All Chapters of Daddies Taste Better : Chapter 401 - Chapter 410

Noah let out a low, breathy scoff, his lips twitching into a lopsided smile as he started strolling toward me. “You’re calling That a kiss?” he asked, taking an extra step forward. “That was barely a fucking glaze—a polite little brush of the lips at best.” He kept closing the space between us. “A real kiss leaves a mark,” he went on. “You take your fucking time with it. You lean into it, put your whole body into it, and make sure they feel every single second burning right down to their chest.” I swellowed. “You put some real fucking weight into it until they can't even remember how to breathe and you don't let up until every inch of them is trembling.” By the time the last word left his mouth, he was towering right over me. I had to tip my head back just to keep my eyes on him. I was so hyper-aware of him and the absolute lack of space between us, that my heart was practically thumping in my throat. “Want me to give you a quick lesson on how it's done?” he whispered. Oh God.

And it was that exact thought that pushed me to make a move yesterday. I decided it was time to start going to my classes again.It was a practical decision, or at least that’s what I told myself. Good thing I hadn’t missed much. A few lectures at most which I could catch up on with some readings. I think being on campus, sitting in a room full of people who didn’t know anything about cabins or bounties or men with guns, might make me feel less like a ghost drifting through someone else’s house. At the very least, it would make me feel less lonely. Because that had to be the only fucking reason I kept noticing James the way I did.It was the only reason I cared about how his face changed around Celeste. The only reason the silence between us suddenly felt more than it should.Yeah, he was hot. Objectively. Tall, broad, that reserved way of moving that made everything around him feel significantly smaller. He’s handsome, have an annoyingly smooth voice, but that doesn’t matter beca

By the time I stopped speaking, my lungs felt squeezed tight and my face was on fire. James watched me in stunned silence. His eyebrows pulled together, studying the mess I'd just made as he tried to piece together what had triggered me.Then he exhaled."I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his voice still quiet, and entirely too calm for how fast my heart was racing. "There hasn't been a single moment where I thought of you as a liability."I pulled back, searching his eyes for any sign of a lie. "What about the cabin?""Not even at the cabin," he answered without hesitation.That actually took me aback that I couldn’t find my words."And second of all," he continued, leaning in just enough that I couldn't look away, "this has nothing to do with Celeste. If I’ve been bringing her up too much lately… then I apologize.”Only then did my brain finally catch up, and my whole face went up in flames.Oh my God.How completely childish and ridiculous must I have sounded? Sta

I had always assumed Kai was tied to something smaller like a street crew, a local gang that dealt in threats and intimidation on a limited scale. Dangerous, yes, but contained. Something that stayed in the shadows of the city and didn’t reach much further than the people it directly touched.This was different.We were talking about an Italian organization and a Don who’d been itching to strike at my dad for years, held back purely by political weight. Now, Kai’s death—an event linked directly to me, this location, and Noah—was the exact leverage he’d use to come straight for my neck.The full weight of it settled in my chest with a slow chill that made the room feel suffocatingly small while the silence stretched tight with everything we were all avoiding saying.I looked at Noah, then back at Mr. James."I had no clue," I breathed out, my voice barely carrying across the room. "I thought..."Mr. James shook his head."This isn't your fault, Miss," Mr. James reassured me. “We didn’t

The ride was short.Damian and Celeste talked the entire way and listening to them, it was almost impossible to miss that they were related. They had the same brightness and tendency to fill every quiet space with something. Sunshine and rainbows, the two of them, even when the rest of the car sat in a tense silence.Noah didn’t say much. Neither did Riley. I kept my eyes on the window for most of the drive, watching the trees thin out and the road open toward the coast.When we finally pulled up near the beach, Celeste was already unbuckling her seatbelt before the car had fully stopped.“Come on,” she urged, reaching back to catch my wrist and Riley’s at the same time. “Changing rooms are this way.”She didn’t wait for agreement and just started walking, pulling us along with the same effortless energy she’d had since she walked into the house. Riley went without resistance so I followed, the sand already soft under my shoes, Celeste’s voice filling the short walk with plans about