16. Better and Worse
O llie smiled, nibbling on his lip shyly as his gaze slowly slid over the muscled chest, up to the handsome face staring down at him.
Noble had a small, slightly knowing smile on his face. “Feeling better?”
He was currently feeling very sore in all the right places so… “Mm, much.”
The man chuckled. “Glad to be of service.”
“A service you were quite good at, I have to say.” Ollie giggled, even as his face heated up a bit.
Noble’s mouth opened, but a laugh came out instead of words when Ollie’s stomach rumbled loudly. “Seems my job isn’t done.”
“Oh, are you going to feed me too? You better watch out, Noble Vincent, or I’ll try to keep you.”
His eyes widened on realizing what he’d just said, and he instantly wished he could unsay it. Even more so when Noble’s smile dropped.
“I-I m-mean,” Ollie stuttered desperately, as his face warmed further. “I-I didn’t mean… I…” He sat up. “Yeah… H-hi… Ollie Oliver Wisteria Cross here, expert at making things awkward.” Ollie covered his face with a groan. “I’m not…expecting anything.”
Dropping his hands, he winced on realizing that Noble wasn’t meeting his gaze. “I-I should leave. No…I probably shouldn’t have come here…”
Ollie moved to get out of bed, but as he was about to, Noble grabbed his bicep, the man’s hand almost wrapping all the way around it. Which, yep, noodle arms…ugh…
“Wait,” the man rasped, his eyes finally met his, but the stare was oddly intense. “Stay…for a bit longer. I’ll toss your clothes in the dryer and make us food…and then drive you home. It’s fine, I know you were just teasing.”
Somehow, the man wanting him to stay was not making things better. Because teasing or not, Ollie now felt like crying. It was so good of Noble to confirm that this wasn’t going anywhere.
Yay, he thought sarcastically. But then, why would he ever think it would? He had literally admitted to the man that he saw ghosts.
“Stay,” Noble said firmly this time, as he was the one who got out of bed and pulled some discarded sleep pants on before leaving.
“Okay…” he said slowly after the door closed behind him.
Ollie sagged on the bed. Heartbroken again, but he supposed it was better that it had happened now rather than when he was more attached, or…in love. It would be way worse if it had progressed to that point.
Ollie so loved watching his partners realize just how much they’d have to put up with while being with him.
Sighing, he looked around the bedroom. A large green rug covered most of the wooden floor from where it sat under the king-sized wooden framed four-poster bed.
The ceiling was high with exposed wooden beams, which seemed to be common in this house. Three of the walls were a deep-green vertical paneling, while the wall directly across from the bed was wooden and held a large stone fireplace.
His gaze flicked from the door, which Noble had just left through, over to the chair covered with clothes, to the fireplace, the trunk at the foot of the bed, and the door to what he knew was the bathroom, until his eyes locked on the necklace on the dresser right next to him. There was another door, but he couldn’t seem to care where it led to, as he leaned towards the necklace.
Dangling from a golden chain, which was held up between two odd triangular yet boxy looking wooden stands, was a rather large tear shaped blue gem, set between delicate golden filigree.
Noble winced as he heard the soft, hesitant “Okay,” from behind the door. Roughly rubbing his face with both hands, he barely held back his groan.
What the fuck was he doing?! This…this—fucking hell, he literally had someone chained up in his basement, and Ollie was…
Well…Ollie was nothing. Nothing was confirmed, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to find out. He needed to stay far, far away from the little librarian.
Yeah, having sex with him sure was a great fucking way to do that , he thought with disgust as he headed downstairs.
Quickly rushing back to his laundry room, he tossed the man’s clothes in on a low setting, figuring high would likely destroy them, before heading to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, he opened the fridge and stared. What did he have? Better question, what the hell did Ollie even eat? He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the man eat in the year he’d been going to the library. Which brought up another question—no, he was not going to think about Ollie’s weight, as it was none of his business. But…the man wasn’t a vegetarian or anything, was he? What if he was?
