Chapter 23
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Marigold
Idon’t know what I expected. Maybe for Reece to slam the door in my face or tell me to go home.
Instead, he stands there staring at me like I’ve fallen from the sky. The way he said my name nearly broke me, and suddenly, all the pain I’ve been carrying since Heath told me he was gone rushes to the surface.
“You left,” I blurt out, my voice broken. “You didn’t even tell me. You just…disappeared.”
His lips thin, eyes rounding with hurt. “Mari—”
“You don’t get to ‘Mari’ me.” I step into the foyer, water dripping from my hair and my clothes onto the polished floor. My shoes are soggy and everything sticks to me.
His eyes dart toward the hallway behind me, to the staircase, and then back to me. “Why are you here?” he asks in a rushed whisper.
“What do you mean, why am I here? To bring you back, of course.” There was no way I could let him take off without some sort of explanation at the very least.
His eyes widen in shock. “That’s crazy, Mari. You can’t be serious.”
I’m dead serious. Ever since Heath told me Reece had left, and I found the shed empty, something strange and unsettling has been rumbling through me. Every muscle hurts. There’s a dull cramping deep, deep within my stomach, and I’m nauseated.
I’ve never felt like this before, so lost and so confused, but it’s like my body is being affected by the things I’m feeling in my heart. And I don’t like it. At all. I need it to stop, and there’s only one way to get relief.
“You…you need to come home,” I mutter. “I need you to come back.”
A maid appears briefly at the far end of the hall with a basket of laundry before disappearing into another room, not looking our way, but Reece visibly winces.
“We shouldn’t be talking here like this,” he whispers harshly. “Come on.” He catches my wrist.
I should pull away; I should refuse. But there’s something about his hand on me that is like an electric shock straight to my pussy. It takes me by complete surprise, and I let him lead, running to keep up with his much longer strides and leaving a trail of water in my wake.
Past hallways, weaving in and out of rooms to avoid other servants, Reece marches. Pen’s place is like a maze, and makes even our country home seem tiny.
Eventually, he opens a narrow wooden door hidden beneath a staircase and pulls me through. The steps creak beneath our feet as we descend, and the air grows cooler and smells heavily of damp earth. By the time we reach the bottom, I’ve started shivering so hard my teeth chatter.
The basement room surprises me.
Wine racks line the stone walls. Dusty bottles stretch into the darkness, and there are barrels and crates everywhere.
As we walk further into the cellar, I spot a narrow cot made for one person and covered in mismatched blankets, and a table covered in tools, gears, notebooks, wires, and metal scraps.
My heart sinks. This doesn’t look like a temporary setup. This looks like a permanent move for him. He’s set up his life in this cramped basement.
Reece notices me staring. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
I’m not sure how to respond, so I go with exactly what’s on my mind. “Was there something wrong with your room at home?”
“What? No! Of course not!”
“Then why did you leave?”
He huffs out a breath. “I wanted to make things easier for you,” he says and lifts one of the fluffy blankets from the cot. “Come over here and sit. I’ll put this around your shoulders.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
“You are sopping wet and visibly shaking.”
“I’m not c-cold.”
As his eyebrows rise, another violent shiver rattles through me.
“Right…” His tone tells me he doesn’t believe me at all. But it’s true.
Actually, my skin feels hot and sticky. Like there are lit embers simmering underneath.
“Sit.”
Grumbling, I drop onto the edge of the cot, and Reece wraps the blanket around my shoulders. When I open my mouth to protest, another shiver hits.
What the hell is going on with me?
Have I already caught a terrible cold already? Or worse, the flu?
Fine. Maybe the blanket can stay.
Silence stretches between us, but I’m too antsy to let it last for long. “You lied to me, Reece.”
His shoulders tense. “Mari, we already talked about this.”
“No, we really didn’t.”
His expression becomes wary. “Maybe now isn’t the best time. We have to figure out how to get you back to the city. Maybe call Heath or Iris—”
“I’m not going back,” I say sharply. “Not without you.”
His mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
“You belong with us, Reece. I know I was upset, but you shouldn’t have just run off. If you felt like you needed space from us, then you should have at least told me.”
“I thought you didn’t want me around anymore. You know, after…everything,” he says.
“Why would you think that?”
He pauses. “You were really angry. And Mr. Moreau—”
“Luca?” I ask, frowning. “What about him?”
He freezes, looking around nervously. “I… It’s easier if I’m here.”
My stomach cramps, and I hug myself to try and relieve some of the pain.
“I need to stay here,” Reece says again but with more confidence this time. He pushes his glasses up his nose. “It’s what’s best for both of us.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want to mess anything up for you, Mari. That’s the last thing I want.”
