Page 97 of Guarded
The thread of insecurity dissipated. Until Noah and I had the chance to have a proper conversation about his past, I doubted it would stay gone for long, but I was going to trust what Noah was telling me.
Doing otherwise would drive me to insanity.
Bringing my lips close to his ear, I whispered wordsmeant only for him. “Is it wrong that I find your power hot as fuck?”
Noah’s lips twitched. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“How soon we can get out of here so you can show mejusthow hot you find it.”
“Okay, I take it back,” Dash huffed. We both jumped slightly. While we’d started off whispering, we hadn’t been by the end. “You’re not sweet. You’re dirty fuckers who don’t give a shit about how horny you’re making your audience.”
Noah leaned forward to peer at Dash. “You could just not listen or look.”
Dash smirked. “Ah, but what else will I have to keep me warm at night? At least you’re both hot. It can be your punishment for being all sexy when I know you’ve got no intention of sharing.”
“Damn right,” I said gruffly, pulling Noah closer. “Go find your own mate.”
“I will.” Dash waggled his eyebrows. “But until then, I’m going to play with as many people as possible.”
Noah groaned. “Remind me never to introduce Dash to the twins.”
Dash replied, but I didn’t hear it. I was too busy thinking about what he’d said. About how I’d been that person a few months ago. I’d come topside and made it my mission to fuck as many different people as possible. After all, what was the point of being free if you didn’t make the most of it?
It was only now that I realised how empty I’d felt. There’d been no connection. No intimacy. I may as well have been back downstairs for all the pleasure it had truly given me.
With Noah, it was different. Everything was.
I didn’t know how I’d survived without him for this long.
Dash grunted suddenly. “Vampires are here.”
“That’s odd,” Noah mused, staring at Dash.
I frowned. “What is? You knew they were coming, right?”
“Not that.” He gave me a small, sad smile. “Dash felt them cross the wards, but I didn’t.”
Understanding washed over me and I rubbed my thumb against Noah’s upper arm. Once, he would’ve known they’d crossed the wards because he would’ve been tied to them. Now, it was a reminder that this was no longer his home.
He was just a visitor.
“That must be hard.”
Noah shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did. Dash was right, his emotions were easy to understand if you knew how to read them. “It’s fine. I’m glad I left.”
“Me too.”
Voices drifted down the hall as the new arrivals drew nearer. The three of us got to our feet, ready to greet them.
Atlas stepped through first, the vampires on his heels. The taller of the two males swept his hawklike gaze over the room in an assessing manner. Dressed in a suit that would have looked more at home in a previous decade, he gave off an aura of dominance and control.
As did the shorter one, come to think of it. There was something in how he held himself. Like he was used to being obeyed. That aura and his dark hair were all he had in common with the other vampire. This bloke was on the shorter side, several piercings dotting his face. Tattooscovered both of his arms as far as I could see with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
He looked oddly familiar…
I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Noah frowned. “Tobes?”