Pasta—he had left over pasta! He grabbed the plastic container. It would be fast, and it would get Ollie out of there quickly… Well, once his clothes were dry that was…fuck.
Ugh, what if…the man was gluten-free?
Fuck it! He’d cross that path if it came to it. Noble pulled out two bowls, filled them and shoved them both in the microwave.
He’d feed the man, waste time talking about nonsense and safe topics as Ollie’s clothes dried, and then he'd take him home. Or more likely, back to his car, which must be somewhere near where he’d run into him, and then he…
Noble sighed. And then he’d avoid him and the library all together, so Ollie would know that he was an asshole. So even if they did run into each other again, the man would want nothing to do with him, which would be for the best.
Grabbing the bowls out once the microwave had gone off, he pulled out the random serving tray that he still had no clue how he’d come to possess, and set them on it, before grabbing two forks out of the drawer and heading back upstairs.
Briefly balancing the tray on one hand, he opened the door, before securing it with both again and pushing the door open with his hips.
Instead of walking in, Noble found himself freezing in the doorway. His stomach dropped as he stood there, his grip tightening on the tray while Noble’s gaze locked on the glowing amulet on his dresser. The light coming from the deep-blue stone was as bright as a flashlight, and seemed to only grow brighter when Ollie’s fingers, now only an inch from it, moved closer.
Ollie looked back, still as naked as he left him. With a beaming smile, the man excitedly asked, “It’s an antique, right?! Late 18th century, I’d say! And I’d also say it was a sapphire, if it wasn’t glowing…”
“I…” Noble swallowed hard as his insides began to go numb, and his heart started to race.
Whatever expression was on his face had Ollie’s smile dropping, while the man pulled his hand away from the amulet as if it was burning him.
Twisting his hands together anxiously, Ollie sputtered, “I-I…I wasn’t going to touch it. I mean… I d-did wash my hands though. But I wasn’t… I-I just… I saw it…and well, I’m an antique appraiser and authenticator. Ah, well, it’s more of a hobby, as I have the library. Wh-which takes up m-most of the m-my time.” The man swallowed and took a deep breath. “I just couldn’t help but want to take a closer look, and when I did, it began to glow… I’m not positive what it is, but it has something to do with heat, right?”
The amulet still glowed, even if it was much dimmer now.
His gaze flicked to Ollie’s when the man cleared his throat. Noble forced his clenched jaw to relax, and pushed a fake smile across his face as he tried to kill the thoughts in his head. But they didn’t stop…
Witch—Ollie was a witch. The man saw ghosts because he was a witch. Ollie was a witch and he didn’t know it, but Noble did. And he wished more than anything that he didn’t…
Because what Ollie also didn’t know…was that Noble was a witch hunter. One who had no clue what he was going to do now that he had found a baby witch who, based on the amulet’s glow, would be more powerful than any witch he had ever come across.
“I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have…” Ollie’s hands twisted again. “I know I was being nosy.” The witch worried his bottom lip, his face so unsure that it hurt.
Then again, he’d left him to go get food, likely feeling just as unsure.
Noble cleared his throat. “Ah, yes, it’s an antique. And…as you said, it’s sensitive to heat. It is also very delicate. It’s a…”
“Family heirloom?”
“Yes.” He forced his smile to turn brighter as he lied, holding up the tray with the bowls of food. “I hope leftover pasta is fine? I wasn’t sure if you had any dietary restrictions or not.”
“Ah, no restrictions, besides an allergy to strawberries.” Ollie gave him a smile, and it was strained, but not for the right reasons.
The man hurried back into bed, covering his lap with the blankets. “Let’s feast. Though, I guess, I’m assuming you are fine with us eating here?”
“Yes, here is fine.”
Eat and then take him home, so he could…do what? Noble’s mess had just gotten bigger, and he now had even less of a clue as to what he was going to do about any of it.
Fuck…