“You’re welcome.” Chuck tightened his hold on me and hugged me tight. “I want you to feel at home here.”
Something sparked in my chest at those words, but I promptly shoved it down, instead grinding down on the hardness pressing up against my ass.
“Mmm, I wish we could go another round right now,” Chuck said with a groan, “but I’m probably already late for my meeting.”
The words had barely cleared his lips when a knock came at the door.
“Wakey, wakey, boss man,” Kade’s amused voice easily came through the door. “Everybody’s waiting on you.”
Chuck laughed when I flopped over to land on my back next to him. “Seriously? Does he not have your phone number or something?”
Leaning over me, Chuck picked up his phone from the bedside table and swiped his finger across the screen and giving me a sheepish smile. “I must have forgotten to take it off silence last night,” he admitted, showing me the long list of missed calls. “Sorry, baby.”
“No problem.” I sat up and lifted my face for one more kiss before rolling off the bed and leering at the Alpha’s naked body. “You better get dressed if you want anyone to focus during your meeting.”
Chuck smirked but obediently rose to his feet and headed for his dresser, stopping just long enough to let Kade know his summons had been received. “Alright, Kade. Give me five more minutes and I’ll be right there.”
Kade grumbled something that sounded likeglad somebody got fucking laid this morning when the rest of us had to be up at the ass crack of dawnand Chuck stifled a laugh as he pulled on his clothes.
“Will I see you at lunch?” I asked, well aware of the irony since I’d been the one avoiding him.
“Probably,” Chuck said in between stolen kisses. “Text me later?”
I nodded and Chuck grabbed his notebook and shoved his phone in his pocket before heading to the door to start his day. When the door closed behind him, I reached for the red silk jock I’d buried under the pile of jeans when he wasn’t looking and quickly pulled it up my legs. Straightening the covers, I reclined against the pillows for a spank-worthy selfie and fired it off to his phone.
The least I could do after the previous day’s drama was try and start his day off right, wasn’t it?
Chapter Eighteen
Chuck
Walking into the conference room, I had the grace to blush as the beings collected around the table hooted and cat-called while they waited for me to fill a coffee cup from the carafe on the credenza and take my seat at the table.
“Take it yourmanforgave you for being a twat?” Pete twitched one long ear in my direction as he grumbled the words, putting emphasis on not referring to Jules as a boy in the most annoying way possible. “Not like you couldn’t have rescheduled the dicking to after the meeting instead of keeping us waiting, you know?”
It wasn’t like he was wrong, but I also wasn’t sorry, so I ignored him and addressed the group as a whole, instead.
“I appreciate everyone waiting on me this morning,” I said quickly. “Can I assume everyone knows one another?”
The chorus of affirmative responses nearly drowned out Pete’s vulgar response, so I counted that as a win.
“Great.” I settled back in my seat, dropped my phone on the table, and sipped from my coffee. “Kade, would you give us the brief rundown to be sure everyone is on the same page?”
“Of course.” Kade quickly ran through the key points of the situation, pausing each time someone began to scribble on their notepad to ensure that no one got behind.
When he finished, Sonny cleared his throat. “Is there going to be a question-and-answer period or should we interrupt as we go?”
Kade raised a brow at me and I took a moment to evaluate the option. “Why don’t we plan on a question-and-answer period after each person finishes speaking and only interrupt if the information is needed for immediate clarification?” I suggested.
There was a chorus of agreements and I turned to Sonny. “Since everyone else has had a chance to catch up a little, do you have a specific area you’d like to start?”
Sonny nodded, his face somber. “I do. I understand that Drey recommended me as a liaison to deal with local law enforcement, correct?”
“He did,” I agreed. “We’ve been walking on eggshells with them since one of our staff members killed a couple of humans a while back. It was proven to be self-defense, but you know how that can go.”
Sonny blew out a breath. “I do, but the part that currently has me concerned is one that Kade glossed right over,” he said firmly. “Could you please explain the prisoner of war he mentioned? Given the situation, that’s kidnapping, at best.”
“We understand that,” I assured him quickly, “and I can promise you that we didn’t actually take him prisoner.”
