Chapter 53

Hannah

I stood frozen in place, the bathroom door still swinging shut behind me. My heart was pounding in my chest as I clutched the little blue pills tightly in my palm, paralyzed by my handmaid’s ominous words.

They’re not what you think they are.

What did she mean by that? These were the same diet pills I had been taking for years… They had only ever done exactly what they were supposed to do, which was to make me lose weight.

Right?

Suddenly, the bedroom door creaked open, ripping me out of my thoughts. I heard the sound of a male voice—Noah’s voice—coming from the other room, followed by approaching footsteps.

“Hannah? Are you in here?”

Panic surged through me as I quickly shoved the pills back into their bottle and tucked it away under the sink, praying Noah wouldn’t hear.

“Uh, I’ll be out in a minute,” I called out, my hands trembling. I cursed under my breath as I saw that I had dropped a single blue pill, and as I heard Noah’s footsteps approaching even closer now, I panicked and kicked it away.

The pill skittered across the floor and into a far corner just as Noah stepped into the doorway.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes roving the bathroom before finally landing on me.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. “I wasn’t doing anything. What do you want?”

Noah’s frown deepened as he took a step closer, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Because it sort of looks like you were trying to hide something just now.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Noah cut me off with a shake of his head.

“Have you been taking those diet pills again?” He demanded, his voice growing stern. Up close, I could see the worry lines etched into his forehead as his gaze raked over me critically. “You’ve lost more weight. I can tell.”

My mouth went dry as I swallowed hard, unable to meet Noah’s eyes. Of course he had noticed my growing thinness; but it wasn’t because of the diet pills, because I hadn’t taken any yet.

“No,” I said, which wasn’t a lie. “I haven’t been taking the pills again.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Suddenly, Noah was crossing the room towards me with purposeful strides. I tensed instinctively as he loomed over me, his face just inches from mine as his eyes bored into me intently.

“Open your mouth,” he ordered in a low rumble.

My breath caught in my throat as I found myself acutely aware of how close he was standing, how his scent enveloped me… how easily I could have leaned in and pressed my lips to his if I wanted to. A shiver of anticipation danced down my spine at the thought.

But I didn’t do that.

“No,” I said defiantly, folding my arms across my chest. “Why?”

Noah huffed and reached out, pinching my face in the palm of his hand. “Open,” he demanded. “I want to see if you’re hiding a pill in there.”

I frowned, but I also knew better than to defy Noah when he used that tone. Slowly, reluctantly, I parted my lips to allow him to inspect my mouth for any trace of the little blue pills.

He searched my mouth thoroughly for a long moment before finally pulling back, seemingly satisfied that I hadn’t ingested any pills recently. But his frown remained firmly in place as he eyed me sternly.

“What?” I asked, taking a step back. “I haven’t taken any pills. What more could you want?”

Noah was silent for a moment, his jaw working as he seemed to consider something. Then, in a gruff voice, he said, “Hold out your arms.”

I barked out an incredulous laugh. “My arms?”

He nodded. “You could have pills on you. I heard a pill bottle moving around in here. How do I know you weren’t about to take some and then stuffed them in your pocket when you heard me coming?”

“Noah, this is ridiculous…”

“Do it,” he commanded.

After staring at Noah incredulously for another moment, I finally stuck out my arms, obediently allowing Noah to run his hands firmly along the lengths of them. His touch sent tingles along my skin, his hands warm through the soft silk of my robe.

He moved behind me then, pressing close as he patted down my back and sides.

Goddess, it had been too long since I had been touched so intimately. Far too long; I felt like a mare in heat just then.

I shuddered at the feeling of his hands on me, my face growing warm despite myself. Noah seemed to take no notice as he continued his search, finally moving around to my front again to pat down my abdomen and my bare legs.

By the time he had me turn in a full circle, I felt oddly breathless, my body thrumming with tension and, no matter how much I tried to deny it… desire. As his hands smoothed along the curves of my waist, I found myself leaning into his touch instinctively.

Maybe he felt the same spark, because Noah’s hands stilled momentarily, his gaze locked intensely on my face. A soft smirk began to tug at the corners of his lips then, and he took a step back.

“Take off your robe.”

I felt my cheeks instantly redden beneath his heated gaze. “What?” I hissed.

“You heard me,” he said, lowering his voice to a husky level. “I want to be thorough.”

I swallowed, unsure of what to say or do for what felt like the longest time. I was nude beneath my robe, save for my panties. No bra. And right now, in the cool air of the bathroom and with the lingering sensation of his hands on me, my nipples were hard and my skin was raised with goosebumps.

But I complied. My hands moved of their own accord, trembling ever so slightly as I carefully untied the sash on my robe and let it fall open, exposing my breasts.

Noah wordlessly took a step forward, reaching his hands out to brush along my shoulders and push the robe away. I shuddered, and the robe fell into a silky pool at my feet, leaving me standing mostly nude in front of him.

His hands slowly worked down my body, running over my bare breasts and belly. In that moment, I felt a warmth radiate outward from my lower stomach, no, even lower than that; my hips began to voluntarily move forward toward his, aching with a yearning so deep I thought I might go mad.

He’s still my husband, I thought to myself. And I wanted him. Goddess, no matter how angry he made me, I wanted him. I wanted him to take me right here, bent over the bathroom sink. I wanted to feel his lips trailing across the sensitive skin of my neck.

And for a moment, I thought he might do just that. He raised one finger and moved it in a circular motion, silently ordering me to turn around. I didn’t hesitate, and felt myself bite my lower lip to stifle any sound as I felt his hands run down the small of my back, over the lace of my panties, across my behind and down, down toward my thighs.

In those moments, the air between us seemed to crackle with energy, his hands creating static shocks as they roved my body. All I could think about was how lonely I was.

How much I craved his touch, missed his embrace, ached for the comfort and warmth of his affection, affection that I had perhaps never had…

But then, just as quickly as the tension had mounted, it dissipated. Noah blinked hard and took a hasty step back, putting distance between our bodies once more as the moment shattered.

He cleared his throat roughly, averting his gaze as he seemed to collect himself. When he finally looked at me again, an unreadable expression flickered through his green eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured gruffly. “That was out of line. I got carried away.”

With that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving me standing alone in nothing but my panties.