Chapter 18 Kiss Kiss #2
I hear the front door shut from inside the house. Someone is here. I check my phone, but my agents are with Shadow in the city. Maybe it’s Emmerson.
I leave the nest to go find the intruder.
As I walk down the stairs, I hear him in the kitchen, and when I round the corner, I see and smell him at the same time. Boone. He’s got his cowboy hat on, only a white undershirt, and his blue jeans hanging off his hips. He peeks his head up from the fridge.
I catch his scent, and there’s something off about it. It’s usually that outdoor, sunshine smell, but today it smells like the harsh sun on a dry dusty day.
“Howdy, Sabbies, I saw your truck out front,” he says and then stands up, shutting the fridge door.
I sigh and sit on a stool by the counter. “What’re you doing here?”
“Ah, you know, just making sure you guys have meals whenever you make it home.” He smiles at me, and I have to turn my head so I don’t stare.
He’s so annoying.
Of course, we have meals. I meal prep every month, putting everything in the freezer.
“Wanna go shooting?” he offers.
I wave him away. And then loosen my tie. “I don’t have time. I’ve got to get back. I’m catching the next train out soon. I just came back to check on Shadow’s…project.”
His eyes reach his hairline. “Project?”
Boone opens the fridge back up and takes out two Cokes, then opens one and slides it to me.
“He’s been tasked with getting the nest together. It’s a pseudo-punishment for what he did to Ondine.”
I drink nearly half the Coke.
“What did he do?” Boone asks in that stupid way of his that makes me want to give him an answer. He’s so charming with his rumbly, deep voice.
“He used his alpha voice on her. Made her cry.”
I watch his face fall open in shock, but he’s got a smile still on, so it looks off. Like he’s happy this happened?
“She’s fine. I checked on her this morning. It was technically a violation of the contract. But Jake put a stop to that, at least for now. They talked, and she said she wanted to see it through her next heat. Who knows what’ll happen next?”
Under his breath, Boone says Shadow is a motherfucker. The two of them have never really gotten along.
I remind myself I have to get back to the city soon.
Freddie wants to attend this whiskey tasting at the Fine Bastian Club, a private members-only club downtown.
The building looks like what haunted houses look like, even with gargoyles, but it’s all legit.
Man-ho is a member, just like Senator Wong.
They both RSVP’d months ago. Freddie wants to approach him and challenge him.
He’s very confident he can handle himself.
But as his security team, we’ll be there for him.
Man-ho is a scary son of a bitch. I wouldn’t challenge him unless I was prepared not to make it to tomorrow. Freddie has every right to challenge him after he came after his father.
While I was lost in thought, Boone made his way closer to me. When I open my eyes, he’s leaning on the counter next to my stool, looking me in the eye.
“Care to talk about it?”
“No.”
He clicks his tongue, which just makes me look at his mouth. My breathing becomes a bit labored, and I look away again.
“Have you been able to spend more time with her? Ever since you yanked her out of here the other day?”
I immediately bite back, “And if I were even ten minutes later, you’d be all over her. Don’t deny it, you rake.”
He just takes my insult. “A rake? Did you learn your insults from old romance novels?”
Maybe. I do have a lot of sisters.
“Shut up.”
“What are you so worried about, my friend?” he asks in his cowboy drawl. “You look burdened.”
I make an exaggerated sound, then take a deep breath, then the words come tumbling out, “I feel like I wasted all this time giving her space. I thought she was just here to set Shadow right. Maybe bring our pack some balance. Temporary placements are common enough. They can be healthy. But things just keep getting more nuts. Jake is losing his mind. He’s absolutely crazy for her.
Shadow, goddamned Shadow, he’s getting worse.
And I can’t bear the thought of her leaving us after her next heat. ”
Boone lifts his hand, and I track it the whole way as he brings it closer and closer to my face. I hold my breath, seeing what he’s doing. He’s going slow enough I could swat him away, but I don’t.
