Page 15 of Therefore
Emerson’s office was laid out in an almost perfect replica of his home office, albeit a few feet smaller. He’d decorated the walls with more art in place of the additional bookcases he kept at home, but otherwise, the layout was the same.
I wonder what else is similar.
Kneeling behind his desk, I grinned at the sight of a locked drawer. This time, I had no intention of waiting to get it open.
Two pins and a few well-practised twists later, I found…an empty drawer?
“I didn’t expect to see you back on your knees so soon, Trystan.”
I froze at the sound of his voice, mentally praying it was only my imagination. Carefully glancing over the top of the desk, I spotted Emerson leaning against the open doorframe, keys dangling from one finger as he stared me down. He wore an amused smirk, so different from the first time he found me like this, yet my heart pounded all the same.
I cocked a brow. “Don’t s’pose you’ll believe I got lost on my way to the bathroom?”
“Afraid not, love.” He chuckled as he closed the door behind him and locked it.
Rising to my feet, I tried to appear nonchalant as I leaned against the back of Emerson’s leather desk chair. “‘Love’, hmm. When did we start with pet names?”
“Somewhere between asking for your name and discovering your second break-in.”
I looked around the room theatrically, gesturing wildly with my arms to distract from my eyes searching for another way out of the room. “I don’t see anything broken here, do you?”
The office only had one door, typical, but no less disappointing. Even a bathroom would have given me options. How the hell was I supposed to get past him without alerting theentire building? Just needed to keep him talking and buy myself time to figure something out.
My fake grin faltered when a photograph poking out of a manila folder on the desk caught my eye. “Oh, but someone’s been doing his homework. Never been popular enough to have a stalker before.”
“I like to know who I’m dealing with. You left before we could talk properly last time.” He took a few steps closer but stayed between the desk and the door. “It’s not here, you know.”
“Figured that out.” My jaw ticked as I cast my eyes over the desk again. “Do you genuinely not use that drawer, or did you empty it especially to tease me?”
“I know far more enjoyable ways to tease you.”
“That you do. Won’t work, though.” I smirked at Emerson’s confusion. His brow furrowed in a way that seemed foreign to him. “I’m back on suppressants. Took extras this time, too. Your scent won’t affect me again.”
Emerson laughed. Not in a mocking way, like he knew something I didn’t, but like he found what I’d said genuinely funny. I’d seen people stoned out of their minds laugh less than him. Fucker.
He rested a large hand on his chest as his laughter diffused into chuckles, then turned a charming smile on me. “Do you seriously think that some back-alley drug will stop you from being affected by my scent? I thought you were smarter than this, love.”
“I have no sense of smell. At all.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Hard to be affected by something you can’t sense.”
“You think so? Well then, let’s test that theory. Come here.” He held up his hands before clasping them behind his back. “I won’t touch you. Won’t do anything you don’t ask for.”
I hesitated for a heartbeat, then stepped around the desk and slowly approached him. He had to be bluffing, right? My heatwas over, so there was no reason for them not to work—even my cheap ones. Suppressants worked on people’s pheromones. It was biology. There was no way some alpha scent bullshit would have any… effect on…
Patchouli wafted over me. Sweet, musky earth with spices and a wave of vanilla, gently warming me from my chest. Soothing, with a tingling excitement that promised so much more.
Emerson didn’t laugh at my realisation. Instead, he took the final step towards me, close enough now that our lips would touch if I leaned in even slightly.
“Listen well, love. I am your scent match. Do you know what that means?”
I stepped back, my mind struggling to hold on to a thought.
Like a magnet drawn in by my presence, Emerson stepped towards me again, his eyes fixed on mine. Though his hands remained behind him, he was no less intimidating. “It means I am your alpha. Your alpha, chosen by the very core of who you are and by fate itself.”
For each step back I took, unable to tear my eyes away from him, he followed until my back hit a wall. He stayed the tiniest distance away, not quite touching me, but close enough that the heat radiating from his body felt like I was standing on the edge of a volcano.
“Therefore, your suppressants won’t work with me. I’ve had your scent and you, mine. We may not have claimed each other fully yet, but your body will not allow you to block out your alpha. I scented your icy aura and the layers of steel, smoke, and earth beneath it the moment you were in the building. You, my omega, cannot hide from me. Not when you’re the one person I crave beyond measure.”
My resistance melted under his intense gaze, like an ice cube thrown into the earth’s core.
