Chapter Two
Isley
Isley trudged up the steps of the private jet feeling eyes boring into him. He didn’t so much as glance back to see who it was. He could single out Laken’s aftershave and his own animal’s scent wafting from Laken’s skin after it had marked the alpha while he was asleep.
So not thinking about that!
Why not? It was fun.
For you! And no, we are not talking about how naughty you were.
We were.
Isley had to refrain himself from arguing back because he had taken to doing it aloud, which wasn’t ideal when he’d been sharing a tiny cabin for a week with Laken. Things had headed south the very first night.
“The beds are too close together. How am I supposed to move in here!”
Isley eyed the beds and the small gap between them.
Laken had a point but Isley was doing his best to make the most of the situation.
The day had been long, and his body ached in ways that yoga never prepared him for.
All he wanted was a hot shower and to lie down on a flat surface to get some sleep.
“Carefully?” he supplied, grabbing his shower bag and heading to the bathroom, which thankfully had a lockable door.
As he shut the door, Laken muttered, “Exactly that!”
More than a little miffed at the attitude when he was in the same situation, Isley took his time showering. It wasn’t like he wanted to share. What if Laken snored? Isley liked quiet when he slept.
Do you think he’ll sleep in the nude?
Isley grunted at his animal. Stop it. He’s not interested in us.
Yes, he is. I notice way more than you. That man needs an introduction to me.
Not on your life. Isley was adamant that was not happening.
We’ll see.
Isley ignored the threat and jerked under the hot spray at the knock on the door.
“Don’t waste all the water!”
“Yes your highness,” he muttered under his breath.
Minutes later, towel draped around his hips, he sauntered out of the shower on a billow of steam and gave Laken a chirpy smile. “All yours.”
Laken’s turbulent gray eyes lingered on Isley’s chest, making it impossible not to fidget.
A tension built until the air crackled with it, and Isley’s skin buzzed as if he’d been shocked.
His belly clenched as Laken took a step towards him, wearing a look of pure lust. Pulse hammering through him, Isley stiffened in anticipation of Laken’s touch.
Finally he thought. Then, as if coming out of a trance, Laken visibly shook himself and spun around, heading into the bathroom to slam the door behind him, the sound of the lock loud in the silence of the room.
Isley deflated and sank onto the single bed.
See, he wants us.
He ran away, Isley pointed out sulkily. The man was insufferable.
It’s fine I’ve got a plan.
Those words rang through Isley’s head at just what that plan had been and the argument that had ensued when he’d found out.
He’d been asleep when his animal had stirred and shifted, flying over to Laken’s bed to stick its tiny paws in between the parted lips and mark the mucous membranes so Laken couldn’t wash the scent off.
The audacity of it! Isley wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or terrified.
The man had subsequently been Isley’s shadow all week, giving him that incomprehensible stare, expecting Isley to interrupt it when he wasn’t ignoring him.
He wasn’t a mind reader, although he did wish he was.
It would have helped him to find out what was going on behind Laken’s impenetrable mask.
The incident on the first night hadn’t happened again and Laken, if anything, had been more distant than ever. Was that because of…
Thought we weren’t thinking about that?
His animal was all smug satisfaction, and Isley rolled his eyes, ignoring it.
Whoever had thought sharing cabins on Silas Starling’s ranch for a week was a good idea was insane. They were also to blame for Isley’s current situation.
Team building! If they thought it would help the PAs and alphas, they’d gotten that wrong as far as him and his alpha were concerned.
The only team Laken built was a one man one.
It was infuriating when Isley tried his damndest to be perfect for the overachieving ass.
Why? He was questioning that on an hourly basis of late.
Whatever he did for Mr High and Mighty was never enough to even crack a smile or get a grunt of thanks most days.
Building a head of steam, he took his seat near the other PAs he worked with, all of whom he considered his close friends.
He resisted transferring his attention to where the eight brothers congregated down the far end of the plane.
They made an impressive bunch and dressed in casual cowboy wear, they were a wet dream.
And though Laken, Booker, Rue, Jupiter, and Taylin were all adopted, and looked nothing like Silas, Kari and Kodi, Derick and Lane’s biological sons, no one would really know it from their behavior.
