Her lips separated and he slipped inside, tasting her. Exploring.
She moaned, a low, deep sound that vibrated against him. He wanted to bottle it up, listen to it again and again. Because this woman…she was color in a world that had turned too black-and-white lately. She felt like everything he’d been missing.
Gently, he rolled them over and pressed her to the mattress, his cock hard as it pushed into her core. She hummed and wrapped a leg around his waist, urging him closer.
Somehow, she still tasted damn sweet. Like honey in tea, warm and comforting, but also exciting enough to set his blood roaring through his veins.
He shifted his lips to her throat. All of her tasted the same, so infinitely Addie. When she cupped his cheek, he turned his head and kissed her palm, then her wrist.
He only opened his eyes for a second. A flicker of his eyelids.
But that was all he needed to see it.
The heat in his gut turned cold as he lifted his head and gripped her arm. “What’s this?” But he knew what it was.Bruises. Bruises in the shape of a damn hand. Someone had grabbed her.
She blinked once. Twice. The desire in her eyes shifted to confusion. “What’s what?”
Gently, he ran his thumb over the small dark circles. “Someone hurt you.” The desire of moments ago twisted into something harder. Darker. “Who?”
Her mouth opened and closed. “I was going to tell you last night, but I fell asleep before you got home.”
“Okay, so tell me now.” It was hard to keep a shred of calm in his voice. He wanted to fucking rage. “Who did this, Addie?”
Her chest rose. “Rhett.”
Thefuck? “Tell me what happened.”
“When he walked me to my car, I made a comment about not being interested in him. He grabbed me. I told him to let me go. He didn’t, and so I slammed my palm into his nose.”
Noah flinched. “He did this last night? When I asked him to walk you back to your car?”
“Did you hear the part about my palm and his nose? I was pretty badass. I’m pretty sure I broke it.”
He’d grabbed her,bruisedher, because Noah had asked him to walk her to her car instead of doing it himself.
He climbed out of bed, anger simmering in his chest as he pulled clothes from his dresser. Anger at Rhett. And anger at himself.
“Where are you going?” she asked quickly, sitting up in bed.
She knew exactly where he was going—to fire the asshole. “We need to get to work.”
After a quick shower in the second bathroom, he threw on clothes and grabbed a couple of bagels. He wasn’t hungry, but he forced himself to eat while he waited for Addie.
When she finally stepped out of the bedroom, her eyes were cautious. “Noah—”
“Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
She sighed before taking the bagel he offered and stepping outside.
He trailed her car the entire way to the park, his fingers so tight around the wheel that his knuckles were white.
When they arrived, half a dozen cars already filled the lot. Which meant everyone was probably already at the rock-climbing wall, and they’d all see what was about to happen.
Good. Let them.
Addie looked at him as they walked down the trail. “I’m scared about what you’re going to do.”
“I’m going to handle the situation.”
