SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series Book 4) (20 page)

Beyond
its blinding worth, the exquisite art was breathtaking enough to rob him of
further words. Knowing it had belonged to her father, a man she’d
loved,
made Noah’s insides shake. He stared at the mostly
white background, the precise lines, the blocks of blue, grey and red, and
wondered when exactly he’d fallen in love with Leia Michaels.

***

He
was still shaking when he hung the Mondrian over the white tiled fireplace in
the living room. He didn’t want to see her face, didn’t want to watch that
luscious mouth and give in to the craving slashing through him. When she curled
her arms around her waist and smiled at the painting, Noah was sure he’d never
wanted to kiss her more than at that moment.

She
sighed. “It looks perfect there.”

“Yeah,”
he said gruffly. “Thank you.”

Her
smile blew him away.

Turning
her around and away from him, he clamped his arms around her waist and lifted
her high. She curled her legs backward, hooked her arms around his neck and
laid her head on his shoulder.

Fuck.
So trusting sexually. He would give his right arm to have her trust him with
everything she cared about. And maybe she did, maybe she didn’t.

He
was so confused right now, he couldn’t think straight.

Taking
a deep breath, he reined in his feelings and headed down the hall toward the
bedroom.

One fucking step at a time.

Starting
with making her sob with ecstasy as promised.

TWENTY-THREE

Vocalization
had been a huge thing for them right from the start. So Leia was not sure how
she felt about being gagged. Heck,
not sure
was the understatement of
the millennia. Completely naked and perched on the side of the bed, her gaze
followed Noah. As he disappeared inside the specially built room within his
walk-in closet, she bit back the hysterical urge to yell
stop
.

Yelling
stop
would end more than a ball-gag in her mouth.

She
loved Noah - yes, she was finally willing to admit that openly and honestly to
herself - too much and too selfishly to jeopardize whatever time they had
together. She passed a hand over the spot above her ear.

Watching
him shave her this morning had been a singularly emotional moment for her.
She’d dared to imagine them together like that in the far future, her love an
open statement and not a secret guarded under lock and key in her heart.

At
one point, his gaze had connected with hers in the mirror. She’d fooled herself
into believing her emotions were reflected in his eyes. He’d looked away, and
the foolish fantasy had disappeared.

Now,
as he walked back into the room, her apprehension escalated, fluttered up to
entwine with the excitement bubbling in her chest. Dropping the bullwhip,
ball-gag and a velvet-wrapped package next to her, he stared down at her.

His
blue eyes gleamed with savage intentions. “Any last requests?” he teased.

Unable
to stem her jangling nerves, she licked her lips. “You like me vocal, Noah. I
won’t be able to talk with a gag in my mouth.”

White
teeth
bared
with a wicked grin. “I’m aware of that.
We’ll just have to find another way of communicating.”

Slightly
reassured, she watched him reef his black T-shirt over his head and drop it.
Unbuckling his belt, he lowered his zipper and kicked his jeans away, leaving
only his briefs on. With her fear slightly abated, hunger dug deeper furrows in
her. Her fingers framed his cock and stroked him before he grabbed her hand and
imprisoned it.

“Let’s
establish a few rules, sweetheart. You don’t touch me until I give you
permission.”

She
gasped. “But—”

“No
buts…besides yours, which I want up on the bed, bent over and displayed to me.
Right now.”

The
menace in his voice had her scrambling to obey. Kneeling, she rocked forward
onto her hands and spread her knees.

Noah
choked, then cursed fluently. “I can never get over how beautiful your pussy
is.” He cleared his throat. “But you’re in the wrong position.”

He
moved to the foot of the bed and tapped the carved metal in the middle.
Puzzled, she crawled toward him and only then noticed that the velvet cloth
contained a pair of handcuffs.

Oh
shit. She was about to
gagged
, handcuffed and whipped?

“Hold
out your hands.”

Retreat
never crossed her mind. Her trust in him when they were like this was implicit.
Pressing her wrists together, she offered them to him. His mouth parted and
that look she’d imagined on his face in the mirror this morning made a brief
appearance. It evaporated as he pulled her forward and lowered her bound hands
to the bed.

