27. Dominic
Chapter 27
Dominic
“So we’re going to be shifting around some of our man power,” I say, standing at the front of the room. “We have more clients who want to bring their businesses into the twenty first century finally, so we’re going to see a large shift of work for the cloud based side of things. We’ll be taking some other things off their plates so they can focus exclusively on that.”
The rest of the team is seated around the table, some of them nodding along, most of them taking notes as they listen to what I’m saying.
Tristan and Xavier are there too, seated toward the back in case their input is needed.
“Now,” I continue. “With that is going to mean an influx of people who need our security features even more. Think of trying to get your grandma to stop giving her password to everyone who asks for it. It’s going to be like that. But we’re going to do things in waves, so no one gets overwhelmed. Some clients are going to want it all at once, but they’re just going to have to?—”
I cut off when I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. It keeps buzzing, so it’s more than a text or an email notification, and I make a face, pulling it out.
I’m about to reject the call, when I realize it’s Penelope calling.
I told her to call if she needed anything, and usually she would ignore instructions like that and just suffer through it on her own, so if she’s calling me now, there has to actually be a problem.
“Excuse me for a second,” I tell the room at large and step over to one of the corners to take the call. “Penelope,” I say.
“Dominic,” she chokes out. “Thank fuck, oh my god?—”
She’s clearly distressed, and my chest tightens at the sound of her voice sounding so broken and unlike herself.
My eyes flick back to the team. “Get out,” I say, commanding and leaving no room for argument. “Now.”
People scramble to obey. Even without trying, I’ve put on the mantle of Alpha, and it radiates through the entire room. When I speak like this, no one in this office would dare stand up to me.
Well, almost no one. Xavier and Tristan haven’t left the room, and instead they get to their feet, coming closer. I barely spare them a glance as I go back to the phone call, putting it on speaker so they can hear.
“Dominic?” Penelope asks. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here,” I say. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
“I’m—” Her voice chokes off and she takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I feel terrible. I’m in heat, and it’s so—it’s so fucking much. The toys aren’t… they’re not… Dominic, please. I just need… I need something, I can’t?—”
She’s babbling, and that speaks to how distressed she is. We thought the toys and other accessories we got for her would be enough to get her through a heat on her own, but clearly, we were wrong. She sounds wrecked.
“Please, come back,” she says. She’s practically sobbing now. “Please. I know you have stuff to do, but I need… I need you. Please help me, I can’t do this alone. Please, I can’t, I need?—”
All three of us lock eyes in the same moment, and none of us have to speak. There’s no question of whether we should go or what we should do. If one of us should stay behind to handle work or anything like that. There’s just consensus, unspoken and instant, and it would be funny that this is the easiest we’ve ever agreed on anything, if any of us were thinking about that now.
“We’ll be right there,” I tell Penelope.
Her gasping sob has relief in it. “Thank you,” she whimpers. “Please hurry. I’m so hot, and nothing is working. Please, please, please.”
“We’re leaving right now.” I stride out of the conference room, not looking over my shoulder to check that the other two are coming. I know they will, and even if they didn’t, I’d go to Penelope either way.
But they’re there, walking in lock step with me as we stride down the hall to the elevator.
The drive to the house passes by in a blur, and Penelope is on the phone the whole time, begging and whimpering.
Tristan and Xavier look as serious as I feel, their hands clenched into fists. We might not be bonded with Penelope, but she’s still ours in some way. So it’s hard to listen to it.
“Break the fucking traffic laws,” I snarl at Jonas. “Go faster.”
To his credit, he doesn’t argue, just applies his foot to the gas and sends us speeding faster down the road.
All three of us are out of the car before it’s even stopped good once we pull up to the house.
I’m a second away from breaking down the front door to get inside, but Xavier is there quicker, unlocking it so we can go in. We tear up the stairs, following the pull of Penelope’s need, but when I go to try her door, it’s locked.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
I can hear Penelope sobbing, through the door and over the phone. She sounds so exhausted, so needy, and it calls to something inside me. Something that won’t let her suffer like this.
My instincts are screaming at me to go to her. To not let any fucking barriers get in the way and just get to her. This door isn’t going to fucking stop me.
“Hang on,” I tell her. “Just hang on.”
Xavier frowns. “What are you going to?—”
His words break off as I back up and then lunge forward, applying my shoulder to the door and breaking it down in one go.
“Holy shit,” Xavier mutters under his breath, and it’s hard to know if he’s talking about what I just did or the sight we’re met with in Penelope’s room.
She’s in her nest, half undressed. Her face is red and streaked with tears, and her hair is a mess on her head, strands clinging to her wet face. There’s a vibrator on the floor next to the bed, and the room smells like pure sex.
She’s clearly been trying to take care of her heat herself, trying to sate the need it fills her with and combat the intense arousal, but it’s not working. She’s in pain from not getting what she needs, and it’s clear to see in her eyes when she looks up at us.
More tears streak down her face. “Please,” she whispers. “Please, I need you so bad. It hurts. It hurts . Help me.”
All the urgency that got us here sort of bleeds out of me in that moment. Tristan and Xavier seem to be suffering from the same thing. We’re all frozen in the doorway, met with our desperate wife, a pleading Omega who needs us. We’re the only ones who can help her through this, and it would be crossing the boundaries we put in place to do it.
But the way she looks right now. The way she smells. She needs us, and that’s all that matters.
“Fuck it,” I growl, the sound coming from low in my chest.
I walk into the room, kicking the vibrator out of my path, and sweep Penelope into my arms.
Without waiting another second, I lean in, kissing her hard on the mouth.