“My behavior?” Elena didn’t falter as her gaze swung up to meet his, both brows rising high.
“You’re showing very little appreciation for your Alpha.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do?”
“You could greet me. Show some concern for my wellbeing.”
“You look fine, and I know you didn’t sleep with me, so what is there to ask?” Elena slouched for a bare moment before what was likely years of training kicked in, straightening her shoulders.
“Is that what has you so upset today,” Leon asked as he leaned forward. “That I didn’t sleep with you?”
Elena didn’t answer as Mrs. Jacobs came in bearing the tray with breakfast. She remained silent as the housekeeper went around the room, serving them both with a cheery smile as if she hadn’t heard a word of their conversation.
“Where you sleep is none of my concern,” Elena murmured as Mrs. Jacobs left.
“And where exactly do you think I slept?”
“Where you go and who you-you f-fuck is none of my concern, either,” Elena snapped, shoving away from the table with a sound caught somewhere between anger and despair. She raced up the stairs, heedless of running from an Alpha.
Leon was after in seconds. He ambled along in her wake, his long strides eating up the distance between them as she ran towards the bedroom. He was upon her as she tried to slam thedoor in his face, his palm going out to connect with the door before it could close.
He backed her up to the wall, growling low in his throat when she would have ducked under his arm to continue her escape.
“You do have quite the mouth on you, little one,” Leon purred as he cupped her jaw, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Where did you learn such language?”
“From you. Please stop calling me that,” Elena said softly, a grimace pulling her lips taut as he urged her up on tiptoe, brushing a kiss against the corner of her mouth.
“You didn’t like it when I called you by name, and now you hate a term of endearment. What should I call you?”
“I don’t care, just not that.”
“But you are my little one,” Leon husked as he bent to pick her up, quieting her wriggling with the narrowing of his eyes.
“Please stop,” she whispered just before he covered her mouth with his, teasing along the seam of her lips with his tongue. Forcing her to open to him as she gave a shuddering sigh that he breathed in before letting it out on a hungry growl.
“Let us get one thing clear, Elena,” Leon said as he nudged her head aside to mouth the side of her neck, lips searching out the crimson ring beneath the thick bandage at her shoulder. “I will do whatever, whenever I please. That includes you.”
Elena gasped as his mouth closed over the wound, adding the lightest pressure. Reminding her of who she belonged to, that it was his claim that caused her such pain now. That it was him that soothed the sting as he nuzzled her neck, tracing a line of gentle kisses back to her parted lips.
She whined low in her throat as he delved deep inside to taste her. Savoring her on his tongue before he teased at her, urging her into a response she struggled in vain not to give. Her arms were already around his neck, holding tight, fingers rakingthrough his hair. She clung to him as if she needed him as much as the breath in her lungs from nothing more than a mere kiss.
Leon smiled against her as her legs wrapped around him. He kept her dazed, kissing her even as his sure steps took them down the stairs and back to the dining room. Elena wasn’t aware of the change of scenery, her legs working against him as she writhed.
She blinked up at him in horror as he dumped her back into her chair.
“And right now, it pleases me for you to take care of my unborn child and eat something.”
TWENTY
ELENA
She’d come unraveled from a single kiss.
Elena could scarce believe how something so simple could devastate her so easily. Brushing her fingertips over her tender lips, she stared out of the windows at the gloomy day.
Leon left her after ordering her to eat, not even remaining to have breakfast. It shouldn’t bother her where he went or what he did, and she resolved to stop caring. He didn’t care about her, she could return the favor.
Try as she might, it kept gnawing at her though. The worst being another Omega who he actually courted, though the thought of him with some Beta laughing and smiling on his arm while Elena remained locked away inside the house turned her stomach. She’d never realized just how much autonomy she’d had before. If she wanted a book, she went to the bookstore. There was none of this making out lists for someone else to deal with. Elena had her classes to get her out of the house for hours of the day, and now she meandered from room to room with nothing to do.
