The Forbidden

Chapter Four: Caught in the Crossfire

After that night, everything changed. They had always been careful before. But now—now, it was different.

Now, she craved him in a way that made her reckless. She sought him out in stolen moments, her hands brushing his in the shadows, her gaze lingering too long when others were near. She could not get the memory of their kiss out of her head. It was the first thing she thought of when she woke, and the last thing before bed. It plagued her dreams. It excited her in ways that she never felt before. She longed to feel his lips again.

And for all his warnings, for all his talk of danger, Noah did not stop her. Now he fell asleep with the memory of her lips on his, and he dreamt about her in ways he never did before. He would wake up, heart racing, and soaked. The evidence of his desire was hard to hide, especially when she would slightly brush against him in public. He knew he had crossed a line he could not come back from, because now, their kiss had awakened a lustful spirit in him, and it was one he couldn’t tame.

He let her find him beneath the magnolia tree. They spent many nights kissing, touching, and dreaming. He let her fingers trace the scars on his hands, let her whisper promises of escape, of freedom, of something that would never be theirs. But the world was not blind.

And people were watching.

It was his mother who found them first.

Noah had been walking back toward the quarters when she pulled him aside, her grip tight on his arm, her face drawn with worry.

“Noah,” she whispered. “You can’t keep doing this.”

He swallowed hard, looking away. “Mama—”

“Listen to me.” Her voice was urgent, desperate. “You think you’re the first? You think this is the first time a girl like her thought she could save someone like you?”

He stiffened.

“She can’t save you,” his mother said. “And if she keeps trying, she’ll get you killed.”

Noah knew that. He had always known that.

But knowing didn’t stop the way his heart ached when Elizabeth smiled. Didn’t stop the way he wanted. Didn’t stop the fact that the suppleness of her skin kept him awake at night. How when their lips met, he felt like his world lit up.

“She’s not like them,” he said quietly.

His mother’s eyes softened, just a little. “It doesn’t matter, baby.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then she let go of him, stepping back. “Stay away from her.”

For weeks they stole moments together. They kissed, and kissed, and kissed until they were out of breath. Noah nodded. But they both knew he wouldn’t.

And that was his mistake. Because someone else was watching.

Elizabeth’s father had noticed the changes in her—her moods, her absences, the way her eyes always seemed to search for something just beyond his sight.

So he followed her.

One night, as she slipped out of the house, he was there, trailing behind, silent as the shadows.

Under their tree unaware, Elizabeth told him she wanted to try something with him. He didn’t hesitate to nod. She laid him gently on his back and slowly kissed his jawline, and she heard his breath stop. She kissed down to his neck and the sound he made made her heart leap with joy. She had read about this in so many books. She continued to lick and suck on his neck until he was shivering beneath her. She continued to trail her hands down his body and kissed everywhere she touched. She reached down to palm the growing bulge in his slacks and he froze. They had never done anything more than kissing and innocent touching before.

He heard himself let out a screech, and felt all the blood in his head rush down there. He couldn't breathe. “Please, ” he begged silently, not even knowing what he was begging for. She continued stroking him through his slacks, and he moaned and groaned with pleasure.

As she continued to stroke him, she felt him grow harder and harder, until he whispered, “Please… don’t…. stop.” In her books, she knew that the man should push his part into her part, and she wanted that. She knew that meant they loved each other, and in her books, the man and the woman always had a happy ending.

He didn’t understand what he was feeling, but instinct led him to gently palm her breast through her night gown. She gasped and shivered when he touched her soft flesh, and rubbed his fingers over her n****e. They continued touching each other, until she led him to touch her down there. Once his fingers touched her slick folds, she shuddered in delight.

She flipped them over and gently guided him into her. At the first feeling, they both moaned in delight. As he began to thrust further into her, she screamed his name into the night.

And when he found them—when he saw them together, her hand resting on Noah’s chest, their bodies too close, their whispers too soft—

Something in him snapped.

The rage was instant, violent.

Noah didn’t have time to react.

One moment, Elizabeth was moaning beneath, and the next, she was screaming as her father’s fists connected with Noah’s face, as he was ripped away from her, thrown to the ground like nothing more than an animal.