by Hannah Haze
She peers up into his eyes. "We seem to be good at hurting each other."
"No," he says, "I'm happy when we're together. It hurts when we're apart."
"I don't want us to be apart…" Her bright blue eyes lock on his. "I want to do this properly. No more secrets, or lies, or creeping about."
He puffs out a long stream of air. "I'd like that." Trailing a hand up her arm and over her shoulder, he cups the back of her head and bends down, resting his forehead against hers. "I'd like that."
She reaches up and strokes his cheek, and he closes his eyes against her soft touch. When he opens them again, she's gazing at him with something that looks like affection and he holds her closer, tilting his head to capture her lips in his. She tastes just the same as she always does, and it's familiar and grounding, her lips wet and warm. He caresses them gently between his, pressing her mouth into his with one hand, the other at the small of her back.
There's another loud cough behind them. He sighs into her mouth, then releases her and turns around.
His dad stands with his mum at his side. She’s dressed in her office suit, peering at them both with curiosity.
"Mum, this is Cora," he hesitates, "my erm…"
"Girlfriend?" his mum asks.
"Yes," Cora says, holding out her hand for his mother to shake.
"Rosamund," his mother says, gripping Cora's hand in both of hers.
"Robert," says his dad, smiling and clapping his hands together. "Let's get that food then. How about that pub by the river? What was it called?"
"The White Elephant," Noah tells him.
"Yes, that's it," his dad says, clicking his fingers.
"Okay, can you give us a moment?" Noah says.
"Meet us by the car then," his mum says, dragging his dad away. "We're parked in that car park over the street."
"You sure about this?" he asks Cora, cradling her by the elbows and staring into her eyes.
"Yes, I am. Are you?"
"I've wanted to be with you forever." He smiles at her shyly.
"You have?"
He chuckles. "Yes, I have. I caught your scent that very first day at uni and you've been driving me mad ever since."
"Oh." She sweeps his hair behind his ear. "You never said."
"I'm trying to be a better person, Cora."
"Me too," she says.
"You've always been good — too good for me."
"No, I haven't. You were right. What you said that first time. What is the use of all that stuff I was doing when I couldn't even treat you right? The person I care about." He goes to interrupt her, but she shakes her head, placing her finger on his lips. "And Noah, you are a good person. You need to start believing it."
He smiles at her, attempting to snatch her finger between his lips. "Can I kiss you again, now, please?"
"You're asking? You never usually ask permission." She raises an eyebrow.
"Maybe there are things people agree to in a relationship. You know, what they like and don't like. We could do that."
"Yes, we could."
"So can I kiss you again?"
She stands on her tiptoes and kisses him passionately, whipping his breath away, and he feels giddy with it. Giddy and happy.
◆◆◆
Rose is in the kitchen when they return to her place later that evening. Cora takes a deep breath and leads him in.
"Is she going to yell at me?" he whispers into her ear, his fingertips on her hip bone.
"We need to thank her," she whispers back. They walk inside and she points to a chair, grinning when he looks up nervously at her. Well, Rose is the closest thing she has to family — it's the equivalent of meeting her parents.
"Rose," she says, and Rose twists around, unplugging her earphones.
"Cora!" She hugs her. "Are you okay? Did it go okay?"
"Yes, Dr Pearson was amazing; cut through all the bullshit. We were out of there in less than 20 minutes. And look who else is out." She gestures toward him with her thumb.
"Oh, hi Noah."
"Hi. Thank you for your help." Noah says, nodding at her.
"That's okay. We want the real attackers caught."
He bows his head. Then drags his hand over his face, meeting her eye "Do... do people really think I'm capable of doing something like that?" His body becomes suddenly heavy with sadness and Cora bites her lip.
Rose considers. "You don't have the best reputation and I guess that prejudices people against you, but I was genuinely shocked you'd attack a lone woman... that didn't seem like you."
