Chapter 51
Nika
I stared at the three bin bags full of his clothing.
I’m sure he felt my stunned silence through the bond. I’d been so far gone during the heat that I hadn’t registered how much he’d actually brought with him. The sheer volume of it. Standing here now, fully conscious and no longer running a biological fever, I was taking stock.
It was a little late to take the high road on hygiene given that I’d spent five days inhaling his laundry and at one point practically humping it. That ship had sailed. That ship was gone. That ship was somewhere in international waters and never coming back.
“You’re deep in thought.”
I glanced at the doorway of my sex den.
I meant my bedroom.
The heat was over. That was a fact. The other fact—also impossible to unknow—was that he was packing a magical wolf cock and I now had five days of evidence regarding exactly what that meant in practice.
I’d done things.
He’d done things.
The things we’d done together were largely unspeakable and some of them were probably illegal in several countries.
“Are you okay, baby?”
“Yes,” I said.
At a volume that suggested I was not.
Oh, very smooth, Bad Girl drawled. I have a reputation to uphold.
“Yes,” I repeated. Calmer.
He stepped closer.
“Everything is going to be fine. One day at a time. Remember?” he said, drawing me into his arms.
I leaned in without thinking. His scent hit me immediately—clean, fresh, earthy. All mine.
I rested my cheek against his chest.
His wolf dick was also all mine, but that felt like a separate inventory item for a separate moment.
“You know I can feel you through the bond,” he murmured into my hair.
My life would never be the same again.
And standing here in my demolished bedroom, surrounded by three bin bags of his clothing and one ruined bed—I found I was okay with that.
More than okay.
Because through the bond I could feel it—his adoration, his protectiveness, the warmth of him that had nothing to do with rut or heat or biology.
And underneath all of it, predictably, his horniness.
Some things were constants.
??
??
??
“Should we be travelling into work together?”
Since I’d refused to stay over at his place he’d gone home and returned to mine last night. I wasn’t sure about going into work in his chauffeur-driven car.
The hand on my knee tightened.
“We’re together now.”
“Shouldn't we report it to HR? I don't want to get into trouble.”
One dark eyebrow shot up in the air.
“Oh, come on. The cake was a one-off moment of madness. I never knew it would go that far.”
You did. Three bottles, Bad Girl said. It was glorious.
“I’ll inform HR,” he chuckled. “Are you coming to see me at lunch time?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll come to you then.”
I thought of the reactions on the floor.
“No. I’ll come.”
“Good.”
I shook my head but reached for his hand.
Work would be interesting.
??
??
??
His face was buried in my neck.
He didn’t want to let go. Five days of heat, one day to recover, and now we were back in the real world. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“I’ll be up in a few hours,” I reminded him.
“Why don’t you bring your laptop to my office? You can work upstairs.”
“Because I’ll be known as the office hussy.”
His head snapped up.
“No one would dare,” he hissed.
“You’ve lived on high floors for too long. Reality down here is different,” I said.
“We should have taken a few more days off.”
“It’s only a few days until the bank holiday weekend.”
He nodded but I could feel the hesitance through the bond. Something sitting underneath it that he wasn’t saying.
“If anyone gives you any trouble, let me know.”
“Sure,” I said, patting his cheek.
“I mean it.”
“Uh-huh.”
I felt his exasperation before his expression showed it. It didn’t stop him from kissing me again—gently at first, then deeper, his fingers twisting into my hair, tilting my head back. My eyes closed.
Thankfully the windows were tinted.
He finally released me and opened the car door with the reluctance of a man doing something against his better judgement.
It was sweet that the big bad Alpha CEO was having separation anxiety.
You’re his future, Bad Girl said. And he’s just watched you walk away from him. The bond is everything to him.
I turned back to find him still watching.
I smiled and waved.
Bad Girl didn’t say it.
But I’d miss him too.
??
??
??
So much had changed. Yet everything in the office was exactly the same.
The carpets were cleaner. Apart from that—nothing.
Here I was, back with my weird work family. The people I spent more time with than my actual family, which said something about modern life that I chose not to examine too closely on a Monday morning.
Only Carla and Francis were at their desks, both engrossed in their breakfast.
I sat down.
Yes, I needed normal after—nope, don't think about it. You're in work mode. I probably had work piled up for me.
You loved it when he stuck his tongue in your—
“Morning,” I said cheerfully, cutting Bad Girl off before she could finish that sentence in a place with an open floor plan.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Francis asked, waving her magazine in the air.
Carla gave me a tight smile.
It made me a little sad, if I was honest. I’d never done anything to her.
Not really—not beyond the cake, which she’d never be able to prove.
Yet she couldn’t stand me and there was nothing to be done about it.
You couldn’t confront people like Carla because they’d deny everything and somehow make you the problem.
That was a corporate world lesson I’d learned early and never forgotten.
“Much better, thanks,” I said, dropping my bag on the desk. “How are you both?”
“Help yourself to a doughnut.”
I examined the store-bought packaging and decided they were safe.
“Fine, thanks,” Carla said which was progress of sorts.
“What do you think about men with thick fingers?” Francis asked.
I looked up.
“Sorry?”
“This magazine.” Francis held it up. “She claims she has the perfect man but he has fat fingers.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t know why you read those. You might as well be on Reddit.”
“Good point.” She flicked her hair back and reached for her phone. “I don’t know why I’m asking you when I could just go to Reddit.”
Yes, work was a great distraction.
Until lunchtime.