Page 70 of Noah

Adrienne could see his lips moving. Could see that he was still hyper-aware of his surroundings which meant her panic escalated.

She couldn’t leave Moon. If she left, would she just be picked off and put back in a cage? Were they monitoring her? Was she a person of interest?

Swallowing hard, she almost laughed hysterically. There were so many questions running around her mind, and some were outlandish. Others made complete sense.

A male sound, a small roar of fury and concern, pitched low.

Noah’s arms surrounded her and made her jump. His fingers overlapped, pulling her hard against him. “Give her a minute,” Noah snapped.

Owen’s face disappeared. Briar began whistling a tune.

Noah pulled her tightly against him. His hard chest pressed against her back, and he rested his face on her shoulder. He kissed her behind the ear and whispered, “You’re okay. You’re here with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“It’s…” she stuttered.

“I understand.” He squeezed her tighter. “It’s leaving when you know it’s unsafe.” He nuzzled into her neck and blew out a breath. Her skin pebbled. “But we can’t stay behind these walls forever.” Her heart stuttered and her eyes opened wide. “You’ll be safe with us.” He stroked her hair. “I’ll keep you safe.” Her breathing evened out. “You’re fierce…violent remember?”

Adrienne finally glanced up, catching, and holding onto his arm. “Sorry,” she whispered, her voice thin and thready. He was right, she was never this frail. This was nothing compared to the strong female she usually was. She might not know what she was doing with herself yet, but she was damn sure she was stronger than this.

“Why are you sorry? There’s nothing to be sorry about. I gather it’s not normal for humans to be kidnapped or locked up.” He shrugged. “It’s been our reality, but not yours.”

Adrienne gripped him tighter, her strength coming back as she allowed herself just one more moment of weakness. “It shouldn’t be normal for you either.”

He chuckled and kissed her shoulder. “It’s okay to be worried about leaving. I’m not thrilled to be charging into danger again.”

“You think there will be danger?” she gasped. Her nails dug into his arm. “Sorry,” she apologised, rubbing his arms where her nails had set in.

“Tell me…”

“Yes?” she asked.

“Is there anywhere that is completely safe? Somewhere you feel safe?”

Adrienne felt pale, and he held her tight as she wobbled. It wasn’t because she realised, he was right—nowhere was safe, on the contrary, she realised she felt safe with him.

Even caged, a part of her felt safe with him. When he gripped her neck—he was worried she was there as some form of torture and although she was scared at the time, she was also worried about how he would feel about hurting her when he realised that she was innocent.

“I feel safe,” she said as her heart settled into a normal rhythm. The slight shaking that had taken over had disappeared. Her breathing was back to normal, and she slowly straightened with him supporting her. “I’m okay,” she said.

“We can stay here. I’ll tell them to go. We’ll go another day.”

“What?” she asked dazed. “No.” She glanced at their security. They were pointedly looking away, giving them the illusion of privacy. “We’ll go. I think I know who’s been visiting my father’s storage space and I want to see what’s so intriguing that she would go back repeatedly.”

“Is she dangerous?”

That made her laugh and the last of her tension drained away. “No. God no,” she paused because she didn’t know anymore. The time they spent together could be counted as a handful of months. And that was when they were young, barely able to form sentences. “Well, I don’t think so.”

He opened her door, his lips lifted, and he growled “What does that mean?” As he jumped into the Jeep.

“It means I don’t know her. Not now. So, she could be involved in…” Adrienne stopped, and bit her lip.

She couldn’t imagine her as a bad person or involved in anything illegal. Then again after meeting the utter dregs of society at the warehouse who had convinced her right up until the last moment that they were angels, what did she know?

“Involved in what?”

She shook herself and put her belt on. “I don’t think she’s involved in anything, I just…I hope she’s had a good life. Mhane was only months younger than me. I remember bits and pieces, mostly feelings…laughter,” she grinned.

He tucked her hand into his and nodded at Briar and Owen to go. “You think Mhane has been visiting the storage unit your father left you?”

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