I know we’re not together, and I know I love Thien, but watching Noah kiss Qi provokes a feeling I’ve never felt before…JEALOUSY. I don’t expect him to grovel at my feet and I know it’s not in his nature to pine away for me endlessly, but part of me hoped he would. I just wanted him to go out of his way a little to show me how much I mean to him and I don’t know why.
I’ve been in a pissy mood all day since witnessing said kiss and now we have a meeting in the study to go over our next mission. The last place I want to be, is in a room with Noah and Qi.
I arrive fashionably late thanks to the twenty-minute pep talk I gave myself, and I sit as far away from Noah as I can. The FURTHER the BETTER.
Thien received word from the Republic that the first weapon, has been spotted. He’s somewhere in town, but he’s heavily guarded and the news stations along with the local police department has officially listed him as a missing person under suspicious circumstances.
“No humans can be harmed on this mission. Even if we manage to get Asher back, if a single human life has been lost, our mission is still a failure.” Thien speaks like the ruler he will someday become.
I raise my hand and he reluctantly calls on me. “Yes Shadow?” Shadow? I resist the urge to throw a spark at his head and swallow my irritation.
“Do we know who took him, and do they even know HOW to activate a weapon?” I ask.
“All of our sources point to Gavin Archer.” He replies. “And no, our sources believe he doesn’t know how to activate the weapon.”
“How does one activate a weapon if you don’t mind my asking?” Noah chimes in.
Thien and I exchange glances. An undeniable truth fills the room and makes everyone uncomfortable. No one wants to admit it, but we still don’t trust each other.
“No offense Noah, but even if we did have that kind of knowledge, Gavin is your brother. We wouldn’t be able to share that kind of Intel with you.” I explain.
“But you can use my team and I as muscle for your little crusade.” He scoffs.
“OUR crusade.” I correct him.
An argument ensues over the issue of trust between us. The Elite don’t trust us because we’re keeping information from them, and we don’t trust that once they have the information they won’t use it against us.
“ENOUGH!” Thien shouts. His voice rattles the house and windows burst sending glass fragments everywhere. He composes himself and with a wave of his hand, all of the windows have been repaired.
Noah gets in Thien’s face and tensions rise. We are all on pins and needles fearing what might come next. An all out brawl? A showdown between warring houses? When Noah speaks, his voice is cold but calm with a hint of a warning.
“I do NOT take orders from you. You and I…we are on EQUAL ground here. You may be the one receiving the orders, but my team doesn’t move unless I give the command. Withholding information that may or may not get us killed is NOT acceptable.”
Thien mulled over Noah’s words and nodded to him. “You’re right. You are my equal and you deserve to know what you and your team are putting your lives at risk for. For now…lets just find the weapon and we won’t have to worry about the ‘what ifs’.” Thien humbles himself.
“This is bullshit.” Noah replies.
“I agree, but until we know where you stand I cannot allow information like that to fall into your hands. If it came down to it, can you honestly say you’d kill your own brother to protect our people? ALL of our people?” Thien asks.
I expected him to rise to the occasion…to declare without a shadow of a doubt that he could, but for the first time since this union began, I saw something in his eyes…HESITATION.
“I can and I will.” Noah declared.
I don’t know how I know, but I can’t ignore what my intuition is telling me, and it’s tell me…Noah’s lying. Satisfied with Noah’s proclamation, Thien ends the meeting, and everyone goes their separate ways. Noah turns to Qi who casts him a worried glance. Feeling my eyes on him, Noah returns my gaze and then he sends Qi away. I motion for him to follow me outside and we both sit down on the front steps.
“Whatever you’re up to, don’t do it.” I warn him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He looks me dead in the eyes and lies for the second time.
“I know you, and I know when you’re lying or you’re hiding something. Whatever it is, don’t do it.”
“I promise you Aria, its nothing. It’s just bullshit family drama.” He lies for a third time. “But if I were lying…what would you do about it? Kill me?”
“Let’s just hope we never have to find out.” I reply.
The look in his eyes goes from amused, to aroused and I realize he’s leaning into me. Shit! Not again! His lips touch mine and a whimper escapes my lips. I pull back but his hand holds my head in place as he robs me of my resolve. His other hand reaches up and clenches my neck. My eyes fly open, alarmed, until I see the all-consuming fire in his eyes. Again I succumb to his touch and shut my eyes. My breathing becomes shallow and a throbbing sensation permeates between my legs.
Noah is calm…in control…and DEADLY. His every touch and every kiss is calculated and DAMNING. As the sexual tension mounts I feel like my head is about to explode. I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! And just like that…HE STOPS.
Noah pulls away, gets up, smiles and walks back into the house. FML!
Long after he’s gone, my eyes are still shut, my breathing is still ragged, and I’m suspended in a constant replay of that moment. A moment that I’m ashamed to say I don’t regret. Sitting on the porch staring into the grey sky above, I curse the day I ever laid eyes on Noah Archer.
“What the fuck Aria?” Willow pulls me out of my euphoria. She was standing in front of me on the sidewalk and I didn’t even notice her. “NOAH? REALLY? As your friend I must say that I am VERY disappointed in you.”
“KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!” I shout fearful that Thien will hear her.
“He’s gotten into your head, hasn’t he? He was always good at it when we were kids and he’s doing it again.”
“It was just a stupid kiss.” I tried to downplay it.
“Well you got the STUPID part right.” She replies sardonically.
Willow sits down next to me and studies my face for a moment. She must have realized just how tormented the situation was for me because the next words out of her mouth are from my friend, not a soldier of Muerte.
