Page 90 of Noah

That was her aim anyway.

And by impulsively painting her slim hand reaching out to him, she had signed her work and also signed her love for him.

Watching his broad back, she worried maybe he didn’t get what she was trying to do, and if he didn’t, perhaps she wasn’t meant to be an artist.

Adrienne crept forward, but she had no idea what he thought because his face was like marble, frozen in a moment like her art.

“Noah,” she croaked.

Suddenly, his head snapped around to face her. His eyes were wide and dilated, yet she couldn’t read what he was thinking.

“Noah. I’m sorry,” she said, worried for a different reason now. “If you don’t like it, I won’t put it up. It can stay here in the shadows.”

His face transformed. Noah scowled, eyes flashing to his beast, and she took a step forward, not fearing for even a second.

Adrienne should be taking a big step back.

Adrienne must have no survival instincts and she grinned at that thought just as Noah charged at her.

Adrienne squeaked in surprise as he gripped her waist and lifted her. Nose to nose, he gave her a heart-stopping look. “It’s the most mesmerising thing I’ve seen.” He rubbed his cheek along hers, his nose nuzzling behind her ear.

“Oh…well, that’s good then,” she said, quietly relieved.

“And you were worried about university,” he quipped. Shaking his head, he let her drop back to the floor.

Her body slid down his and she felt heat and electricity arch from every place they touched. His eyes sparkled like he knew exactly what he was doing. “If the rest of your paintings are anything like that one, then you have nothing to worry about, mate.”

Her heart thumped at his casual slip of the tongue. Did he mean it?

She was less surprised than she thought she would be. After all, he was a Number, and females they wanted for their own they claimed and mated.

Adrienne had honestly thought Noah would get fed up with her maybe get annoyed by how absent she could become when she was painting.

She could get lost for hours, days really, while she worked on a piece, especially if it was something that had a tight grip on her heart.

Like the piece Noah was gently, reverently touching of himself being freed.

“It was hard to sleep because the image was in my mind, in my soul and it wanted out. It was painful to start and a kind of pain to finish it because it felt so final,” she shared.

This was a glimpse into her thinking and his eyes held hers, the aquamarine so bright and pure it hurt to look at sometimes, the white pinpricks like starbursts in the blue and when the beast came to play, they only grew more beautiful, and he was looking at her with new appreciation.

She watched him the same way he watched her, like they knew each other intimately, down to their bones, and like there were no secrets or lies that could tear them apart. An understanding. Not one that was physical and talked about. This was as if their minds were linked on a level only, they could understand.

“But the story goes on,” he said, pulling her to his side. They stood looking at the picture together, their bodies touching. He kissed her temple, and she found her lips twitching.

Yes. The story went on.

It didn’t feel right to talk so casually in front of her pieces after what they just shared so they left, and he carefully locked the door.

“What are you doing today?” he asked.

“I have lunch with Mhane. She’s visiting for the afternoon and sick of Briar, or so she tells me every time,” she laughed. Mhane got very prickly about the male. Adrienne was sure there was more to it but hadn’t pried yet. “What about you?”

“Drey wants to go over some details about the security arrangements for the school,” Noah replied soberly.

Ren inched closer and ran her hand over his side. “I thought the kids would be safe. The school is in Moon and surrounded by Numbers in all directions, not to mention how close to the hub and security it is.”

They built the school close to the hub for that very reason.

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