Page 57 of Shattered Oaths

NOAH

By the time I hear Bella’s soft footfalls on the stairs, the pizza’s have been delivered and are sitting in the middle of the blankets I arranged on the floor.

I had been confused and slightly disappointed when I got home earlier to find the house empty. I’ve gotten so used to Bella’s smiling face being the first thing that I see when I walk through the door that I just kind of expected it when I returned earlier. Funny, really, considering I spent the entire day trying to bat away thoughts of her.

I picked up some board games from the big house on my way home. I don’t know why, but I think subconsciously I thought that it would be a perfect way of convincing Bella to spend more time with me. But then when I came back to an empty house, I started panicking that it was a dumb idea. So, I decided to find a movie that I knew she hadn’t seen yet but would enjoy instead. And then I remembered the way her eyes had lit up when we went to the drive-in, and I grabbed every throw blanket and decorative pillow I owned and started rearranging the furniture in my livingroom. I filled two glasses of wine and left the games out anyway, just in case.

When I was done, I stood there scratching at my chin and questioning whether it was all a little too… intimate. But then the front door opened and it was too late to change anything.

Now, though, I’m glad I didn’t.

“Smells good,” Bella says, rounding the couch and coming into view.

I sit up, opening my mouth to respond to her but all words fail me when I look up and get my first look at her.

Holy. Shit.

Her feet are covered in long, grey fuzzy socks. Long, tan legs, bare of any clothing. Her hair is thrown into a messy bun on top of her head, face clean of makeup. But her body?My fucking God.Her body is draped in a large, oversized hoodie.

My hoodie.

My chest vibrates with the feral growl that fights its way up my throat. Fingers twitch by my sides with the urge to reach out, pull those sexy fucking legs over mine and find out if she’s wearing anything else under that hoodie.

I’m going to break.

The thread I’ve been hanging on by is fraying with every second that I look at her. So, I avert my gaze, clearing my throat. Wordlessly, I push her pizza box toward her as she takes a seat next to me, oblivious to the all-out war taking place between my head, my heart and my dick right now.

Her leg brushes against mine, that goddamn cupcake scent hitting me and suddenly I’m agreeing with my earlier thoughts.

This is way too fucking intimate.

Bella picks up a slice of pizza and takes a bite, but I don’t move. I’m frozen in place, watching as she closes her eyes andmoansas she chews.

She crosses her legs and my eyes drop down to where the hoodie rises on her thighs before snapping back up when she moans again.

“Bella.” Her name is a low growl on my lips.

“Hmm?” she hums, her tongue darting out to lick away a stray dot of tomato sauce.

“Gonna need you to stop doing that.”

Her eyes are full of feigned innocence as she looks between me and my untouched pizza. “What’s wrong? Are you not hungry?”

“Oh, I’m fucking hungry,” I respond, not skipping a beat.

A cute little line appears between her brows and I swear, the woman could be an actress. There’s no way on earth she doesn’t realise what she’s doing right now.

“So why aren’t you eating?”

I lean forward on my hands, my face a breath away from hers. “Because, doll, what I’m hungry for, isn’t on the menu.”

She swallows and blinks at me, the pupils in her pretty grey eyes growing so wide they’re almost black. “How do you know it’s not on the menu?”

My breaths are heavy pants as my attention flicks between her eyes and her lips. “Because I do.”

She smirks, moving even closer. “Why don’t you just take what you want anyway?”

There’s a loaded pause as the pair of us freeze, her words hanging in the air.