11. Vera
Vera
I don’t find anyone else in the house until I reach the kitchen and I’m immediately overwhelmed by chatter and noise from people who are cooking and doing other things.
The kitchen is massive. Bigger than the kitchens of most restaurants and hotels I’ve worked at before. It’s filled with large stoves, plural, some almost industrial sized ovens and enough countertop space for ten people to work at the same time and there would still be space left.
As I’m staring, an Alpha stands up from a table near the door on the other side of the kitchen and comes over to me.
“Should you be here?” He looks me over, amusement in his gaze.
Then I realise that this fucker was the head of the team who kidnapped us. I almost didn’t recognise him in his normal clothes, but his voice is undeniable.
I put my hand into the pocket of the robe and pull out the knife I swiped from Mathew’s stash on my way out of the room.
As he notices the flash of the metal he takes two steps back and holds up his hands. “I have no wish to fight you. I promise.” He doesn’t look amused anymore, he looks very focused on the knife in my grip. “Once was enough for me.”
The kitchen goes quiet as everyone’s now staring at us. It feels awkward, but also, this fucker is the whole reason I’m here…
“You’re Vera, right?” Another Alpha steps through the door at the back, also holding up his hands as he meets my eyes. He’s clearly an Alpha, but he feels softer somehow, his presence almost calming. “I’m Timothy. That’s Derrick. We work for Mathew.”
He moves his hand to motion to the others in the kitchen. “We all work for Mathew. We have no intention of hurting you or your Alpha.”
“No ‘intention’ of hurting us?” I sneer, glaring at him and then back at the man in front of me. “Then, could you explain why we’re covered in cuts and bruises?”
Derrick takes another step back, lowering his hands, managing to look both intimidating and sheepish at the same time. “Risk of the job, I’m afraid. Or, in your case, risk of being the job.”
I snort. Not able to suppress the laugh. “Is that how you usually run things? That sloppily?”
Derrick lets out a grunt as Timothy grins at him, then Derrick sighs. “We weren’t provided the full details, which we only realised when it was already too late. And I’m sorry for that. If we had been provided with all the details, things would have gone a lot smoother.”
I’m not sure if I believe him, but, at the same time, I’m sure that if what happened last night was normal for them, Mathew probably wouldn’t have the reputation he has…
“Are you hungry?” Timothy eyes me. “I heard that your dinner should be brought up soon.”
Oh, right. “I came here to get some bottles of water. I’m sorry for intruding or something like that.” Great, now I really feel awkward.
Between the anger over being kidnapped, sore from bruises and cuts all over my body and everything else I’ve had to deal with today, I’m not my best and I’m quickly running out of energy to act ‘normal’ around people.
Timothy laughs as he opens a fridge near him. “No worries.” He takes out the bottles. “I just wanted to make sure we’re not keeping you. I know Mathew can be impatient.”
He hands me the bottles. “I’m sure he’ll show you around the rest of the place soon enough, once he’s ready.” He grins which makes my cheeks flush. He clearly knows what we’ve been up to…
“Thanks.” I quickly turn around and bolt from the kitchen. That was awkward, way too awkward!
I take the stairs two steps at a time and slip inside Mathew’s bedroom. The room still smells strongly of our pheromones, but it’s not as strong as it was before. It also feels very comfortable and eases the tension in my body immediately.
As I step onto the balcony, I notice that Mathew is sitting at Caleb’s side, leaning against him as Caleb plays with his fingers through Mathew’s long dark hair, letting the strands run over his hands like water.
My heart twists for a moment, anger flashing —someone is taking up the space that’s mine— before I notice the troubled look in Caleb’s eyes.
Caleb looks up, giving me a soft smile as he moves his head for me to come over. Mathew moves slightly, glancing up, and then quickly sits up, wiping at what looks like tears on his cheeks.
I have no idea what just happened here, but Mathew looks wrung out, broken.
I put the bottles on the table next to Caleb and then walk around the large lounge chair, wrapping my arms around Mathew and pulling him against me.
He awkwardly pulls me into his lap, hiding his face against my neck as his arms are tight around me.
I release calming pheromones, hoping to soothe him, as my heart feels troubled, angry at whoever made him look like this, pained at knowing that he’s been dealing with shit all on his own for so long.
He lets out a soft content sigh. “Thank you. You have no idea how perfect you are.” He pulls back slightly and then leans in, his lips close to mine.
I put my lips to his and the kiss is electric, sending need and want through my body, right to my core and I let out a gasp in surprise.
