Chapter Eight

Storm's POV

No matter how hard I tried to steer clear of Noah, it was hard. I wanted him to touch me, hold me, and kiss me but at the same time, I wanted him far away from me. Cooking dinner with him was almost therapeutic and highly sensual. The way he tied the apron over his waist, how his hands moved meticulously to chop the onions and vegetables. The way he stirred the food was like it was his creation.

At one point, I had to excuse myself from the kitchen and went to the bathroom to pour water on my face and reorganize myself. Of course, the food was perfect, I expected nothing less.

"This is so good." I moaned, taking a bite of my chicken.

He smiled pleased and took a sip of his wine. "I'm glad you liked it."

"When did you learn how to cook? And how did you learn how to cook this well?" I was curious about him, I barely knew anything about him.

"Rainstorm, I've been alive for over two hundred years, I had a lot of time to learn and perfect my cooking skills. But originally, my mother taught me."

" Wow, that's amazing." His phone rang and he picked up the call. I liked the fact that he didn't excuse himself and leave the table, that would have got me really suspicious.

"Amanda, hi. It's been so long. Oh, you're in town. I'm sorry I can't meet up with you tonight. Tomorrow? Sure, come by the house, and we'll catch up. Yeah, goodnight." He hung up the phone and continued eating. The food had turned to sawdust in my mouth now and I could barely hold myself back from diving across the table and calling back Amanda to find out what she really wanted from Noah.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly before asking my question. " So who's Amanda?" I asked the question so casually that you would think I didn't give one fuck about who she was but deep down I was seething in anger.

"Amanda is a friend, I met her about a hundred and ten years ago. We're good friends. She was originally in this pack but then she moved to another pack because she wanted to change the scenery and her job." Good friends, my ass, more like fuck buddies. I shoved more food into my mouth and chewed aggressively.

"That's nice. Why did she want to hang out tonight? When was the last time you saw each other?" I took a chug of my wine, trying to calm down. My grip tightened around the stem of the wine glass, I was a little worried it would break.

"Over a year ago. She comes into town, once a year to see her family." Yep, just her family or you?

" Does she have a mate ?"

"She doesn't. She's always wanted one but sadly, she hasn't found him yet." He said. She hasn't found her mate but she had you to take care of all the needs her mate could.

"Does she stay…"

"What's with the interrogation, Storm? If you have something to say, just say it." He interrupted me. The jig was up. I didn't care anymore though.

" What I want to know is, did you ever sleep together?" I crossed my arms and stared at him intently. He returned the stare and it soon became a staring battle, I conceded and dropped my gaze.

"We did." I felt the knife going straight into my heart but I didn't let it show that I was hurt.

"How many times?" I narrowed my gaze at him.

Noah sighed and sat straight. " Storm, I don't know why you want to know all these things, they don't matter anymore. We have each other, we just started a new relationship, let's not ruin the beautiful thing we have."

" How many times have you slept together?" I gritted my teeth.

" We were on and off until about two years ago when I stopped it." The knife that was already in my heart, twisted.

" Why?"

"Because I found you." I was speechless, I dropped my gaze to my plate and shoved a spoonful of food into my mouth. I wiped my plate clean and stood up then dropped the plate in the kitchen.

"Good night., I said to him and rushed out of the dining room. I hurriedly changed and entered into bed before he can in. I shut my eyes and acted like I was asleep. He didn't say anything but I knew he was aware I wasn't asleep. I listened to the sound of the shower as he washed and soon it turned into a lullaby that pulled me to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up in Noah's arms, cuddled up next to him. His hot breath tingled my neck and sent shivers down my body. I tried to get out of bed but his grip tightened around my body.

I tapped his shoulders until he peeked an eye open. "I need to use the bathroom, let me go." I struggled against him.

" No. Let's stay like this for a little while." He grumbled, placing a peck on my neck. If my bladder didn't want to explode, I would have probably fallen for his words.

"Noah, if you don't want me to pee on this bed, you'll have to let me go." I pinched his belly hard and he groaned, letting me go.

"Jeez, woman, did you really have to do that?" I stood up from the bed and he raised himself, sitting up. The duvet cover dropped, exposing his clear, blemish-free, well-toned chest and abs. I quickly turned and hurried into the bathroom.

I finished doing my business and went downstairs to make breakfast. The doorbell rang the there was a quick rap on the door. Thinking it was the maids that came to clean yesterday, I rushed to open the door, only to get the shock of my life.

On the other side of the door, in a trench coat and I'm willing to bet nothing else, was Amanda. I was certain she was the one. She was in one word, flawless, her clear skin showed signs of years of consistent skincare routine, her blonde hair was perfectly layered, and her makeup was amazing. She was gorgeous, if I didn't already hate this woman, I would have been asking her for makeup tips. She looked twenty, unlike her actual age of over two hundred.

I placed my hands on my hips and stood in a defensive stance. " Yes, can I help you?" She seemed surprised to see me, she gave me a quick glance through, assessing me. I felt inadequate but then I remembered that I was wearing one of Noah's shirts since I still hadn't got my clothes yet and my hair was wet from my shower. I probably looked like a woman who had just had the best sex of her life.

I gave her a lazy smile, just to throw her off her game but it didn't really seem to deter her. She pushed past me and went into the house. The audacity.

"Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" I gritted out, I clenched and unclenched my fists to calm down. Once again, she ignores me.

"Noah baby, where are you?" She called out. I shut the door, deciding she wasn't worth my time. Noah came downstairs and Amanda rushed to him and enveloped him in a hug, ensuring that her breasts were pressing hard against his chest.

"Amanda,.wow. it's nice to see you but I wasn't expecting you so early." He smiled at her but I could see the confusion in his eyes. He tried to pry her off him but she clung to him like a baby who had just reconnected with its mother.

"Noah, I've missed you so much, of course, I had to come to see you immediately after I woke up. We haven't seen in over a year. I just wanted to give you a nice surprise." She said, batting her lashes. Noah managed to release himself and put some distance between them.

"Well, thanks for coming. Let me take your coat, you must be hot." He said, moving his hand to remove it for her. I was now very invested in their conversation, I wanted to know what she was going to do.

"Are you sure you want to do that? We have company, you know." She smirked and turned to wink at me. Oh, I badly wanted to claw her eyes out.

Noah, a sweet and clueless man, didn't understand what she said.

"What do you mean? Take off the damn coat, it's the middle of summer, I don't want you fainting in my house." He said, angry.

Amanda chuckled. " If you say so." She let go of the grip she had on the coat and loosened the rope, letting Noah take off the coat.

"What the fuck." The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. Amanda stood in the middle of the room, in front of my mate, in nothing but a skimpy red string bra and a matching thong.