Chapter Twenty-Three
Dristan
My female is on a date with another male.
The words were burning in my brain, my blunted claws as extended as they could be as my chest heaved with the need to bellow in the fucker’s face. I struggled hard, reining in the primal reaction I was having, but it was hard.
Harder than it had ever been before. When she looked at me over the prick’s shoulder, her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected to see me.
Of course she hadn’t. She was too busy laughing with this fucking fuckhead.
I’d recognize the back of his horned head anywhere. It was Garrett . The slimy asshole had probably used his pretentious “ oh shucks ” facade to seduce my female into leaving the building. My phone had pinged with a notification when she’d scanned her card to open the doors to leave.
I hadn’t taken it seriously at first. I’d imagined that she wanted a bit of fresh air. As more than ten minutes passed without her returning, I’d pulled up the camera feed. Spotting the asshole Garrett with her, I’d been out of my chair in an instant.
She knows what she did .
I could see it in her eyes. The horror and the slight edge of fear. That emotion made it worse. She should be afraid. I was going to spank her pert, luscious ass until it was red and raw.
I strode forward, ignoring everything around me, the apex predator in me focused on the only thing that mattered.
Her.
She jumped up, her hands held up in a pacifying gesture, and the dickhead stood as well, turning to look at me. His eyebrows swung all the way up and he attempted a wavering smile.
“Mr. Everlock, sir. Did we take too much time? Did you need Penelope for something?” he asked, as if he didn’t know he was in deep shit.
Oh, but he will.
I ignored him, passing him easily and stopping in front of my mate. She blinked up at me, licking her lips as she did. That settled it. Even now, the sweet arousal in her scent told me that she wasn’t afraid at all. She knew what was coming and her body was softening for me. Preparing itself.
Good.
But then the prick stepped in between us. “Sir? Did you need something? We’re having lunch.
The rage that was boiling inside me poured out. He was blocking me from my mate? With a growl, I shoved him sideways, knocking him into the counter next to us. He was a big male so his fall was loud. My eyes snapped back to Penelope and her jaw was dropped open. I was about to take another step toward her when I heard an infuriated bellow from next to me.
Garrett wasn’t as much of a pansy as I thought. He ran at me, slamming me into the table they had been eating at. It crumpled under our weight and Penelope jumped back—away from us.
“Guys, stop!” she squeaked, reaching out to pull Garrett off of me. The male had one arm raised, ready to plow his fist into my face and she grabbed hold of his shoulder. He let her move the arm before gently detaching her. When she thought the coast was clear, he rammed me in the face with the other fist.
Even though I wanted to rip this male’s horns off and ram them somewhere unpleasant, I had to appreciate that he was gentle with my mate and made sure she wasn’t harmed when she foolishly tried to stop our fight. I’d be speaking to her about coming in between two males who outweighed her by triple.
Grunting, I shoved him off me, then grabbed him by the front of the shirt. One yank had him stumbling forward and I wrapped my arm around the back of his neck, putting him in a reverse headlock. He was off balance and by controlling his head, I directed where his body went. And I wanted it on the floor. He hit with a crash and I followed him down, pinning him to the ground.
I paused only because Penelope wrapped her arms around my neck trying to pull me off of him. We both stilled and I was able to lift her away from us and give her a hard look. “Stay out of this.” Then I turned and focused back on my target and punched the fucker in the jaw.
Penelope threw her hands up in the air. “Stop! Please!”
“He deserves it,” I growled. It was my turn to bellow from pain as he headbutted me. I grabbed my forehead for a moment because the hard-headed asshole had almost knocked me unconscious with that one. He tried to flip me to my back to gain the upper hand but I held firm, straddling his torso and hitting him with both fists. We were well matched, but he still wasn’t as strong as I was.
He was bleeding now, his cheek leaking from where my father’s ring had cut into his face.
Good.
I was about to hit him again—mostly because the fucker was glaring up at me the entire time like I hadn’t hurt him at all—when I heard a little sniffle from next to me. Looking over, I saw my female with her hands to her mouth, tears filling her eyes.
We both released sighs at the same time and I glared as I got off of the male and made my way closer to my female. Garrett was on his feet in no time, swiping his palm over the cut in his cheek.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she whispered, looking between us.
I clenched my jaw, noticing for the first time that everyone around us were all frozen and pressed up against the walls of the tiny space. I saw the owner—who I knew from the times I’d visited the deli for their phenomenal roast beef sandwiches—holding her phone. I stepped up, clearing my throat as I held out a card to her.
“Please call my assistant. He’ll reimburse you for the damages and loss of business,” I said in a low voice. The female nodded, taking it from me and then glancing at Penelope.
“Your mate?”
I nodded and she huffed, tsking and bustling away, muttering under her breath about orcs and their violent mating urges.
If she only knew.