“To be honest, I don’t know how you’ve been able to stay away from that talk, dark and sexy fucker this long.” Willow chuckles. “I’m not going to lie, he’s totally fuckable, and he’ll probably have you speaking in tongues, but Aria…you can’t trust him.”
“I know.” I sigh and lay back on the cold wooden deck. “Like, I know I shouldn’t want him and I should probably be running for the hills.”
“Not to mention the fact that you have the devastatingly handsome Thien Youngblood sniffing at your knickers. And if his reputation in bed is any indication, I’m sure he could take you to heaven and back as well.” Willow adds. She is SO. NOT. HELPING.
“I hate you for saying that.” I groan, sitting up. “UGH! What am I doing Willow?”
“I don’t know Ar, but you need to figure it out. If Thien finds out about your EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, not only will he dump your unfaithful ass, but he might end up marrying that bobble head Katnis.” She points out.
“You’re right.” I sulk.
Willow gives me a tight squeeze and I follow her back into the house. I search around for Thien and Wake points towards the kitchen. Thien motions for me to take a seat on the stool next to him when he sees me and slides a plate of fruit in front of me. “You need to eat. If we run into any more trouble I need you to be at one hundred percent.”
I nod and take a few bites while he watches. Ever so often his eyes dart over to his phone screen when it lights up. “Someone texting you?” I ask.
“Its Katnis.” He confides.
Katnis??? WTF!
“I wasn’t aware the two of you were still talking.” I tried to disguise my disapproval.
“Can I talk to you as a friend and not the girl I want to be with?” He asks.
“We’re kind of the same person. I can’t make any promises.”
Thien retreats to his thoughts for a moment, then he turns to me and starts to speak anyway. “Katnis isn’t taking our breakup well at all. I know I shouldn’t care now that I’m with you, but she really cares about me and I feel like a piece of shit for dropping her the way I did.” He confides.
My thoughts come skidding to a screeching halt and my heart melts. Did he just say that we’re together? “In time she’ll understand. You just have to give her time.”
“Its more than that Ar-Star.” He clenches his eyes shut and sighs. “We did something stupid. I didn’t tell you about it because she was supposed to handle it, but she didn’t, and if you love me at all…even an ounce…you won’t hate me for what I’m about to tell you. You can’t leave me either.” He made me swear.
“I swear. I won’t leave. Whatever it is…we’ll get through it…together.” I promise him. “But you do realize you just officially agreed to be a couple right?”
He smiles and takes my hand into his. “I’m serious Aria. What I’m about to say will probably test our relationship. If you have any doubts about being with me, tell me now.”
“I have NONE.” I assure him.
“And you won’t leave?” He double-checks.
“No. I won’t. What you and Katnis had was before me and everyone has a past.”
Thien inhales slowly and looks deeply into my eyes. “Katnis and I…we…I slept with her.” He confides. His confession is surprising, but it’s not a deal breaker. Thien has slept with half of Petrem from what I hear. He’s a manwhore…I knew that already. That’s the one thing he and Noah have in common. They screw any and everything with a hole and a heartbeat.
“You and Katnis sleeping together…while surprising, isn’t exactly a surprise Thien. All of Petrem is talking about your hit list.” I chuckle.
“Hit list?” He frowns.
“The amount of girls you’ve slept with. According to a very angry message written on the wall in the girls sanctuary, you leave a trail of broken hearts and shattered pelvises behind you.” I tease. “Some girls have even gone as far as to make a play on your friendship with Aiden. They call you two Destruction and Wake.”
He smiles and it lights up his whole damn face. What the hell was I thinking allowing Noah to kiss me the way he did? Thien had my heart and from now on…my undivided attention. He entwines his fingers with mine and kisses the back of my hand.
“Aria.” He speaks my name somberly. “Katnis is pregnant.”
Of all the things I expected him to say…that isn’t one of them. I almost choked on my spit. My stomach twists in knots and I feel like I’m going to throw up. “Are you sure?” I ask.
“Medics have confirmed it.” He nods.
“How far along?”
“We found out six months ago.”
I close my eyes and try to take in what I’ve learned in the last sixty seconds. Not only did he give himself away to Alpha knows who, but now he’s taken another first from me…the opportunity to be the first to give him a child.
“Are you sure its yours?”
“Yeah.” He nods.
“Holy shit.” I sigh. “Havoc’s gonna be a daddy.”
“What have I told you about calling me that?” He glares at me.
“You’re about to have a whole KID…with someone else. TODAY, you’re name is HAVOC.” I scoff.
“You’re mad.” He realizes.
“Of COURSE I’M MAD!” I shake my head in disbelief. “How could you be so stupid? Never mind that…how many other kids do you have running around?”
“Just this one.” He rakes his hands through his perfect, Jared Leto-esque hair-UGH! Seriously Aria, get your damn head out of the clouds and focus!
“Did you know when you took me to your house to sit down and have dinner with your parents?” I ask.
Thien averts his eyes to the floor. He doesn’t have to say anything because his silence says it all. He set me up! No wonder his mother doesn’t want us together! She wants him to do the right thing and be with the mother of his child! Still…I gave him my word that I wouldn’t leave. Granted, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into at the time, but the truth is…it doesn’t change how I feel or what I want.
“Say something.” He speaks barely above a whisper.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m kind of speechless right now.”
“Then kiss me so I know we’re good.”
I don’t want to. I don’t want to. I don’t want to. What I want is to punch his goddamn face in! What I want is for Katnis and the baby she’s carrying to fucking disappear! What I want is to go back four years, ignore Myra’s invitation to come see her, and to start ALL OVER.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
