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He ran one hand through his hair, leaving the other on me.
“You know he would have gotten away if I hadn’t followed. If I hadn’t fought. Where were the guards?”
“Distracted on a goose chase that Malvin, the guard you apprehended, led them on to keep them away from where they should have been.”
I cocked an eyebrow toward Noah in the best I-told-you-so manner.
His lips pursed and he grimaced at me. “It wasn’t your job, Cora. I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
I tried to pull my legs back away from him, but he didn’t let me go. Which made me angrier. “No, I wouldn’t have expected someone to have to ask me anything. I was okay, unhurt, and I saw an opportunity to make sure the man who attacked the entire royal family was stalled a bit. Never mind that after knowing who he was I owed him some pain. I wanted revenge. I wanted to feel meaningful. Feel like I could do something to help, Noah. Don’t take that moment away from me by chastising me like I’m a naïve child.”
My body shook as I exhaled finally, daring Noah to continue by holding his stare.
“You could have died. There was a dragon on the roof for damn sake, Cora.” He shifted on his knees, leaning in to his grip on me.
I smiled. “I know, I’m the one who told you about it.”
“And still she smiles?” he said, shaking his head at me. “What should I have said? Good job for running off only partially trained after a skilled spy?” His tone was light but the words still rang true.
I needed to keep training.
Instead, I refrained from getting defensive like I normally would have. “A simple thanks for saving my ass will do.”
Noah shook his head but played along. “Thank you for saving my ass, Coraline Fray.” His smile faltered before he continued. “I apologize for my criticism. A thank you will never suffice for what you risked. I’m sorry you had to do it.”
I put my hands over his. “I’m not.”
His breathing stopped. Mine quickened. And just like that we were back to this place, the place we’d been inching toward since he walked into the room.
The need and desire tightened in the air around us, filling it with a dense tension. I stared at his lips, remembering how they felt on mine after the courtyard. Desire pooled deep within me at the thought of them taking my own once more.
Noah shifted on his knees and his hands traced up my thighs, his thumbs caressing the inside of my legs while his other fingers slid up the outside.
He rose closer to me, and I leaned forward, shallowly breathing and wanting to connect more quickly than the torturous route he was taking.
Noah’s hands were too high now and I shuddered out a breath, closing my eyes.
The moment I did, cold air hit me and his presence was gone. He stood next to the bed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You really need rest. The healing magic took care of the surface, but you still need time to recuperate.”
I opened and closed my mouth twice before clamping it shut.
“Goodnight.”
And just like so many times before, Prince Noah rushed out of my bedroom. This time having taken things too far to just leave disappointment behind. No, this time he left behind the sting of rejection.
After everything I’d said, my words weren’t enough.
And Noah easily left me filled with desire and no intention of satiating what he’d started.
My chest ached, cheeks burned. And that sinking pit in my stomach came at me harder than any other time Noah had left abruptly.
Rejection was a much more bitter bedfellow than disappointment.
