Mine to Hold (Mine #3)(9)
Author: Cynthia Eden

She fumbled and managed to unhook her belt, too. “I, uh, I’m just curious about the city.” Such a lie.

“You haven’t been here before?” He seemed surprised. Since globe-hopping was no doubt a habit for him, it probably was surprising.

“Most people don’t get to jet off whenever they want,” she said as she fought to keep her voice light. “Besides, I…I was busy.”

“You mean you didn’t want to come here.” He stood, blocking the exit. Trapping her, but not touching her. “You don’t need to lie to me.”

Right.

“I didn’t want to come here.” Her hair slipped forward and fell over her left eye.

Before she could brush the blonde locks back, Noah’s hand moved. His fingers pushed the hair back and lingered on her cheek. “But you came for me.”

Her heart was beating faster. “I came for me.” Because she wouldn’t let fear lead her life. “Colby Harrison isn’t here.” She wasn’t going to dance around this issue. Noah had his neat file, after all, so why hide the truth? “He lost his position two terms back.”

And she hadn’t seen the man in eight years.

“When you worry…” His fingers slipped from her cheek and his index finger moved to lightly tap her lower lip. “You have a tendency to bite this lip.”

Her breath caught in her lungs.

His finger caressed her lip. “Don’t do that. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“I-I wasn’t…” She barely breathed the words against his touch.

But…when she spoke, she…she licked his finger.

It was an accident. She hadn’t meant to do that. Not at all.

Had she?

His pupils expanded, swallowing the gold. “Claire…” Need, lust, deepened her name.

She backed away. Tried to. But there was nowhere for her to go. The seat was behind her. He was in front of her.

His hand fell to his side. Fisted. “Don’t tease.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I want you every f**king time I see you.”

Her eyes widened.

“But I’m trying to give you what you want.”

Claire wasn’t even sure what she wanted.

To be safe?

No, no, there had to be more to life than safety.

“You have to ask, remember?” His voice was so deep. So dark. So tempting. “Just ask.” He turned away. “Let’s get the hell off this plane before I forget that part.”

When his back was to her, Claire finally managed to suck in a deep breath. “I should tell you something.”

But then the pilot strode from the cockpit. Claire immediately clamped her lips shut. She sure wasn’t about to make this particular reveal in front of anyone but Noah.

Claire didn’t speak again until they’d cleared the airport and were in the back of yet another limo. Noah and his limos. At this point, she figured that wherever he went, a car would be waiting.

As the car drove, she found herself leaning closer to the window as she tried to get a glimpse of the city.

“It will be a while before you see anything out here.”

She kept looking. Everything here was new to her.

“The privacy shield is up.” And the deep longing, the lust, was gone from his voice. Noah seemed back to business now. “Finish what you were saying to me on the plane.”

Making sure that she did not bite her lip, Claire turned toward him. “I can’t give you what you want.”

“Don’t be so sure of that…”

Claire shook her head, hard. “Hot sex. Pleasure.”

“That’s exactly what I had in mind.”

He wasn’t understanding her. “That’s not for me.”

A faint line appeared between his brows. “Claire, if there’s one thing you’re made for, it’s pleasure.”

But pleasure just brought more pain. “I don’t have lovers.”

Silence. His stare seemed to measure her. After what had to be at least two minutes of extremely awkward silence, he said, “You don’t as in…you don’t have one now?”

“I don’t have one now. I haven’t had one in nine years.” She didn’t let emotion leak into her voice. There was no emotion. She was simply stating a fact. “I don’t let men get close to me. So you and I…it’s not going to happen.” She glanced away from him. There. She’d done it. Now Noah wouldn’t touch her again. And she wouldn’t feel the longing that his touch stirred. A longing for something Claire knew she wasn’t meant to have.

“He should be dead.”

Those cold, biting words had her gaze flying back to his.

“The only lover you had? That bastard who tried to destroy you?” Noah growled the words. “He should be rotting in the ground.”

“H-he’s in a cell—”

“Prison is too easy for Ethan Harrison.”

His eyes…his voice…Claire shifted nervously. “You aren’t who you pretend to be.”

He smiled then, and the sight chilled her. “No, Claire, I’m not. I’m a man who knows too much about death and dealing out bloody justice.”

“Why?” The question slipped from her. She hadn’t meant to ask, but—

“Why do I think Ethan should be dead? Because he’s a monster. No amount of rehabilitation is going to fix what’s wrong with him. If he ever gets out—”

I’m a dead woman.

Claire already knew exactly what would happen to her if Ethan Harrison ever got out of prison. “That’s not what I was asking.” She took a breath and pushed on. “Why do you even care what happens in my life? You once said that you owed me a debt, but…we both know you don’t, not really. So why do I even matter at all to you? You’re Noah York.” He’d been on the cover of a dozen magazines that she’d passed in the airport. “And I’m…I’m no one.”

He leaned closer, but he didn’t touch her.

She was…disappointed? No, surely not.

I am.

“You’re someone to me.”

She had to look away from him again. His gaze seemed to see too deeply into her.

His fingers caught her chin. He turned her head back so that she had to stare into his eyes. “Your sister died in Chicago because she was pulled into Trace’s battle. You lost her, and I wish every day that hadn’t happened.”

So did Claire. “Sara was all I had left.” The one person who’d believed in Claire, no matter what accusations were tossed around in their small town.