Page 179 of Plug and Drain

“Ladies,” Arken greeted, hesitating before heading to his desk.

He halted in his tracks and did a double take.

Susie tried to hide her smile as she felt the warmth creep up her neck. He was staring at her collar.

A long silence stretched, interrupted only by Sarah rifling through a textbook in search of something highly important.

Finally, Susie spoke. “Yes, sir? Is something the matter?”

Arken’s gaze was locked in place on her throat, his eyes wide, eyebrows raised, as if what he saw upset him.

Then his expression blanked, and he was a mystery once more as he moved to his desk. “Not at all, Susanna. Don’t let me disturb you.”

By the end of the second week, Susie was able to walk to the bathroom unassisted, provided she took her time. There was no more radiating pain, and as long as she took careful steps, she could manage to get there under her own steam at a steady pace.

She explored Arken’s bedroom cautiously in his absence. By the end of the third week, she’d summoned the courage to approach his desk. She didn’t open the drawers or touch the files, but she couldn’t resist the temptation of a glass bottle of cologne. She unscrewed the cap and took a whiff.

And then it was more than a whiff.

She drew in a long breath, and then another. Her wolf senses catching every note of the masculine fragrance. It was sophisticated and vibrant, with zesty notes of bergamot and lemon that energised her senses. As the cologne settled, its depths revealed a calming lavender, followed by something earthy that reminded her of the woods.

It was divine.

A striking balance, but it was missing something. After all, it was only a cologne.

It was not him.

It had not reacted with his skin, blended with his essence. But it did remind her of him.

Had Arken not chosen to walk in at that exact moment, she might not have spilled several drops on herself in her haste to set it down.

He’d had the grace not to say anything as she shuffled past him, apologising and feeling her ears burn as she returned to bed. Arken’s cologne clung to her skin, and she could not escape it. So, she shut her eyes and breathed it in deeply, willing herself to nap.

Her embarrassment faded, but sleep did not come. Eventually, she sat up, feeling foolish and restless.

She was limited in what she could do. She still couldn’t sit for long periods at a time without her lower back throbbing, and it limited how much homework she could do at a time.

Instead, she spent most of the time reading. Her mind was still fuzzy from the low dose of pain medication prescribed her, and the textbooks couldn’t hold her attention—not even the controversial ones on Marmala’s recommended reading list. As for Zott’s prescribed reading, Sarah had not brought them at all, and Susie had a feeling it was intentional.

The air left her as Arken crossed the study towards her. She waited breathlessly for him to say something, but he only refilled her glass with water before moving away again.

She tried not to look disappointed or desperate. That was when she noticed a fantasy book on her bedside table. It had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

Susie ignored it, but asked Sarah about it at lunchtime. But Sarah swore she’d never even heard of the book before.

Susie waited until Arken left the room sometime later to look at it properly. Alone in the room, she flipped through the pages curiously. Then, she skimmed the first page, confident the story would not hold her attention.

When Arken returned in the late afternoon, she was engrossed in an epic battle and barely registered his greeting as she turned the pages.

She’d torn her eyes away ever so briefly and caught sight of his small smile as he sat behind his desk.

“Good book?” he asked casually that evening when she finally set it aside.

Susie exhaled as she considered her response. An entire world had played through her mind over the course of the day. Clashing steel, magical creatures, and the collision of two worlds whose fate relied on an initially reluctant hero with burning determination and undiscovered powers that were the key to saving them all.

Yikes.

She tried to push the fantastical visions into the recesses of her mind, but she was still high on the emotions of it all. It was one of those rare books that would stay with her forever, and she wanted nothing more than to pace the room and try to shake off the awe and giddiness shimmering across her skin. She needed fresh air, and to walk.