She shook her head. Most times, she hid how sheltered she’d been. Occasionally it became extremely obvious.
“He’s paid to tie people up and give them orgasms, among other things.”
All the arousal in her expression fled, replaced by shock and fury. She squirmed on my lap, trying to crawl off the pullout couch—likely to go give Ambrose a claiming bite of his own. We didn’t need more connections right now, not when the one she’d given Dash had caused a mental breakdown all on its own.
I held her tight, forcing her to look at me.
“Does that piss you off?”
Her growl was my answer. I’d always been a hint jealous of Ambrose’s work too—but I was aware it was just work, and I didn’t have the same possessive instincts Kiara did. I’d spent years pretending I didn’t have feelings for Ambrose either. There was no room for jealousy when what we had was hidden beneath a facade of ‘just sex.’
A facade that was showing larger cracks every day.
“Do you love him like you love me, then?” I asked.
The tension against my grip vanished and she blinked at me. Confusion swirled in her blue eyes, and she didn’t answer rashly like I’d expected her to. The answer was thought out by the time she opened her mouth to give it.
“I could,” she admitted. “With some more time. I regret stabbing him.”
“Even though it did get you the dark bond in the end?”
She winced. “Yes.”
“And what about the others?”
“Mercury isn’t fond of me.” It was a non-answer, a brush off. “But Dash… I claimed him, and I don’t think it was all instinct.”
Not for the first time, I considered what it would be like to entertain this idea. Sharing an omega with the Loranger pack. I would have to join them, and that was strangely appealing for someone who’d spent so many years alone by choice.
I didn’t want to get my hopes up, though. If we couldn’t get Kiara out from her family’s grasp and me out from my mother’s, there was no chance of a bond with them. Even if we did escape this situation, there was a ridiculous amount of baggage between us all, and I wasn’t sure we could balance it.
“I’ll be on my best behaviour,” Kiara said, bringing the topic back around to the upcoming meeting with a pack. “You and Ambrose won’t need to punish me. I know what’s at stake. Nyla will stay in her sheath, but I can’t guarantee I won’t try to fight them bare handed if they touch you.”
I chuckled, letting us both settle back and be comfortable once again. “Thank you, dove. With you, I would honestly expect nothing less.”
THIRTY-THREE
LEIGHTON
My condo was cramped with bodies as the sun rose the next morning. Kiara and I shared my primary bedroom. Mercury took the couch, while Ambrose’s bulk slept on the pullout couch in the office. Once Dash woke up from his six-hour nap in my bedroom—thankfully without coming all over my pillow—he’d settled in front of my work computer and started typing.
He hadn’t stopped all night, it appeared.
An empty energy drink can was crumpled and tossed to the side, a box of crackers decimated with only crumbs left behind.
His fingers danced across the keys as he stared at the screen with a single-minded focus that I wasn’t going to interrupt.
I wandered into the kitchen instead, watching my cell phone like it was an explosive device and waiting for the phone call that would set everything in motion.
“Did you sleep well?” Mercury asked.
He was the first to wake other than me, his voice heavy with sleep when he met me in front of the kettle. I reached for the pot of coffee but he shook his head, turning on the kettle and grabbing a mug and a tea bag from my cupboard.
“I’ve slept worse,” I said.
Sleeping with another human being unnerved me. It was uncomfortable on a base level, and after helping Kiara fall asleep with my tongue on her clit, I’d struggled to fall asleep myself. The few hours I’d gotten had been fitful.
Mercury scoffed. “You’ve got a gorgeous omega in bed with you, and you’re telling me that wasn’t the best sleep of your life?”
