Page 13 of Gifted

“You have a rap sheet you’ve been hiding?” I quipped, breaking the tension that had my chest tight. I hated thinking of her alone, afraid, and heartbroken by the death of her family.

“Noah,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry.” Yeah, I shouldn’t be making light of any of this, especially when the sound of her saying my name had precum leaking from me.

She turned over to face me, her small hands splaying on my bare chest as she looked up at me through the darkness. There was no way didn’t she feel my hard swallows and the way my heart beat wildly for her.

Right now, she had all the power over me. The ten year age difference meant nothing.

“Do you know what drew me to you and not one of a hundred other men who could have gotten my attention?”

“No.”

“You see me. Everyone else sees a mousy book nerd. I’m not cool. I don’t TikTok. I don’t chase the latest fashions or trends, and when I try any of those things, I look like a poser wannabe. So I don’t. But you don’t see that—”

“No,” I repeated, admitting she was right when I should be asserting that all I saw was one of the school’s students. “No, that’s not what I see. You’re beautiful, little lamb. Natural—naturally pretty and graceful. Kind to people around you. Polite. You’ve been gracious to people we’ve met on this trip, when your classmates haven’t given a shit. You’re intelligent—so smart you leave your teachers in the dust. You have your whole life ahead of you, so many opportunities.”

She shook her head. “You see things even I don’t.”

I wanted to tell her that was my job. Recognizing her best qualities was what made me her perfect partner. Only I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be the older authority figure taking advantage of her.

“Poppy…” I sighed. “No matter what you think you want, we can’t.”

She turned away from me, twisting in my arms, then she cuddled her back into me so we were spooned. There was zero chance she could miss the steel rod between us. Proving the point, she wiggled her perfect little rear against it. Her arms clamped over mine where they were wrapped around her.

“You’re wrong. We can. But I’ll accept you just sharing this bed and holding me. For tonight.”

For tonight…

And there was the wolf in my little lamb’s clothing. Strength ran through her, a strength that might just overwhelm my own shaky will, because I wanted her just as much as she thought I did. And maybe even more.

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