Page 71 of Seven Night Stopover

“Why don’t you like surprises?” he asked, his eyes intent on what he was doing to her.

“Wh-what?”

“You said that earlier.”

“Oh. My mom was the queen of spontaneity, and not always the good kind. My dad used to say she had a chronic impulsive disorder. Her solution to every problem was throwing a surpriseluncheon. I got into a fight with a school bully once. Mom thought it would be helpful to throw an anti-bullying party and make the girl and her parents guests of honor, only she didn’t tell them until they got there. The week before my sweet sixteen party, I came home from school to find that she’d invited all the boys from my class and paid them each a thousand dollars to make themselves available to escort me to the party.”

His eyes met hers. “Christ.”

“And those were the lamer ones. Imagine walking into your bedroom to find a full-grown Amur leopard on a leash for you to play with because you’d lost a softball game. It got to a point where I’d call Sonia, our housekeeper, to find out whether it was safe to come home.”

He smirked. “She had exotic animals on tap?” His free hand went to her shirt and unbuttoned her halfway. Exposing her breasts, he caught a nipple between his fingers and squeezed. Her breath hitched.

“She had crazy good connections. If she liked you enough she could get you five minutes with the president with a single phone call.”

“But you just wanted a normal life.”

She nodded. “It got worse the older I got. It took me a while to realize why she was going off the rails.” Leia’s words slurred with the pleasure gathering through her body.

He paused in his ministrations. “Why?”

“She married my stepfather barely six months after Dad died. The marriage got very turbulent very quickly. I think that was the only impulsive decision she ever regretted.”

“You think if she hadn’t, she’d still be here?”

Guilt and sorrow threatened to overtake pleasure. “Iknowshe would be.” Unwilling to stray into much more painful and disturbing territory, she placed her hand over his on her breast and silently begged him to continue. He pinched her nipplehard. Pleasure rolled through her. She threw her head back and pumped her hips.

“Don’t come.”

She gasped. “Oh God!Please.”

“Baby, we’re almost at the hotel. You’re not walking through reception with a just-climaxed glow on your face for every guy out there to see.” Pure possessiveness throbbed through his voice.

She bit her lip and tried to bring herself down a notch. It was one of the hardest things she’d done in a long time. “Are you like this with every woman you date?”

“I don’t date. Ashley was the last woman I dated.”

Once again, his ex loomed large between them and she tried not to think of how much power the faceless woman still had over Noah. “What do you do with your women, then?”

“Catch.” His thumb circled. “Fuck.” Again. “Release.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Are you serious?”

“You’re the only woman I’ve seen for longer than a five-hour stretch in a very long time.”

“Why?”

Blue eyes filled with shadows met hers. “No expectations. No mind games. No attachments.”

“Did that satisfy you?”

He kneaded her breasts. “Up to a point and barely in the last few months. But you… you satisfy me so much more. I’m addicted to you. I want everything you have to give and more. I want to give you untold pleasure, push you way out of your comfort zone and make you die with bliss. I want to make you mine, Leia. And I haven’t wanted that in a long time.”

Her heart lurched and her sex clenched around his fingers, reacting to the intense words. “Noah…”

He shook his head and that contemplative look she’d seen on his face earlier returned. “It’s a little insane, I know. We’ll work it out when we get back to Miami.”

Either he was too busy lowering his head to her nipple to feel her tense or the unsettling conversation had thrown off his radar.

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