.
Like hell…
Springing from the bed, he caught her just as she reached the bathroom door. “What the hell is going on?”
She shook her head, and her curls tumbled over her shoulders. “It’s… nothing, really.”
He gritted his teeth. “That’s even worse than remaining silent.” He caught her chin and propelled her gaze to his. “Spill.”
“I… Right after we… you got this look on your face.”
Tension seized his shoulders. “What look?”
“I don’t know… a cross between anger and regret? It was obvious you were caught up in something. I just thought you needed a minute to sort through it.”
“If I need a minute, I’ll tell you. Or you can ask me. Don’t assume. And don’t walk away.”