He’s across the room in two strides.Not touching me, just towering over me.His eyes rake over me, and it’s like being stripped bare.My mouth opens but nothing comes out.He lifts his head slightly and inhales deeply.
The noise he makes—a low growl, primal and hungry—sends a shiver through me so strong my knees nearly buckle, again.
“You’re going into heat.”It’s not a question.
I shake my head.“No.I have an implant.I...”
“It’s not working,” he states flatly.
I flinch and his eyes narrow.“Do you know why?”
I shake my head again.My voice is barely a whisper.“Do you?”
He takes one step closer.“Yes.”That single word sends my heart pounding so hard I think I’m going to pass out.“It’s because of the bond.”
There it is.Out in the open.The truth that’s been boiling beneath my skin since the moment I stepped into his office.Spoken like a death sentence.Or a promise.
I swallow hard.“That isn’t real,” I whisper.
“It is.”
“Fated mates don’t exist,” I counter, praying I can wake from this nightmare.
He moves closer.The heat radiating off him feels like the surface of the sun.His eyes bore into mine, daring me to keep lying.“Apparently they do, my omega.”
I can’t argue with him, even though I really fucking want to.My body has already betrayed me.My scent.My slick.My trembling, aching, desperate need.I take a step back and he doesn’t follow.
Instead, he tilts his head and watches me with that terrifying intensity.“You feel it, don’t you?”
I nod.One single, small, helpless movement.
“Then why are you running from it?”He frowns as the words fall from his lips.
“Because I’m not yours.”The words fall from my lips in a broken whisper.
His smile is slow and dark, like a beast showing its teeth to its prey.“You will be.”
I should scream.I should fight.But gods, I don’t want to.The only thing I want is for him to close the distance and touch me.To press me against the wall and tear away every barrier between us.My trembling thighs are soaked.My omega instincts are in full riot, and he can smell every bit of it.I want to fall to my knees and submit to this Alpha more than I want my next fucking breath.
He inhales again and his eyes go darker.“You smell like surrender.”
I press my back to the wall and bite my lip, shaking.“Please ...don’t.”The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.
“Don’t what?”he asks with a tilt of his head.
“Don’t touch me.”I’m begging but it’s not what I really want.
“I won’t.Not until you beg me to.”
Fuck!The worst part is, I already want to.And gods help me, I just might.He turns away from me and toward his massive desk, and I finally remember how to breathe.
“Leave your cart.I’ll have someone else finish up.”
I don’t argue.No, I nod and walk toward the door that will lead to my escape.
“Go home, Zahara.And get some rest.You look like you’re going to fall apart,” he says with a soft smile.“You’re going to need all the energy you can muster for what comes next.”
I want to ask what the hell he is talking about, but I don’t.I don’t say anything as I walk past him.He doesn’t touch me.But his eyes follow every step like a promise.
