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CHAPTER30

Reed

“Iwas going to leave,” the words slipped from his mouth. My head tilts to the side, confused by what he may mean. He was leaving? To go where? He had no idea where we were when he was shot. So where could he have been headed?

“I’m sorry. I—” Noah suddenly lets go of my waist, his arms dropping to his side. I peer over his bare, pale, freckled chest. The red and angry scar on his left shoulder reminds me that him being shot was my fault.

“If you expect me to tell you the truth, then I want the same. And while you think you’re stubborn, don’t forget what I did for a living.”

Noah jerks back, his brow furrowing as his eyes widen. “I–you, you’d kill me?”

I can’t help the chuckle escaping out of me. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed in front of Noah, but this, this feels different. In some fucked-up way, I feel this weight being lifted off my chest. Like maybe Noah might just be the one.

And now the thought of marriage, especially in this world, makes laughing even harder.

Before I knew what was happening, I bent over in laughter. Tears pricked to my eyes, slipping down my cheek as I tried my best to get control of myself.

I can’t even remember the last time I laughed this hard, the last time I let myself unravel without an ounce of fear.

“I can’t believe you’re laughing at me,” Noah mutters.

Neither can I, but I'd never say that.

“Reed, stop laughing at me. I–I can’t believe after everything you’d kill me. That, you know, that kind of hurts, you ASSHOLE.” I hadn’t been listening much to his words, and Noah must have realized, because in the end he got louder and picked up my half-drank coffee cup. I watch him from the top of my eyes, waiting to see what he planned on doing.

“Put the glass down,” I ordered, sobering up.

“I would if you’d stop laughing at me. I don’t understand; you’re giving me some kind of whiplash.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s only one kind of whiplash,” I tell him. I stretch my arms, one hand on the island and the other on the counter. Noah’s eyes track my every movement, traveling down to my bare chest until he stops at my junk. One thing since meeting him, Noah always seems to be checking out my crotch. Remembering I did warn him that if I caught him again staring, I was going to bend him over and make him take it flashes in my mind. While the threat was merely just that, the feelings I have have morphed into something different and more so that I wouldn’t mind doing just that. Maybe that would bring him down off his high horse and relax for once.

“Noah,” I growled.

His eyes snap up, widening as he realizes he’s been caught once more.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Noah blurts out.

“You’ve asked so many I’m not sure which you’re referring to now.”

Noah sets the glass down, twirling it around in his fingers. I smile about his weak attempts to distract himself.

“Would you, Reed?” He whispers into the air.

“Would I what?” I take a step closer. Calling the lion to the prey, watching the little rabbit fidget.

Noah swallows, biting down on his bottom lip. I move forward until I’m standing in front of him. Reaching up, I pull his lip out from his mouth, placing my thumb against his mouth.

“Ask me, love, ask me what you want to know.”

“Would you kill me? You said, ‘while you think you’re stubborn, don’t forget what I did for a living’. Do–does that mean you’d kill me?”

“No, I wouldn’t kill you.” I’d just tie him up and make it impossible for him to escape me. There would be no Noah without me next to him.

“Why don’t I sound convinced?”

Wrapping one arm around his waist, I pull Noah into me. His breath hitches; those gorgeous eyes widen once more.

“Because you know that I’m dangerous, you saw what I’ve done. You went through the file,” I tell him leaning forward. “But you know that while I’m more dangerous than those dead guys out there, you know I would never hurt you. Not anymore than you couldn’t handle, anyways.”