Chapter: CHAPTER 10: THE FIRST KISS.Noah’s POV Morning came too quiet. The storm had passed. The rain had dried. But inside this penthouse, something lingered. Something we didn’t speak of. Adrian moved through the space like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t curled against me in the dark, like he hadn’t burrowed beneath my defenses with warmth and exhaustion and quiet need. Like I hadn’t held him through the night with my arms wrapped so tightly around his ribs it felt like keeping him breathing was the only thing tethering me to sanity. Now? Now he stood by the window with coffee in hand, sunlight dragging gold across the sharp angles of his face, eyes unreadable beneath the fragile mask he wore so damn well. He didn’t look at me. I didn’t ask why. Because if I did, I might not be able to stop what came next. Breakfast passed in silence. Too quiet. Too careful. I watched the tension in his shoulders. The way his fingers curled tighter around the coffee mug than necessary. The way his throat worked when h
Last Updated: 2025-07-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 9: CLOSE QUARTERS.Noah’s POV It started with the storm. Then the lightning. Thunder rolling low across the city like a distant threat, wind lashing against glass, lights flickering once, twice… then dying altogether. Power outages didn’t bother me. Silence didn’t bother me. But Adrian Vale in the dark? That was another story entirely, I didn't know what was in store for me, or what to expect. I heard him first, footsteps moving slow through the penthouse. like he wasn’t sure where to land. I stayed still, watching the faint outline of his silhouette in the window’s fractured light, wondering what the fuck he was up to. “Are you planning to lurk all night or just until I break and beg for conversation, hmmm, Mr Cross?” His voice came softer than usual. No bite. No smugness. Just… tired. “The backup generator will take over in a minute,” I said, trying to avoid any sense of awkwardness. He made a sound, half laugh, half breath, as he sank down onto the couch across from me. And I was a little t
Last Updated: 2025-07-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 8: UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE. Adrian’s POV Noah didn’t push me against the wall again after that night. Not physically, anyway. Instead, he did something worse. He stepped back, like he'd just gotten a hold of himself. He drew his lines in sharper ink. Kept his distance even in close quarters. Watched me with that same unreadable stare, thick with warning, thick with want, and said nothing. Did nothing. And it worked. Because now it wasn’t just my skin he got under. It was my head, my thoughts, My breathing, My fucking heartbeat. I found myself cataloging everything about him. The way his knuckles flexed when he gripped the back of a chair. The quiet clicks of his gun being checked and rechecked, the silent choreography of a man who trusted nothing, not locks, not walls, not even himself. But it was the quiet that got to me most. The soft exhale he gave when he finally sat still. The way his eyes softened when he thought I wasn’t looking. The way his mouth tugged, barely there, when I teased him just ri
Last Updated: 2025-07-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 7: A LITTLE TOO CLOSE. Adrian’s POV Days blurred together in the safehouse. Hours folded into one another like ink bleeding through cheap paper, leaving behind nothing but the same suffocating silence and the endless echo of Noah’s footsteps. At first, I thought I’d lose my mind from the boredom. But then I started watching him. Really watching. And I realized something dangerous. Stillness didn’t exist in Noah Cross. Even at rest, he moved beneath his skin, muscles tense beneath t-shirts stretched too tight across broad shoulders, fingers flexing without thought as if his body couldn’t bear the idea of surrender, not even to exhaustion. His jaw worked in quiet moments like he was grinding down words he’d never speak. His eyes were always scanning, always calculating, even when they looked like they weren’t looking at all. Except sometimes… they were looking. At me. He thought I didn’t notice. The stolen glances when I crossed too close. The flick of his gaze when I stretched, when I smirked, whe
Last Updated: 2025-07-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 6: TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT.Adrian’s POVIt turned out near-death experiences came with house rules.Noah’s face was carved from stone when he brought me back inside. He didn’t say much at first, just locked the doors, checked the windows, rechecked the locks, and double-checked the security feeds like he didn’t trust them anymore. Maybe he didn’t.I certainly didn’t trust anyone right now.Except him.“You’re never alone again,” he said finally. Voice flat, final, no room for argument. “Anywhere you go, I go. Understood?”I gave him my best unimpressed arch of the brow. “You make it sound romantic.”His jaw tightened, but he didn’t take the bait. Not this time. “This isn’t a joke, Adrian.”“I didn’t think it was.” I sat, watching him pace like a caged animal, dangerous, disciplined, furious beneath his skin. “You’re not wrong, you know. I do feel safer with you around. Even if your bedside manner could use serious work.”He ignored that. “We’re done negotiating. You don’t leave my sight again.”“You’re very com
Last Updated: 2025-07-24
Chapter: CHAPTER 5: TENSION BREAKS.Noah’s POVSilence hung heavy in the aftermath.My hands were still fisted in on his shirt. His breath still ghosted my lips. Too close, Too dangerous,Too much.And yet, neither of us moved.Adrian’s pulse thudded against my palm like a live wire, his pupils blown wide with something he didn’t bother trying to hide anymore: attraction, yes! Most definitely! But also defiance. Always defiance.He wanted me to break first.And for a moment, I almost did.But the job, the rules, came slamming back into place like steel shutters over my chest.I released him, almost pushed him away from me. Stepped back and put space between us like a drowning man clawing toward air.“This doesn’t happen again,” I said, voice low, ragged around the edges. “Do you understand me Vale?”Adrian’s mouth curved, slow and bitter. “Oh, I understand perfectly. It most definitely won't” he winked.Seriously?He sure does drive one insane, and not in a good way at all.He smoothed his shirt, cool as glass despite th
Last Updated: 2025-07-18
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