Not even my bodyguards question why I keep visiting Marquee, and why I make them take point and leave me to sit and eat my food or drink my coffee alone.
I love how Ayden always saves his breaks until I arrive, too.
“You look even prettier today,” he says quietly, his eyes roaming over me before they move around the cafe. And then he inches closer, his pinkie touching mine.
“You’re just saying that,” I offer, pushing my leg against his and using my other hand to sip on my coffee.
“Heidi,” he whispers, “don’t. Not here. Not with all these people watching.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” he offers blandly before he gets up and walks down the service corridor.
I climb out of my seat, stopping to grab the toilet key off the hook. This isn’t the first time I’ve followed him, and it won’t be the last.
If I were blind, I’m pretty sure I’d be able to follow his scent, and it takes me to where he always waits. The door barely closes, and he crowds around me.
Ayden drags his nose up the column of my neck. Such a simple move, but it feels intimate.
“Kiss me?” I beg, pushing against his head with mine, trying to bring his mouth to my lips instead of my throat.
He makes a small noise, a mix of frustration and need before he moves quickly. His lips are on mine and they’re hard and urgent.
His eyes are closed. They’re always closed when we kiss. And even though I’d love to see the emotion in his eyes, I adore the pained look on his face just as much.
Without moving his hands off the walls beside my head, he traps me by pushing his hips against me. I feel cast adrift and strangely desperate at the same time. I feel like I need?—
“Shit,” I curse as I break our kiss; our connection snaps in an instant, and it takes Ayden a second to realise why I had to stop.
“Your heat?” he asks, but it comes out like a growl.
“It’s too soon,” I offer softly, trying to calm him. And it is way too soon.
I get my cycle is out of whack because of my age and my heats won’t fall into a pattern for a few more years. But I also think it’s because of him that my panties are wet with a rush of my sweet slick.
One moment we’re hiding in the storeroom, the next he’s gone. The door slamming behind me. I’m left swaying in shock and in need with tears prickling my eyes. But as quick as my head spins to the drama of him leaving, Ayden reappears with my handbag in his hands and a fresh bottle of water.
“Do you have any tablets to stop it?” he asks, his voice full of concern along with a healthy dose of irritation.
He keeps hold of my bag while I search out my small makeup case, because asking if I have tabs is like asking if traffic lights turn green. Of course, I do. I could probably service a chemist with the amount of medication I carry. Another bonus of being a Verdune.
I dry swallow a couple of our latest heat suppressors that are guaranteed to work within a few minutes. And then I uncap the small mist spray that should counter the change to my scent. Both measures will help, but leaving Ayden will stop what’s going on.
“I have to go,” I say regretfully. Even though I need to go before I do more than ruin a pair of undies, I lean up for another kiss from this beautiful Alpha who can and does send my mind and body haywire. “I’m sorry.”
He closes his eyes before his lips dance over mine briefly. The next moment, he’s opened the door on us again. “I’ll text you or call you as soon as I finish,” he says. There’s a hint of something weird in his voice, although I don’t trust myself to sort out what it is. The possibility of my heat means I’m going to read a lot of things wrong, but I don’t argue when he guides me out of the cafe and towards my security team.
ChapterThree
The next step in our relationship comes quicker than I could even imagine. From out of nowhere both Allan and Margot announce they’ll be attending a weekend conference on opposite sides of the country. Supposedly they both suffered a mix up of calendars, and I’m glad I’m not their assistants. Their anger is palpable in the email I get letting me know they’re both away.
Not only are they out for the night, but with my heat spikes still threatening, they’ve locked down the Verdune Estate.
Emerging as an Omega, my life changed in the space of a few agonising and drawn-out hours. By the time I’d recovered from my first transition peak, there were a series of newly constructed doors sectioning my suite and rooms off from the main part of the house. The builder had also constructed a new room adjoining my bedroom for my nest, but it never appealed to me. No matter how many times I tried to explain the issue to the interior designers Margot employed, they didn’t listen. The space got bigger, more intimidating as opposed to more intimate.
I finally won over my parents by explaining in graphic and embarrassing detail all the reasons I’d chosen to use my tiny walk-in closet as opposed to the room. Perhaps in time the purpose-built room would work, but until then, I make do with the supplies I ordered from Twiggy, one of the nation’s best Omega department stores and the cosy, safe feel of my walk in.
I may have slightly exaggerated about my heat cycle, and because both my parents were so caught up in their own frustrations, no one bothered to check on me before they left. It gave me the perfect opportunity to be with Ayden. Alone.