He nods. "Thank you. Not exactly the greatest start to the last term."
"Yeah," Cora says, leaning against the counter and brushing back her hair. "And my revision hasn't gone well."
"Mine either," he says, and she meets his eyes. "I've had too much on my mind."
He feels the severity of her look and sees her cheeks warm.
"Ha! As if either of you need to revise!" Rose snorts. "You're both top of your class."
"I don't know," Cora muses.
Rose takes a seat at the table. "What're your plans after graduation, Noah?"
Cora's eyes flit to him. They've never talked about the future before. He has no idea what she will do or where she will go. A tiny sense of panic swims through his veins. It must be noticeable, but she pretends not to register it.
"I've got a place at Saracens rugby club summer training academy." He glances sideways at Cora. "I'm hoping if I can impress them, I might get a contract."
"Really? Wow."
"I mean, who knows," he adds. "It's extremely competitive, but I'd prefer it to an office job, even if the money won't be great."
"I thought sportsmen earned loads."
"Only the stars."
Rose waves her hand at him. "Not that you need the money."
Noah smiles sheepishly.
It's the other thing they've never spoken about. She must know he's wealthy, but perhaps she hadn't appreciated how wealthy until that meal with his parents. He caught the way she stared at his dad’s watch, worth enough to probably wipe away all her debts, and the manner in which her mouth had gaped wider and wider as they’d talked about their house in London, ski trips to their lodge in the Alps, and vacations to their home in the Caribbean. He has never flaunted it. But now she must realise he has far more money than he’d let on. She stares at her feet.
"How about you, Cora? What are you going to do?" He gazes at her, trying to keep his face neutral.
"I'd like to work for a lobbying group like Organised Omegas of the World or Future Mates, but it's competitive and I couldn't afford to intern."
Six months ago he would have laughed at that and derided her. Now he frowns with thought.
"You'd be great at that. It sucks," Rose says.
"I could talk to my mum," Noah says. "She has loads, and I mean loads, of links to those organisations. I'm sure she could get you a position."
"Isn't that nepotism or something?"
"Fuck that!" Rose says.
Noah chuckles. "Trust me, my mum would only pull her strings if she thought you were good enough."
"But I couldn't afford it. London is so expensive."
He pauses, reflecting. "Yeah, it is."
She peers at him, the silence awkward.
"I'm going to go and revise," Rose says. "I'm glad things worked out for you guys." She smiles at Cora with big 'oh my gosh' eyes and leaves them to it.
She creeps towards him, peering down at him with those sky-blue eyes.
"We’re really doing this then, Cora? You and me? Officially? I mean, I can tell people you’re mine?" He’s talking very quickly as he pulls her towards him and she climbs into his lap. He fixes her gaze with his.
She nods, burying her fingers in his hair.
A wide smile spreads across his face. "Fuck," he murmurs.
◆◆◆
They try to be quiet for Rose's sake, but it's been an age since he slipped inside her, filling her up and holdi
ng her firm. Despite the urgency, the pace is slow and languid. He takes the time to kiss every part of her from the tips of her toes, to the glands on the insides of her wrists, until he’s certain her skin is alive and tingling and she's begging for release.
When he's satisfied her with his tongue and his fingers, he lifts her up into his lap and she wraps her legs around him. They hold each other closely, losing themselves in each other’s eyes as she rocks and grinds onto him, driving him wild with the achingly slow pace, allowing their orgasms to build and build and build, and he loses all reason and all constraint, focused only on how perfect she feels and how much he wants her.
Chapter Twenty one
"Time’s up. Please put down your pens."
Cora folds the papers closed and glances around at the other students, all doing the same. She shifts in her seat and catches Noah’s eyes as he looks up from his own exam papers. He smiles and she grins, twisting back around in her chair and sinking down, allowing relief to sweep through her.
Over. Finally, it’s all over. University officials dressed in their long black capes sweep along the rows collecting up the papers and then one-by-one dismiss each of the students.
