Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
brEE
She wakes up in the middle of the night buried under piles of blankets to an ache between her legs.
It takes her a moment to realize where she is and what’s happened.
Cole.
Her mating gland is just as sensitive as it was when he made her come, and it throbs in time with her clit, desperate for attention.
She kicks off the comforter and lets it fall to the floor, followed by her pajama bottoms.
She’s hot, her cunt aches, and Cole’s scent refuses to leave her alone.
Her fingers play with her clit, rubbing circles and dipping into her core to gather the slick that’s gathered there.
Her nipples ache, and she twists one roughly, crying out before she can stop herself .
Her silicone knot dildos are back at home, so her hand will have to suffice for now.
But as she slips her fingers into herself, she thinks of Cole, and the way his pale hands would look spreading her thighs open. She’s sure only two of his fingers could fit, while she pushes three of hers in and lifts her hips, choking out stuttered breaths.
“ Alpha ,” she gasps, letting herself imagine and what she really wants.
And what she really wants is?—
“ Cole, ” she huffs. She thrashes on the bed, humping her hand desperately, wishing it was his cock.
Wishing it was Cole’s knot, inflating and stuffing her into place.
He would talk her through it, she just knows it. That sinful mouth would tell her how tight, how wet, how good she feels.
She comes harder than she did in his arms, lifting her hips as slick soaks her hand and bursts out of her, her juices pulsing across the room and soaking part of the blankets and the wall.
She doesn’t bother muffling her scream. She arches her back and cries out in pleasure, her muscles trembling as her cunt throbs around her hand.
When it’s finally over, white spots dance across her vision and she gasps for air.
There’s a mess to clean up, but for now, she feels marginally better. Her heart still hurts, and loneliness eats at her, but the rush of the orgasm gives her temporary relief from yesterday’s events.
She’s too tired to get up. She’ll wash her hands and clean off the wall in the morning.
Sleep claims her, and if she feels the sensation of a tongue running across her fingers, she’s sure it was part of a dream.
Maybe she didn’t make as much of a mess as she thought.
Once she wakes in the morning, the sun bright and shining in her eyes, she’s unable to find any stain on the wall.
Which is a good sign, because she can’t imagine the horror of receiving a cleaning charge from the property.
She also can’t find her underwear, which she swears she kicked off and should be at the foot of the bed.
Cole’s scent still lingers on her, even after she showers. Her mating gland is desperate for his attention, but she ignores the needy cries of her inner Omega.
She’s never been scent marked before, but there must be a special body wash she can buy to scrub him off her.
Guilt eats at her for how she shoved Cole away coldly and caused a scene.
At least now he’ll stay away from her, though.
She’ll just have to ignore his scent until it fades away, and she can forget about him
Her interview with Doctor Porter is only a few days away, and once it’s over, she can go back to her boring life in Holden.
But she opens up her emails when she’s in the office and her stomach drops.
Doctor Porter emailed her earlier in the morning, asking to reschedule their interview to next week.
“Shit,” she hisses, running a hand through her hair as she reads her computer screen.
He wants to move it one whole week from Friday, but she only rented the cabin until Saturday.
Of course, she could conduct the interview over video, but that would defeat the purpose of why she’s here.
This trip was pointless .
Tears of frustration spring in the corners of her eyes. This week is turning into an absolute mess as she starts to type out a response email.
But a notification pops up on her screen just as she begins.
It’s from the property manager of the cabin.
She reads it, then rereads it, not believing or understanding her luck.
Hello Breana,
We would be happy to extend your stay at the property for no additional cost. Our calendar is currently open, and you’re welcome to stay another week or two if you would like.
Just let us know as soon as possible.
The offer doesn’t make any sense, and she pulls out her phone and calls the first person she can think of to talk to about it.
“Hey, kiddo. It’s about time you called,” Carl says. “Did you make it up there okay?”
“I did,” Bree says. “But the doctor just emailed me and moved the interview to next week.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line, and Bree continues quickly.
“So, I was just going to come back and do it there, but?—”
“We can have someone else cover the dog salon, it’s fine,” Carl interjects. “Stay there and enjoy your time.”
Bree blinks. “Really?”
“Sure. You haven’t asked for time off since you’ve been with us, anyway. I didn’t think about that when you had asked me before.”
