I grin, internally wincing.
“Thank you, Mr. Furrow. I will. I hope your room is all you hope it to be.” Dipping my head, I swivel around the room, lifting my hand and running it through my hair to avoid the eye of several others trying to claim my time, but I have none to spare.
It’s the first night I’ve been in the same space as Noel, where there is no work to be done, and I won’t waste it.
So off I go in hunt of the woman who escaped me a little over an hour ago.
To my surprise, she was nowhere to be found; I searched the very place I expected her to be, but I know her. There is no chance she’s holed up in her room, not with that dress on.
Not after I pushed her over the edge in front of four-dozen headhunters.
No, the fierce, fiery brunette, with eyes like liquid smoke and lips made of the sweetest satin, escaped.
Time to hunt.
Ready or not, here I come, Kitten…
CHAPTER 4
Roman
I’ve never been the kind of man to hide in the shadows. I like being up close and personal.
I like control.
So settling into the dusty, dark corner of a pub that may have very well been built—and run—by Vikings, is not ideal, but I can’t exactly step up to the two women at the bar, so incredibly out of place in their ballroom gowns, and toss the one I came to find over my shoulder. To be fair, I can, but there’s a good chance it won’t bode well for my balls if I did.
Noel sits perched on a stool, Dina at her side… a half-dozen others circling them in, both men and woman, curious as to where they came from and how they ended up here, where everyone looks as if they just came fresh off the mountain after a day of snow sports. Some of the men are in nothing but their thermals and socks, all gear gone, probably after their third pitcher of lager.
I watch Noel closely, the slight flush of her cheeks and the way she covers her mouth as her head falls back with another bit of laughter, her delicate hand free of the gleaming diamond once weighing it down.
A sharp sting settles in my chest, and I decide not to rush right over to her when I know the moment her eyes meet mine, they’ll grow bitter. The smile on her lips will twist with distaste, and after that, sadness will stare back at me, poorly hidden behind those amber eyes. Or maybe rage after what I did tonight, but still, beneath the anger will be something deeper. Something she can’t control, which only frustrates her more because of that fact.
However, the more time that passes, the more her intentions for the night become clear.
Noel has something to prove, but not to anyone else.
To herself.
Sorry, Kitten, but I won’t allow it…
The crowd has filtered back to their tables, Dina and Noel on their second glass since I’ve been here, now dancing their way through songs I’ve never heard before, but I can’t listen to the lyrics anyway. Not when my focus is glued to the luscious woman in the center of the room.
The gown she’s wearing creates an even deeper curve to her hips, her full figure delicately wrapped in the glitter and glam, making my mouth water.
She sways her body seductively, her long chocolate hair teasing at the edge of her peach-shaped ass, begging me to close my palm around it and squeeze. Bite.
Lick.
My cock jumps in my slacks, my chest rumbling when her head falls back, her slender neck bared as if inviting my lips to come out and play. I’d start at the very mid-point of her throat, kissing and nipping, sucking until her muscles clench.
I want her nails digging into my shoulder blades, want to feel the sweet fucking sting that’ll come right before she does. A desperate plea for release, while also the exact opposite—a frantic attempt to hold off for one more second, to live in the in-between of absolute fucking bliss before succumbing to the pleasure of our finale. I want to watch her come as I do, at the same exact time.
I want no other woman as I want her. Never have.
Never fucking will.
If she won’t have me, I’ll simply die a single man.
And the suggestively single man wrapping his hands around a body that doesn’t belong to him might die too…
My eyes narrow and I push off the wall, watching. Waiting.
What are you going to do, Kitten, let him paw what’s mine or bring those claws out?
Noel smiles at the blond-haired man with snow coveralls hanging around his waist, her arms locking around his neck.
Too intimate, but I’ll allow it… for now.
She says something, and he laughs, leaning in to whisper into her ear.