Chapter 0354
Golden sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the blankets. I stretched languidly and rolled over, already smiling contentedly as consciousness returned and the memories of last night floated back—even sweeter than the sweet dreams I'd had all night.
Noah's arms were still wrapped around me, warm and comforting. He tugged me closer as I turned to face him, and I opened my eyes to find those green eyes smiling down at me. He was still here. He hadn't slipped out of bed, hadn't left me. I almost pinched myself to see if it was real.
“Morning,” he murmured with a lazy smile. His voice, deep and gravelly from sleep, felt like velvet-covered fingers gently stroking the inside of my mind. I leaned into him, reveling in the sensation of his warm breath tickling my hair. “Mm. Morning,” I replied, my own voice still husky with sleep. “How long have you been awake?”
Noah shrugged, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone. “A while.”
We lay there for a while, lazily waking up in the morning sunlight. It was Tuesday, and I knew he likely had a meeting to attend, but he didn’t seem eager to get up.
Finally, after what felt like a blissful eternity, he slipped out from under the covers. I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as I watched his nude form, golden skin gleaming in the sunlight, head into the bathroom.
But a few moments later, I heard the shower turn on, and he poked his tousled head out. “Shower with me?”
Beaming, I practically leaped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. Of course, I would shower with him—I thought he would never ask.
The warm water soothed my tired muscles, still a little sore from the adrenaline of yesterday's panic attack. But all of that felt miles away now, especially as Noah gently scrubbed the loofah across my body, lathering me with fragrant soap.
I felt a blush creep up my neck, the heat spreading to my cheeks as he moved the loofah over my skin. His touch was gentle, as reverent as it had been in bed last night.
“Noah,” I said, curiosity getting the better of me, “when did you know you loved me?”
His hand stilled. “It wasn’t just one moment. It was a lot of little things.”
“Such as?” I bit my lip, arching my back into him. Noah let out a small growl of approval as I began sliding my body against his under the water, covering him in soap.
“Like… the way you light up when you talk about your Luna Council projects,” he said, his hands caressing my slick hips. “And how determined you’ve been to better yourself. The strength you showed during your eating disorder recovery.”
I listened, captivated, as Noah recounted moments from the past few months—moments I hadn’t even realized were significant to him, such as watching me eat a chocolate croissant at the hotel and seeing my fighting improve as we trained together.
“Then there was a couple of weeks ago,” he continued, a smile tugging at his lips, “when you were sitting in the living room working on your pen pal program proposal. You were sitting cross-legged on the floor, and…”
He shook his head, chuckling. I’d turned to face him by now, our bodies tangled together beneath the warm water. “What?” I asked.
“It’s just…” He laughed again. “When you concentrate, you have a habit of sticking your tongue out a little. I’ll confess I once found it annoying, but it’s honestly really cute. I think I knew then, as I saw the determination on your face while you worked, that I had begun to love you.”
I felt too full of emotion to speak, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and tugged him close, kissing him deeply. He responded in kind, and though I felt something warm and hard press against my leg as I slipped my tongue around his, he didn’t ask for sex. This moment was intimate enough.
Finally, we shut off the water and stepped out into the steamy bathroom, wrapping towels around ourselves. I watched, drying my hair, as Noah brushed his teeth. I watched the hard planes of his body, the way his skin glistened with droplets of water.