“Thank you, Carl, I appreciate it,” she says sincerely, smiling. “I felt guilty for leaving.”
“I know you did, but it’s fine as long as you’re safe up there. Are you able to afford the extra few nights there?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. The landlord offered to let me stay longer, since they’re not booked.”
“Huh. That doesn’t seem like a very smart business practice,” Carl murmurs. “Maybe it’s because no one’s going to Green Woods right now.”
“Maybe. I just don’t want to question it too much, though. It’s all kind of working out for me, even if it is kind of strange.”
“Hell, I mean, I wouldn’t object.” Carl clears his throat. “So, how is Green Woods? You haven’t run into any weirdos, have you?”
Bree hesitates. “Not really. Everyone has been pretty nice. I’m still in one piece,” she jokes awkwardly.
“Yeah, I know. You can’t fault me for worrying, though. I still don’t think you should have gone on your own, but I get why you did. Just don’t forget it’s okay to rely on other people now and then, okay?”
“I know,” she sighs. “So, you really don’t mind if I stay here a bit longer?”
“Nah. We’ll be fine without you. As long as you promise to call if you need anything .”
“I promise.”
“It doesn’t sound like you meant it, kiddo.”
She groans. “I swear , okay?”
“Good.”
After the phone call, she responds to the property manager’s email, accepting the generous offer.
She has more time in Green Woods, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as she doesn’t think about what happened with Cole. She can spend time with Darlene, play with her cat, and savor as much nature as she can.
If only she can get Cole’s scent off her.
It’s chilly outside, but she’s still sweating underneath her sweater.
Even the antique shop is cold, but sweat beads at her neck and gathers at her brow.
She knows her scent has grown sweeter—she can smell the way it lingers in the air, more floral and potent than ever.
It’s all Cole’s fault for rubbing his scent so viciously on her mating gland.
If Darlene notices, she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she asks about him as they peruse the shop.
“So, he took you out on the date, anyway? Just swept you away to Elmwood?”
A dark vintage desk sits in a corner, marked with an obscene price tag. Bree drags her finger along the top of the wood, imagining a new workplace in her apartment.
“Yeah, he did,” she murmurs, eyeing the fountain pen set displayed proudly on top of it. “It was fine.”
The set is in a lovely polished mahogany box with leather covers for each of the pens.
She picks the box up, then recoils when she sees the price tag.
“Okay, so then, what happened after?” Darlene asks, rummaging through a box of old magazines. “He dropped you off, and what? You’re never talking to him again? Was the date that bad?”
Bree sighs and fiddles with the lid of the box. “No, it wasn’t bad. But he kissed me. ”
Darlene turns to her, an eyebrow raised. “So, he kissed you, and you didn’t like it, or…”
“No, I did. But I kind of panicked.”
“Why?”
She sucks in a breath. “It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t all relationships complicated in some way?”
Bree huffs and turns to a shelf, eyeing the trinkets on display. “We’re not in a relationship. And you should be on my side, not his.”
Darlene chuckles. “I am. I just have a feeling about him.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“I don’t want to tell you, because you’re going to think it’s weird and I don’t want to creep you out.”
That gets Bree’s attention, and she turns to look at her friend. “What do you mean, creep me out ?”
“Like I said, I don’t know if you want to know.” There’s a glint in Darlene’s eyes. “I just usually have an instinct about things like this.”
Bree glares and crosses her arms. “Explain, please.”
“You know your scent changes when we talk about Cole, right? It turns sweeter.”
She blinks. “What?”
“Your pupils also grew wide as saucers.”
“So?”
Darlene narrows her eyes. “Do you really want me to say it?”
“You already said it’s just Heat symptoms,” Bree mutters stubbornly. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“If the mere mention of someone makes your scent change, you’re all but mated, Bree.” Darlene says it like the most obvious thing in the world, and Bree stares at her, dumbfounded.
“Absolutely not. ”
“Soulmates. Mates. Whatever you want to call it,” Darlene shrugs. “Maybe it’s fate. It happened to me with Kyle.”
Bree shifts uncomfortably. “Okay, but…it’s just hormones. There’s no such thing as soulmates, or anything like that.”
