Chapter 24 Kady #2
“Sorry.” I rub my eyes. I’m acting like a bitch, and I know it. I huff as I sit down on his bed, crossing my legs. The sheets are surprisingly soft. When he sits next to me, the bed dips. “It’s been a stressful day. And week. And semester. I’m usually so put together.”
“No one can be put together all the time.” Calder grins. “Trust me, I try.”
I manage a small smile. “Thank you for your help today. I’m grateful. Truly. Without you, I don’t know what would have happened to Larry.”
His expression darkens, but he doesn’t voice whatever he’s thinking.
“He’s safe now.” Calder’s nostrils flex as he inhales deeply. “But the Blandon Pack is getting out of control.”
“Usually, I’d speak to my dad about it.” I look down at the carpet.
“He can shut these situations down, but I don’t want him to know.
It’s bad enough that I lied to him about them being my pack in the first place.
” I wring my hands in my lap. “I shouldn’t be boring you with this.
It’s not your problem.” I gesture at his desk.
“If you have any assignments to do, don’t let me stop you. ”
“Your problem is our problem.” Calder’s response surprises me. “I told you, we’ve got this. We need to be sure that you’re going to be safe, Kady.”
“Do you usually care about your reporter’s safety so much?”
“Of course.” His gaze lingers on my mouth, making my pulse quicken. He shakes his head like he’s trying to jostle some thoughts from his mind. “Besides, I owed you, remember? You saved my life, right? We’re even now.”
I smile. “I guess we are.”
The tension between us intensifies, the air becoming harder to breathe. I rub my lips together, and Calder watches. I squeeze my thighs together when his scent becomes richer, the apple notes crisper and sharper than normal.
“I should probably see how Larry is.”
“Yeah, you probably should.”
Neither of us moves, our bodies having other ideas. An invisible force seems to be drawing us closer together. He leans in first, letting me appreciate the gentle curve of his nose, the pronounced Cupid’s bow of his lips, and the slight dent on his chin before his lips are on mine.
There’s an urgent hunger to his kiss that spurs me on. I nip on his bottom lip, catching it gently between my teeth and pulling a sexy groan from him.
I shouldn’t be kissing my new boss, but we’ve both passed the point of caring about rules and professional boundaries.
All that matters is being closer, so I climb onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and pressing my breasts against his hard chest. The bulge in his pants grows beneath me as I grind into him, feeling like a horny teenager.
His hands glide to the bun at the base of my neck, unclipping my hair.
“I’ve been wanting to see how you look like this,” he murmurs, peppering kisses along my neck as I shake my hair loose, letting the silky strands tumble down my back. “The prim and proper Kady Sinclair coming undone. Wild.”
“And?” I moan, driving my hips down onto him. “What do you think, Mr. Editor?”
“I think,” his hands slide underneath my cashmere sweater skimming over my stomach then up under my bra, “it’s even better than I’d imagined.”
Our kiss is a vying battle for power, like our strong wills physically clashing together.
He tweaks my nipples, squeezing hard. This is good, but hell…
I want more. So much more. Flames lick over my skin, going straight from my nipples down through my core while I rock against Calder, loving how hard he feels through his pants.
“Holy fuck.” He peels off my sweater before burying his face into the crux between my neck and shoulder, grounding me to the moment. “Your scent will fucking kill me.”
My inner omega preens at his compliment, languishing in it as I feel myself get wetter.
“I can smell your slick,” he groans, running his hands down my sides, over my hips then around to cup my ass and squeeze my cheeks. “So fucking sweet.”
I reach down, greedily jerking on his big cock over his khaki pants as he growls.
His length twitches as I unclip his belt.
I need to feel his shaft between my hands.
Impatiently, I grapple with his buttons and fly before exhaling in relief as I slide my hands into his pants to greet the silky head of his cock.
I slide off him and drop to my knees on the floor in front of him, yanking his pants down in frustration. His cock springs free, a bead of pre-cum invitingly winking at me.
“Fuck, Kady.” Calder grabs my hair as I swipe my tongue over his tip. “You’re so hot.”
“Kady?” Hale’s call cuts through the moment. “Calder?”
Calder drops his hold on me, and I jump up like I’ve been electrocuted. My lips still tingle from the lingering taste of his salty pre-cum on my tongue.
“We’ll be there in a minute!” My voice is two octaves higher than usual as I straighten my clothes.
