Page 59 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“Look at me.” Noble’s voice was quiet but firm.
When I met his verdant gaze, my breath caught halfway through an inhale. The usual ice in his expression had fissured, revealing an unreadable rawness underneath. His brow was furrowed, jaw set. The knot in his throat bobbed, like a fist dragging under a silk sheet. The sight of it made my own throat ache with a nameless tension.
“Whatelseare you feeling?” he asked impatiently.
“I’m just glad I—”
His irritated grumble cut me off. He tipped his head back in what appeared to be…annoyance? Restlessness? “Stop trying to be brave. Tell me how you truly feel.”
He knew that the trauma of last night wasn’t singular; that it compounded the terror I’d faced a decade before. His acknowledgement of how the attack on Viren would bring up those old memories broke something inside me that I’d been trying desperately to hold together.
“I’m frightened,” I admitted, voice wobbly and small. “It was so scary, Noble. I saw the…the…assassinfleeing. I had to staunch Viren’s blood. I—”
Noble stepped into my personal space.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m comforting you,” he said, wrapping his strong arms around my quivering body, crushing me against his rain-soaked chest.
“But our rules,” I protested, even as I snaked my arms around his back, holding on tight.
Home, my heart said.Home, home, home.
Yet.
Hewasn’thome, was he? Not when I could never be in his arms without fear of being caught, withoutheartache. Without knowing that his warmth was brief, and as soon as he let go, the cold would return.
Noble’s lips brushed against my temple. “Rules don’t apply in an emergency, remember?” he murmured. “Besides, we’re hidden. The knights are clearing the courtyard, everyone is heading to either class or a pub. It’s just us. You and me, Peach.”
The sound of my nickname had me pulling away,tearingmyself free of his embrace. I took a step back—then another for good measure.
I felt afraid, yes—but I also feltraggedby the constant push and pull between us. It was one thing to pretend we didn’t have a history, pretend I didn’t want him—but it was another thing for Noble to pretend he wasn’t breaking my heart day after day.
He couldn’t be both a stranger and a comfort.
“This isn’t fair,” I said.
A line formed between his brows. “I know, you shouldn’t have to fear for your life everywhere you—”
“No.” I gestured between us. “This, Noble. You and me. We ignore each other, comfort each other. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s—” I hiccupped. “It’s emotional whiplash. It has to stop.”
He flinched. Chuckled joylessly—like heagreedwith me.
But then his eyes dipped to my blood-soaked dress. “Hattie, I was worried about you.Terrified. I—I’m trying to be there for you.”
Rage rose in my chest. Compared to the fear coursing through my veins all morning, it feltgood—powerful. “Betherefor me?” A harsh,defiant laugh. “You aren’tallowedto be there for me, remember? We’re supposed to be strangers. If you really wanted to support me, Noble, you wouldleave me alone.”
His throat bobbed—not out of concern this time, but frustration. I expected his icy expression to return. Instead, it cracked wide open. Underneath, he was all fever and fury.
He crowded my personal space again, walking me backward until I was trapped between him and the wall. He spread his scarred fingers wide, flattening his palms against the stone on either side of my head, caging me in. I felt so small compared to his hard and imposing presence. Given everything I’d just said, I hated how much it thrilled me.
“You think this is easy for me, Hattie?” Noble rasped. “Seeing you all the time? Missing what we had? Knowing that because of who we are, you are forbidden to me?”
Forbidden?
“Why would you care?” I challenged. “We aren’t the same people we once were, and even back then, you didn’t—” I broke off, too embarrassed to say it.
But he wasn’t about to let me off the hook. “Finish the sentence.”