She’d
thought his intricately carved bed had been made with aesthetic appreciation in
mind. Now she knew it served a greater purpose. Little hoops and hooks had been
worked into the design. He curled his finger into the handcuff link and pulled
her to the middle of the bed. One little click and her wrists were immobilized
to the bed.

He
produced a key, which he pressed into her palm. “You hang onto this tightly,
baby. You drop it only if things get too much and you want me to stop. Okay?”

Her
eyes widened in alarm.

He
shook his head. “No, this
stop
halts whatever I’m doing to you right
here.” His gaze dropped for a moment before pinning her again. “The second
stop
comes without a gag. Understood?”

Her
fist clenched over the key. “Yes, Noah.”

That look
again. This time it lingered on his face. Her heart stopped
as she tried to decipher it. But he turned away and grabbed the gag.

Slipping
his hand around her nape, he held the black ball an inch from her mouth. “Open,”
he rasped, his eyes darkening as he watched her mouth. Sensing his intense need
to kiss her, she opened her mouth to beg him to do so. He inserted the ball in
her mouth, choking her words. Palming the gag in place, he secured the leather
ties behind her head and climbed onto the bed.

The
lights in the room dimmed, bringing the picture of her ravaged behind into
sharp focus.

Again
she was struck with how stunningly Noah had depicted the image. Utterly
captivated by it, she started when his stubble grazed her cheek.

“You
know how many times I stroked myself off looking at that picture?” he asked in
a low, deep voice.

She
shook her head.

His
husky laugh warmed her ear. “And you never will. Stand up.”

The
first lash of the whip struck a bare second later.

Leia
screamed. Her hands jerked against the cuffs. All she felt was pain, no
pleasure. A second later, Noah’s hand cupped her breast and his fingers pulled
at her nipple.

Oh,
yes!

Pleasure
exploded on the tails of the pain. She blinked back tears and sucked in
desperate breaths. He released her breast and she twisted her head to watch him
twirl the whip into his hand. The raw sexiness of it flooded her pussy with
liquid heat.

He
raised his hand. She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation. The whip whistled
through the air and her ass exploded in a trail of exquisite fire. The tip of
the leather caught the edge of her pussy and this time pain and pleasure
screamed through her blood. Two more, then he stopped. His arms closed around
her, and he caressed her body from shoulder to knees and back up again. Just as
her heartbeat lowered to mere palpitations, he dropped to his knees and slid
the whip between her legs. The scent of leather and arousal thickened in the
air. Expertly, he maneuvered the whip. Her hips pumped in time to his rhythm,
her orgasm building to combustive levels.

“Are
you going to come on my whip, baby?”

Incoherent
sound gurgled around the gag.

He
increased the friction, mercilessly pushing her to the edge. Her vision
blurred. As the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced tore through her
body, she screamed. One strong arm propped her up through her convulsions,
then
lowered her to her knees. She was twitching through the
last throes when another burst of fire streaked across her ass.

Electricity
jolted through her body and her palm opened. She caught the key a second before
it fell out of her hand. Squeaking with relief, she closed her fist around it
then gave herself over to the sensation rippling through her.

Tears
streamed down her face, caught the corner of her mouth and dribbled down to her
chin. At some point, she’d forgotten to swallow and saliva had escaped.

She
should’ve felt intense shame, but all Leia wanted was more of what Noah was
doing to her.

After
her third orgasm, Noah knotted his fist in her hair and pulled her head back.
His other hand trailed up her inner thigh, caught the shameless evidence of her
arousal.

“Holy
hell, you’re a fucking delicious mess,” he crooned with deep satisfaction
before he released her. The curl of his tongue on her skin a moment later snapped
her head down.

He’d
positioned himself between her thighs, staring up at her as he licked his way
up her inner thigh. He stopped short of her swollen pussy.

 
Leia’s body shook. Her tears spilled onto
his mouth, mingled with her juices. He licked his lips and carried on with his
torture until he’d lapped her clean.

With
one long suck on her clit, he rose and kicked off his briefs.

