Chapter 15 #3
“No,” Elena said, too loud as she scrambled forward and snatched up the dress.
Careful not to get anything on it, she ran into the closet, collecting a bra and new underwear.
Unlike him, she wasn’t so blatant with her nakedness.
Donning everything in the large closet, she came out to find her soft soled flats waiting by the bed.
She darted into the bathroom to restore some order to her hair.
Leon held her arm as he guided her down into the foyer. Then he paused, looking down at her with a look she couldn’t fathom.
“Do I need to put in my pin,” she asked, stammering as he just continued to stare at her.
“Not when I’m with you.”
“Is something wrong then?”
“When was your last heat?”
Elena’s face went cold as all the blood drained out of it. The food she’d eaten sat uneasy in her stomach all of a sudden, making her queasy. “I took suppressants, as you well know.”
“Not enough of them,” Leon muttered before he turned her to face him. Brushing the hair back from her shoulders, he tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “How long ago?”
“Three months,” Elena murmured, trying to avoid his gaze and failing.
She was due for another soon. Too soon. He probably knew that, too.
Leon grunted and released her in favor of taking her arm again, starting her towards the door.
It wasn’t the same guards as yesterday, and there were only two of them, but she spotted a dark sedan idling behind the SUV and she thought she caught a glimpse of black hair and a mean face.
The leader, whose name she never once asked for.
“The guards from yesterday,” Elena began before she snatched her hands away from where Leon took over latching her belt. “Are they to be mine alone or…?”
“They’re assigned to you, if that’s what you mean.” Leon closed her door, going around to the other side to haul his bulk into the car, making it sway. “Though after yesterday, I’m of a mind to change that.”
“What are their names?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“But—”
“You do not need to be calling them by name. I don’t care what your father allowed, but I will not.” Leon turned to her, gripping her chin hard to force Elena’s eyes to his. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes. Please, you’re hurting me,” Elena whispered as the two guards climbed into the front.
Leon released her, turning his attention out the window and leaving Elena to her thoughts.
The rest of the day was wholly uneventful.
Leon didn’t insist she model the things she purchased, made no comments about anything at all.
His focus was on the cellphone and tablet one of the guards had procured for him.
His only interaction with her was to hand over a credit card to the clerk as she stood by the checkout.
The guards lugged the bags of clothing to the SUV, and there was already a good pile which didn’t even include those that would need to be altered for her short height and small frame.
Enough so that Elena began to feel guilty for her new wardrobe. She avoided the fancier garments, opting for more practical items that she knew she would wear multiple times. Her choices were utilitarian, able to be mixed and matched into a whole host of styles.
Still he took her to more shops, waving her off into the racks as his fingers flew over the screen of either device.
Elena sighed, fingering the fine silk of an evening gown.
She wouldn’t need such a thing as a mated Omega.
Parties and social gatherings would be a limited thing for her now, and as far as she’d ever heard, Leon Marchetti was not one for large gatherings at his home.
There would be no entertaining his guests.
Turning away from the gorgeous dress, she pulled two far more practical options from another rack, reasoning they could be dressed up a bit with what jewelry she had if ever there was a need.
“Why didn’t you get the other one,” Leon asked as she brought the two dresses to the counter and nothing else.
When had he bothered to pay attention? Elena’s cheeks warmed as she ducked her head, trying to hide the evidence of her discomfort behind a fall of hair.
“I don’t need evening gowns,” she said, pitching her voice low so the clerk wouldn’t overhear her.
“Why ever not?” Leon took no such care, his voice booming through the quiet space as his stalking strides carried him to the long gown. He pawed through them, plucking one free of the rack to bring it to the counter where Elena stood waiting dumbstruck.
“Because I’m mated now,” Elena hissed, trying to take the hanger from him. “I highly doubt you’re going to take me to a dinner party.”
“Is that why you’ve bought so little?” Leon considered her for a long moment, not releasing the gown from his clutches.
“It’s hardly a small amount,” Elena said, uncomfortable as she realized he’d been paying attention all along.
“That is not what’s at issue here, little one. You’ll buy whatever you want, including this.” Leon pried her fingers from the hanger, offering the clerk a tight smile as he set it on the counter. “This too, please.”
Elena stared up at Leon with lips parted.
Not just for the fact he’d insisted she buy a gown that would be useless to her, but for the endearment.
No one had called her that but her father, though it was a common enough phrase.
Omegas were small, it made sense to remind them of their place by calling them little.
Yet she felt as if Leon hadn’t meant it that way. It had sounded almost… tender.