SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series Book 4) (7 page)

“Nothing,”
she tried to keep the bleakness from her voice. “You’re not missing anything.
I’m going home.”

The
confusion faded. The brutal Noah, who’d instructed her to leave his presence in
sixty seconds yesterday, loomed large in the darkened bistro. She took a step
back, then another. Self-preservation kicked in when he started to round the
table toward her.

Fear
of breaking down and going back on what she’d convinced herself was the best
path, forced her feet to move faster.

“Where
the hell are you going?” he demanded.

She
broke into a run. The kitchen area was dark, but the automatic lights came on
as she bolted into the room. Rushing to the door, she slammed on the long exit
bar and stumbled into parking lot. Another light came on, throwing a spotlight
on Noah’s Maserati.

The
futility of what she was doing hit her. She couldn’t call a cab without her
phone. And she wasn’t stupid enough to wander unfamiliar streets at midnight.

She
whirled as the door slammed, but Noah was already outside, stalking to where
she stood, frozen.

One
hand clamped around her waist, the other spearing into her hair. The bottle of
water fell from her hand and rolled away.

At
that hour of night, the warmth of the day had nearly dissipated. Cool air
whispered around her legs and back. But her front was on fire, singeing from
contact with this hard, angry, male.

“If
I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re saying you don’t want to be with me
because I’m about to become a father. Tell me I’m mistaken, Leia.”

Her
heart turned to stone. Which was curious considering she could’ve sworn it was
bleeding away every drop of blood in her body.

The
hand in her hair tightened painfully, twisted until her eyes stung with the
pressure. His gaze demanded answers but his body reacted to hers, as inevitably
as hers to his. Her temperature shot from zero to a million degrees in a split
second, sizzling along every nerve ending and spiking straight between her
legs. Her clit pulsed to hungry, demanding life. The reaction was so strong,
she gasped.

And
that was even before she felt his thickness against her belly.
Even before his hands splayed over her ass to press her closer.
Her hands skated over his hair-dusted forearms. The sensation of skin against
skin made them both shiver. He exhaled harshly, and her eyes dropped to his
lips.

God,
she wanted to kiss him so badly she could taste it.

The
hand in her hair knotted sharply. She winced.

He
smiled. “Answer me.”

Her
fingers froze on his arms. She should push him away, step away from this need
searing them both. But her body refused to obey. Not that Noah would let her
go. His grip on her was molten steel, fusing her to him.

No.
The only way to get him to release her would be to answer his question.

So
she told him the truth. “Yes, Noah. I’m afraid your impending fatherhood is
going to be a problem for me.”

SEVEN

He
stared at her as if she’d grown three heads and a forked tail.

“Say
that again.”

She
steeled her spine and raised an eyebrow. “You asked me whether I was deaf
earlier. Right
backatchya
, Mr. King.”

His
eyes narrowed to tiny slits, his gaze eating into her as he tried to work her
out.

She
kept her composure, even as Noah’s breath turned harsh with anger and
disbelief.

“Let
me go, Noah.” There was only so much bodily contact she could withstand before
she broke down and begged for scraps like a pathetic sex-starved groupie.

In
answer, he shoved her closer to his car, yanked her head back so her mouth,
chin and neck were exposed to him. His teeth bared and her heart thundered. The
memory of those white teeth on her neck…her ass…her clit, roared through her
bloodstream like a potent narcotic drug. Her pussy flooded.

She
knew he smelled her disgraceful need, even as she prayed he’d ignore it.

Please.
Please. Oh God, please.

His
gaze raked her face, her mouth,
the
wild pulse beating
at her throat. He inhaled her deeply, his nostrils flaring. “Do you know what
happens to heartless bitches like you? Bitches who get wet at the thought of
tearing a guy to shreds?” he whispered raggedly against her lips.

“I’m
not…I don’t want to be a—”

“They
get their comeuppance from guys like me.”

She
shuddered hard. He smiled. A smile so deadly, her insides congealed. “Noah
don’t—”

He
shook his head. “Oh no, baby. The time for those pleading,
wide
eyed
Noahs
has passed. Turn around.” He
released her so
abruptly,
she stumbled back and bumped
into the hood.

Mouth
dropping open, she glanced wildly around her. Beyond the pool of light bathing
them, the rest of the lot was dark, silent.

“There’s
no one here to save you. Turn.
The. Fuck
. Around.”

The
animalistic authority in his voice had her heeding the command but she didn’t
move fast enough. He grabbed her waist, whipped her around to face his car, and
pushed her forward. Her hands slammed onto the hood to break her forward
momentum.