He
thrust into her hard, groaned deeply,
then
held
himself still. Looping the bullwhip around her neck so the ends hung down her
back, he began to ride her. Fast and deep, he pounded her through another
climax,
then
shuddered roughly through his own
powerful release.

Her
hands were starting to go numb from being restrained for so long.

Still
holding her, he rubbed at her closed fist before holding out his hand. Leia
didn’t want to let go.

He
kissed her cheek and jaw, gently caressing her hand. “It’s okay, baby.”

Slowly,
she unclenched her fist. He unlocked her and released the gag. As their eyes
met, that connection she was sure wasn’t just in her imagination anymore,
arched between them.

In
silence, he carried her to the bathroom. He washed her quickly, as if he knew
she wouldn’t last much longer on her feet. Back in bed, he curled himself
around her back and massaged her melting limbs. As sleep swamped her, Leia
wanted to embrace the bliss washing over her, but she knew it was false.

Noah’s
heart was closed to her, despite his strong arms wrapped around her body.

He
still hadn’t kissed her.

***

“Fuck
it. Why the hell don’t I learn to pick friends who understand the word
no
?”

Leia
looked up from where she sat sketching on the sofa, and smiled. She’d arrived
from work two hours before bursting with ideas for her spring collection.

Enjoying
her creative energy, Noah had resisted the urge to disturb her the way he’d
been dying to, choosing instead to drink a beer and watch her work.

“What’s
that…the forth text in five minutes?”
She quirked a sleek
brow.

“The
sixth. Those fuckers give thick and fast a new meaning.” His finger hovered
over the latest text as he considered deleting it.

“You
blew them off for poker night last week.” She shrugged. “Figures they’re a
little pissed.”

“Pissed
I can handle. Pissed and pushy is crossing the line,” he grumbled. “They’re
threatening to come over unless I reply.”

She
dropped her pad and came over to kneel before him. Her hands on his thighs did
amazingly powerful things to him. He caressed her cheek and felt his chest fill
with that insane emotion again.

“Invite
them over, I can work downstairs at my place for a while.”

“No.”
The growl was a warning for her to drop the subject.

That
beautiful mouth he wanted to kiss more than he wanted to breathe, pouted. “But
I feel bad that I’m keeping your buddies from you—”

“You’re
not.”

Her
lips pursed. “Please, Noah. Do it for me.”

His
finger traced her lower lip. “What do I get out of his shitty deal?”

A
peck on his finger followed a saucy smile. “I have two new pieces of lingerie
downstairs. Have fun with your buddies. Let me work for a few hours, then I’ll
come back here and model them for you.”

His
heart pounded. “Or we can stay here, you work faster and we get to the modeling
part quicker.”

She
drew back, plucked his phone from his lap and skipped to the other end of the
living room. He watched, incredulous as she typed a response. Eyes shining with
mischief, she hit send.

“Baby,
you did not just do that.”

His
phone pinged a response seconds later. “They’ll be here in a hour,” she said.

Slamming
his beer down, he prowled toward her. “So I have an hour to exact retribution
for your insolence?”

Pleasure
burst through him as her eyes darkened and his phone slipped uselessly out of
her hand onto the sofa. God, he loved it when she reacted so viscerally to him.

She
started to backtrack. He had her pinned against the wall in seconds. One minute
later, she was minus her clothes, bent over the sofa and he was thrusting home.

Beautiful.
God, she was so beautiful.

And
so utterly his when they were like this.

He
couldn’t get enough of her. And he was fast reaching the point where he
wondered how he’d survive the day when he demanded more…and she chose to walk
away.

By
the time his elevator delivered his unwanted guests, he was decent again,
barely. He speared a hand through his hair and frowned at Leia’s
just-thoroughly-fucked appearance, which he’d have killed not to have his
friends see. But she’d insisted on meeting them before she went to her condo
and he…he was finding it damned difficult to deny her anything.

Gabe
walked in first and slowed to a swagger the second he set eyes on Leia. Taking
her hand, he kissed the back of it in true Lothario style. “Gabriel
Antonelli
. A pleasure to meet you at last.”