The Alpha Queen's Mate (Book 5 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 32

Nick watched Noelle walk away as Luke whined softly in his head. He knew she was hurting, had seen it plainly during breakfast, and while she pretended everything was okay now, it wasn't.

He wanted to chase after her now and comfort her. He was dying to touch her, to finally feel the tingles everyone always talked about. He wanted to kiss her again, more deeply this time. One kiss hadn't been nearly enough.

Standing here on the other side of the door, listening to Alex beg Noelle to take him back had infuriated him. It had been so hard to pretend that everything was perfectly fine, when a storm was raging inside him. But he'd had to. For her sake. He'd wanted to rip out the man's throat when he'd walked out of the room. He didn't deserve to be alone with her and Nick hadn't liked it. Not one bit.

He headed down to the gym himself. He hadn't really planned to go this morning, but he needed to take some of his own anger out on something. Preferably Alex's face, but that wasn't very diplomatic. Not that Nick was feeling diplomatic. But then Daniel hadn't been either.

The gym wasn't empty. Ragnar was down there with Liam and Finn, working with them. He waved to them and walked over to a punching bag. Noelle hadn't come in yet, but he knew she'd have to go change. She'd looked lovely in that blue dress. Very queenly. He wondered what she'd been wearing underneath it, but then stopped that train of thought. He couldn't let himself dwell on that. Not now.

He just hoped she wasn't up in her room falling apart. His heart ached for her and he contemplated mind linking her but decided against it. He wasn't sure if it would be welcome right now. He wasn't one hundred percent sure of her frame of mind.

If she was wearing his mark, he'd be able to feel her emotions, though he wondered if that would happen any time soon. But then his mind started drifting to her being naked underneath him while he was inside her, and he had to rein those thoughts in as well. He sighed in exasperation. How did every thought in his mind drift back to sex?

Luke rolled his eyes.

It was weird to him to be obsessing over someone else's feelings. He'd never spent so much time trying to figure someone out. Especially a woman, which was probably dumb in the first place. Why did they have to be so complicated? Why did this have to be so complicated?

He could solely place the blame on Alex Artino. Thinking of sex was just much easier than trying to figure out her emotions and feelings. Too bad everyone in the room would know where his mind was at. That was annoying.

Ragnar walked over to him a little bit later and stopped, watching him. "What did that punching bag do to you?"

Nick shrugged. Ragnar's insightfulness could be annoying at times. Though frankly, his own relationship had started out overly complicated. He'd had to keep a distance from his mate for months. Nick wondered how he'd managed it.

The door of the gym opened and they both turned to watch Noelle walk in. She'd changed clothes, and Nick couldn't help but appreciate the way they hugged her body. Her face was clean of the makeup she'd had on earlier and her hair back up in the braid. She was still angry. It radiated off of her like armour, keeping everyone out.

"Let her warm up, and then why don't you spar with her?" Ragnar suggested.

Nick frowned. He wasn't sure she'd want to. "If she's okay with it." As angry as she was, it wouldn't be a pretty fight. He could already see broken ribs in his future.

Ragnar turned and walked over to her while Nick watched. She looked up and her gaze darted over to him. "I'm not in a good place for that right now. I might kill him." Evidently she'd overheard their conversation.

He crossed his arms across his chest and frowned at her. You think you're the only one who is angry? He hadn't planned to mind link her, but oh well. He really couldn't resist her. She looked beautiful.

She looked back at him, her gaze flicking over him. "On second thought, how about all four of you?"

Nick's eyebrows went up in surprise at her suggestion but he knew Ragnar probably wouldn't go for that.

Ragnar studied her for a moment. "Okay."

Nick frowned. He had no idea if Ragnar was aware of the situation, though he imagined he probably was. He was giving her a chance to work out her anger, while the men in the room all suffered the consequences.

Finn seemed unsure of that idea as well, but Liam, nodded in agreement. "As long as she doesn't beat me too badly."

"Isn't that a bit much for her?" Finn asked Ragnar in concern.

"Are you afraid for me, Finn?" Noelle taunted him.

Nick looked back at Finn. Apparently he'd never really seen Noelle fight before.

"I'm afraid of hurting you," he admitted.

Ragnar snorted and Nick smiled. "Not likely."

"She's more likely to hurt you than you are her," Nick told him.

Finn frowned at him, then looked back at Noelle, doubt still plain on his face.

"Only reason I'm agreeing is because I heal much faster," Liam spoke up. "Remember when she beat my ass?"

Finn sighed. "Okay."

Noelle eyed them all, then turned her attention back to stretching. Nick couldn't help but watch her. Until he felt his body start reacting and he had to turn away. His mind was back on sex again.

Once Noelle was ready, it was on. Nick watched her handle all three of the guys fairly easily though he was holding back a bit. He knew the moment they touched, it was going to throw her off. It would probably do the same for him. They'd both experience the tingles that he was anticipating.

"You joining in?" Ragnar yelled at him right before Noelle slammed her fist into his side causing him to hiss out air.

She wasn't really paying attention to him, though she'd glance his way every once in a while. And while she was going full force, he could tell she was off her game. Her fury was messing with her and he could easily see it. She was still a force to be reckoned with, especially against Liam and Finn who didn't know how she fought.

His gaze darted to Ragnar and he knew the Beta knew it as well. He wasn't going at her as hard as he normally did.

Nick watched for a couple more moments until he saw his opportunity and he rushed forward and slammed into her. He wasn't ready, and realized that seconds before they both hit the ground, him on top of her. Tingles exploded between them, shocking him at their intensity as they flowed all over him, instantly arousing him.

He'd knocked the wind out of her and he could see the surprise on her face as he looked down at her. He could feel his body's reaction to her and immediately lifted himself off of her even though he didn't want to move. The last thing he needed was everyone in the room knowing he was horny. Along with her.

Noelle popped up and immediately got back in the game, fists flying. It was so obvious she was furious, and he felt a bit bad for Liam and Finn who were both taking a brutal beating. And while he got more involved after the initial hit, he still couldn't bring himself to come down hard on her. He was more prepared for the tingles now and so was she. He didn't want to fight with her though. He wanted to hold her and kiss her. Until she slammed her fist up into his ribs and the sound of breaking bones ripped sharply through the room, bringing everyone to a stop.

Nick gasped and took a step back at the sharp pain as it overwhelmed him. He felt like he couldn't breath. Things were being said around him but he couldn't focus on them, and he felt himself being lowered to the ground. He couldn't catch his breath. He closed his eyes in agony. That had really hurt.