Cannon stood. “Any other business to discuss in this impromptu sleuth meeting?”
She gasped. “Is this the first one? I feel like we need to make notes or something.”
“Don’t worry,” Tyrone said. “No one will forget yesterday or today, sweetheart.”
Chapter Seventeen
Millie
My room was already my haven. Although the alphas insisted on doing all the work on the place, at least for now, they agreed that I should keep my own room the way I wanted it. I’d never had my own place. Even in college, I shared with roommates in a strictly monitored building. Another reason my sleuth allowed me to attend. It was a human school, largely, but owned by a conservative religious group that believed in control. Many of the students had also been homeschooled, and their parents expected them to be monitored closely.
I’d never expected anything different of my life moving forward.
The alphas kept apologizing about the size of the room and not having a real nest for me, but every time I went into the room and closed the door, I experienced a quiet joy. Privacy. A clean environment where I wasn’t picking up after other people—it happened not just at home but also at school. The forty-two inch TV on the wall that Felix insisted was way too small, but I felt was the perfect size. Because it wasn’t about inches but about my having the ability to turn on any show I wanted for as long as I chose. At school, the lounge TV was always on some kind of Goody-Two shoes show, and the one in our room constantly displayed reality shows with the volume turned down. Because we weren’t supposed to keep a television in there and certainly were not supposed to be watching such worldly shows.
Imagine what they’d think if they learned that some of us were not even human, much less members of their religious sect. Could they come and take my degree away?
Maybe…
I certainly hoped not, as hard as I worked to get them.
Everything about my new home was idyllic. Plenty to eat and drink, nice clothes, my comfortable room, and nobody telling me what to do. In fact, the only thing they were telling me was what not to do. As in:Don’t do any work around here, relax, and tell us what you’d like.
They went out of their way to make me comfortable and happy, and my body was healing. Bruises fading. The handprint on my face nearly gone. The alphas seemed to believe my father was my primary abuser, but the fact was, he never showed that much interest. When he played that game about not getting a bride price? Acting as if he had been present in my life at all? I’d like to say I was shocked, but I was not. It did not reflect any actual caring for me.
With my currently improved circumstances, anyone would expect me to sleep like a baby, and the first night, after the awfulness of the auction, the long drive, and general nerves, I had. But the last few nights, I was having difficulty falling asleep as well as staying that way. So much of what was going on here was idyllic—but the fact was, they had paid the price to make me theirs, and huddling here in my bedroom alone was only putting off the inevitable. They had made it pretty clear that I had all the time I needed, so why was I fussing and not just taking it easy?
Lying here tonight, thoughts circling in my head, I finally got tired of thinking and was ready to act. In some way. I could hear the TV from downstairs, so one or more of the alphas was still up, and I needed to talk to someone. It was going to be the luck of the draw which it was.
I started to get dressed then shrugged the thought aside. My knee-length T-shirt and sleep socks were perfect for the occasion, soft and comfortable, and reassuring in themselves. If whoever it was had fallen asleep themselves watching a movie or something, I’d get a glass of water and return to bed to continue worrying.
But when I peeked into the room, where the only light came from the screen, I found Tyrone sitting with a bowl of popcorn in his lap and a beer at his elbow. He looked up and smiled. “Well, hello there. I thought everyone else was already down for the night. Did you need something?”
I shook my head. “No, well, kind of yes. I’m having trouble sleeping. Could I sleep with you?”Where on earth did those words come from? I was just going to…But I couldn’t take it back, didn’t want to. “I mean, if you don’t mind?”
He stood up so fast, the popcorn bowl tumbled to the floor, leading to the two of us on our hands and knees picking up the contents. And laughing.
“Tyrone,” I said, standing up and wiping my hands on a napkin he handed me. “Really, I didn’t mean to shock you.”
“Surprise maybe, not shock. But it would be my pleasure. Your room or mine?”
I swallowed hard, wanting to be sure what I was agreeing to. Fact was, the alphas could have me anytime they wanted. It was only kindness that had led them not to push me. “Just sleeping, okay? Your room, I guess?”
“Sleeping, omega.” He set the bowl on the table and took my hand. “It will never be more until you want it to be. You will have to ask one or all of us.”
I was sure that was what they had been implying, but having it spelled out relaxed me. I followed Tyrone to his room and he pulled down the covers on the bed, guided me to sit down, then covered me before going around to get in himself.
“Now,” he said, taking my hand again, “time for rest.”
“Yes.” I lay on my back, tense at first, but as his breathing evened out, I relaxed and fell into dreamland.
“You’re here.” I turned to find Tyrone standing next to me. “I’m glad to see you.”
“You too.” The dream plane on which we stood was very much the misty type where everything was hidden except for the male who faced me. “Did you follow me here?”
“I think it’s the reverse.” He reached for my hand, closing his fingers over it. It felt a little different but definitely him. I couldn’t explain how exactly. “Have you ever done this before?”
“It’s really you, isn’t it? And me? Both of us on the dream plane together?”