Before
she could protest, his fingers were tugging at her hem. He dragged up her dress
to her waist and smacked her ass half a dozen times in quick succession. Leia
bit her lip through the stinging pain, too shocked to do anything but stay
there and take it…and crave more. When he soothed the sting in that infinitely
caring way of his that belied his bitterness, tears sprang to her eyes.

The
realization that she’d hurt him to breaking point, and yet he still cared for
her, made her heartache intensify.

“I’m
sorry,” she murmured, wanting to soothe him as he soothed her.

“I
don’t fucking believe you. Not anymore.” Another set of smacks rained down on
her ass. Her gasp of pleasure at each one seemed to set him off. He released a
harsh breath after the last one and petted her longer between her punishments.
Laying a hand on her ass, he whispered in her ear, “Do not move your hands from
the hood. You’re getting punished regardless of what you say or do, but you
will get double if you disobey me.”

Her
arms trembled at the scathing words and she shut her eyes at the shameful need
flaring wildly through her bloodstream. She wanted him anyway she could have
him, and if punishment for keeping her innermost secrets intact was what it
took to have Noah with her like this, then she’d grab it with both hands.

“I
didn’t hear an answer. It’s been barely forty-eight hours, have you forgotten
everything I taught you already?”

“I…Yes.”

His
hand moved from her ass, around her waist to the front of her panties. She held
her breath in anticipation, but he stopped at the top line of her panties, his
hand covering her belly. “Open your legs,” he growled in her ear.

Sluggish
with the lust raging through her, she didn’t move fast enough. He kicked her
legs apart, far wider than comfort allowed. Two fingers breached her panty
line, slid through her wet heat and hooked deep inside her.

The
hand around her throat tightened until she could barely squeeze oxygen into her
lungs. Sensation fired though her, blurring her vision until her eyelids
fluttered shut.

“Keep
your eyes open. I want you to watch…feel every single thing I do to you.”

Her
eyes popped open and her gaze collided with his reflection on the windshield.
His features were tortured, but he was just as turned
on
as she was, the blaze between them incandescent and destructive.

“Noah—”

“Do
not
fucking say my name,” he snarled thickly.

He
hooked his fingers deeper, almost lifting her off her feet. Pain exploded
alongside pleasure. Leaving her poised on her tiptoes, he pumped his fingers
five times. Then stopped. Her skin tingled with the precursor to release. She
flexed her hips, half out of her mind with the need to come.

“You’re
not trying to fuck yourself into orgasm without my permission, are you?” he
asked. “You think you deserve to come, baby? After destroying me like you have
tonight?”

 
The thought that he intended to leave her
hanging hadn’t even occurred to her. Now it whizzed through her like
super-amped electricity. Her mouth dropped open in shock.

His
lips twisted in a macabre smile. “Now you’re getting the idea.” His hand left
her throat. She almost begged him to put it back. But when he roughly palmed
her breast, her sob died in her throat. He squeezed her tight, tugged painfully
on the stiff peak until the pain in her pussy and her nipple connected in a
blast of white-hot lightning.

Again
he tortured her until she teetered on the brink of release,
then
stopped.

Pulling
his fingers out of her tight wetness, he pressed them against her lips. “Savor
your flavors, baby. Describe to me what it tastes like.” He shoved two fingers
into her mouth.

Biting
back a frustrated sob, she sucked greedily, the wet sounds pulsing around the
empty parking lot. She licked him clean, the tangy flavors adding to the heady
joy of having those strong fingers in her mouth.

“How
does it taste?” he crooned in her ear.

She
swallowed and tried to speak around a throat clogged with desperation.
“Umm…it’s okay?”

He
pulled his fingers out of her mouth. “Just okay? You sure? Are you certain you
don’t taste like Slippery Witch? Or Shamelessly Wet Heart-Breaker?”

The
bitterness in his voice ripped at her heart. “What do you want from me?” she
demanded brokenly. “You won’t accept that I’m sorry, that I never meant to hurt
you. What do you want?”

“What
do I want? Right now, I want you on my tongue. I’m going to eat your faithless
little pussy so
good,
you’ll wish you never met me.
Because after tonight, you’ll never feel my mouth or my hands, or my cock
inside you again, so treasure this punishment.”

This
time the sob broke out, a ragged little sound she tried to bite off but
couldn’t.

His
warmth left her as he
straightened,
then crouched
behind her.

