Chapter 5
888 Words
The air between them was gone, replaced by heat and the thudding rush in their blood.
Noah’s mouth found hers again, harder this time, like his body had decided for him. One arm locked around her waist, pulling her flush against him, while the other braced her jaw as if to keep her from turning away.
She tasted champagne and something that was purely her, sharp enough to make him forget the years of discipline that had kept him from moments exactly like this.
Her fingers had gone from tentative to clinging, curling into the back of his neck, nails grazing the short hair there. Each pass of her scent across his senses only wound the coil tighter, driving the instinct to claim, to keep.
Some part of him knew this was dangerous, that once an Alpha gave in like this, pulling back was a fight he rarely won. But the rest of him didn’t care.
He deepened the kiss, his palm sliding beneath the loose hem of her dress to the curve of her waist, warm skin under his fingers. The shift in her breath told him she felt it too, the click of something new and irreversible settling into place.
Minutes blurred. It was only when she pulled in a sudden, sharp breath that the world tilted back into focus.
She opened her eyes to find the lamplight blocked by the broad line of his shoulder, his shirt creased under her grip. Her other hand was still at the back of his neck, her thumb against the steady throb of his pulse. And his hand, inside her clothes, heat in the space where his palm met her skin.
It was too much.
“No—” Her voice cracked as she pushed lightly at his chest, slipping sideways under his arm before he could readjust his hold.
He caught her wrist, enough to make her meet his eyes. For the first time that night, the control was gone from his expression, replaced by something raw and unguarded.
She yanked free before it could undo her completely, turning toward the door. The latch gave under her hand, the cool air of the corridor rushing against her face as she stepped out.
She didn’t look back.
Noah stayed where he was, jaw tight, breathing slow and deliberate. His pulse hadn’t steadied yet. Neither had hers.
—
She pulled the door closed behind her, leaning against the wall for a heartbeat that felt too long. Her chest rose and fell unevenly, the pounding in her ears making it hard to think.
What had she just done?
The answer wasn’t in words, but in the lingering heat across her skin and the ghost of his scent clinging to her like it had settled into her bones.
She pushed off the wall, head down, moving quickly along the narrow corridor. The air outside the lounge was cooler, but it did nothing to steady her pulse.
“Miss Quinn?”
The voice made her glance up sharply. A crew member, young and polite, was standing halfway down the hall with a tray balanced in one hand. His eyes flicked, just once, to the way her hair fell unevenly around her face, the faint flush still high in her cheeks, the askew hem of her dress.
She didn’t answer. Just kept moving, slipping into the nearest washroom before the embarrassment could sink in fully.
Inside, she gripped the edge of the sink, her reflection in the mirror betraying nothing she wanted to see. Her lipstick was smudged, one strap of her dress slightly twisted. She set her jaw and began fixing both, combing her fingers through her hair until it lay smooth again.
She had to be fine. She had to look fine.
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Behind the closed door of the lounge, Noah hadn’t moved. His breathing had slowed, but the edge of it was still there. The restless thrum under his skin, the steady ache in his chest that told him walking away from her wasn’t going to get easier.
His Alpha side wanted only one thing: to find her, to finish what they’d started. But the rest of him, the part that had built a career and a reputation on control, knew exactly what the consequences would be if he stepped out now with her scent still curling around him.
He exhaled through his nose, sharp and deliberate, and forced his shoulders to straighten.
One hand dragged through his hair, and he swore under his breath at the way it resisted, still mussed from her fingers. His shirt was no better, the collar bent where her grip had pulled it. He smoothed it down with practiced efficiency, every movement buying him a few more seconds of composure.
The door opened without a knock.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Jasper stepped inside, all casual swagger until he froze halfway in. His nostrils flared once, then again, his expression shifting from irritation to something sharper.
Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Get out.”
Jasper took another step forward, the corner of his mouth curling like he’d just found the punchline to a joke he’d been chasing for years.
“I know that scent,” he said, his voice low with interest. “And I know it’s not yours alone anymore.”
- Writer
