“Yeah, I’m sure.” I huff a frustrated breath, “If you knew my dad, you’d know why I need a night with no alpha men.”
“Gee, thanks.” A grin plays on his lips. “Maybe I’ll meet your dad one day.”
“Maybe you’ll meet a bullet.”
He laughs softly. “He’s that bad?”
“Yep.”
Slowly, Loch prowls my way in the rain, his hands cupping my cheeks. Like magnets, our lips meet in a warm kiss before he vows, “You’re worth taking a hundred bullets for, Alena Allen.”
I sigh against his whiskers. “You’re making a night alone, very hard, Loch Waring.”
“Oh.” He grins over our lips. “It’shard.”
I’m so tempted to crawl into his bed tonight and never leave.
But it’s like I told Vale. I’m not a teenager, despite how I’m treated sometimes. I’m an adult. I know it’s healthy to be alone sometimes.
“If I bring you blueberry pancakes in the morning.” I nip his bottom lip. “Will I make it even harder?”
“Like a diamond.” His eyes sparkle. “It’s what you make me do for you, Alena.”
A diamond.
It’s way too soon for that, but I can see it—Loch’s ring on my finger. I’ll put a ring on his finger too. He deserves it.
I kiss his lips. “Night, Waring.”
He kisses my neck. “Night, Babygirl.”
It is a good night once I call the FBI agent in charge of Sasha’s case and leave a voicemail about that creepy man.
After I take a long shower, I’m warm and relaxed, ready to curl up with a book in bed, when I get a notification on my phone an hour later.
It’s an email from @LuvPounder, inviting me to a video call date tonight.
And though I need a night off from alpha men, IamLoch’s.
Not like I was ever @LuvPounder’s anything. We’re not breaking up. We’re practically strangers.
But I’m not a heartless bitch. I owe @LuvPounder the courtesy of a goodbye. Even a thank you. I can’t ghost someone. It’s rude.
Besides, he helped me find parts of myself I love. Parts that made me feel powerful and sexy on my own terms.
All the folks in our chat, I’m going to miss them.
But I’m moving on to something real.
CHAPTER TWENTY
LOCH
I get it.
I know why Alena needs to be alone and how Nash can be. It must be frustrating, living under his rule, and what makes it worse is that Nash won’t tell her why.
Why he has to be an oppressive tyrant about protecting her.