He strokes the blade of his finger across my eyebrow and follows it around my ear, and then he tugs my earring playfully. I’m still not breathing.
“You don’t think you can convince her to stay with you?”
I think I’m going to pass out.
“I didn’t know…” My mouth goes dry.
He smiles at me, and there’s genuine affection there. He’s so close to me.
“I think I can help you. We can seduce Ondine, together. Didn’t we do good by making her feel relaxed when we went to the city? Maybe you should have invited me into her apartment then, so we could show her what two good alphas can do for her.”
No, that’s not…I want to reject what he’s saying, but maybe I should consider it.
Is Boone the missing piece? I have to look away from him to try to think straight.
If Boone were in our pack, would that make us a better option for Ondine?
I can’t even piece that together. Especially with him standing so close.
“I thought you turned Jake down,” I whisper.
He places his large hand on the side of my face. “You’re very handsome. When I first saw you without a shirt, I wanted to lick you from navel to neck. I’m fucking dying to get you naked. No wonder Shadow had a crush on you.”
I gasp for air.
What is happening?
He’s flirting with me.
“It’s a shame you’re so slow,” Boone says with a teasing smile. “But it’s also part of your appeal.”
I smack his hand away and stand up.
“Fuck you.”
He grabs my torso, and my whole body trills like the keys of a piano. I’m still, but I’m also about to freak out.
“Wow there, we aren’t done. I want to help you.”
I try to pull away, but his grip on me is tight. He lifts his chin, and he brings us closer. Our heights are the same. Our eyes are level.
“What’re you talking about?”
“I can help you with Ondine.”
I don’t need lessons. I know how to court an omega. I am actually not fucking clueless.
But Boone is confusing me.
And he knows me.
And he’s starting to understand Ondine.
I’m suddenly questioning everything I’ve been doing with her up until this moment.
“What exactly are you offering?”
He smiles, and our noses nearly touch. He loosens his grip on me, but just so he can start this up and down motion on my sides. It’s not horrible.
“I’ve had an omega. Bunny. Remember? So I know how to make her fall in love with you.”
I gasp. One of his hands goes between us, and he rakes his knuckles across my abs, over my shirt.
It sends shivers all over my body. I remember him talking about Bunny.
That was ten years ago, and she passed away.
I don’t want to ask him what he means. I don’t think I can handle hearing more about that tragedy.
Boone looks like he might kiss me. He leans close and everything, but he misses my lips and goes to my ear, where his hot breath adds to the chorus of incredibly confusing feelings. He says in my ear, “Is that what you want? For her to fall in love with you?”
My mouth is hanging open. He moves back to look at me. Our foreheads are nearly touching.
“I want to make her blush,” I tell him my secret.
And he knows it’s a secret because he doesn’t chuckle at me. He doesn’t look at me pityingly. He touches my face and brings me to his lips. The kiss is barely there. Because, honestly, I’m scared to death. It’s a soft kiss with our slightly puckered lips. Like a first kiss you’d have as a kid.
And it’s…confusing.
I’m kissing Boone.
How did I get here? Why was I even in this room?
Time no longer makes sense. It’s not part of this.
My lips are tight, and Boone tries to loosen them with his tongue.
But I don’t budge. I suddenly become aware of my arms that have been hanging limp at my sides this entire time.
I lift my hands to him, but don’t do anything with them.
My phone buzzes, and when I open my eyes, time resumes.
It isn’t a call, but an alarm.
I’m staring into Boone’s possessed brown eyes when I realize I’m going to be late to catch the train.
“Fuck. I have to go.”
“Then go,” he says, like I’m silly for not realizing. He puts up a finger to stop me, though, and rushes to the counter by the door. He grabs a shopping bag and brings it to me. “For Ondine.”
I snatch it from him.
I’m so fucking confused and horny right now. I reach out to the counter to grab my keys, but nothing is there. I twist in circles until I find them in my pocket, then race out of the kitchen.
I run to my truck and hop in. I can make it if I hurry.
A strange feeling of guilt comes over me.