Her eyes narrowed. “In your dreams.”
He ignored that. “What do you do when you’re not dancing?” He could guess, and he’d be right. But he was pushing too hard. He needed to back off.
“Noah.” There was a quiver of panic in her voice. “Stop it.”
He just sat there, concentrating with all his strength. Taking her in. Trying to feel his way to the next step without losing her. “You’re scared of me,” he said.
“No, I’m not. Not at all.” For the second time in minutes, he was unable to read her. He had to figure out how the fuck she did that. No one ever had.
“OK then,” he said. “Take off your clothes.”
Chapter 11
This was harder than it should be, for a woman who’d been dancing professionally in scanty clothing to survive. But she had no costume to hide behind here. She was dressed to disappear, not titillate.
And undressing in front of this incredibly charismatic guy would be intimidating even if she’d been wearing silk and lace.
Caro crouched to untie the graying laces of her kicks, wincing as she peeled off socks that had multiple holes in them. Yikes.
She was so excited couldn’t breathe. Her heart thudded against her ribs. She longed for filmy layers, something soft or stretchy to peel off and let whisper to the ground. All she had was the black long-sleeved jersey pulled over various other T-shirts, layered for warmth, bulk and blurring.
Once those were off, she had the frayed bra to feel self-conscious about, considering it barely contained her C-cup boobs. It had been bought back in a previous era of her life. Back when she still had reason to display cleavage.
Which she still had, despite living on what she thought of as the fugitive diet. Boobs were great for belly dancing, but aside from that, they were a nuisance for a woman on the run. They had to be contained, concealed. They ached, bounced, and attracted attention. Which she wanted about as much as she wanted a dose of radiation poisoning.
For the first time in a long while, she was glad to have them. She strained to reach the clasp, let the bra fall. Shoulders back. Tits high. In your face, dude.
The energy in the room changed. His face changed, going tense. He swallowed hard. No longer calm.
She was glad. Rattling his cage gave her a rush of power. She posed proudly, just waiting. Savoring the heat. The pressure of his eyes. Like a touch.
“Caro,” he whispered. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
Aw. Gee. Her face flushed, and her breath got stuck in her chest. She opened her mouth to thank him. Thought better of it.
“Come here,” he said.
She inched forward carefully. Gravity got wonky around this guy. When she was within his reach, he began to unbuckle her belt. It was a man’s belt, bought to keep her jeans up on her ass so to avoid having to buy smaller clothes.
The buckle gave way. Noah tugged on the ends of the battered strip of leather.
She stumbled forward until she stood between his powerful thighs, his face inches from her naked breasts. Her nipples tightened to rigid points at the heat of his breath. His gaze was so fierce and focused, she felt like it burned her skin.
“Don’t,” she whispered. Having no clue as to why she said it.
“Don’t what? Look at the perfect tits in front of my face?”
“The X-ray eyes thing,” she told him. “Not fair. To look at me that way, read my mind, try to tell me all about myself. That wasn’t the deal.”
“The deal was, no questions. I didn’t ask any.”
She shook her head. “But somehow you keep pushing me.”
Noah put his hands around her waist, his long fingers splayed over the curve of her ass. Her jeans slid down, catching perilously at her hips. One wrong move and they would fall. “I do it because I know you want me to.”
“What makes you think that?” she demanded.
“I’m just paying attention.”
She felt almost afraid to breathe. “I can’t do this,” she whispered.
He tugged her closer. “Yes, you can,” he said. “You need to. You want it so bad.” He pressed his face to her breasts.
Caro moaned as his hot mouth moved over her. He held her in a tight, possessive grip as he suckled and licked. His touch released a torrent of energy, making her vision dim, her head pound. Reality itself warped inexplicably, narrowing down to a single glittering point . . .
And exploded, shooting light all through her body. She blacked out for a moment.
She found herself draped over his shoulder some time after. Clamped in his strong arms, feeling his heartbeat. Her hair hung down over his back.
Her head was too heavy to lift. “What the hell?” she whispered.
“You came,” he said softly. “A whole body orgasm. Just from me kissing your breasts for a little while. Amazing. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.”