Page 10 of Noah

A vision of clawed hands on her throat flashed through her mind.

It was not surprising that she winced and found tender spots on her throat when touching it. She felt a chill of fear creep through her body as she realised the true extent of Numbers’ power and ferocity.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for what was to come.

Under the pile of blankets, she shivered, then frowned. Shouldn’t they have turned up the heat if they wanted her to stay?

When he heard her teeth chatter, he grunted. Noah stared longingly back at the arch that held the shower room.

Although she would love nothing more than a hot shower, she struggled to control her shaking body as the thought of getting out of the covers and feeling the chilly air hit her made her moan.

Noah scoffed and stormed towards her.

With cat-like grace, he crawled over her and wriggled under the blanket. She moaned in delight when he pulled her against his skin.

Her frozen fingers spread over his chest as she snuggled into him to steal his heat, feeling his rigid muscles under her hands.

It had been a while since a male held her, and she remembered how much she loved being in a strong, protective embrace.

He thought she was weird for being so relaxed with him but given the choice between him strangling her, their captors killing her, or accepting his hug, well there was no choice, especially when he was like a damn heater.

Besides, she didn’t care what he thought. She would use him as a blanket if he kept her from freezing temperatures. Feeling a tad unhinged, she gripped him tighter.

Having no other source of heat, she would guard him jealously and kill anyone who attempted to steal him. The effort it took to smile made her head pound as she almost laughed at her dramatic thoughts.

Had she been shivering the entire time? Was it only twenty-four hours? Adrienne was having difficulty concentrating. Thinking was too much effort.

“I think I’m sick…” she said, hoping he would understand.

Grunting, Noah tried to warm her up by breathing into the space between them.

He didn’t seem particularly concerned, and she almost cried. If he couldn’t tell she was sick and couldn’t understand, she was stuffed.

She couldn’t summon the energy to shout out or catch their attention so she would have to battle a fever alone.

It was probably best. Shivers swept over her body.

How was he being held here? How long and why?

Her thoughts tumbled and spiralled out of control.

“Who are you?” she murmured as her head dropped to the pillow. She couldn’t go on like this. “Adrienne…what am I…did you?” Why couldn’t she get anything out properly and who was holding her?

It seemed like everything moved slowly, and time dragged on. Her heavy breaths were long, and each exhale lasted minutes.

Moving was slow motion, her hands jerking, her jaw locked.

Noah seemed to come and go like a flash, only moving when they heard a ping indicating something had been delivered.

A blink and Noah was gone again, all the colours flashing and moving in a flurry of confusion like a kaleidoscope.

Once again, she was left alone and cold when her covers fell off. When did the covers lift? Had it been a few minutes or hours?

Noah returned, holding something to her lips.

Opening her eyes required much concentration. The process of instructing her brain to open was physically and mentally draining.

Something warm and metallic touched her lips so she tried swallowing. She’d like to think it was elegant, but liquid dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

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