“If you must know,” she snipped with her chin in the air, “I went to a dinner party.”
“For two?” Stop.
Can’t.
“Did the party last all night?” You really have to stop this. “Did something happen between you and Corban?”
“Why do you care?” Anger sizzled in those liquid silver eyes. “You’re too dangerous for me, remember? And I’m too flighty and irresponsible for you. Therefore, if I want to find my pleasure elsewhere, I will.”
Oh, hell, no. He managed to grit out, “I never said you were flighty and irresponsible.”
“Whatever. You thought it. You’re all the same, after all. You think the same, act the same.”
“Who, men? Did Corban call you those things?” He braced himself against the counter, suspecting he might need the support. Something was wrong with her. Yesterday, before Corban’s arrival, she’d been in a decent mood. Had even teased Hector about staring at her br**sts. Now she was easily pricked, defensive and snappy. “You can tell me. Whatever happened, I can help you.” And kill him.
“Why would you help me?” she said, incredulous. “You and I aren’t dating.”
Damn it. He hadn’t seen her this worked up, since … ever. “Stop throwing questions at me, and give it to me straight. What happened last night?”
“None of your goddamn business. How’s that for a straight answer?”
“I want it to be my business!” The words exploded from him before he could consider the consequences, the thought of her with someone else destroying him. “I like you. I admire you. I f**king want you, all the damn time. So let me help you with this, Noelle.”
Her breathing picked up and her cheeks flushed, but other than that she gave him no other sign that she cared. “Hector, you like, admire, and want me, as you’ve told me before, but you don’t have any sticking power. We both know this. And I’m not going to be pushed aside again.”
“Noelle, listen to—”
“No! You listen. I’m done with you, okay? We’re done. You and Dallas can show yourselves out.” She walked away from him. Not once did she glance back.
He stood there a moment, his anger rising. Thoughts flashed through his mind like bullet points.
He was no good for her.
He hadn’t yet tried the mind-over-matter thing.
He’d pushed her away time and time again, and probably would again.
He’d rejected her after they’d pleasured each other. He hadn’t hurt her physically, but he’d hurt her mentally, emotionally.
She hadn’t given him any true encouragement since.
He shouldn’t have come here, and he shouldn’t have asked her about her nocturnal activities.
He shouldn’t climb those stairs and enter her bedroom, either. But after making sure Dallas was still okay with Hector bedding her, then getting rid of the guy, then resealing her broken door, that’s exactly what he did.
No sticking power? Fuck that. Today he’d be on her like goddamn glue.
Steam drifted from a crack in the bathroom door, and he pushed his way in. There were two stalls, one for enzyme and one for water. Both had clear glass walls. Noelle occupied the one with water—and she was facing him. Sweet mercy.
The sight of her utterly undid him.
He’d drunk water, of course, had even washed his hands in it a few times, but never had he seen the expensive substance splattered over someone’s naked body. His c**k hardened instantly.
Wet hair was plastered to her neck and shoulders. Water droplets poured over her lush curves, curling around her hard pink ni**les, sliding down her flushed skin, then catching in the dark triangle between her legs.
“What are you doing?” she snapped. No hiding behind a towel or her own hands. She stood straight and tall and glorious.
He’d come up here to yell at her, to goad her into yelling at him. Seeing her naked and wet, he lost every thought but one: getting inside her.
Hector whipped his shirt over his head, and she gasped, her gaze falling to his chest, where his pectorals jumped at the thought of her touch. “You want sticking power, I’ll give you f**king sticking power. But here’s how it’s going to work. You do what I say, when I say.”
“Just … get out of here, Hector.” The tremor in her voice sucked any heat from her tone.
“You wanted me before I pushed you away and you want me now. Admit it.” He tore off his boots, then unsnapped his pants and shoved the material to the floor, satisfied to note they now rested beside her discarded dress.
The water continued to cascade over her as she glared at him, those eyes silver with fury and arousal. “So? I want you. Big deal. Being with you now won’t change anything. You’ll still consider yourself too dangerous for me.”
Maybe, maybe not. “Not being with you has been torture. The last few days, my arms have been acting up whether we’re together or parted. That makes me dangerous to everyone, not just you. Coming calms me down. Maybe coming inside you will calm me down for good.”
Hope in her eyes, quickly dashed. “Or maybe it won’t.”
Dallas’s vision might not have shown Hector actually pumping inside Noelle, but it had shown him naked with her. “Well, we’re going to find out. So move over, sweetheart. You wanted me, now you’re gonna get me.”
Thirty-one
A VERY NAKED, VERY ON edge Hector climbed into the stall, and Noelle could only gape. This was … this was … a dream, surely. She’d spent one hour with Corban. Just one, and he’d undone years of hard-won confidence.
Do you think about anything before you act? No, because you’re too flighty. How could you drag me into this? Because you’re irresponsible.
After the way he’d smiled at her inside Hector’s office, she’d thought he was amused by the whole situation. But just as before, he’d reeled her in then struck. Emotionally whipped, she’d wanted only to go home and crawl into bed. On the way, she’d gotten the alert about Hector. Seeing him, wanting him, and being rejected by him for the thousandth time had held no appeal, so she’d done the unthinkable. She’d gone to her mother’s to receive a mental shredding she would actually survive.
Fast forward to Hector in her kitchen, looking sexy and savage and acting jealous. As raw as she’d felt, she hadn’t wanted to see-saw with him. I want you, but I can’t have you. I want you, but we can’t be together. Crap she just couldn’t deal with anymore. So she’d bailed. Shockingly enough, he’d followed her.