His lips are soft and insistent, his tongue excitedly exploring my mouth as I try to keep up with him, his piercing running along my tongue sending even more sensations through me. He takes my breath away and fills me with life as I hold onto him as best as I can.
Next to us, Caleb chuckles, his body right against us as he wraps his arms around us. “While I’d love to watch you two make out, and join in myself. I think I just heard the door to the bedroom open again.”
“Dinner!” I pull back, looking into the room where Derrick gives me a quick wave as he and one of the others from the kitchen turn around and leave the room again.
Right on cue, my stomach rumbles.
“Dinner sounds like a good plan.” Caleb is about to get up but Mathew slides me onto the chair and gets up himself.
“I’ll bring them out here. The weather is too nice to sit inside.” He quickly goes inside, his dick clearly tenting the bathrobe and I can’t help my grin as I look after him.
I know what I’d like to have for dessert…
I’m woken up by an unfamiliar scent. I blink, fighting against sleep as Caleb’s heavy and warm body is wrapped around me, his drowsy pheromones and slow breathing making it really hard to wake up.
Then I realise we’re not at home and I remember we’re at Mathew’s place, in his bedroom.
Though, he’s no longer in bed with us.
I look at the door to the balcony and notice that Mathew is standing on the balcony in nothing but his boxer briefs, looking out, a cigarette in his hand. That’s what I smelled.
He looks troubled. His shoulders slumped, his stance hunched. He looks worse than he did a couple of hours ago when I found him with Caleb.
He looks so alone that it makes my heart ache, not able to stand the thought that he’d ever feel alone again. Not now he’s ours.
Carefully, so I don’t wake Caleb up, I slip out of his embrace and pad over to the door, my eyes never leaving Mathew’s form.
“Couldn’t sleep?” My voice is soft and groggy, but Mathew must have been so lost in thought that he didn’t notice me as he twists around, ready to strike me, before he realises he’s in no danger.
“Sorry.” He clears his throat, stubbing out the barely smoked cigarette. “Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.” He looks me over and gives me a soft smile, trying to hide his pain again. “I like you in my clothes.”
He reaches out and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me against him.
I’m wearing one of his button-ups, a simple white cotton one which is long enough to almost be a dress on me, and a pair of his boxer briefs, which manage to only barely stay on my ass. I prefer not to sleep in the nude and this was the best we’ve got.
“Maybe I should always dress you in my clothes. Would at least make it easier to make sure my scent is always on you,” Mathew mumbles, but he already seems distracted by something on his mind as he leans into the corner of the railing around the balcony and stares out over the fields.
He keeps his arms around my waist, pulling me back against him, making me lean against him, the movement so natural, like we’ve been doing this for years.
I stare with him out over the fields for a while, watching the clouds pass through the starry sky —no moon, so it’s quite dark. Slowly breathing in the warm summer air, filled with the scent of drying grass, flowers and a hint of Mathew’s pheromones.
Then I glance at the ashtray and notice that all the cigarettes in it are barely smoked. Most of them only lit and then died out on their own.
His arms around me tighten a fraction, his huff of a sad laugh in my hair sending goosebumps all over my body. “I know, it’s a bad habit. I need something in my hands while thinking, and the scent relaxes me. I don’t actually smoke, not really. It’s just the…”
He moves his hand in front of us, his fingers making various shapes, like there’s an invisible cigarette between them.
I reach up, sliding my fingers between his, holding on. “You can hold my hand. You won’t need cigarettes now I’m here. You can just hold me.” My heart skips a beat, surprised by my own actions and my face burns.
That was so embarrassing!
I have no idea where the idea came from. But the way he’s holding himself, standing here so alone in the dark, it makes me sad. It makes me feel like he’s always been alone and has had to face everything on his own with nobody there to care for him.
And those thoughts make my heart ache, make me wish I could make everything better for him, make me want to make sure he’ll never be alone again.
He pulls our entwined hands against my chest as he wraps himself around me, his face in my neck, his breathing uneven. “I hope you’ll still be mine once you find out who I really am. What I’m really like.”
I hold onto his arms, trying to comfort him, as my heart races and I can’t stop my tears.
How can I feel this much for a man I barely know? For someone who kidnapped me? Who brought me here against my will? Who could kill me without a second thought?
But I know why. Because underneath it all, I recognise the same fucked up determination to live as I have in my own heart.
Like we’re broken pieces that fit together in ways that could heal us or could be our destruction…
Only time will tell which it will be.