Page 20 of Guarded
Boundaries I would respect. It was only ten a.m. and I was planning on walking out the door the moment I was ready. Noah wouldn’t arrive a second before one, I knew that, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t.
“It’s perfect,” Quill said, walking fully into my room and putting his bowl on my desk. He came up behind me and squeezed my shoulders. “You look hot as fuck, Jeremiah. Noah’s going to swallow his tongue when he sees you.”
“I doubt it,” I sighed, patting one of Quill’s hands. “He’s probably going to punch me.” I tried to twist to walk away, but Quill’s grip held firm. I met his gaze in the mirror, confused. “What?”
“Stop being so hard on yourself,” Quill said firmly. There was a flicker of flame there, something I hadn’t seen in averylong time. “Yes, you fucked up, but that doesn’t mean you should be treated like a whipping boy.”
“Well, we do know what that’s like,” I joked feebly.
“Don’t do that. Don’t trivialise what we went through to try and justify this.”
He finally let me go and I spun to face him. “What on earth are you on about, Quill?”
He shook his head, drifting back to where he’d left his bowl. He used to just leave them all over the house, but after Dahlia had stabbed him over it a while back, he’d gotbetter at clearing up after himself. “I’m just saying you don’t need to keep punishing yourself. Yes, you did a shitty thing to Noah, but that doesn’t mean he gets to give you the cold shoulder for the rest of eternity.”
My temper rose in defence of my mate. “Noah is entitled to treat me however he wishes.”
Quill hummed, turning the bowl in his hands. “I think you believe that because you think you deserve it.”
“I do deserve it. He’s my fated mate and I ran away from him.”
“I’m not talking about that.” His gaze met mine and the flames were long gone. In their place was the quiet deadness I’d come to associate with him. “You think you deserve to be treated shittily because of what we did in Hell.”
I flinched. “That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it? I wouldn’t blame you if it was, Jeremiah. Maybe you’re not just chasing after Noah because he’s your mate, but because you think he’ll punish you for what you did. Because you think suffering is what you truly deserve, not love.”
I stared at him. Was that what I was doing? No. Surely my subconscious wasn’tthatrighteous?
Was it?
Quill looked at the floor. “Believe me, I understand better than most.”
I took a step towards him. “Is that why you won’t leave the house?”
His head snapped up and it was like looking at a different version of him. A paler one. “Why I won’t leave doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” I whispered, reaching out to touch him. “It does when I can see how much you’re struggling.”
He stepped back before my hand could make contact,my fingers grasping nothing but empty air. “I’m fine. Enjoy your date, Jeremiah.”
He was gone in a flash, my arm still hovering uselessly in the air.
Fuck.What were we going to do about Quill? All those millennia, we’d dreamt and talked of the life we’d lead once we were finally free of Hell. Now we were topside, but Quill still wasn’t free. His body was here, but his mind wasn’t.
I had no idea how to save him.
Iwas in the café by eleven a.m.
Naturally, Noah didn’t arrive until one p.m. on the dot.
The ache in my chest had gently eased as he’d drawn closer to the building, fading away into nothing the moment he walked through the door.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. His hair was tied back in a high bun, with two strands of hair framing his beautiful face. He was wearing a form-fitting top complete with skinny jeans, making my mouth water at how they both clung to his body. An iridescent scarf was artfully arranged around his neck.
Everything else seemed to fade away as he approached. The shriek of the milk steamer. The crying toddler two tables over. The rich scent of coffee and pastries. All of it vanished. My entire attention was zeroed in on Noah. Was he actually gliding across the café towards my table? Everything about him screamed elegant grace.
The same couldn’t be said about me. Stumbling to myfeet, I winced as I managed to knock my chair over in the process.
