Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Memnon
It had felt so damn fitting to claim Maya for the first time out in the middle of the fresh air and sunshine. And that afternoon, with the smell of her mixing with the scents of crushed grass and salt water, I’d vowed to make an offer on the Gary property.
By the time we both strolled back to the apartment, I was feeling more at peace. Not completely sated—I don’t think I’d ever have enough of my Mate—but calmer at least. My Kteer had quit its incessant, annoying howling.
I made Maya shredded chicken tacos, licked sour cream from her cheek as we both laughed, then carried her into my— our bedroom. After her fifth or sixth orgasm, I finally took pity on us both and drew a hot bath.
Gods of the ancestors knew how long I’d wanted to wash her hair for her.
Judging by the way she responded to me the rest of the night, she’d liked it too. This morning, I’d woken her with my tongue, and I now knew I was addicted to the way she screamed my name.
No, I was never going to get enough of her, but I was going to have a damn good time trying.
My chest was lighter, and I was breathing easier as I scrambled eggs for my Mate’s breakfast. I’d done the same each morning for the last week, but the pleasure I’d gotten from caring for my Mate hadn’t been enough to mitigate the fierce ache from the Mating Heat.
Now that I’d claimed her?
Well, let’s put it this way: There’s a possibility I was smiling. A bit.
I was already turning when she walked into the kitchen. Even if my senses hadn’t been keen enough to hear her, I was surprised to discover our bond was strong enough that I knew where she was and what she was doing.
Now, for instance, she was frowning down at her phone.
“Hungry?” I all but purred, placing a heaping plate on the table and taking a moment to press a kiss to her neck.
She hummed in agreement, and even tipped her head to one side so I could have better access, but she was distracted by her phone. And she remained distracted as she gobbled down the meal faster than me and pushed away from the table.
“I’m sorry to do this, Memnon, but I have to pop over to the bank.” She waved her phone at me in explanation, a furrow between her brows telling me she was worried. “I’m not getting any answers from the app, but if I leave now, I can be the first in line and still meet you at the park in time to start work.”
I frowned, not liking that there was an issue I couldn’t solve right away. “Yeah, sure. Anything I can help with?”
She shook her head, already collecting her bag and work boots. “No, but you’re sweet to offer.” Suddenly she straightened and crossed to me. “And I really am sorry to be running off like this and leaving you to work alone right after…”
I knew her well enough by now to catch her flushes, and this one was accompanied by a sheepish smirk. When she leaned down to kiss me, I gladly accepted.
“It’s no problem, Blossom.” My hand rested on her lower back, the slid down to cup her ass briefly. “Today we’re planting the groundcover around the oaks, and you can trust me to manage that on my own.”
“I do,” she said with a soft smile. “I trust you, Memnon. And I’ll be there as soon as possible, okay?”
This last part was called as she hurried out the door.
A little less peaceful than I was earlier, I finished my meal and cleaned the kitchen with a thoughtful frown. Maya was my Mate, and my primal Kteer was urging me to be with her, to stand behind her, to back her up in whatever fight she was tackling this morning.
Whoa, calm the fuck down. It’s the bank , not battling a grizzly. She’s strong and competent and can handle a fucking bank run on her own.
Although some of those bankers could be pretty snooty.
She trusts you to handle the landscaping for her company .
Yeah. Yeah, I could do that.
But two hours later, I straightened from where I’d bent over the coneflowers, sweat already running down my back, and wiped a soil-encrusted hand over my forehead. The knot in my chest had long since returned, worry distracting me from my task.
For the third time, I pulled my phone from my back pocket and frowned at the notifications. Nothing from Maya, but there were about forty-seven from Kelly.
Did the woman not understand the meaning of the word no ?
As I watched, another text from her popped up.
Honey, I have a planning period right now, I’m heading to the park to talk to you. MEET ME THERE.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Calling me honey ? Leaving work to harass me? She knew I’d be working here today, didn’t she? With a sigh, I swiped to the text, prepared to type a firm “Female, leave me alone”…but a new voice interrupted me.
“Well, it seems you’ve finally got your comeuppance.”
