He fills my lungs with his earthy scent, cupping my throat and pressing, as if to remind me to breathe. The whole time his eyes are wide open and he stares into my soul.
“Each time you walk away from me and go back to him, you do it knowing you are my future, and I am yours. Don’t waste any time second guessing my intentions because they’re very easy to understand. I want you as mine, and I will be making you mine. Despite him. When you are ready?—”
I boldly kiss the next few words off his lips before he can finish, chasing his mouth with a hunger I’ve never known. I wish I could see things as clearly as he does. Guilt flickers through me because I don’t—but in the same breath, something deeper, more primal, whispers that I do. Because with him, everything ‘feels’ right.
It’s hard to trust that intuition. I don’t want to question myself, but life has taught me again and again that everything can shift in a heartbeat. Maybe that’s why, right now, in this slice of time, I focus on what’s in front of me:him.
I rub my nose under his chin, searing his scent to mymemories. I don’t back off or question myself. Instead, I lean in, nearly gluttonous as I try to steal away each and every second we share.
Time becomes almost irrelevant, all that matters is taking my fill of everything on offer. Sadly, it doesn’t mean the world stops turning or that Brody inevitably screws this up for me too.
Chapter
Eleven
HENDRIX
The distress alarm slices through the paradise I’ve found. Simona’s shock has her pulling away, but not so far that I miss the way her eyes dance to mine, searching for answers.
“You are safe with me,” I offer as I drag my thumb over her plump lips. They’re very distracting. “But I do need to go.”
Holding her hand in one of mine, I take us out into the hallway and walk straight past my office to the back exit. There’s no real risk of anyone coming into this part of the building, security is already providing an update into the small earpiece I wear. Several staff are on route to the Flamingo room, and I’ll be there as soon as Simona is safely away. Try telling my brain that though. I stand so near her, no one would ever know someone was in front of me. It feels right, but I’m also unsure how long it will be before I can physically feel her this close again. My hand on her hip is overly possessive but I have zero fucks to give.
In the laneway, a car waits. The driver, Danny, is alreadystarting the engine when he sees me. It’s not the first time we’ve rushed people outside this way, but it is the first time I have rushed someone out for my own reasons. Thoughts of protecting her, making sure she is okay, drive me to be entirely selfish in my focus.
The surge in my drive to protect isn’t the biggest surprise of the night. I’ve always been overly protective of what is mine, but letting my staff fend for themselves is new.
I act as if we have an army racing towards us when I swoop her off her feet and into my arms. There’s no real need, aside from a lump inside my chest that won’t let up until she is in my embrace.
“I’m okay,” she whispers quietly. I think she’s talking to herself, but when I glance up, she’s looking up at me with those huge sparkling blue-hazel coloured-eyes of hers.
Jesus, I’m immediately thrown by the colour of them. At first, I thought they were bluer, but right now they’re greener. I want to be the one to learn how many different hues and tones they actually have.
“More for my sake than yours,” I answer. It’s uncharacteristic of me to explain myself but at the same time it feels completely normal.
Once we’re at the door, I set her down, but my hand on her hip asking her to stay. Leaning down, I press an urgent kiss to the spot under her ear I seem to have claimed as mine.
“Danny will stay out in front of Unity tonight. I’ll arrange better security once I’m at my desk.”
“I don’t need security. It will make it worse. Please.” Her eyes fall away as she argues quietly.
“Tonight at least, he stays there. Later we can discuss it further. Lock yourself in your room, leave a message on his phone saying the owner of the club wouldn’t give you access and made you get in a car. No ifs ands or butts, even if he calls or messages you. I’ll be explaining very clearly what Ihave done, minus a few pertinent reasons why, but your Alpha has bigger troubles than wondering where you are.”
“Is he the cause of the alarm?” she asks, her gaze falling away. She scents of his guilt which pisses me off.
“Looks like,” I offer, capturing her chin in my fingers pulling those spell-binding eyes back to mine. “He is not your responsibility. A grown Alpha made a conscious decision to seek membership, pay the exorbitant application fee, which is incidentally not something everyone can afford. But he did so knowing the rules of my establishment because you have to read, then agree to abide by them before you can process payment. The security team is in the room and he’s cooperating.”
It is like watching opposing forces at play. In my arms she’s completely present and one hundred percent in, but emotionally she’s withdrawing. Fast, like water draining out of a bathtub leaving me looking at a different version of her. One that I’m not a fan of, but one I would cherish as much as the confident woman who kisses me back with lust on her lips and seduction in her eyes.
Her gaze falls away. I wait for them to come back to mine, shutters are up in them as she shields herself protectively. I’m not a betting man, but she obviously has made her mind up about something. Given we were discussing her Alpha, it’s to assume I need to be careful. But being careful didn’t get me to where I am today.
Opening the car door, I guide her in the back, then place her bag on her lap. “You have money and a phone. Use them both. I’ll call you later and leave a message to let you know what happened. But I’m not going to play games, Simona, the version I give you will be a recount of what actually happens. You’ll only get the truth from me.”
Doubt colours her eyes, and the small self-deprecating huff she makes as she pulls away spins the dial on my mood.I’d planned to approach her Alpha with an open mind, but her reactions have me ready to rip the little shit a new asshole. Given the way she’s shutting down, it’s clear she’s used to people lying or screwing with her.
I catch her chin, tilting her face so she can’t look away. “Tonight has been a shock. For all of us. But you don’t ever leave me acting the way you are right now.”
Her eyes drop in an instant—faster than a rock to the ground.