“Damn cat.” Calder grumbles as he wrestles his massive erection back into his pants, but I can tell he isn’t serious from the twinkle in his eyes.
I smirk. “You like him.”
Calder stands, gripping my hips possessively. “I hope you know we’re not done here.”
A shiver of desire runs down my spine at his low rumbling words. I should want to get away, but right now, that’s the last thing I want to do.
I grin back. “Good.”
Before leaving his room, I gather my hair and scoop it back up into a ponytail.
Calder groans behind me. “Fuck, not the ponytail, Kady.”
I look back over my shoulder to see him unashamedly checking out my ass, so I make sure to swing my hips even more as I saunter out.
When I walk back into the living room, I find Hale cradling Larry, who has a bandage wrapped around his paw. The sight makes my ovaries want to explode. I’ve never seen a guy be so affectionate with an animal, and it’s adorable.
“How is he doing?” I ask, Larry instantly becoming my sole focus again.
“He’s doing really well.” Hale beams down at him. “It looked worse than it was. I put on a couple of dissolvable stitches to help speed up the healing process, but he’ll be just fine. I think half the red stuff might have been from a can of tomato sauce.”
“Thank you.” I reach over to pet Larry who snubs me and doesn’t seem to want to leave Hale’s arms. “For everything you’ve done today.”
Calder emerges from his room, brushing a hand through his hair, looking more composed than a few seconds before.
“Of course.” Hale holds my gaze with a deep intensity. “We’ll do anything for you.”
Somehow, I don’t think he’s just talking about the cat.
“I should get back to SVU now.” I sigh. “I’ve already taken up enough of your time.”
“You can stay a little longer?” Hale offers. “Have something to eat, maybe? I can make sure Larry’s okay.”
He exchanges a look with Calder. Their tense expressions and the way they seem to be communicating without talking makes me feel like they have something to hide.
I look between them. “What is it?”
Calder checks his watch, keys rattling in the door before Ezra and Riven come inside.
“It’s done!” Ezra declares with a grin. “Expelled. All three of them.”
Hale’s shoulders sag in visible relief. “Good.”
“Expelled?” I frown. “What’re you talking about?”
“I didn’t tell you the full story about what happened when I found Larry.” Calder grips the back of his neck. “You were already going through enough, but I overheard what the Blandon Pack were threatening and recorded it.”
“I took the footage to Dean Rivers,” Ezra explains. “As a member of the faculty, it’s my job to protect the interests of our omega students, especially when SVU is already under fire after the Gregory Grub scandal. All three of them have been expelled effective immediately.”
“You don’t have to worry about seeing the Blandon Pack around anymore, Kady,” Hale adds.
I tighten my grip on Larry. “You got them expelled.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “For me?”
“I told you we’d fix it,” Calder declares proudly. “Now you’re not in danger anymore.”
“That’s not all either,” Riven quips. “Ezra got his job back.”
Ezra shrugs, playing it cool but not able to hold back a smile. “I start again next week.”
“And Dean Rivers thinks you could get a restraining order, if you hand the video over to the police, Kady,” Riven continues.
“You shouldn’t have done all this.” My head feels like it’s going to rupture, unable to keep my voice from sharpening. “I could have handled this on my own.”
Calder frowns. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“You should have spoken to me first,” I snap. “I could have fixed this myself, if you’d given me all the information.”
Hale’s lips curve down. “But we wanted to help. You already have enough to be dealing with after everything that’s happened—”
“All you do is keep trying to help!” I explode. I know they’ve done something kind, yet I can’t seem to stop the rage from spilling out of me. “I never asked you to! I don’t know why you keep trying. Why you always seem to be there. You should have left me to deal with this alone.”
I don’t know whether I’m angry at them or angry at myself for putting myself in a position where they keep having to swoop in to save me.
I never wanted to depend on alphas, and look at me now.
Whatever I do, the Valen Pack seem to be right there.
The whole thing is infuriating: how nice they’re being, how good they smell, how gorgeous they are… meeting them was never part of my plan!
“You helped me.” Riven’s shoulders slump. “I wanted to repay the favor.”
His sweetness would make anyone feel like an asshole, but I can’t stop the tirade. Anything to help me feel more in control.
“Are you like this with every random omega you meet?” I am fuming. “Having to play the savior?”
Calder’s chest puffs out in fury, Ezra watches on with an unreadable expression, and Riven hangs his head.
“Kady, you’re not just a random omega,” Hale steps forward. “You’re our scent match.”