Page 31 of Gifted

Chapter Seventeen

~ Noah ~

“Will you be mad if we don’t go skiing with the guys who are here?” Poppy asked. Her body was draped over mine, our legs tangled together.

Would I be mad not to share her? I almost laughed.

My hand skimmed down her slim back, over her perfect ass and onto her bare thigh. The second time we’d made love—or maybe the third—I’d skimmed the pretty thigh-highs off her with my teeth. I’d have to see if I could order new ones for her because those were destroyed.

“Are you sure? I thought you might like to ski. To try.” See, here was proof I wasn’t a complete Neanderthal. I was totally evolved into whatever came after that. Was that a regular, alpha-male human? One that beat his chest now because I’d worn her out?

“Maybe, we can have dinner with them later?” she offered, yawning. “I just want to stay here in bed like this. Forever.”

“Afraid we can’t do that. We have a flight to catch tomorrow night.”

“Do you think the snow will stop by then?”

“Stopped last night.”

“Oh.” She sounded unhappy about that.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to leave here. Going back… There will be problems.”

“Maybe. But we’ll deal with them. Together. No one can force me to give you up.”

Poppy fell silent, her head over my heart. I knew she wasn’t asleep. Her fingers trailed absently up and down my side.

“I quit my job,” I murmured, the quiet matching the vibe around us.

She jerked up and stared down at me. “What?”

“I wrote the headmaster last night and told him I resigned, effective immediately. That I would see you safely home, but that I would no longer be teaching there.”

Her mouth dropped open. “But…”

“It’ll all work out.” I didn’t want to tell her about the job with my family until I was more sure of the situation. If my father planned to grind me under his shoe as he micromanaged, I wouldn’t be able to take the position he so wanted me to fill.

“My family has money, too,” I offered, to reassure her that I could take care of her. “I have money. I only taught because…”

Why? Rebellion, mostly. According to my family, teaching was an admirable occupation but far beneath me. If I hadn’t gone against them, though, I never would have met Poppy. I’d be miserable with my numbers and a cold condo.

“Because?” She smiled, her expression challenging me.

“Uh…”

“Because you were a bad boy and didn’t want to do what your mom and dad want?”

I huffed a sigh. She’d hit that right on the head, showing me her maturity. More than I’d had when I’d graduated college six years ago. “Yeah, something like that.”

She rested her hands on top of each other then set her chin on them, looking down at me. “You know…this might be out of line—”

“Baby girl, I’ve had my dick inside you. You can say whatever the hell you want to me.”

“Crass.” A blush crept up her cheeks at my reminder of how intimate we’d been. Not that I regretted it. Or that I got any inclination that she did, either.

I shrugged. “Sometimes. But it’s true.”

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