Everything about them spoke of family. Of connection. Respect. Love.
Isley had been intrigued how the week would pan out with them all being together in the same place. It was everything he experienced with his own brothers. Ribbing, laughter, joking around and some high jinx thrown in by Jupiter.
Jupiter had only lasted one night in the cabin with Wilder before throwing a ‘hissy fit’.
Wilder’s words. It somehow didn’t alter the dynamics between the brothers because Jupiter was most definitely the wind-up merchant of the bunch.
Wilder had speculated that Jupiter was just after a shag with Ethan, Silas’s ranch manager, who also stayed in the big house where Jupiter had gone.
Isley couldn’t say why he thought that wasn’t the case, despite the flirting that Jupiter did.
The man was an alley cat, putting it about everywhere, yet Jupiter’s behavior seemed more forced than usual.
With no work distractions on the ranch, the ever-observant Isley found it even easier to notice.
Isley had pondered, on the many hours he’d spent avoiding thinking about Laken, whether it was to do with Jupiter’s past, which no one spoke about.
Lately, there’d been some weird behavior around the office after the discovery of the dire situation regarding the omegas in Drinkwater.
Jupiter had lost it in the office, he heard there’d been tears!
Whatever, he hadn’t witnessed it and it got brushed aside like it wasn’t important.
Isley’s animal side was super sensitive to emotions, it’s how they survived in the wild.
There was a haunted quality to Jupiter, and Isley sensed it more frequently recently, like it leaked out through cracks in the facade Jupiter presented to the world.
Family wise, Isley was lucky. He understood that.
Others, like some of the adopted brothers and even some of his PA friends, were divergent, and hadn’t had a loving, supportive family.
Laken was in that category, and Isley, when pissed, reminded himself of that.
The press had made a big thing about Taylin and Silas being divergent, but there’d been nothing about Laken.
Guiltily, he’d searched Laken’s history and found nothing before he was adopted.
His instant attraction to the serious man was the only explanation for why he’d gone back so far.
There was something about him that had called to Isley before he’d gotten to know him—as much as Laken allowed anyone at work.
He was dedicated to his job, and though he was hard, he wasn’t mean.
He had expectations, and that was okay because he got stuck in, rather than just expect others to do it for him.
It was an admirable quality. He had a soft side for his family, despite his go-to grumpy attitude.
Isley was relieved he’d not shared his attraction with anyone before he got appointed to Laken full time and had to endure the icy barrier he placed between them. It made Isley feel like he had some form of contagious disease.
He’s got a part of us in him now.
Least said about that the better!
Isley didn’t want to look any more foolish than he felt if anyone found out what they’d done. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long for it to work through Laken’s body.
You know that isn’t going to happen.
He tuned his animal out and focused on the conversation going on around him as they readied for take off, needing a distraction.
Listening to his friends, Isley’s gaze swept the plane as he nodded at something Wilder said.
Whenever they traveled, they used the private jet, which had a cabin at the back of the plane with an enormous bed for long distance trips.
The main cabin had plush leather seats that were so much better than the cramped seating in economy class on a normal plane.
Food came on crockery and not in small plastic containers covered in foil.
It actually tasted like food, too, not just bland slop.
Originally, Isley had found switching between which brother he worked with depending on the work required a great way to learn all the business, as well as the brothers themselves. It was a great challenge, one that he loved…or rather, had loved.
Isn't working with Laken what you love? his animal said slyly.
Not listening.
He cast a quick glance at Laken and, for a second, was entranced by the way the light coming through the cabin window caught the silver strands in his dark hair, making it glint like polished metal.
Then those intelligent, turbulent gray eyes glanced up from whatever he was reading and held Isley captive, like a churning sea tossing him around.
“Do you think we will have to go into the office today?”
Monty’s question brought Isley out of his stare off and he blushed self-consciously. His lips puffed out at the air forcibly leaving his mouth, earning him a questioning look from Ziggy.
“’Cause we did all those extra hours, Booker said we get the afternoon free. I’m ready for some Emmy cuddles,” Frey answered excitedly.
“Do you think she missed you?” Bowie questioned solemnly.