• ~ Tory ~


    “You were dreaming about your mother again?” I asked gently, moving closer to take his other hand in mine.
    He looked down at them, his hand that was gripping my arm slid down my arm to take my other hand. It made me shiver because I realised how cold I was and his hands were like ice.
    “Are you cold?” he asked me gently.
    I realised that I wasn’t wearing something that would be considered modest, I had guessed that they were spare guy clothes; a really baggy tank top that was falling off my shoulders and loose stain boxer shorts.
    “You were dreaming about your mother again.” I ignored his question and pursued mine.
    “Yes, her screams always haunt my dreams. Ever since you left,” he murmured while running his hand up my arm again. I shivered but not because I was cold this time.
    I instantly felt guilty, he had told me once that being around me and my happy aura had driven away his nightmares. We were both a pair, we had both been around when our parents died. Mine wasn’t as horrific as his; where I had been shut away in a closet and they had just been shot. His mother had been tortured, raped then murdered, and he had seen most of it happen. I hadn’t found that out until years later after I had left the agency.
    “It’s okay Noah, I’m here now and the nightmares will go away,” I told him, stilling his hand just as it reached my elbow.
    He shook his head back and forth as his hand tightened around my elbow. “No, even if you’re here again, they still haunt me. You’ve changed, that aura of yours is gone.”
    I stared at him in shock. “What do you mean it’s gone? It can’t be, it may have changed a little but it should still be slightly the same. I mean, I haven’t-.”
    Noah stopped me by putting a finger against my lips. He was staring at me but not my eyes.
    “Babbling love,” he mumbled to me.
    I reached up and took his hand away from my mouth. “It’s a habit I tend to get around you.”
    He smiled a cheeky, boyish grin. “Glad I affect you the way you affect me.”
    I smiled too; it was like it was catching. “Now, I didn’t say that exactly.”
    “Basically, you did.” The smile got wider.
    “No, I didn’t,” I joked along with him. It was actually fun.
    “Say another word and I’ll kiss you.” He said the words so fast that I didn’t understand them.
    “What?” I asked with a blank face.
    He leant forward and planted a quick kiss on my lips. My back stiffened in the shock that ran through my body. He stared at me with a small smile on his face while I took in what had just happened. My eyes narrowed at him.
    “Did you say that if I said another word, you’d kiss me?” I asked, trying to make out the jumble of words he had strung.
    He laughed in misplaced humour, thinking my reaction was funny. I thought it was funny too, I expected my body to automatically slap him or jerk away from him but I didn’t do either of those things.
    I had the strangest feeling, like I wanted to kiss him back and keep doing it. It pooled low in my gut and made my stomach flutter with excitement.
    I felt heat rise up my neck and to my face just because of what I was thinking, his eyes darkened; it was like he could hear my thoughts and ever so slowly he leaned towards me again for another kiss. He gave me time to pull away if I wanted to, I should have.
    I heard myself say, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
    But I didn’t listen to my head and the wolf that was growling for once, I listened to my heart. I turned my body towards him, took a step forward and stood up on my tippy toes to meet his lips with mine. He was surprised at first but then he didn’t care.
    He pulled me flush with his body and kissed me hard. I felt his tongue slide across the stem of my lips, asking for entrance. I opened my mouth for him and his tongue tangled with mine.
    Unconsciously my hands slid to the bottom of his shirt and up the inside of it to feel the hard planes of his abdomen. It was like that dream all over again but actually happening.
    We broke away from each other to gasp for air, my hands were still under his shirt and I could feel his stomach moving up and down from his breathing. His eyes had gone a whole shade darker and his face was flushed just a little. His obviously talented hands had made their way to the middle of my back and inside my baggy shirt.
    I could feel my cheeks get hot and heat grow in my eyes but not because of the fire, because I was embarrassed. A first for me.
    “You know that this is right Tor,” Noah mumbled against my lips, the heat in his eyes was all I needed to tell me what he wanted.
    My hand clenched against his stomach, my nails lightly scratching him which made him shiver just a little. The idea of pain that didn’t kill was a turn on for him, it was a turn on for me too. But I reined my body in and under control.
    I shook my head and took my hand out of his shirt. “We aren’t together, I may want this but it doesn’t mean that it’s right Noah.”
    "Well, we now know that our relationship meant nothing to you, did it?" he said with a straight and angry face.
    "It did not, you egotistical man!" I felt like I had been punched in the face. Everything about before was forgotten and replaced with anger.
    He snickered at me comment, like it was funny. “Total bullshit, love.”
    “Noah…” I growled. “Stop taking it so harshly, your acting childish.”
    “Oh, is that why you won’t be with me now? Because I’m childish?” Rage lightened in his features, tightening the edges of his face.
    “Stop putting words into my mouth. That’s being childish!” I raised my voice just a little.
    “I’m not, you just think I am!” his voice raised as mine did. I wouldn't be surprised if people could hear us.
    “You’re so difficult!” I threw my hands out to push him back. He reacted to it, my hands touched his solid chest and before he went backwards, he grabbed my hands and pulled me with him.