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He waited for her to take off more.Please, God, yes, take off more.The bra. The tights. The panties that she probably had beneath the tights. She could just take them all off. Get rid of everything.
“I hid from you on the way home,” Noelle confessed.
Uh, no, she’d been right next to him.
“I was embarrassed because I said something I shouldn’t have.”
Brady took a lurching step toward her. “You don’t ever need to be embarrassed around me.” Fuckingnever.As for what she’d said, “Noelle, listen, I need to tell you—”
Her chin lifted. “You told me before…back at my house, you said you wanted to strip me.”
Hell, yes. She was partially stripped right then. Too tempting. Too gorgeous. And if she could just take off a little more, she’d make him the happiest bastard in the world.
But she didn’t take off more. She sucked in a deep breath and added, “At my house, you said you wanted to fuck me.”
Nothing would satisfy him more. Driving into her, sinking into heaven. Having his dream in his arms…yes.
“And…y-you said you wanted me to scream your name until I went hoarse.”
The faint stutter in her voice had his heart aching. “You always did have one hell of a memory.” Say something to Noelle once, and she’d remember it forever. A fact he’d tucked away in his Everything-About-Noelle mental file years ago.
“I would like all of that.” A hesitant nod. “Especially tonight. Screaming and being with you andnotthinking about him or how close he was or what might have happened if you hadn’t come out when you did.”
He leapt for her. Couldn’t stay away. Brady closed the distance between them and curled his hands around her waist. “I’m sorry.”
She blinked those incredible eyes of hers at him. So deep. Enchanting. The kind of eyes that owned a man, body and soul. “For what?”
“For letting you go.”For wasting so much time.“I should have been with you.” Not just that night, but always.
“You were changing out of your costume. I just stepped outside for air.” A broken laugh. “The attack was hardly something you could predict.”
No, she didn’t understand. “I should have been with you,” Brady said again. What he meant was that instead of running, instead of thinking that he could let her go, that he would actually be able to keep his sanity if she wound up with some other lucky SOB, Brady should have spent his days and nights with her.
Now the idea of giving her up? Letting some bastard have a life with Noelle while Brady had to walk away?Not gonna happen.One hand rose. Brushed back her hair. His other hand stayed curled carefully around her waist. “I’ll be between you and any threat.” She needed to understand this. Understandhim.“I will do anything to keep you safe. He comes at you again, and he’s a dead man.”
A quick inhale. “Brady, that’s not—you don’t mean that!”
“I mean you are the one person in the world who matters most to me. I’ve done a shit job of making you realize that fact. Truth be told,thatwas my plan. For you not to know. Because you deserve better than me. I knew it years ago. I know it now.” A shake of his head. “Knowing doesn’t change anything. I can’t let you go again. Iwon’t.And if he tries to hurt you…”I will end him.Done. “There is nothing I would not do for you.”
Her gaze searched his. “I don’t want you to kill anyone for me.”
Of course, she wouldn’t. Not Noelle with her soft heart. But sometimes, dark deeds had to be done. He was the man to do those deeds. He’d spent years doing them.
“I just want you,” she whispered. Her hand slid up and pressed to his chest. Right over his heart. The heart that had been hers all along, Noelle just hadn’t known it. “I want to scream,” she added huskily. “I want to let go. I want to see if all the fantasies I’ve had in my head about the two of us can come anywhere close to matching reality.”
Was she trying to bring him to his knees? Because he was close to falling before her.
“I don’t want to be afraid. I don’t want to think of him.” Noelle swallowed. Her gaze never left his. “I just want to know only you. Everything else can fade away.”
Right. Like he was going to deny her.Never.“That wonderful memory of yours…” His voice came out ragged and rough. “You remember what else I said at your place, don’t you?” He knew she did, but, deliberately, Brady added, “When I have you, you’re mine.”I will never give you up.When you had wanted someone for so long, there would be no going back.
“Of course, I remember that part.” A faint smile tilted her lips. “But that means you’ll be mine, too, Brady.”
“Baby, I always have been.” His head lowered, and his mouth took hers.
Chapter Eight
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…at least eight years of longing…eight years of need…all erupting into one incredible night. Fantasies are never supposed to match reality. But with Brady? Reality is even better.
