A Million Dirty Secrets (Million Dollar Duet 1)

I was already teetering on the edge of losing control, and then he just had to go and call me “kitten.” He’d been doing that a lot lately and every time he did, it shoved me right on over into the abyss of insanity. I wanted him so badly I thought I might cry. And he smelled so good that I swear I probably could’ve gotten off on his scent alone. I whined out of frustration because I knew I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted, just like I knew he wasn’t going to give me what I wanted if I didn’t.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No,” I answered, and he let out a frustrated breath. “Like my name, my reason for the contract is also personal.”

He shut his eyes tightly and I could see his jaw muscles working as he ground his teeth. Abruptly he pulled out of me and set me on my feet. He made quick work of tucking himself back into his pants and then secured the belt in place. It had to hurt because he was still hard as granite. He hissed in discomfort, confirming my suspicion. When he was done, he looked back at me, shook his head in disappointment, and then walked out of the room without a word.

I sank to the floor with my knees drawn up to my chest and my face buried in my arms. That was when everything came crashing down on me. My mother’s illness, my father’s despair, the stupid contract—and Noah. The pretenses I had to keep up with him; pretending that I was so much more unaffected by him than I actually was. It was too much and it had made me numb.

I was lying to my parents. I was lying to Noah. And I was lying to myself.

Oh, what a very complicated web of deceit I’d spun.

I was so out of my league. No way was I going to come out of this unbroken.

I was falling for him big-time already. I meant what I’d said earlier; I had missed him today. I couldn’t stand being away from him. And then when I walked in and he was waiting for me, looking exactly like I felt—spent and anxious from the separation—I needed him. I needed him to need me.

Yes, I said needed. Not wanted, needed.

I sat there on the floor for hours, mulling it all over in my head and generally feeling sorry for myself. But I couldn’t stay there forever. Eventually, I’d have to face Noah, so I hauled myself off the floor and decided a nice, long dip in the pool would probably be a good idea. Maybe by the time I was done, Noah would already be fast asleep. I still wasn’t even sure he wanted me in his bed. Unless he ordered me otherwise, that was where I’d be. Great. Double Agent Coochie wouldn’t give me issues with that at all, I thought sarcastically. Yep, a nice dip in a cold pool was exactly what I needed to sober me and the Cooch.

Luckily, the house was big enough that I didn’t bump into Noah on my way to the bedroom. He wasn’t there. I did a quick change, putting on the scrap of cloth Polly had sworn up and down was a bikini, and made my way outside to the pool. I may have also sent a silent prayer in thanks to the powers that be my father didn’t have to see his baby girl in that ludicrous getup. However, I soon realized exactly how much God was punishing me for this life of sin I had stumbled upon when I found Noah swimming laps in the pool.

I was momentarily stunned when I caught sight of his sinewy muscles as he sliced through the water like a hot knife through warm butter. His movements were smooth and fluid, like he was part of the water himself. When he reached the end of the pool, he grabbed on to the side and pulled himself out. Water cascaded off his frame and his wet hair shone black as night, reflecting the light of the moon. My eyes trailed over his shoulders and down his lean back to his … Oh. My. God. He even swam in the nude.

The Ridonkabutt was flexed and more chiseled than any butt had a right to be. I wanted to bite it. Hard.

“You’re staring at my ass again.” His voice dripped like liquid sex and knocked me out of my drunken stupor. Yes, I was drunk on the badonkadonk. And he had eyes in the back of his head? Maybe those little back dimples were actually an extra pair.

I gasped when he turned around, and he quickly covered himself. He shrugged and, completely uncharacteristic of him, looked embarrassed. “The water’s a little cold.”

Well, you could’ve fooled me. I mean, he wasn’t as colossal as I was used to seeing him, but there were plenty of men out there who only wished they were as large when they had a raging hard-on as Noah was when he was limp.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you’d be down here. I’ll just …” I turned to go back inside.

“No, don’t. Stay.”

I turned back around and he was walking toward me with that towel wrapped around his waist and beads of water clinging to the fine patch of dark hair on his chest that stretched into a trail leading to the object of my affection. The towel did nothing to dissuade my ogling. The Wonder Peen was bulging under there, and if he got excited, I knew the massive tent he’d pitch would be big enough to shelter the whole damn Von Trapp family. Kind of made me feel like singing, except my singing voice really sucked. So much so that it had been outlawed in my own home. But I digress.

Cooch was threatening to gnaw her way through my bikini to get at him, and I smacked her on the head to get her to settle down. Apparently it wasn’t a mental smack, because Noah looked at me with a raised brow.

“Um, I thought I felt a mosquito, and well, that would be a really uncomfortable place to have the itchies,” I said. It wasn’t a very good cover.

“Uh-huh. Well, you’re free to use the pool. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to relax in one of the lounge chairs for a bit while I dry off. I’m feeling a little tense and could really use the fresh air.”

“I could give you a massage if you want,” I blurted out. “I mean, I’m pretty good at it.”

He looked just as surprised as I was by my offer, but he tilted his head to the side as if he was considering it. He nodded and then gave me a crooked smile. “Yeah, that would be really nice.”

I followed him over to one of the lounge chairs and waited while he reclined it all the way flat and lay down on his stomach. He folded his arms so that his chin rested on them while I stood there like a complete idiot trying to think of the best way to approach him.

The assterpiece looked like the best seat in the house, so I straddled him and perched the Cooch right on top of it. Like the ass whore we all knew she was, she got herself a little better acquainted with him right away, flirting unabashedly with him behind the Wonder Peen’s back.

“Um, this usually works better with lotion. Do you want me to go get some?” I asked.