Rough
hands reached for her panties. He started to lower them, but with an impatient
hiss, he tore them off before they were halfway down her legs. He threw the
flimsy fabric on the hood. Her gaze landed on the tattered material, a brazen
reminder that she was bare-assed, open to whatever Noah intended to do to her.

“Did
you say you had a board meeting in the morning?” His question was deceptively
soft as his large hands framed her ass. He parted the globes and her belly
spasmed
as his warm breath caressed the sodden space
between. Her thighs shook with the effort to remain upright.

“Y…yes.”

“Good.
I’m going to make your ass so fucking
sore,
you won’t
be able to move tomorrow without thinking of me. Without knowing what being a
bitch has earned you.
”

He
rose.

She
heard a distinctive
phlllt
sound of leather
sliding through loops.

Her
head whipped around, her heart jumping at the unbelievable sound.

At
the visual confirmation of what was about to happen, her mouth dropped open in
disbelief.

Noah’s
eyes gleamed with dark relish as he curled his belt in his hand. Hooded blue
eyes met hers, hot and unforgiving. “Just so we’re clear, do you remember what
we talked about the first time we fucked?”

She
nodded.

He
glared.

“Yes,”
she enunciated in a shaky voice.

“Repeat
it, baby. I want to hear the words,” he ordered. He trailed the dangling black
leather up her thigh and over her ass.
Again and again.

The
trembling became relentless, delicious anticipation firing in her bloodstream.
“I say stop…you stop.”

“Glad
to hear you haven’t forgotten everything.”

She
braced herself as he stepped back.

The
first lash landed across both cheeks. “Ah! Oh God!” Her arms gave way, and she
landed hard on her elbows.

One
hand fisted her hair, and he pulled her up. “You better not make dents in my
car, sweetheart.” He let her go and delivered two lashes,
quick
and sharp.

Her
gasps strangled as the crackle of plastic sounded behind her. A moment later,
ice cold
water dribbled down her ass and over the back of
her thighs, soothing the raw stings. Relief poured through her as his hand
spread the wetness over her hot skin.

After
a minute, he set the bottle down beside her left hand. “If that falls over,
you’re getting triple the punishment. Understood?”

“Yes…N—”
His name died in her throat as another lash flared across her butt. Her clit
swelled, and her pussy clenched hungrily at the roughness ripping her in two.
Wetness from her core dripped down her leg, her scent coating the sultry air.

Absently,
she started to wonder whether her
Ferragamos
would be
ruined beyond repair. The thought disintegrated under several more lashes.
Shame crawled over her, but not enough to dissolve the ferocious need burning
through her, or the promise of what was to come if she did as she was told.

Another
two lashes and her sticky wetness ran down both thighs.

Noah
started to reach for the bottle, stopped and hissed in disbelief. “Jesus,
you’re fucking dripping.”

Her
moan was half despair, half a plea for deliverance.

Bottle
forgotten, he dropped the belt and crouched behind her. His hands wrapped
around her thighs. “You’re unbelievable, do you know that? You fucking reject
me in one breath and cream like crazy for me in the other. Why, Leia?” he
demanded harshly.

“I…I
can’t help myself,” she stammered. “I want you…want this…”

Her
essence dripped over his fingers and he trailed it up till he reached her outer
lips. His thumbs pressed into the flesh beneath her labia. He groaned. The
sound held so much ragged
despair,
she wanted to tell
him to stop. That he should spare them both the agony of this torrid
confrontation. But selfishness won over.

She
wanted him more than ever, was certain she wouldn’t be able to function if Noah
didn’t make her come soon. Like right now.

He
was obviously gripped by the same fever because he gave another groan and
replaced his fingers with his tongue. Greedily he lapped up her juices, his
fingers biting into her thighs to hold her shuddering body still.

“
Fuck,
fuck, fuck
, why do you taste so damn good? You left me, dammit, you’re not
supposed to taste so fucking incredible.”

She
tried to grind her pussy into his face, desperate for more than he was giving
her. In light of Noah’s bitter condemnation for her walking away, she’d never
thought they’d end up like this. That she would get to feel his hands or mouth
on her ever again. She wasn’t about to let this incredible opportunity pass.
But he was in no mood to be accommodating. His tongue lapped her clit with slow
licks, swirled over the swollen bud before pulling it into his mouth for a meager
second.

She
growled in frustration.

“You
don’t like that?”

“Stop
talking! Make me come. Please,” she gritted, near desperate as her orgasm
hovered just out of reach.

A hard slap against her core, brought tears to her eyes and
even more wetness to her already dripping sex.
Another came quickly on the heels of the
first. And another.