Chapter 18
Ireturned later that evening, slipping into Glade’s cell to find she hadn’t got dressed at all. Still wearing no pants, she’d reduced her outfit to a lacy tank-top-like thing with cups that pressed her full breasts into obscene cleavage. Other than that, she wore a pair of black panties and a thin silk night robe.
I tried really hard not to stare as she peered up at me from the mattress with an icy smile on her face.
“Why are you dressed like that?” I asked.
“These are my only nightclothes,” she said, as if it were obvious. “Usually, I dress down, but Kyan packed my bag, so…” She shrugged. “If you plan on taking me out somewhere, you might draw a bit of attention.”
“Fit right in on The Strip,” I said coolly.
“Are we going to The Strip?” she asked.
I laughed. She’d sorely misunderstood the meaning of my earlier statement. My issue was that I didn’t trust Kyan one bit, and the spare key to this room was predictably missing.
“Get up,” I said.
She looked like she was considering ignoring me, but finally got to her feet.
I stepped toward her, acutely aware of the way she tensed, pupils narrowing as she watched my movements. Too alert, almost nervous—if I were to put my finger on it. Looking for an opening for a fight? Or afraid I would hurt her?
Strangely, I wasn’t sure.
The more time I spent with her, the more convinced I was that she was hiding a lot of fear.
Still, if she was looking for a fight, I was ready. She might have one-upped Knight, but he hadn’t had a weapon. If she wanted to try to bring it to blows, I wasn’t too worried.
“Hands out,” I told her, stopping before her and looking down into defiant chestnut eyes.
Again, she paused a beat, considering, before lifting her wrists to me.
I tugged out the cuffs Kyan had brought, keeping my expression painfully neutral as she saw what I had.
“What the fuck?”
“You broke our last pair. These will have to do.”
True to his bratty fucking word, he’d gone and found a pair of leather and fake fur cuffs. They definitely looked like bedroom toys, though Kyan had sworn they’d hold her. Alpha grade, he’d said. I tested them, too—trying to break the chains—but they’d held.
“Is this a joke?” she asked, tugging her wrist away as I moved to fasten the first cuff.
“For your comfort,” I replied, like this was my idea.
Fucking prick.
“One mention of heat, and you pull out your toys?” she asked, disgust twisting her expression. “Are they used?”
I cocked my head, watching the feral flash in her eyes.
There it was again. A territorial claim she didn’t have a right to. She thought I was bringing her a sex toy I’d used with another woman?
Damn.
Well, if she wanted to make her own life harder.
“Wrists.”
Those perfect round lips pursed in rage and her chest heaved. It was almost impossible for me to keep my eyes on hers with the way that top cupped her breasts, and her scent of cream cardamom became deadly at that moment.
For a second, all I could think of was sliding my hand around that pretty neck and pressing my lips to hers.
Both of my pack mates had. I was the only one who?—
No.
Focus.
Knight couldn’t handle her, and Kyan would blow up all the progress he’d made in the last few years if I let him at her. But for me, this wasn’t even the beginning—not even the tip of the iceberg. I couldn’t be losing myself right now.
“I will pin you down,” I said with absolute calm, as if the visual didn’t send boiling hot lava through my veins.
Word choice.
With absolute fury, she lifted her hands and let me fix the cuffs on. Unlike regular sex toys, these didn’t have belt latches. They locked like regular cuffs. And I had my key tucked into my pillowcase.
I turned from her, happy to avoid looking at her as much as possible as I tugged her to the door, unlocking it. I made sure to keep her on my left side so Knight and Kyan would not have a view of what she’d chosen to wear as I led her across the living room.
In a wild moment, I couldn’t believe I was doing this. How had this become the best option?
“Where are we going?” she hissed as I opened my door and pushed her in. I didn’t answer, slamming the door behind me.
“Zed.” She spun on me, clearly realising we were in my bedroom. “What the hell?”
“I can’t control Kyan,” I told her.
“This is your solution?”
“Would you like him creeping into your cell in the middle of the night?” I asked, fist still tight around the chain as I dragged her to my bed.
“More than I want to be cuffed with you like some kind of?—”
“Don’tflatter yourself,” I snorted, not looking her way as I reached down to find the thick wire loop secured with a number lock attached to the frame. “Besides, I told you, if you fucked around you’d sleep chained to the foot of my bed.” Well, this was the head, not the foot, but I needed her in eyesight. Though, having her in eyesight had been the plan before I’d seen the insane outfit she’d decided to wear. Now, I was rethinking it.
Clearly realising what I was about to do, she threw her weight against me viciously. “This is stupid,” she hissed.
“You trying to escape by pretending to be in heat was stupid.”
“Fuck you—!” she snarled as I dragged her toward the headboard. “Wait. What…?” She seemed to be scrambling wildly for an out. “What if I need to pee?”
“Do you?”
“No.”
I flashed her a smile before throwing my weight into dragging the chain to the wire. “Then you’ll have to wake me up, Little Devil.” I almost winced, regretting the nickname the moment I’d used it. Too familiar. But she was so pissed she didn’t seem to notice.
“No, just—Fuck!” She let out a hiss of fury as I closed the lock around the metal chain.
I let go of her at last, straightening to examine my work. A huge mistake, since I’d dragged her curvy-as-fuck Omega body into a position that kind of resembled presentation.
Well. There went any hope of unsinful dreams for the next goddamned year.
Luckily, she turned quickly, snuffing out the flash of lust by kicking out and almost catching my nuts before I jumped back.
I grinned. “Good luck getting out of that.”
“Good luck sleeping,” she spat.
“Bed’s big enough,” I said with a shrug, heading for the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for sleep.
By the time I was done, my brain must have reset, because walking out and seeing her lying on my sheets, arms trapped above her head, chest heaving and eyes flashing with hatred was like being hit with a truck.
Why was she so goddamned hot?
I saw Omegas all the time—we lived in Vegas, for fuck’s sake. There was no shortage of sexy women.
I never even noticed them, though. She was like a brand, burned into my brain, a bright outline in the pitch black.
Fucking scent matches should not be this potent.
My skin was even reacting, palms prickling from where I’d brushed her, like she was calling to me. As if every touch was made of a million whispers waiting to follow me all the way to my dreams.
I slipped under my blankets, ignoring her furious-cute little growl as I did. She shifted, trying to kick me, but only managed to brush me with her toes. “Too short,” I chuckled, shutting my lamp off, and trying to ignore how thick the air was with dark cream cardamom.