I glanced up from my phone to see the asshole from the auction swaggering toward me. What was his name? Geoffrey Harrison, right? He was overdressed in a suit and tie, looking out of place in the casual beachside park, and as I scowled at him, he clicked something on his keys that made a sports car double-parked on the street beep.
Asshole, indeed .
Why was he walking toward me?
Instincts born in the wild and nurtured by a decade going toe-to-toe with violent criminals had me straightening and slipping my phone back in my pocket. I stabbed the shovel into the soil at my side and surreptitiously flexed my fingers, ready for a fight.
I remembered what Karnak had told me about a drunk Geoffrey picking a fight with him, and part of me welcomed the opportunity to blow off this knot of anxiety while I wondered why Maya wasn’t here.
But Geoffrey was smirking, not looking angry. He came to a stop in front of me and made a show of examining my dirty clothes and bedraggled topknot.
“It looks like you lost after all, my friend.”
My scowl deepened. “What?”
He flicked his fingers dismissively at the shovel. “You won Maya Locklear at the auction, but it looks like you’re doing her dirty work after all.” Making a show of looking around, Geoffrey then smirked at me. “And she’s not even here to be impressed by your hard work. Thank God I didn’t win her.”
My fingers closed into fists. “Look, you fucker, Maya wasn’t up for sale or something. Her landscaping business?—”
He interrupted with a smarmy huff. “Be serious. Of course she was selling herself. That’s what these women do, isn’t it? They want us to fight over them.” When he smiled, he showed far too many teeth to an orc male who’d grown up using his tusks to kill prey. “And I’m just saying that this time, I’m glad I lost. Where is our little Maya, anyhow?”
That was it. Just the thought of this asshole laying any type of claim to my Mate was?—
Before I could throw a punch, something tickled the back of my brain. A knowing . My head jerked around, facing Seastar Street.
Maya was coming.
And she was upset.
Forgetting Geoffrey, I took a stuttering step toward Seastar, then another when I felt her presence again. Maybe it was her scent or the Mating Bond; all I knew was she needed me.
By the time she came hurrying around the corner, I’d limped almost to the street, leaving Geoffrey on the opposite side of the park.
“Maya,” I called as soon as her tear-streaked face came into focus. “What is it, Blossom?”
“Oh, Memnon, I’m so sorry I left you so long,” she sniffed, hurrying toward me and trying to wipe her eyes with the back of her hands. “I’m ready to work now.”
I grasped her hands when she reached me, forcing her to look at me. I searched her face and eyes. “ Dkaar , what is it? How can I help?”
Maya looked as if she was going to dismiss my worry, but then her expression crumbled. “It’s stupid,” she muttered, throwing herself forward and pressing her cheek to my chest. “I’m just frustrated. I can’t get any answers from the bank because they don’t know what’s wrong, and…”
Her breathing was too fast, her voice too high. I had to calm her down somehow.
With a gentle tug, I pulled her toward one of the benches. When I sat—the seat was comically low for me—she settled into my lap, pressed against me.
“Breathe, dkaar ,” I murmured, stroking her back and arms. She was wearing the logo t-shirt and work trousers again today, her hair in her simple braid. I loved how utilitarian she could be when it came to fulfilling her dreams. “Just breathe.”
It took a few minutes for her to calm, her breathing evening out to match mine and her tears to stop. Finally, she straightened and offered me a rueful grin.
“Sorry,” she whispered again.
“It isn’t a problem. I am your Mate and will do what I can to care for you. Will you tell me the problem?”
Her body language screaming defeat, Maya pulled out her phone and opened it to her banking app, turning the screen toward me as if I had any idea what I was looking at.
“My rent on the shop has been returned, see? Only it looks like this wasn’t this month’s rent, but the check I wrote four months ago.” She clicked on an image, but I already knew what it was, a screenshot of an old check. “The bank said it was never cashed, which is nuts. I mean, I told the old landlord we needed to go to digital, and the new guy never said anything, so I just kept the same system.”
Oh fuck .
Shaking her head, Maya turned off her screen. “Does this mean I haven’t been paying The Garden Shop’s rent for the last four months?” She turned anguished eyes my way. “And what does that mean? I can’t afford to be kicked out, not now.”