She fiddles with the red carnation pinned to her own much shorter gown until her line is given the nod to go. She hovers in the hallway waiting for Noah, and he gives her another big grin as he hurries to reach her, grasping her hand.
"How did it go?" she whispers.
"Okay, I think," he says. "You?"
"Yeah, good."
He grips her hand and they step out of the dark corridor and into the bright June afternoon, the light hitting their eyes. She blinks.
"Cora! Cora!"
She swings her gaze about until she spots Rose and Zach waiting for her in the crowd.
"Go on," Noah tells her, and suddenly he’s yanked away from her and swamped by his rugby team mates.
She pushes her way through the groups of students to her friends, a cloud of glitter exploding over her head as she nears them, coating her in sparkles. Rose wraps her in a hug, squeezing her tight, then shoves her away. Cora stumbles and before she catches her bearing, Zach pops the cork from a bottle of champagne and, shaking it vigorously, fires foam at her.
"Hey," she squeals, shielding her eyes with her hands.
"Congratulations," Zach yells, handing her the bottle.
She takes a swig and throws back her head.
"Woohoo!" she screams.
Rose ties a golden star helium balloon to the hood of her gown and empties another canon of confetti over her. Then she crushes her in a second hug.
"Come on," Zach says, "let’s go celebrate."
"One moment," Cora elbows her way to Noah. He’s tangled in silly string and someone has sprayed his hair red. "Noah," she yells, shaking up the champagne bottle. He turns around and she shoots him with the alcohol, giggling as she does.
"Hey!" He opens his arms and dashes towards her. She swerves to the side, and aims more foam at his face. He lunges, catching her, wrapping her in a bear hug, nustling his mouth in her neck, and tickling his way down her sides until she’s laughing so violently she can’t catch her breath. "Let’s go to the pub," he says, snatching the bottle and taking a long gulp.
She waves Zach and Rose over and they follow Noah and his friends across the main Oxford road, past the Bodleian Library and down the side streets, ducking into one of the alleyways to sit in the courtyard of an old Oxford pub.
They order more champagne and several plates of chips and cram around a picnic table.
Rose threads her arm through Cora’s. "I have something to show you," she whispers into her ear as the others talk around them.
"What?"
Rose tugs her phone from her pocket and activates the screen. It lights up and she slips it to Cora. Taking the phone in her palm and angling it towards her, Cora frowns quizzically at Rose and then peers down at the display.
It’s a photo of a newborn baby, all chubby and pink, its face screwed shut and a woollen hat pulled over the crown of its head.
"It’s my sister," Rose says, gazing over Cora’s shoulder. "Vera-Mae. She was born this morning."
"She’s adorable Rose," Cora coos, taking her friend's hand in hers. "Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah, she’s too gorgeous not to be, and it isn’t her fault that she has such shitty parents."
"She’s going to need a decent big sister like you to look out for her." Cora squeezes her hand and passes back the phone.
Rose stares at the picture of the baby. "I think we’ll have lots of fun together."
"Totally."
"Move up girls," Zach says, two bottles of beer balanced in either hand as he slides onto the bench between them.
More of their friends arrive and others leave. The afternoon sun starts to dip and soon it’s dark. The pub’s courtyard heaves, people crowding around the picnic tables, leaning against walls, or sitting on patches of grass.
Cora’s hair is sticky with champagne and glitter, and her carnation wilts on her chest. Noah has gone to talk to a group of economics students on another table, but he glances over to her now and jerks his head.
She nods.
"I’m going to go," she whispers into Rose’s ear, kissing her cheek.
"Really?" Rose moans, resting her head on Cora’s shoulder, her eyes squiffy from the drinks. "The night’s still young!!"
"I’ll catch you later," she says, clambering to her feet, her skin already dancing from the feel of Noah’s gaze.
