The evening was calm, but Belle’s heart wasn’t. The evening sun was dipping below the horizon, casting long shadows across Noah’s study. Belle hadn’t meant to snoop, but something about the drawer in the corner desk had drawn her attention. It had been slightly ajar, like it was inviting her to look closer.
As she pulled it open, her fingers brushed against a pile of old papers and she found a worn envelope, marked with her father’s name. Curiosity got the better of her and she carefully unfolded the contents, her heart pounding in her chest.
It wasn’t a letter exactly, but a contract, a business deal between her father’s company and Noah’s late father. The deal mentioned dates, amounts of money and something vague about Noah’s family estate, but the most disturbing part was her f
Belle woke up with a sense of unease clinging to her like a second skin. The morning light filtered through the blinds, casting soft shadows across the room. Noah was still asleep beside her, his arm draped casually over her waist, his breathing deep and steady. It should have been comforting, but instead, her heart raced in her chest, the weight of last night’s revelations pressing down on her like a suffocating fog.She carefully slid out from under his arm, not wanting to wake him just yet. Padding across the room, she grabbed her robe and pulled it tightly around her body. The letter, the contract flashed in her mind again. Her father’s signature, Noah’s late father’s name, the vague, unsettling clause that had made her stomach twist. The connection between their families, hidden for years, felt like a bomb waiting to go off. And she was standing at ground zero.
Belle sat quietly in the passenger seat, her eyes trained on the road ahead as Noah drove them back to his apartment. The city lights blurred past them, casting fleeting streaks of color across her face. She felt Noah's gaze flicker toward her every now and then, as if he could sense the storm brewing inside her.It had been a long day, longer than she had expected. The outing had started well enough. They spent hours exploring the city, laughing and sharing moments that reminded her of why she'd fallen for him in the first place. But the weight of the contract, the implications of its existence, hung over her like a dark cloud, tainting every beautiful moment with an undercurrent of dread.Now, as they neared Noah's place, Belle felt the familiar knot of anxiety tightening in her chest
Belle’s entire body went cold the moment she saw Luke standing in the doorway. Her heart stopped, and she sat frozen on the couch, eyes wide with shock. Luke’s expression was dark, his jaw clenched so tightly she could almost hear the grinding of his teeth. His eyes, which usually held warmth and protection for her, were now cold and filled with barely contained fury.Noah stood tall in front of him, blocking most of the doorway, his body tense and alert, as if ready to defend himself or her from whatever was coming.“Luke!” Noah greeted him, his voice steady but edged with tension. “What are you doing here?”Luke’s eyes darted over Noah’s shoulder, finding Belle sitting on the couch. His lips curled into a grim line, and for a
The door’s echoing slam lingered in the silence, a final punctuation to Luke’s fury, and the weight of the moment pressed down on Belle like an avalanche. She sat on the floor, staring blankly at the door, still reeling from everything that had just happened. Her world, once filled with the thrill and excitement of secret meetings with Noah, was now fractured into jagged pieces she didn’t know how to put back together.Beside her, Noah sat slumped against the wall, his hand still pressed to his bloodied lip. The silence between them was thick, but it wasn’t the comfortable kind they used to share. This silence was suffocating, heavy with the reality that their secret was no longer just theirs.Belle turned to him, her voice a shaky whisper. “Noah, are you okay?”
The days that followed after Luke’s explosive confrontation felt like a slow, agonizing descent into limbo. Belle could feel the tension gnawing at her from every corner of Noah's apartment. The apartment that had once felt like a safe haven now seemed oppressive, the walls closing in on her. The bruises on Noah’s face were fading, but the weight of what had happened between them and Luke still hung heavily in the air. Noah was quieter than usual, distant, lost in thought most of the time. He had told her things would work out, that they would find a way through this, but Belle couldn't shake the dread in her chest. Luke’s betrayal wasn’t something either of them had fully come to terms with. The days blurred together in a haze of silence and uncertainty, until one evening, Noah came into the living room where Belle was curled up on the couch, staring blankly at a book she hadn’t even tried to read. “We can’t leave things l
As they drove back from Luke’s apartment, the tension between Belle and Noah was palpable but not entirely unpleasant. They had managed to talk to Luke, secure his tentative approval, and for now they were in the clear. But Belle knew this was only the beginning. Tomorrow, everything would change again, she would start college, and they would have to pretend as if they didn’t know each other.Noah’s fingers drummed lightly against the steering wheel as they approached the city. Belle watched him quietly, admiring the way his jaw clenched with focus, the fading bruise that marred his otherwise perfect face. He was so much more than the man she had fallen for, he was her secret, her world, and tomorrow, he would be her professor. The thought sent a nervous flutter through her stomach.“You’re quiet,”
The sprawling campus seemed overwhelming, its tall, stately buildings buzzing with students hurrying off to their classes. It was a new beginning, yet her mind was preoccupied with one thing. Noah.He wasn’t just Noah here. He was Professor Alabaster. She couldn’t let anyone know about the secret they shared, the dangerous line they walked. She swallowed hard, gripping the strap of her bag, willing herself to focus on something other than the magnetic pull of her forbidden relationship. She was a college student now, and today, she would meet new people, sit through her first lectures, and blend in as if her life wasn’t a tangled web of desire and deception."You ready for the first day?" Cassidy asked, linking her arm through Belle’s and steering them towards the main building.
Later that night, Belle lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, her mind racing with thoughts of Noah. The tension between them was overwhelming, impossible to deny. But it wasn’t just the tension between them that kept her awake. Belle’s body was aching with need, her breasts felt heavy, ached, swollen and sore.The discomfort was maddening. She had tried massaging them, but the pressure only seemed to make the ache worse. The sensation only made her think of Noah’s hands, his touch, and how desperately she wanted him to take away the pain in the way only he could. Her skin felt hypersensitive, and every time she shifted, it sent another wave of discomfort through her chest. She could feel the tightness in her nipples, her body practically screaming for relief. She needed relief, she needed him. His touch, his lips, anything to ease the ache that pulsed through her bod