Floundering, not sure how to confess, I just continued to rub her back. “It’s okay, Blossom, I’ll fix this.”
“No, you can’t. Unless—” Her eyes widened. “Has your rent been going through okay? Maybe the new owner won’t—oh, damn, no, that won’t work either.” Blowing out a breath, she scrubbed a hand down her face and looked so hopeless I wanted to gather her up and fix everything.
You can fix everything. It’ll just require admitting you’ve been lying to her .
I winced.
The weekend had been filled with this argument running through my head—how to grow a pair of balls and admit the truth to her without pissing her off. But then yesterday afternoon happened, and my Kteer was finally at peace, and I’d totally forgotten what I needed to do to ensure we had a future together.
“Maya—” I began, but she cut me off, straightening in my lap, her chin jutting in determination.
“Don’t worry,” she announced. “I am going to figure this out. I will still pay you for your work.”
“I don’t want your money,” I grumbled. I hadn’t cashed the paycheck she gave me for the first two weeks, anyhow. Who used paper checks these days?
“Well, you’re going to get it, mister,” she declared, twisted to glare at me. “I hired you. You signed a contract to work for me, and I’m damn well going to honor it.”
“Maya—” I tried again, but she was shaking her head, indignant on my behalf.
“I don’t know who this new owner is, but I’ve got the bank working on it, and I left a message for Sami. She’s the best realtor on the island; she’ll be able to figure out something.”
Yeah, she’ll be able to figure out the truth. I had to confess, and I had to do it now.
“Maya, the reason your rent was returned was because the owner didn’t need it. Didn’t want it.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed dismissively, pushing herself away from me and wriggling toward the edge of my thighs. “I remember how scary it was when I heard the old landlord was putting it up for sale and wondering what this new guy would charge. Why would he have purchased the shop if he didn’t want the rent?”
I took a deep breath as she finally managed to climb off my lap.
“Because…” I swallowed and tipped my head back to face her. “Because he couldn’t purchase the apartment without also buying the shop below it. He didn’t care about the rent on the shop because he just wanted to be left alone.”
“Me sending rent checks isn’t going to bother him— oh holy shit ,” she breathed, eyes widening as she figured out what I was trying to say. “Your apartment, Memnon?”
Another wince, but I didn’t look away. “It’s mine. Simbel thought I was nuts to buy instead of rent, but I was sick of renting.”
“ You ?” Shaking her head, she stumbled back. “You own the building? The apartment and my shop?” Her voice was rising again, her breathing coming too fast.
Thinking only to help her, I stood, but she backed up again, shock on her face.
“You own the shop?” she repeated. “You own my business?”
“Not your business,” I was quick to correct, curling my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her. “Just the building.”
“Yeah, but…” Eyes wide, she repeated, “Oh holy shit, Memnon! I’m not your boss! You’re my boss! Some kind of secret, behind-the-scenes boss!”
With that, she whirled away, and I lunged forward, thinking I could stop her. But I should have known my Blossom was stronger than that because she turned back, her expression a mask of hurt now, her finger stabbing at me.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes,” I admitted quietly.
“Not outright, but it was a lie by omission. You could have told me at any point. It should have been simple. Oh by the way, Maya, I own this building, and I’m your boss .”
I wasn’t, not really, but it was easier to just grimace and agree, “Yes.”
“Holy shit,” she muttered a third time, pacing now. “I was worried about a workplace relationship, and fraternization with one of my employees, and obligation sex, and it turns out you were in charge the whole time!”
Eyes wide, she whirled back to me. “Was that—yesterday? Was yesterday just some kind of twisted obligation fuck to get me to?—”
I wasn’t sure what she was going to say, and I wasn’t going to let her finish that. Because if nothing else, if nothing else , even if she was livid with me for the rest of her life, she needed to accept the truth about yesterday.
About us.
So before she could finish that thought, I closed my fingers around her wrist and stepped up in front of her. I pierced her with my gaze and poured as much sincerity into my voice as I could when I spoke.
“No, Maya.” I pressed her palm to my chest. “This is the truth.”