Page 9 of Noah

Still, she had to figure out what would happen and make it right in her head. Make sense of it.

Her nose brushed against Noah’s skin as he huffed and dragged her into his chest. Inhaling a warm, spicy scent filled her nose to the point where she was sure she could almost taste him.

Her reaction was almost comical since she hadn’t thought about how locked away people smelled. It wouldn’t have occurred to her that it could be a pleasingly masculine scent that would be the most basic of all temptations.

The scent should not have been attractive to her. She should have expected a pungent odour that repulsed her, and she was wrong on both counts.

Instead, she found a pleasant aroma that invited her to linger, making it easy for her to be content with the comfortable silence between them. It was clear she wasn’t going to get much conversation, but relaxing against him was easy.

She could speak to him again tomorrow or try to which was a sad thought.

What would she think in the morning? The first thing she thought when she woke up the morning before was how to find a job.

She had been unemployed for months and the economic downturn had made it difficult for her to find a job. She had been so hopeful and now it was just a matter of hoping Noah wouldn’t kick her out of bed if she irritated him.

She was so overwhelmed that she could feel the knots tightening in her stomach, and all she wanted was to have a better plan for the future. Communicating with a Number was not what she expected. However, she and Noah were in this together now, not that that would make any difference.

Her shoulders slumped as she sighed heavily. There was more grumbling from him, and she wondered what it meant. It could be either ‘I’m not happy, so be quiet’ or ‘I’ll make you quiet in a minute; you’ve pissed me off.’

She didn’t know which it was but decided to remain silent.

The only problem with that was that she spoke when she was nervous, and at the moment, she was very nervous. Her nerves frayed when she thought about the future, what would happen to her, and what she would do at the end of the month for rent.

“Do you know who they are?” she asked. He tightened his arms, cutting off her air supply. “Right, no. Nope, I get it. It’s time to sleep. I mean there…” This time his hand came over her mouth and he growled, and she knew he was annoyed. “Okay, I’ll shut up,” she said, her voice muffled under his hand.

He glared at her fiercely, and she sucked her lower lip into her mouth, nibbling nervously as she awaited his next move. She wasn’t sure whether to expect an angry response.

He raised his hand as he watched her. He looked ready to slap his hands down on the pillow if she opened her mouth again, so she remained silent, feeling sleep tug at her.

She intended to heed him and not say anything, but she was bursting with questions, and it was hard not to bombard him with them.

He pulled her lip out of her mouth and examined it carefully. There was no sign of worry on his face. The look on his face was confused desire made her wonder what he was thinking.

She blinked heavily, unsure of what to make of this strange and unexpected situation.

He was studying her with fascination as if he were trying to figure out what kind of person she was.

Her eyes closed. She yawned and tried to blink them open again, but they wouldn’t cooperate.

Suddenly exhausted, she finally surrendered to sleep with a sense of overwhelmed fatigue.

Chapter 2

The moment the lights turned on, she groaned and hid her head beneath the covers.

With her warm blanket wrapped around her, she wished she could stay in her cocoon, happy and asleep, without worrying about work or bills. But, as much as she wanted to, Adrienne knew she had to get up and face the day.

She saw a light come on when she stretched. She paused…the lights came on.

She peeked out from under the covers and almost cried when she saw a deep claw mark on the padded wall next to the bed. The stuffing and leather had been torn apart by claws like a knife through butter, smooth and with ease.

Her head slowly turned. She found herself in a tiny room with cold, concrete walls that looked like something from a horror movie. Startled when movement in the corner of the room caught her eye, she saw a figure standing in the shadows and a chill ran down her spine.

She cried out when she saw the large shadow come through the arch. When she saw a brush of orange and golden hair, she immediately relaxed, recalling yesterday’s meeting.

The figure stepped forward and she felt a wave of dread wash over her. She was about to cry out, plead, she didn’t know what, but the figure spoke before she could. “Noah,” it said in a low, raspy voice.

Everything came back to her in a rush.

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