"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.

at eight p.m., noah walked into claire's temporary d.c. office. they'd been in meetings all day. talking with contractors, working with marketing staff. they'd barely stopped for lunch.

claire had surprised him. he'd known that she was smart. after all, the woman had graduated at the top of her class, but she was also damn savvy when it came to the inner workings of the hotel business. and the woman sure had a gift for tact.

noah wasn't always so tactful. when he'd been ready to tear into the contractors, claire had carefully interceded. charmed.

she was sure charming him.

she was also not even aware that he was in the room with her. claire was crouched over the laptop that he'd given her earlier, her fingers tapping furiously across the keys.

it was rare that a woman could ignore him.

but then, claire was a very rare woman.

so he just crossed his arms over his chest and watched her. a small furrow was between her brows-a sign of her focus, he was certain. her cheeks were pale, her lips bare of color. but claire didn't need makeup to shine. she was already so close to perfect that he ached just looking at her.

i don't have lovers... i don't have one now. i haven't had one in nine years.

he'd taken that revelation like a punch to the gut. claire truly was made for pleasure, and by locking herself off from the world, she was just giving that sob ethan harrison more power over her.

claire deserved pleasure. noah was going to see that she got it.

claire glanced up then. she saw him-and jumped.

"sorry," noah murmured as he straightened. "didn't mean to scare you."

claire surged to her feet. "then you shouldn't skulk in doorways."

skulk? he smiled at her. "you looked focused. i was waiting for the right time to interrupt."

her eyes narrowed, and he knew she was trying to decide if she believed his story or not.

since it was a lie, he let his smile stretch a bit more. he hadn't announced his presence because he'd just enjoyed watching her. "you need to wrap things up for the night."

she pushed back her hair. "ah, right...just give me-"

"we're going out for dinner," noah added. then, so she wouldn't be so nervous, he said, "i want to check out the competition in town." he'd just bought one of the historic hotels in d.c.-the hotel they were inside of right then. his crew was updating the hotel's interior, while still working to keep the ambiance and the character that the clientele would love. he wanted to add a roof-top restaurant to the hotel, though. a new place that would be the talk of the town. he already had a celebrity chef lined up for the new venue.

so while he didn't technically need to check out the competition, he did want to take claire to dinner.

their first date. even if she didn't know it.

claire nodded. "i'll change and meet you in the lobby."

sounded like one fine plan to him. he wondered what the odds were that she'd put on the sleek, black dress that had been purchased for her. one that dipped low in the back and would reveal claire's long legs.

she approached him slowly. cautiously.

noah realized that he was blocking the door.

if he didn't move, claire would have to brush against him as she passed.

i want her to get used to my touch.

he also wanted her to make the next move.

he slid to the side.

but claire...she still brushed against him as she passed.

that's it, claire. touch me. do it all you want.

he turned, watching her as she left the little office. hell, yes. claire had been made for pleasure.

and soon, he'd give her so much pleasure that she screamed.

noah was in the lobby, talking with the hotel manager, when the elevator doors slid open and claire walked out.

she was wearing the black dress. it clung to every curve that she had.

and her legs...sweet hell, her legs seemed to go on forever. her feet were clad in high, black heels. fuck-me heels.

she'd put on lipstick. slid color on her cheeks. pulled her hair back into a little twist.

she also had black ribbon tied around her wrists. sexy, silky ribbon that made noah think of claire...

tied to his bed.

"ah, mr. york?" the manager, chuck collins, cleared his throat. "you were, um, you were telling me about the construction upstairs-"

he couldn't remember a damn thing that he'd been saying to chuck. "carry on with your work." he nodded curtly to the guy.

"but mr. york-"

noah stalked toward claire. the woman looked good enough to eat. how was he supposed to keep his hands off her?

she put her hands in front of her dress. at that angle, it almost looked as if her wrists were bound together with the ribbon.

noah swallowed. the woman had no clue what she was doing to him.

"sorry it took so long," claire told him with a slightly nervous edge in her voice. "i had to, um...improvise a few things."

he reached for her hand. noah had to do it. that ribbon was driving him insane. how could something so simple be so sexy?

he lifted her hand. turned her wrist and realized-

she's not wearing this to be sexy. she's using the ribbon to hide her scars.

"i improvise if i wear something without sleeves," claire said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. "it's just...people might ask questions, and i didn't want to embarrass you."

a growl rumbled in his throat. "you would never embarrass me." he didn't let her hand go. he knew exactly how claire had gotten those scars on her wrists. his claire had broken once.

because of ethan harrison.

noah would make sure that she never broke again.

her lips started to curl. he waited for her smile to come. for her dimples to flash. he-

"claire kramer!" the snarl cut across the hotel's lobby. the tall, arching ceiling in the historic hotel seemed to make the cry echo all around the space.

noah turned at the cry, frowning at the fury he heard in those words.

an older man had just entered the lobby. his gray hair had thinned, his shoulders hunched, but a feverish intensity lit his eyes. eyes that were locked on claire.

"i'd know you anywhere," the man snapped.

he advanced on claire.

the hell, no.

noah stepped in front of claire even as he heard her gasp behind him.

"mr. harrison, no!" this cry came from the man who was hurrying to grab the older guy's arm. a brown-haired fellow wearing a three piece suit. probably in his late twenties, with one of those all-american faces.

but harrison shook off the man's hold. "you damn bitch!" he yelled at claire. "you should be in prison! not my boy! you should be-"

"you need to close your mouth," noah said, his own voice lethally soft. "before i close it for you." his hands were clenched, and he wanted to drive his fist into the old man's jaw.

he knew he was looking at ex-senator colby harrison. he'd seen photos of the guy, but those photos had been during the man's time in office. harrison hadn't aged so well. age spots and thick lines marked his face, and the stench of booze clung to the man.

colby harrison wasn't a d.c. power player any longer. this jerk was about to find his ass kicked into the street.

"i'm sorry," the man with harrison muttered. "he got a call that she was here, and i couldn't stop him-"

harrison made a mistake then. he tried to lunge around noah and actually touch claire.

huge mistake.