“About time.”
“He’s still wearing his pants. We should take care of that!”
Malin shouted some bad words and pushed water into their faces, then swam towards the steps before they could catch him. I could already tell he was the alpha among alphas, stronger and more forceful. And with less than their sense of humor. He wasn’t older or even prouder. I could tell he just didn’t want to play.
Malin quickly came up the pool steps with waterfalls coming off his darkly tanned shoulders. His pants clung to his shape accentuating the bulge of his crotch. Definitely a true alpha.
By the time he reached the lounges, he was still dripping, lashes glittering. “Get up,” he said.
I threw my legs over the side of the lounge, pulling the useless robe around me as I watched him gather up his clothes. He held them under one arm, then picked up his drink and downed it, the ice crashing against his teeth.
Standing, I left my drink alone. There was nothing else for me to take. My clothes were still in the changing room.
“Come on.” He turned away from me and started for the house.
“Where are we going?” I envisioned many bedrooms, an alpha taking me hard on a guest bed not because he wanted meor liked me, but because he could. He’d already paid. Now he wanted his money’s worth.
But instead of going upstairs, Malin led me back to the changing room. He never turned to look at me. I wasn’t sure he even knew I’d followed his order. With his clothes under his arm, he disappeared into a small ensuite with a shower and slammed the door.
I stood alone in the bench-lined room unsure what to do. My jeans and white t-shirt were strewn where I’d left them, my shoes kicked under a bench. Malin’s designer carrycase sat on a shelf by the door. All I could think to do was get dressed. For now, I was still Malin’s property.
I threw off the offending see-thru robe and turned toward my clothes. The door slammed open behind me, making me swivel and almost lose my balance.
“He’s already brought you back here?” Klonis stood in the doorway, hands on his hips. “What did you do?”
“I—I?—”
“Shut up. Get dressed.”
“He’s still here,” I argued.
Klonis came toward me. “What did I just tell you? Get dressed.”
I pointed toward the little bathroom. “He’s in there. I’m waiting for him.”
“I don’t care. You were hired for this party.”
“He paid?—”
“I know what he paid. But obviously you are misbehaving or you’d already be upstairs in one of the guest rooms ass up and getting pounded like it’s meant to be.”
A slow burn started in my stomach overtaking my fear.
Klonis kept talking. “Why do I always have problems with you? The others don’t mouth off or throw things. No matter howmuch that alpha has tipped, you have much to pay for when we get back to the ranch.”
I stuck out my chin. “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
“Nothing, eh? For one thing, you have attitude. Like that face you’re making at me right now. You refuse your medications which would make things much easier all around. Your heats are unpredictable. And the two times you’ve been bred we received complaints that you were non-responsive in addition to not conceiving.”
I knew I’d been bred twice but I couldn’t remember anything about it. They’d drugged me so hard I’d passed out. By the time my senses returned a couple days later the heat had left me along with any memory of what had happened. All I had were bruises and a sore ass to let me know I hadn’t escaped my fate.
“Like that’s my fault,” I sassed.
“And that mouth on you.” Klonis lifted his fist and held it about three inches from my face.
Instinctively, I reached up and grabbed his hand. I wasn’t thinking. Only defending. But like a mad bull, Klonis came at me, grabbing my arm and tackling me to the floor.
The bathroom door opened and to the side of Klonis, I saw Malin, hair wet but fully re-dressed, his pants still damp, coolly overlook the scene. For a moment, because he showed no empathy, I thought he might let Klonis restrain me and take me away. Instead, he slowly walked over to where we still struggled and yanked Klonis off me, tossing him aside as if the big alpha manager weighed nothing.
