Mine to Hold (Mine 3)

“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.

“I damn well do owe you, Claire, but that’s not why I have my interest in you.”

She waited.

“I want you.” Flat. Almost angry. “More than I can remember wanting any other woman.”

“Y-you’ve had dozens of lovers—” Claire began.

“Yes, dozens.” He released her chin. “But for the last three months, when I close my eyes, I only see you.”

Claire swiped her damp palms on her new, black pants. “I can’t compete with them.” The guy dated super models, heiresses, and—

“There’s no damn competition.” He gave a hard, negative shake of his head. “I told you, I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you.”

“But…why?”

“Because I find you sexy as hell. I look at you, and I ache.”

Her breath came faster.

His gaze was on her mouth. “And I have the feeling that when I do finally taste you, you just might addict me.”

Helplessly, Claire shook her head. “I can’t give you…what you need.”

“We’ll see about that, Claire.” He inclined his head. “You might want to look out the window now. You don’t want to miss what’s coming…”

She turned back to the window, dazed. D.C. rose before her, but in her mind, she saw a pair of glittering, golden eyes. Eyes that shone with desire.

A desire that she’d felt, too. She hadn’t wanted any man, not in so long. She’d been in cold storage but…

He was warming her again. And making her want things that were too dangerous for her to ever have.

***