“You really believe that?” Darlene asks.
“I’ve never really had to think about it,” Bree says.
“What about with your exes? Did you ever feel that certain pull, as if you’re supposed to be with that person?”
Bree swallows nervously, Cole’s voice from the night before playing in her mind.
“You feel it too. The pull.”
She did. If she’s honest with herself, she’s felt it since the moment they met in the prison.
But she can’t say that to Darlene.
“I’ve never dated an Alpha before,” she says. “So, this would be new territory.”
Darlene looks dumbstruck. “Oh, shit ,” she hisses, her eyes widening. “So, you’ve never spent your Heat with one?”
Face flushing, Bree picks at the hem of her sweater sleeve. “I know. I sound stupid.”
But her friend shakes her head. “No, you don’t. Being with an Alpha is intense; I get it. It makes a lot more sense why you’re so nervous with Cole.”
Bree bites her lip. “I was frightened of how I felt…with him,” she blurts out. “It was a lot, all at once. So, I told him to leave and never see me again.”
Darlene tries to hide a smile, and Bree scowls. “What’s so amusing?” she demands.
“He’s going to come right back to you, Bree. If anything, he saw that as a challenge.”
She ignores the twinge of hope in her chest. “I doubt it.”
“Well, if he does, maybe say some of what you said to me to him. If you think he’s worth it.”
Fat chance of that happening, Bree thinks .
“Darlene, are they all this intense and obsessive?”
“When they find their mate, they can be. But if he’s ever too much, let me know and I’ll kick his ass or have Oscar sit on him.”
Bree snorts.
They spend the rest of the time in the store talking about everything but Cole. She gives one last longing look to the pen set, running her fingers gently over the leather case before heading to the front, where Darlene is chatting with the shop clerk.
Her friend’s face is stricken as the clerk looks between them.
“What’s wrong?” Bree asks, dread building in her gut.
“Another body was found around forty minutes from here,” the worker sighs. “Another murder.”
Her skin prickles.
“It was some corrupt officer,” Darlene adds. “He pissed off a lot of people, so I’m not surprised. But I would appreciate it if people could stop dying once in a while.”
For some reason, Cole’s face flashes through Bree’s mind.
“The Elmwood victims were rapists,” the clerk adds. “So…if they’re connected, someone’s got a vigilante complex.”
“Either way, I don’t like knowing that there’s a murderer lurking around,” Darlene groans. “Especially after what happened at the prison.”
Bree perks up, a thought racing through her head.
Could Erik Hart be behind this?
A murderer did escape Green Woods. He could be the one responsible.
“Do you think it’s the escaped convict doing this?” Bree asks, turning to Darlene.
Her friend shrugs. “I have no idea.”
The clerk shakes her head. “No one has any idea. Elmwood has a small police department, and they’re in charge of this newest case, too. They haven’t said much.”
“How do you know all this?”
The clerk shrugs, then smiles. “There’s not much else to do around here besides follow the news.”
“That’s why Bree is here.” Darlene motions to the Omega, who blushes. “She’s writing an article about what happened at the prison.”
The clerk’s eyes flash excitedly. “Oh, you’re a reporter?”
“A journalist. I thought the story of Erik and Ellie was interesting,” Bree shrugs, giving the salesperson a shy smile.
“Oh! Could I give you my opinion?” The older woman looks thrilled, and it’s difficult for Bree to say no.
“Sure.”
“I think they were in love! I think he charmed her, and she fell for him, and they ran away together.” The Beta woman says excitedly. Darlene’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Oh, you don’t think he killed her?” Bree asks. “Most people seem to think he did.”
“Of course not,” she snorts. “It’s a forbidden love story—I love it. And so what if he’s a murderer? I’ve fallen for worse, believe me. I have a feeling they’re somewhere in another country, living their best lives and having passionate, wild sex.”
Darlene and Bree stare at the woman in silence until Darlene breaks it.
“Okay, well, I think we’re going to go now?—”
“Nothing can stop true love, ladies. Nothing .”
Bree nods. “Of course.”
Who is she to tell the woman she’s wrong?
But as they leave the shop, Bree can’t stop thinking of Cole.
And when she heads back to her cabin that night, she takes a double dose of her suppressants, just in case.