Page 4 of Million Dollar High

Now, the combination of shock and confusion had rendered his normally vibrant skin sickly grey. His brows clamped together. His hands trembled before he tightened his hold on her.

“You’re leaving me? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Even before I verify there’s any truth to what that bitch is saying, you’re leaving? And what the hell do you mean by competing?”

“You know it’s the right thing for me to do, Noah,” she forced out through her pain.

He stepped back, unclamping his hands from her arm. “No, I fucking don’t. All I know is that a few short hours after promising me you wouldn’t, you’re running again.”

“Don’t say that. Please.”

“Please? Then tell me what it is you’re doing. I’m seriously confused, Leia. Enlighten me in plain fucking English so I get that you’re not walking away from me because I’m… I’m…” His jaws clenched tight and he closed his eyes. Shoving a hand through his hair, he breathed in deep. “I may not have known you for a long time, but I know you’re not walking away because of this. So tell me, what the hell is it?”

She opened her mouth to remind him that she was only half a woman, that what her stepfather had done to her had damaged more than her spirit, but the pain shredding her heart stopped her.

She shook her head. “I deluded myself into thinking that we could make this work. God, I don’t know what I was thinking. My last relationship was just before I turned seventeen, Noah. And I can’t even call that a proper relationship. I was little more than a spoiled teenager with a rebellious streak, testing my boundaries. I had no idea what I was doing then. And this… this is way more than I can deal with. I’m going to fuck it up for you. You have to let me go.”

“You want to be able to pick and choose your battles, is that it? To retreat from the world the way you’ve done for the last five years and only come out when you think it’s safe and comfortable?” he grated at her.

A cold shiver chased down her spine. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why am I standing here fighting for you instead of lettingyou chicken out and walk away? Is that what you’re seriously asking me?”

She crossed her arms over her midriff, desperately wanting to cling to the ‘fighting for you’ part. Letting Noah take control, convince her that walking away wasn’t the right thing to do, was the one thing she wanted more than breathing. She’d woken up this morning happier than she’d ever been in her life. She placed sole responsibility of that happiness at Noah’s feet.

The thought that in the future he could find her lacking was more than she could bear. And once the dust settled, he would remember just how fucked up she was. Remember how inadequate she was compared to the woman he needed. She couldn’t do that to him.

“You know she’s telling the truth. I saw your face. You haven’t seen each other in two years, but you know her. Whatever she’s done, you know she’s not lying about this.”

His face tightened. He nodded even though his eyes held nothing but condemnation. “And what’s about to happen to me several months from now is a deal-breaker for you? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m saying I don’t want my presence to confuse the issue. Whatever decision you make, can’t… shouldn’t include me.” She realized how wrong her words sounded the moment she said them. “I’m sorry, I meant?—”

“It’s fine. I get it.” His voice held cold, bleak acceptance. Its roughness tore at her bleeding heart. “Things are a little too messed up for you.”

“No! I mean yes, they are, but I’m doing this for you, Noah.”

“Like hell you are!” He gestured indoors to the two people seated out of sight. “He tells you to jump, and you can’t wait to ask how high!”

“Warren has nothing to do with this,” she shouted. “Credit me with knowing my own damn mind.”

He seized her nape, forced her gaze upward to meet his. “If he’s got nothing to do with this—with us—then stay. God, baby, did last night mean nothing to you?”

Memory slammed into her, making her tremble. “Of course it did. This isn’t easy for me.”

“But you’re doing it anyway. Do you really have so little faith in us?” he demanded gruffly, sliding his thumb back and forth over the short hairs above her ear. She knew he loved that patch of shaved hair. He’d been fascinated with it from the moment they met.

God, had it only been a handful of days that she’d walked into the Indigo Lounge’s Ozone Bar and seen him for the first time?

She wasn’t ashamed to admit Noah King had become her whole world in a stupidly short time.

And now, she had to walk away.

Tears prickled her eyes. Once she left this place she wouldn’t feel his touch ever again. The knowledge slashed her in two. She clung to the wrist that brushed her jaw, treasuring the moment before she had to let him go. When her long nails dug into his flesh, his blue eyes darkened. Unable to speak because everything seemed to come out wrong, she dug in deeper.

His soft hiss was music to her ears. He stepped closer, his fingers tightening.

Just for a moment longer, she wanted to enjoy this, wanted to bask in their unparalleled passion for each other. His thumb caressed the curve of her ear, traced her jaw to the corner of her mouth. Her lips parted, and he slid his thumb in. She sucked him slowly, absorbing his texture and the emotions that flitted over his face. He still looked pale and haggard, but the bloodwas surging into his cheeks again and his breathing was growing shallow.

His other hand curved over her waist to grip her ass. With a single step they were back against the wall, his body pressing down on hers. She sucked eagerly on his thumb, her diamond tongue stud abrading the pad of his digit the way she knew made him wild. His cock thickened against her stomach, its branding unmistakably possessive as his heartbeat hammered against hers.

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