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Noah gripped her nape, turning her head firmly so her gaze met his. Satisfaction blazed blue and true. Against the small of her back, his cock jerked as if responding to her revelation. “Sweetheart, I’m going to give you so many of those orgasms, you’ll beg me to stop. But I won’t. You know why?”
“Because you like it when I beg.”
He smiled. “No.Youlike it when you beg. As to what I was thinking before… I was thinking about my ex.”
Her spine snapped as if she’d been shot. For a moment, Leia wondered morbidly if that was how it felt like. His hand tightened in her hair, staying her in place when her senses screamed for space to handle the confounding emotions.
“I know we agreed to leave our ghosts locked tight, but I don’t want you wondering about why I drifted off.”
She swallowed. Thought about not asking the question and decided the not knowing was way worse than the knowing. Which was crazy considering how long she’d known Noah King.
“What was her name, and why were you thinking of her?”
“Her name was… is Ashley. I was thinking of her because I was hoping you weren’t like her.”
“Why, what was she like?” she blurted before she could convince herself she was better off not knowing.
He frowned. “She knew she had a power over me. And she used it.” A wave of mingled disgust and bitterness washed over his face, making Leia’s senses scream. The hard bite to his voice was clear evidence that his ex wasn’t a specter in the past.
“I don’t have that sort of power over you, Noah,” she murmured.
He refocused on her and slowly, his expression cleared. His gaze dropped to her mouth, then traced over her chest, lingering at her breasts. “You don’t think so?”
She shook her head.
His free hand drifted down her shoulder and under her arm, his fingers brushing the curve of her right breast before his large thumb grazed her nipple. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and bit down hard to stop from moaning out loud. The corner of his mouth flicked as he noted the action.
“Yes, you do,” he rasped. “Every time I touch you like this and you gasp, every time your body sings to my demands, you gain more power over me. Because I crave those things. More than you know. More than is wise. It doesn’t matter that we’re doing this for only seven days. You have the power.”
“Having power and misusing it are two different things. Especially if the latter is used deliberately to hurt.” She should know. Her mother was dead because of it.
“I know, but so is having power and not knowing its true and full force. That can be equally as dangerous.” He slowly withdrew his finger and slid it back in.
Her ragged inhalation made his eyes darken. “I’d never use it deliberately against you. Is that what she did?”
A small smile twisted his lips. “Let’s just say she loved to play with her power.”
She licked her lips, and his eyes dropped to her mouth. “If she’s your ex, then…”
He dropped his head to the crook of her shoulder, rubbing his stubble hard into her skin. “She played her hand one too many times. The results were… ugly.”
Again, she heard the odd note in his voice, the one that flared across her instincts, warning that he could be a merciless opponent, even if she somehow gained the dubious upper hand.
She tried to think a bit more about what he’d said, but her mind was fraying in the heat of what he was doing to her.
Against her back, his cock pressed insistently, its demand reminding her how much powerhehad over her.
Gripping his thighs in the water, she scoured her long nails over the taut muscles. That earned her another finger inside her wet sheath. When she dug her nails in, he groaned.
“Are you sure you can handle another fuck, sweetheart? I can’t guarantee it’ll be gentle.”
“I want to try.”
He released her hair, hit the button that stopped the water’s frenzied swirling. In the clear pool, she looked down and groaned at the sight of his hand firmly between her legs. “Does that turn you on?” He slowly withdrew his fingers and plunged back in.
“Uh-huh.”