Chapter 75 Chapter Seventy Five
I held my breath, his lips on mine so soft and gentle at first it was hardly a kiss at all.
Heat bloomed in my chest, spreading outward until my fingers tingled with it. I leaned into him without thinking, and his other arm came around my waist, pulling me impossibly closer against him.
The kiss deepened slowly and naturally as he let me, a total novice at kissing, figure it out with him.
His lips parted and I followed his lead, my hands finding their way to his shoulders. The muscle beneath his shirt was firm under my palms, and when I gripped tighter, he made a dark satisfied sound in the back of his throat that sent shivers down my spine.
Noah’s hand slid from my hair to my jaw, tilting my head slightly so he could kiss me more thoroughly.
His tongue swept along my lower lip, licking once then twice, and when I opened for him, the gentle kiss turned into something darker, hungrier.
I could find no words, I could barely even think, all I could feel was him.
And it felt nothing at all like the angry, possessive way that Jace had kissed me.
Where Jace had felt like a blazing furnace, desiring only to consume me. With Noah, he was savouring every second, melding my body with his, like he wanted to memorise the taste of me.
Rewrite every memory of Jace’s hands on me and replace them with his. He wanted to make me forget him, permanently…. And it was working.
His fingers splayed across my lower back, steadying me, kidding me faster and faster and I realised I was trembling. Though this time it wasn’t from fear, it was the sheer intensity of feeling something this good, this right, for the first time.
When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes still closed, his lips slightly parted.
“There,” he said, his voice rough. “Official enough for you?”
I couldn’t speak. My entire body was thrumming with an electricity I’d never felt before. It felt scary and yet…
Noah’s hand was still in my hair, his other spread across my lower back, keeping me there as if he had no intention of letting me go anytime soon.
“This is what it’ll be like,” he murmured, his lips brushing my jaw. “When we’re together. When everyone sees us together.”
He pressed a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“Jace will lose his mind watching me touch you like this. Kiss you like this.”
Another kiss, this time on my neck, and I shuddered.
“He’ll know exactly what he gave up. What he was too much of a coward to claim.”
His teeth grazed my pulse point and I gasped, my fingers digging into his shoulders.
“And by the time we’re done—” Noah pulled back to look at me, his expression fierce and certain. “You won’t just be Lena 2.0. You’ll be unstoppable.”
His thumb traced my lower lip, still swollen from his kiss.
“So what do you say?” His smile was dangerous and beautiful and full of dark promise. “Ready to burn it all down?”
I stopped for a second to consider it for the last time, and not once did his eyes leave mine.
Noah would never put me on the back burner… he had never yelled at me, or lied to me, or betrayed me.
He actually cared about me, and clearly, he wanted me both here in private and outside where everyone would see us.
And now, with all these new feelings of heat and sparks and want brimming in my heart, I was learning something about myself.
He was sexy as fuck.
Instead of giving any response, I leaned in and kissed him again.
This time, I was the one in control, finally taking what I wanted instead of waiting for someone to give me a small glimpse and then take it away.
Noah made that pleased sound again, his hands tightening on me as he let me lead.
When we finally broke apart, both of us were flushed red and gasping for breath.
Somehow his shirt had come off and he’d thrown it to the side, grinning as if he’d just won the lottery.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “We start tomorrow. After your tryout, we make our first public appearance as a couple. Let the whole school see.”
“Tomorrow,” I agreed.
“And Lena?” Noah’s hand cupped my face, forcing me to meet his intense gaze. “Once we start this, there’s no going back. Jace will come after us, after you, with everything he has. It’s going to get ugly. I need you to give me your word if you’re truly ready for that.”
I thought about Jace when he’d said those horrible things to his mother. The way he’d called me pathetic. Desperate. Nothing.
How he'd chosen his reputation over me. Over and over again without ever caring about how much it hurt my feelings, how much his cheap lies could ruin my family and our future.
“I’m ready,” I said, and meant it. “Tell me what you need and whatever it is I’ll do it. You have my word.”
I watched as Noah’s smile turned absolutely wicked.
It suddenly dawned on me then that somewhere underneath that perfect gentleman was a sly, cunning beast waiting to be released.
And I had just opened his cage.
“Good.” He pulled me down for one more kiss, this time slower and deeper and full of dark promise. “And now that we’ve settled that, why don’t I tell you about my plan---”