“Of course it does. Can I ask you a question?”
“Mhm.”
“Do you have any magic?”
“No, just the scents, and the glowing skin. Nothing exciting. I can’t, like, change my appearance or set things on fire. I’m very boring.”
I tuck that bit of information away. “Not boring at all. Now get some rest.”
“Hmph. But I’m thirsty. You’re making all the water leave me through my eyeballs.”
I huff a laugh and reach over, grabbing a bottle of water and sharing it with him. When it’s empty, he leans back, my knot still tying me to him as he cuddles against my chest.
“Vince thought I was beautiful, too, at first. But it gets old. I promise you that.”
I say nothing, just scent his neck again, marking him as mine. He can think whatever he wants. If he lets me, I’m going to prove him wrong.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ARBOR
My body achesin the best way, Glenn proving to be just as good an alpha as he was during the Heat Hunt. The way he takes me, the size of his dick. The way he holds me after, the way he says I smell wonderful and means it. Everything about him is fucking perfect.
Which is why I really shouldn’t be rummaging around in my briefcase for the stone that will knock him out. The one that Attie enchanted for me, and the same one I used on Glenn that first night.
“Don’t allow anyone to claim you, my strong boy. You may be an omega, but never allow them to make you weak.”
I need it so I can leave. So I’m not stuck with a man who will treat me like shit when he tires of my smells, of how odd I am, how different I am from everyone else in his life.
I don’t really fit in. Not in this town, even amid the big city. Part of me thinks I should travel to the Isles to find more fae, just like Glenn suggested, but I’m not sure I want to. I think it would only lead to more disappointment.
It’s why I keep to myself.
All I have is Attie.
I pull the stone out and stare at it. A Petoskey from Lake Michigan. The gray shine reflects the lights flickering above me as I turn it in my palm. Attie picked this one because of the ancient coral skeleton hidden inside it. He says it can hold natural magical properties better than other stones.
I glance back at the bedroom where Glenn is asleep.
He took me four more times before finally passing out. And now I’m going to make sure he doesn’t wake up for another several hours.
Guilt slithers through me, but I swallow it back. Relationships never end well. I tried it with Vince, and it was a shitshow. He grew tired of me, of who I am. I don’t know if I could handle another rejection like that. Especially with Glenn.
Because I like him. So really, ending this before it starts is a good idea.
A creak of the floorboard has me turning to see the man I’m thinking of standing in the doorway, his hair rumpled, a crease across his cheek.
“You okay?”
I nod, placing the stone behind my back, hiding it from view. I don’t want him to ask questions. He has so fucking many. Why the hell is he so curious about me? Why does he even care?
“Just stretching my legs.”
He cocks his head and then starts toward the kitchen. “All right. I’ll make you something to eat. You have to be famished.”
I watch him go, the rock sitting in my hand. All I need to do is run it across his temple, and the magic inside of it will put him right to sleep. He’ll fall to the floor, and I can make my escape, but I hesitate.
