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“I should be asking you that.” His thumbs caressed the sides of her breasts, and her breath grew shallow and fractured. “Make me understand. You haven’t stopped wanting me in the space of eight hours. I sure as hell haven’t stopped craving you. So what happened?” he whispered. “I know something did. Baby, please tell me.” He didn’t care that he was pleading.
Her eyes stayed planted on his mouth but she didn’t speak, only shook her head. She inserted one leg between his, slowly sliding her naked thigh upward. The friction, the soft heat of her, made his brain scramble. When the top of her knee scraped the seam of his jeans, he swallowed hard.
“Remember what we agreed? I like the action but I need to hear the words, baby. Vocalize.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Noah.”
He widened his stance and she immediately raised her knee. He allowed himself to rock his balls against her, let a dizzying wave of pleasure drown him before he trapped her leg.
Bracing his arms around hers so she couldn’t escape, he caught both nipples between his fingers and squeezed hard.
Her scream echoed down his hallway.
He removed his touch and stepped back.
“No! Please…”
“I won’t seduce the information out of you, Leia. You have to tell me of your own accord.”
Despair wove through the weariness in her eyes before she squeezed them shut.
He refused to let her deny him. “Open your eyes, Leia. Don’t be afraid.”
She tensed, and her eyes snapped open. “I’m not afraid.”
“You are. You’re afraid to trust me, even a little. I don’t want you hiding yourself from me. Or hiding what’s really going on here. I won’t be dismissed from your life as easily as you think.And I sure as hell will not let you run because you’re too afraid to believe in our future.”
“How fucking dare you! If I intended to run I wouldn’t be here!”
His smile felt tight and grim. “Good. Then fight me. Fight with me. For this! For all the nights and days we can have together. Tell me what happened today. I can’t help you fix it if you push me away.”
She deflated before his eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered.
Fear clutched his soul. “Give us a chance, baby. Or we’re sunk before we’ve even begun.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have begun at all.”
Icy fingers clamped his nape. He dropped his hands and stepped away from her. “Fine.” He dragged the door open. “Then leave. Run back to your little cozy hideout.”
Her eyes widened in shock, then a flash of anger lit her eyes. “Don’t be an asshole, Noah.”
“You’re ripping my guts out, and you accuse me of being an asshole? Tell. Me. What. Happened,” he yelled.
“My stepfather happened!”
The jagged pain in his chest took a backseat to his fear for her. “What?” He tugged her back and slammed the door shut. “Did he hurt you?”
She dropped her purse on the floor and speared her hands through her hair. It tore him apart to see them tremble. “No, I didn’t see him. He called.”
“He called you?”
“No, he spoke to Warren.”
“What did he want?”
A nauseous grimace rolled across her face. “He wants fifty million dollars in the next seven days.”
“That’s ridiculous, unless… Is he blackmailing you?” he growled, but the tingle along his nape didn’t bode well for hoping it was something else.