Epilogue
Four Years Later
A s a lonely girl struggling to understand herself, bouncing in and out of foster homes as if she were cursed, Brinley had dreamed of nothing more than stability. She’d fantasized about a brighter, friendlier, warmer world in which she had a place where she belonged, a place where she mattered. Eventually she’d thought maybe she would play a part in creating that world, if only in some small way.
As a bonded omega, wife, mother, and businesswoman, Brinley recognized it might be unrealistic to say she was having any impact on the state of the world as a whole. But she had certainly found her stability. Even on the hectic days.
She lowered herself into the seat across from the stiff-shouldered younger female whose face matched the photo in the file she had skimmed not an hour earlier. Not that today’s all that hectic. Birthdays were always a little extra in their household. Lennox was over the top in everything and she suspected he was teaching their toddlers to be much the same. She was hardly one to complain, though.
Brinley cleared her throat before she could lose herself in reflection and offered a smile to the woman who’d applied to intern under a team of their more seasoned agents at Eureka Destinations. “Good afternoon, Ms. Todorova. I’m Brinley Mitchell, I’ll be conducting your interview today.” She paused just for a beat. “Would you like anything to drink before we begin?”
The other woman shook her head briefly. “No, thank you, Mrs. Mitchell. Ma’am.” She cleared her throat. “Tanya’s fine.”
Brinley kept a tight rein on her ill-placed amusement. She wasn’t actually more than a year older than Tanya, and having long-since lost her need to bother taking daily hormone suppressants, the awkward social dynamic between them was reversed what it would have been under other circumstances. Because one deep breath was enough for Brinley to be sure that Tanya was, of all things, herself an alpha—an alpha shifter . But Tanya was a civilized shifter, and in this place, Brinley had all the power.
Well, most of it.
Brinley pushed those thoughts aside, inclined her head, and dove into the reason they were both seated at the understated mini conference table. “I know you’ve been through this in your earlier interviews, but if you would humor me, I’d like to hear from you why you’re interested in this position.” Tanya’s education background was vastly different, not that Brinly didn’t understand how a person could be compelled to change career interests over time. It was still relevant.
Tanya nodded. “Honestly … it was my friend’s idea at first.” She offered a tight-lipped smile. “My best friend travels way more than a person should, and Eureka Destinations is her favorite company to use whenever she goes somewhere unfamiliar. Which is at least once a year. So when her bestie—me—was looking for a better work situation at the same time as she happened to hear about an employment opportunity opening up here, she more or less walked me through the door herself.”
This time Brinley let herself grin, just a little. “That is sweet,” she said, “but I’m forced to ask, do you want this position? Because I’m sure you understand, there are people who do.” She’d interviewed four just that morning and had another five lined up before dinner.
Tanya nodded again, sharper. “Yes, ma’am. I might not have considered it on my own, but sometimes we all need a push to see what’s good for us. That’s the benefit in another perspective. And now that I’ve learned about it, and paid attention, I’m very interested in pursuing this opportunity. That’s why I’m taking up your time today.”
Fair enough.
Brinley flipped open the slim folder she’d brought with her and proceeded to dive into the questions she’d prepared for the interview. It was her job to test the final string of applicants, and later she would sit down with the department head and argue for whichever candidates she wanted pushed through. She almost always won those arguments.
The hour passed quickly and the door swung open while Brinley was in the middle of thanking Tanya for coming in.
The alpha female’s eyes widened with visible surprise and her shoulders stiffened again.
Brinley scrunched up her lips and tilted her head back as Lennox rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’re interrupting.”
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You looked about done.” He inclined his head toward Tanya. “Thank you for coming in, Ms. Todorova,” he said smoothly. “Someone will be in touch in a few days.”
Tanya took the hint without argument and made a polite, hasty exit.
Brinley watched from her seat as her husband of nearly four years trailed after the shifter in order to flip the lock on the door. She watched him stride back to her, heat building in his eyes. “Len—”
“Get up on that table and spread your legs,” he said, voice low and thick.
Her eyes widened. “I have another interview!”
“They cancelled.” He stripped off his suitcoat as he spoke, tossing it onto the back of another chair. “And I owe you an orgasm.”
Her body flushed and Brinley found herself moving on instinct to comply with his illicit demand. “You’re going to send me into heat if you keep this up,” she said. She’d meant for the words to come out with a whine, but the whine was unhelpfully absent.
Lennox smirked. “There are worse things. I’m still hoping for a boy.”
Brinley swallowed hard, her gaze fixated as he rolled up his sleeves and tossed aside his tie. Not that popping his collar would spare his shirt. She tried not to get unnecessarily flustered at his ridiculous words, or dramatic antics, but by the time he shouldered his way between her knees she was panting and achy. “The girls would drive him crazy.”
Lennox chuckled and pressed kisses to each of her thighs. “My girls will love and adore any new sibling we give them, even a little brother who inevitably terrorizes them. Now”—he pulled her ass closer to the edge of the table and hooked his fingers over the waistband of her panties—“It’s time for me to give this birthday girl her next gift.”
It was all Brinley could do not to scream as Lennox proceeded to eat her out as if he hadn’t had her writhing for him multiple times that day already. As if he didn’t fully intend to honor his utterly absurd vow of one orgasm per hour from the time they got up to the time they went to bed. He really was going to send her into heat, and the last time he’d plunged her into an off-cycle heat she’d wound up pregnant.
It was a good thing they had plenty of space at home.
It was a good thing they could afford more kids.
It was a good thing she loved her alpha so damn much.
Lennox settled her on his lap after he’d finished licking up her release and sliding her panties back into place. He smoothed his hand over her hair and kissed her skin softly. “Happy thirtieth birthday, baby,” he murmured next to her ear.
Brinley laughed, still breathless and buzzing, and nuzzled closer. “You better knot me so good tonight, alpha, or I’ll be real grumpy in the morning.”
He chuckled and gave her a tight, lingering squeeze. “Even if I have to haul you into the shower to get you alone. Promise.”
She smiled. They did have two young girls, after all.
Brinley doubted very much that their activities were particularly secret when they left the mini conference room, despite her attempts at staying quiet. But she didn’t care. No matter how the world judged her anymore, she had everything she could possibly need—and her alpha never was going to let her forget it.
The End