“You kissed me.”
Shit. I shouldn’t have said that. Apparently, I’m having a hard time keeping my thoughts to myself.
“I know.” His jaw tightens. “I shouldn’t have done that either.”
But I’m glad you did.
I force that one to stay locked inside.
“Please believe when I say I wasn’t trying to fool you,” Reece says.
“You literally wore a mask.”
“The mask wasn’t for you.” His gaze swings to the workbench. “It was for Mr. Stockton, like I told you. That part wasn’t a lie.”
“For your invention. I remember.”
He nods. “People like him don’t listen to people like me. I’m only a Delta.”
The words land heavily, and I think back to what Iris said. About how things aren’t always simple and Reece may have been pretending to be an Alpha because of the way society views Deltas and Gammas as the working class. Beneath Alphas and Omegas.
And then I remember what she said about Reece liking me as more than a friend.
I hadn’t realized at the time that Reece was No One. Could this be another thing I’ve missed? His feelings for me?
“I listen to you,” I whisper. “I always have.”
His smile is a small one and sad. “I know. I thought if Stockton believed I was someone important, maybe he’d listen long enough to look at what I’d built. I don’t know. It seems like a stupid idea now.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you danced with me or kissed me,” I say.
His shoulders stiffen.
“No more secrets,” I insist. I want to hear him say it. I need to hear the words come from his mouth to believe them. I’m not sure what difference hearing them will make—he’ll still be a Delta and I’ll still be…well, me. But I need to know.
His eyes lift to mine, unsure.
“If we’re having this conversation, we’re having it honestly. I need the truth,” I say.
“Okay,” he says finally and walks over to the table. Lifting the little silver box, his expression shifts to something almost hopeful. “The truth.”
He draws in a deep breath. “I need Mr. Stockton’s help to make my idea a reality. I’m hoping with this little box I can help Omegas everywhere have an easier, less painful heat.”
That wasn’t what I expected him to say, not exactly, but I’m intrigued. “How? Is that even possible?”
“I’ve read every book I could find on Omega biology from you family’s library, but my knowledge is still limited on the subject.
That’s where I’m hoping Stockton can help.
But the thought is that if I can disrupt the receptor in an Omega’s brain that control the hormones responsible for causing an Omega’s heat, then I can reduce the effects.
All without medication or surgical intervention.
Just by an Omega wearing this device behind the ear. ” He holds up the little silver box.
“I know it sounds insane,” he goes on, “but I thought—” Stopping short, he glances at me.
I nod, encouraging him to go on. “I thought that if the discomfort of heat could be reduced, there would be no need for an Omega to mate with an Alpha. No need for a knot to relieve the pain. Omegas could choose their mates. No matter what denomination.”
He shakes his head, reluctant to continue, but I can hear the unspoken words echoing in the silence.
Reece not only built this because he wanted to help Omegas with their heats, but so they could mate with whoever they want.
Like an Omega and a Delta.
The realization leaves me oddly breathless, and emotion swells in my chest. I rise from the cot and walk to him, then reach out and cover the invention in his palm with my own hand. The simple connection between us sends jolts of desire through me I’m not sure what to do with.
“You really do care about me,” I whisper.
“More than you can even imagine.”
I brush the fingertips of my other hand against his cheek. His skin feels icy-cold against mine, but the contrast is comforting in a way.
He breathes out my name like a prayer. “Mari.”
And suddenly I’m pushing up to my tiptoes and kissing him.
The kiss is soft at first, careful. I’m afraid he’ll disappear like he did at the Ackerman ball, but unexpectedly his scent crashes into me—graphite, pencil shavings, everything I know that soothes and calms in a way nothing else can—and I ignite.
Tilting my head, I trace my tongue along the seam of his mouth, and he opens, allowing me to deepen the kiss. And at once the world narrows until there’s only him.
Another strange ache twists low in my stomach. Hot. Demanding. Intense.
My pulse races. My skin burns. He’s clutching my waist, and I can feel his need for me like his own personal branding.
A desperate sound escapes me, one I’ve never made before. And all I can think about is what it’d be like to have him rip off my clothes and touch my feverish skin with his fingers…his mouth.
I shiver again, my entire body vibrating, but instead of pulling me closer, Reece jerks back, breaking the kiss and panting. His eyes widen as horror and realization collide across his face.
“Please, don’t stop. Not this time.” I’m dizzy, still burning, still wanting him more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. “Please, Reece. I need…”
“No, wait, Mari.” His chest is rising and falling rapidly. “You’re—you’re in heat.”