Ruthless Noble by Alley Ciz

EPILOGUE

There isnothing hotter than seeing Savvy in full-on fierce boss bitch mode. She may not be ripping anyone’s fingernails off like what I’ve learned is her go-to suggestion for payback, but I hundo P see how the Royals nicknamed her Savage. There’s just this glow about her when she’s plotting something that I can’t explain outside of that it makes my dick harder than anything else. It has made getting through my morning classes extremely uncomfortable.

With winter fully upon us, the tables inside the cafeteria are filled to capacity. The pants-tightening issue I’ve had all morning is reaching problematic proportions as I follow the sway of Savvy’s hips while she weaves through the tables until she comes to the one Arabella and The Unholy Trinity claim as their own.

Not sure what my girl has planned but trusting her enough to know she can handle herself in any situation, I stop on my way to our own table, close enough to overhear but not crowd Savvy while she does her thing.

Every eye in the lunchroom is on her, tracking her movements as she drags a chair around from another table and positions it at the head of theirs.

“Can we help you?” Arabella snarks.

Purple eyes flit up briefly to meet mine, a playful smirk curling at the corner of those still-puffy-from-my-last-kiss lips before she slowly crosses one leg over the other, the edges of her boots overlapping. That footwear should have been my first clue my girl was in a mood today: thigh high, leather, sky-high spiked heel.

“Well, you see…” Elbows slide across the wooden tabletop, pushing deep and angling toward Arabella. Casually, Savvy rests her chin atop her folded knuckles, a waterfall of silver locks cascading over the curve of her shoulder as her head tilts to the side. The cacophony of conversation and cutlery moving across plates comes to a halt at how each of Savvy’s measured movements are watched intently.

“Since my first day, I couldn’t care less about the social hierarchy here”—Arabella lets out a Whatever snort, which Savvy pointedly ignores—“but you were the one hell-bent on asserting your place in it.”

“Says the girl spreading her legs for the top king in this place when he wasn’t hers to have in the first place.” Usually, Arabella is the picture of calm, a poised ice queen. Except…in a single sentence, Savvy has managed to break that typical bitch facade of hers until her final words come out as an ear-splitting screech.

Again those eyes rise to mine, a familiar troublemaking twinkle in them before they slide back to Arabella, sparking with a dangerous edge.

“Is that why you decided to play creepy-psycho-bitch paparazzo?”

There’s a slam of a foot hitting the floor as Savvy uncrosses her legs.

“You took pictures of us.”

Savvy’s spine snaps straight, her demeanor turning on a dime.

“You decided to play judge and jury, hoping that by sending our parents those pictures, they would play the role of the executioner.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Arabella’s tone is confident, but the way her gaze keeps shifting to the side gives away her guilt.

“Playing dumb isn’t going to help you now, Arabella. We know it was you.” Savvy pushes up from her seat, setting her palms flat on the table and leaning in close. “Stay away from me and mine.”

“How dar—”

“Don’t.” Savvy slashes a hand through the air, cutting off Arabella’s attempt to assert her dominance before it can gain any traction. “It’s Monday, and I’m so not in the mood for your bullshit, Arabitch.”

A gleeful chuckle has me looking to my right, where Duke has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, also watching the lunchtime entertainment. “I’m going to have to up my game to keep up with smoopsie-poo’s insult creativity.”

While I can one-hundred-percent agree with the accuracy of the statement, it doesn’t stop me from throwing an elbow back until it connects with Duke’s stomach. His soft oof is music to my ears. “What did I say about your pet names for my girlfriend?”

The wattage on his grin turns up impossibly higher, and my hand balls into a fist to prevent what I know will become the urge to punch him for whatever smartassery he’s about to spew. “Savvy may have made you a smidge”—he puts his barely separated thumb and forefinger close enough to my face that his pinch is blurry—“less broody, but you’re still just as much, if not more of, an alpha asshole.”

My own lips start to tip up at the corners, but I’m quick to shush Duke’s next quip so I can hear Savvy instead.

“We know what you did. But…” Savvy raises one arm, folding all the fingers on her hand down except for the middle one, which she uses to boop Arabella on the nose. “Try to keep this in mind…”

Even from here, I can make out the way Arabella’s throat moves with a nervous swallow as she looks my way. If she’s looking for my help, she’ll be sorely disappointed. Honestly, she should know better. It’s like she’s forgotten how ruthless I can be.

Folding my arms over my chest, I rock back on my heels and continue to enjoy the experience of my savage queen going to work. Prince has taken great pleasure in regaling me with all the stories of how they came up with Savvy’s…well…Savvy name. I’m pretty sure he did so to fuck with me, just like he makes sure to call Savvy ma reine every chance he gets. The fucker.

Not even Prince’s razzing can take away from how hot Savvy is like this. The sex we had after the showdown with Natalie was the hottest we’ve ever had…and that’s saying something.

“If you don’t heed my warning about staying in your lane—”

Savvy straightens, stepping back from the table and sliding both her hands down the soft cashmere of her uniform blazer. Again her gaze rises to mine, and again we share another one of those wordless exchanges I didn’t think I could share with anyone except Duke. Ours holds an entirely different kind of significance.

Savvy slides her gaze back to a now squirming Arabella. “—you might find your already tattered social status roadkill beneath my tires.” A line of white flashes between her pink lips, the pure innocence in her smile causing all the ladies sitting around the table to fall back in their chairs. “We good?” She nods, not waiting for a response. “Toodles, bitches.”

She punctuates her goodbye with an exaggerated finger wave and saunters back to me, stopping just out of my reach. Her eyes drop to my fly, her teeth pulling her bottom lip into her mouth when she spots the telltale bulge there. “You liked that, did you?” One of her brows arches high on her face.

“Immensely, Princess.” Done with the distance, I step into her space, hooking a hand around her nape and tugging her close. “Why don’t you come with me to the locker room or the parking lot, and I’ll show you just how much.”

Fingers walk their way up the buttons of my shirt like they’re stepping stones before ending with one painted tip covering the dimple in my chin. “Did I ever tell you how much I like the way you think, Noble?”

I growl, and the twitch of her cheek gives her away. “Are you purposely baiting me, Princess?”

Arms loop around my neck. “What if I were?” Her lips brush mine as she speaks.

A face pushes its way between us. “It’s really unfair how you two make me watch your foreplay when you refuse to let me have my own fun with Tessa.”

Savvy smooshes Duke out of our personal space. With a shake of her head and a round of muttered curses, the three of us move to take our places at our own table.

With my arm draped across the back of Savvy’s chair, we all settle into our new normal. The rest of the year should be interesting, that’s for sure.