“Malin, good to see you.”
“You made it.”
“Aren’t you hot in that getup, Malin?”
“Who’s your date?”
Bish came forward. Instead of saying hi, he quipped, “Hey, that’s one of my omegas I hired.”
I let a smile tease my lips. “Yes, he is. And thanks.”
His eyebrows came together. “What do you mean thanks?”
“You hired them. You know they take tips for special services.”
He held his hands out in surrender. “Right. Confused me for a sec. He’s not wearing the uniform I provided.” He huffed. “I thought you hated sets.”
The cold hand in mine twitched.
Bish didn’t know the whole story about why I avoided sets. The only people who did, and ever would, were Dad, Kirion and my therapist. I only actively hated one set omega. The rest were of no concern to me. Until today.
Bish went on to criticize me for my wardrobe. I had such great friends indeed. I barely heard him. My mind was already moving on to the next task at hand. Drinks.
As I led Cassius—I’d heard Klonis call him by that name—to the bar, the music stopped. I noticed the six omegas come off the stage and grab water bottles.
“Want anything?”
“Water,” came the monotone answer. Cassius wouldn’t look at me. It was ridiculous. Hadn’t I already done him a favor?
No. You did all of this for yourself.
My dragon, Malinekan, was not above being snarky with me. We’d had words in the past. But then, I’d had words with pretty much everyone in my past.
I made the bartender put a lime in the water to pretty it up. Not for Cassius. No. I did it because I could.
I dropped his hand so we could grab our drinks. “Don’t wander. You’re with me tonight.”
“I know.”
I found a couple of unoccupied lounge chairs with a low table between them. I set my drink on the table, then undressed. First the jacket. Then the turtleneck. Finally, my boots. The pants would stay.
Already I could feel the relief of the early evening breeze on my hot shoulders and chest. When I sat, Cassius stood unmoving, staring at me. When caught, his gaze shifted away.
I motioned to the other lounge with one hand. “Well? Make yourself comfortable and enjoy your water.”
Cassius sat, slowly bringing his feet up and stretching out. Here in the daylight, his hair was even more burnished, if possible, a mesmerizing molten gold. I forced myself to look away. The pool was full of alphas splashing, dunking each other, yelling and fighting over pool toys.
“You can swim if you want,” I said, glancing at Cassius’s wide-eyed look.
“No, thank you.”
“They look rough but you belong to me tonight. I wouldn’t let a single one of them touch you.”
He shook his head, staring past the pool at the expanse of lawn. By the far hedges, a group of alphas were smoking. And passing around white packets of what was probably cocaine.
I nodded at Cassius. “Interested?”
“No, sir. No more drugs, please.”
