• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

I woke up to find Noah seated beside me on the bed. His feet were kicked up and he was leaning back against the wall, his eyes on an open book in his hands. I watched him for a moment, noting all the features that hadn't changed when he became a vampire. Honestly, he looked like any other human besides the fangs. He didn't even wear the normal vampire garbage that some of the older ones did.

Titus and some of the other original vampires always wore those white cloaks that reminded me too much of the day they took over. The younger vampires could be mistaken as human, if you didn't know any better.

Noah tilted his head and looked at me from the corner of his eye. "You stopped in the middle of a sex scene."

I bit back a grin. "That book is good, but the sex scenes were all pretty much the same. Girl comes too fast, the wannabe dominant doesn't do proper aftercare, the two dudes who are into each other and her focus more on each other - which was hot the first two sex scenes, but typical after that - and the golden retriever boyfriend always comes last."

Noah stared at me for a moment before he burst out laughing, closing the book without marking his spot. I doubted he'd want to pick it up and read it again anyway. I probably wouldn't after I finished.

I glanced at his fangs.

"I noticed that too," he said, sliding it onto the nightstand by his side. By the time his eyes met mine again, I'd averted my gaze. "Though I think how fast she comes is admirable. A guy can only hope to achieve such a feat."

I grinned. Half of the book, one guy could just kiss her a certain way and she came. Admirable, yes. But that would be super embarrassing in real life.

It was so reminiscent of older days together, I could almost tell myself he was human. Lie to myself and pretend vampires didn't exist except for in my books. Almost.

I blew out a breath. "Noah?"

He hummed.

"I need you to be honest with me," I said.

"Always." He smiled.

I could tell when he was lying. It was in the inflection of his voice and the way his gaze flinched slightly to the left. It was so quick that I really had to pay attention. But I would know.

"Is trusting you going to be a mistake?" I watched his eyes. His posture. Everything.

"Never," he said, voice even. "I am still your Noah, Mae."

My Noah.

I nodded slowly, taking his words in. He hadn't lied, unless he somehow figured out how to hide all of his tells at once. But that would have taken effort, of which would have been a tell all on its own.

"Prove it," I whispered.

His lips parted and his eyes widened a fraction as he searched my face. "How?"

I was going to let myself trust Noah, regardless of the fact that he was a vampire. Regardless of the fact that he brought me back to this Hell.

I tilted my head and waited. When his eyes moved to my neck, they darkened. He didn't make a move to touch me, but his hands bunched into fists at his sides. He knew it was a test. One I knew instinctively he'd pass.

He could say no. He could bite me and drink from me. Or he could bite me and drain me dry.

He held out a hand and I placed mine into it. "I need you to tell me or I can't."

"Is that a new rule," I asked, moving to straddle him.

My stomach twisted with nerves. I'd been bitten plenty by Kite and knew what to expect from him. I had no idea what to expect with Noah. I'd waited so long to be with him, and honestly maybe I waited too long. I'd never be able to be with him with both of us being human.

My body was warm, and I could feel my face heat under his stare.

"No," he said, bringing my hand to his chest. "I want and need your consent, Mae. I don't want to do anything you aren't ready for. It's only been a couple of days since you've been back."

I leaned down, feeling as our clothed bodies slid against each other. "Bite me."

Our lips were so close that I could feel his breath as it stuttered out of him at the words. He didn't make a move towards me, and I could see the war in his mind through his eyes. Should he, or shouldn't he? Would I hate him if I did? Would I let him make me come?

He should, I wouldn't, and abso-fucking-lutely. This wasn't for him. It was for me to make sure I could trust him not to harm me, and this whole ordeal with him making sure and making me voice what I wanted was enough to tell me that at least for now, he was the same.

He sat up slowly, as if moving too fast would scare me off. His hands skimmed across my neck, moving my hair out of the way. Goosebumps prickled along my skin at his touch and the way he looked at me.

His eyes found mine again, looking up at me through long eyelashes. Waiting for me to tell him no, I was sure.

When I didn't, he leaned forward and licked my neck, then sucked at the pulse. My stomach tightened and my body was already trembling from only a kiss. His hands found my waist just as his fangs bit into my skin.

I gripped his shirt in my fists and closed my eyes, feeling the way his lips pressed against my neck around the puncture his fangs had made. I felt as he sucked my blood into his mouth, and felt his visceral reaction to it between my legs.

Tingles broke across my skin, into my muscles and bones as his fingers gripped my waist harder. I slowly moved my hips, relishing in the feel of being able to rub myself against his hard length. The longer he sucked, the more I wanted and craved that friction. I didn't want there to be clothes between us. I wanted him inside of me.

He groaned against my neck, the hands that were once attempting to still my movements now helping, grinding me harder and faster against him until I was panting. He didn't let up, almost like he was chasing my orgasm along with me.

"God, Noah." I grabbed a handful of his hair and pushed, forcing him to bite harder.

When I finally came, I whimpered his name through my cries. It was a normal reaction to being bit for a long length of time, but I was normally left numb. Unfeeling. Like the orgasm wasn't truly my own.

Like hell that happened with Noah.

He licked the wound on my neck and pulled away, and his eyes were wild and hungry as they met mine. "Are you okay?"

"Besides the fact I just judged some chick in a book for coming too fast and I came within five minutes, yeah," I joked.

He smiled. "You did so good."

My smile faltered at the words.

Oh, no. Not my praise kink. The douchebag knew too much about my praise kink.

I gave an awkward laugh and slid off of him. My eyes found his pants and I raised my eyebrows at the obvious bulge.

I looked at him. "You...I can-"

He shook his head. "Not that I don't want to, because I absolutely do. But you're going to be a bit weak and not at all ready for what I want to do with you. I'll take care of this, this time. Next time, though..."

My cheeks flooded with heat at the promise.

I had a silly little crush on him for years, and the fact that he was turned did nothing to negate those feelings. I did need to talk to him about some things before we took it further, and I hoped he would be open to it.

Noah adjusted himself with a teasing scowl on his face before he stood. "I need to go run and do some things. It won't take too long. I'll bring you some food once I'm finished, then we can figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the day, okay?"

I nodded and watched as he went to my door.

"Noah," I asked when his hand touched the door handle. "We need to talk. Not now, obviously. But soon."

He eyed me from over his shoulder. "Whatever you need, Mae."

When I didn't say anything further, he left, and the click of the lock sliding into place was the only sound before I was bathed in silence.