As she approaches, he slinks his arm around her shoulder. His hands are so big they could engulf her waist and she realises in that moment how much she likes being held by her Alpha. Despite all those things she'd heard and known about him, there was always this primal sensation of safety in his arms.
The streets are full of students, some singing and some dancing, plus little groups of tourists snapping photos and watching the celebrations. The tourists stare at Cora and Noah, dressed in their gowns, as they pass them, strolling away from the centre of town and out towards Magdalen.
As they near the bridge, Noah unhooks his arm and takes her elbow, pulling her down towards the river.
"Come on," he says, "let’s go out on the water."
"It’s pitch black," she protests, letting him draw her along. "And all the boats will be locked up for the evening."
"Nah." They reach the edge of the water. Rows of punts are lined up under the bridge stretching from one bank to the other. He peers across the dark surface. "There’s always one or two that don’t get locked up."
"How do you know that?" she says, eyeing him suspiciously.
He grins. "Ha! There’s one." He jumps down onto the nearest punt and clambers across the path of boats until he reaches the one he’s spotted. "Come on!"
She climbs into the first, the balloon Rose had given her bumping against her crown, and carefully makes her way across to him. "Are we going to get arrested for this?"
"No." He gestures for her to take a seat and standing at the rear of the punt, pulls the pole from under the seats and pushes them away. His action is forceful and they zoom across the river straight towards the bank. He yanks down on the stick, bringing the boat to a sudden halt, then he changes the angle and drives off again, this time hurtling towards the other bank.
Cora shakes her head. "Why can nobody else punt?! Let me do it?" She holds out her hand to him and he throws her an unamused look. "You’re not going to pull some Alpha bullshit, are you?" she says, standing with her hand on her hip.
"No Ma’am," he hands her the pole and, adjusting the seats, lies back in the boat, arms behind his head, and gazes up at her. "I’m not going to complain when I get to enjoy a view like this."
"I’m hardly looking my best." She gazes down at her dark skirt, white blouse, and black gown.
"You always look incredible." He winks at her.
They’re silent while she glides the punt along, squinting through the night to follow th
e curvature of the river, and emerging through the trees, away from the city and out into the meadow. The night is clear and the sky scattered with bright stars, reflected like fireflies on the water.
"Come here," he says, his voice thick, and she tucks away the pole, kneeling down into the belly of the boat. He stops her with his hand, reaching behind her to untie the balloon from her gown, and they watch together as he lets it go and it floats up into the twinkling heavens. Then she lies down beside him, her head resting on his arm.
"I can’t believe university is over," she says, his scent heavy in her nose.
"Yeah." The tips of his fingers caress along her sides. She can tell he’s thinking like she is, about the past, about the future, about now. "When’s your interview for the internship?"
"Next week, but I’m not sure there’s any point in going. I can’t afford to live in London without a wage."
"I’ve been thinking, you could come and live with me."
She twists her head, searching for his face in the twilight. "Live with you?"
"I mean, not forever or whatever. Just until you get a paid position or find your own place." His whole body is tense beside hers.
"Are you serious?" It's fast, very fast and maybe it isn't the right, or sensible, thing to do but the thought of waking up to him every day has her heart skipping.
"Yes. I am. My parents have a flat in their basement that's mine. It's self-contained and big enough for two. I don't pay rent." He rolls her towards him. "But you wouldn’t have to live in the flat with me, you could stay in the guest room. It probably sounds crazy—"
"It is crazy."
"It's not marriage or mating. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out."
She rests her hand on the centre of his chest. "I want to live with you, Noah."
"Is that a yes then?"
"Yes, it’s a yes. A cautious yes, a ‘let’s see how things go’ yes."
"You know I love you," he whispers and she does, feels it deep inside her with no doubt and no question.
"Hmmm. Is that what this fuzzy, warm feeling is?" she murmurs, the almost-full moon gazing down on her. She finds his hand, threading her fingers through his. "Then I think I must love you too, Noah."