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“And no matter what happens with these people, I am not going to let anything happen to you, Kate. I promise you. I would fight a hundred fights like that one if it kept that asshole from touching you again.”

Between us, Garfield rolled onto his back, at once stretching and nuzzling against my leg. It was an overload of adorable. The fact that these kittens were so loving and so affectionate at such a young age was just another piece of evidence that Noah was good. And kind. And so much more.

“I know,” I said.

Tension spun out between us. I was in his house. The whole thing with Max had just been a ploy to get me out of the party, but now that I was here, it wasn’t exactly crazy for me to wonder...

I wanted that.

Noah felt like safety. And more than that, he made me feel things I’d forgotten.

Leaning forward, I placed my tea back on the coffee table and gently moved the kittens so they were curled in the blanket slung on the back of the couch. They woke up for a second but were so sleepy that it was only seconds before their eyes closed again.

Noah’s eyes were on me the whole time. And they were still on me as I slid toward him. Took his mug and put it on the table. Leaned close and kissed him first.

Arms came around me and hauled me against his body, making sure I didn’t doubt he wanted to kiss me. And kiss me, he did.

This one felt different. It rode the line of desperation and the things we both wanted but hadn’t been able to say. My lips opened under his, and my whole body shuddered when his tongue danced with mine.

Abruptly, he broke away. “Fuck.” The word was so soft that I barely heard it. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t be able to.”

My stomach fluttered with nerves. “That was kind of the idea I had.”

Noah lifted one hand to my face, the other tightening around my waist so that we were still pressed together. “I want you. You have no idea how much I want you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “But?”

He leaned his forehead against mine. “But we’re both still reeling. I don’t want the start of this to be because of those assholes.”

I hated that he was right, but he was. It didn’t change the disappointment I felt, but this would be better. Leaning my head on his chest, I let myself breathe with him. “As long as this isn’t no forever.”

“It’s not,” he said, shifting beneath me. All of a sudden I could feel exactly how much it wasn’t. He was fighting this want and need right along with me. “I don’t have a guest room. You can take the bed.”

“Noah.” I looked up at him. “I can’t sleep in your bed. You need your bed. I survived on the lodge couch—I’m sure your couch is just as comfortable.”

“I don’t sleep much,” he said. “Because of... all the things I told you about. If anyone is going to get good use out of a bed right now, it’s you.”

“Are you sure?”

His eyes shifted away from me. How much was he having to hold in right now? How much had being in that fight really cost him? “I am.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t want to pull away from him. It was the last thing I wanted, even if he was right.

With a little squeak, Garfield woke, stretching. “Are these little guys allowed in your bedroom?”

Noah laughed. “As if I could keep them out.”

“Then I’ll take them with me.” Neither of the little furballs protested when I gathered them up in one arm. I grabbed my tea with the other. “Up the stairs?”

“Can’t miss it.”

I looked at him. “Good night, Noah.”

The fire, heat, and hunger in his eyes as he looked at me were almost enough to make me beg. “Good night, Kate.”

Chapter 16