Turning back to my mate, I strode toward her with purpose, ignoring Garrett as I did. I didn’t say anything, simply lifting her over my shoulder, my palm firmly on her ass. The little squeak she released made the roiling annoyance inside me settle a little. She wasn’t going to fight.
I turned, my hard gaze pinning Garrett. I watched as realization, and resignation all made themself known on his face. I stayed another few seconds, ensuring that he got my message.
He nodded slowly, stepping back out of my way. I gave him a low grunt of approval before moving forward, out of the deli.
Everyone stared after me, but I ignored them, striding calmly toward my building. I squeezed my mate’s ass and she squeaked again.
“Dristan, I can walk,” she murmured, her words muffled against my back as she struggled, her ass wiggling under my palm.
“Quiet,” I gritted and she stopped moving. My primal brain was telling me to find somewhere private. To keep her there and fuck her until she knew she was mine.
It was difficult for the logical side to be heard, but when it fought through, I knew it was right. I’d terrify her if I took her now. I needed to settle. I made my way into the building and everyone on the ground floor stopped what they were doing to stare at us.
“Oh my Gods, Dristan,” Penelope whispered. “Please, put me down.”
I lifted my hand, bringing it down to smack her ass and she yelped, but settled into silence once more. I stopped outside the security area, glaring down at the sphinx in his uniform.
“M-Mr. Everlock, sir,” he squeaked, stepping aside and allowing me to pass. “Did you need…” he trailed off as I passed him without a word.
“Dristan, everyone’s looking at us,” Penelope hissed and I gave another swat to her ass. She settled once more and with every step, her arousal steadily increased, her scent settling the fury that was running through my veins.
“M-Mr. Everlock—” the cyclops from accounting stepped out of the elevator, his jaw hanging low and his one eye blinking owlishly at me.
I walked inside, ignoring him and tapping the button on the control panel, staring straight ahead as the doors closed. That was when Penelope went wild, wiggling over my shoulder and kicking my chest. The hits were ineffectual and I calmly slid my other hand up her thigh—high enough that she realized exactly where I was heading. She went still under the movement and I hummed my approval.
“So you do know how to behave,” I growled, releasing her thigh but keeping a firm grip on her ass. The doors opened and Fionel smiled as he looked up, but his jaw dropped as I stepped forward, my shoes clicking on the tile.
“Cancel my appointments for the afternoon,” I told him, while he turned in his chair to keep me in his line of vision.
“Penelope, are you—” he cut himself off when I turned to glare at him. I closed the door to my office behind me, taking Penelope to the sofa in my office. I dropped her onto it and watched as she bounced lightly.
Her glare would have eaten another male alive. But not me. I was her match in every way, meeting her temper with my own fury. I leaned down, baring my fangs at her. My cock jerked in my pants as she did the same, her blunt little teeth on full display.
“Why the hell would you do that?” she growled at me. “You could have been seriously hurt!”
“Why would I do that?” I sneered, bending closer until she scuttled away from me, reaching the end of the sofa and unable to go further. “Why would you go out with that pretentious asshole? I thought I made things clear Friday night!”
“Friday night?” she asked, the trepidation in her eyes giving way to another furious glower. “What the hell does that night have to do with who I have lunch with?”
“You,” I stated, endeavoring for calm when I felt anything but, “are mine .”
Her jaw dropped and she was on her feet before I could get another word out. Her own tiny finger was shoved into my chest in seconds. “First of all, I don’t belong to anyone,” she spat, her nostrils flared. “And second of all, that night was a hormone-induced fever dream!”
My laugh was without humor as I grabbed that little finger, bringing it to my mouth and twirling my tongue around it. “You weren’t saying that when I was making you come, sweetheart.”
She gaped at me, her lips opening and closing but no words coming out. “Y-y-you—”
I didn’t allow her to finish, pushing her back onto the sofa. She tumbled over the arm and I tugged her legs until she was perfectly positioned for me to step between them. I watched her pupils dilate wildly and gave her a smug smirk.
Even now, my female was submitting to me. She might be sputtering with indignation, but her thighs parted with ease, her feet tugging me closer. I hummed with contentment, exactly where I wanted to be in the world. I ran a palm up her leg, pushing her skirt up until her lace panties were bared to me.
I released a deep groan. “I imagined you wearing these when I chose them,” I whispered, my fingers running over the lace gently, tugging it away from her. I heard her hiss as the fabric tightened on her skin and I let it snap back.
“Now, you’re going to apologize to me and I’ll forgive you,” I said as I stared down at her, knowing that she was already forgiven. “But then you’re going to suck my cock like the good girl you are.”
Her eyes were huge in her face, her shock amusing me more than I cared to say. “I will do no such thing ,” she denied, licking her lips and eyeing the way my cock pressed against my pants as she did.
I ran my thumb over her wet lower lip and grinned as she bit down on it. “Oh, sweetheart. You’re in for it now.”