Page 149 of Teacher's Pet

A shudder rolls through me.

“You left-”

“To keep them away.” His voice drops lower, rough with something unreadable. “Away from the Briars. Away from you.”

The name sends a bolt of confusion through me.

“The Briars?” I whisper. “What the hell do they have to do with anything?”

Noah exhales slowly, stepping even closer, the air between us charged, suffocating.

“You don’t become a name like that in Spokehaven without sacrifice,” he murmurs. “You don’t have a name like Roman and Eden without stirring conflicts with families like mine.”

“And what kind of family do you have, Noah?” I swallow, my throat dry.

He lifts a hand, his fingers grazing my cheek, his touch burning against my skin.

“One that has done bad things,” he whispers, his voice haunted. “One that wants to do worse to the person I care about… to keep me in line.”

His fingers trail from my cheek, down my neck, leaving a path of heat in their wake.

“A family that makes me break promises that should have never been broken.” His touch stops at my collarbone, lingering there like he’s memorizing the shape of me.

“A family that will make me regret this.”

His gaze flicks to the couch, his expression unreadable.

“I’m tired of playing their fucking games.”

Noah cups the back of my neck, his grip firm but desperate, pulling me close until our breaths mingle.

“I need you, Ana,” he rasps, his voice raw, unguarded. “Not just now. Not in secret. I need you. God, I fucking need you.”

His hands.

His voice.

It’s like his very existence has been woven into mine, a thread so tangled in my soul that I can’t tell where he ends and I begin.

But I can’t.

I won’t give in so easily.

Noah Ackerman submits to no one.

That changes now.

“Then get on your knees,” I whisper, my voice laced with challenge. “And beg for me.”

His eyes widen slightly, lips parting as if he misheard me.

“What-”

“You heard me.” I push him back just enough to break his hold. “Get on your fucking knees and beg for me.” My voice sharpens, years of hurt, months of agony twisting into something lethal. “I spent two months miserable after what you did, and now you come in here pleading? Fucking beg, Noah. Show me this isn’t just another stunt.”

His jaw tightens, his hands flexing at his sides like he’s fighting against every instinct he has.

“Ana, that girl at the bar was just a fucking ploy from Jake,” he says, frustration bleeding into his tone. “Now I know why he forced her onto me. He knew you were there, he knew-”

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