Chapter Twenty-Five
Ava
I open my eyes, and for the first time in days, my head feels clear and my skin is no longer on fire.
I’m sore, of course, and… sticky, but no longer in heat.
Mark is asleep beside me on his stomach, with one arm draped across my middle and the other wedged beneath his pillow.
There are dark smudges beneath his eyes, and his hair is sticking up at the craziest angles.
Poor guy looks like he’s been through it. I smile softly and brush a lock of hair off his forehead. He doesn’t even stir. Wonder how long he’ll sleep.
I wiggle out from beneath his arm carefully, easing off the mattress and making my way to the bathroom. I desperately need to pee, brush my teeth, and take a shower. In that order.
After I wash my hands, I look in the medicine cabinet to see if he still has the toothbrush and toothpaste I used when I was here last weekend. God, is that all it’s been? It feels like significantly longer than a week has gone by since I showed up here drunk.
Thankfully, he hung on to them, and I grab them before closing the cabinet. I get a good look at myself in the mirror, and I’m not looking any better than Mark. Although, the healed bond mark on my chest is a nice touch.
I run my fingers over it lightly before pressing them to my lips as I try to contain a happy squeal. I never thought I’d have one of these, and despite all the obstacles we will have to face in the near future as we navigate everything, I can’t deny how happy I am.
I quickly brush my teeth and turn on the hot water. As I’m stepping in, Mark enters behind me. “You’re lucky I could smell you still, or I’d have thought you were running.”
I laugh. “Maybe after a shower. I’m disgusting.”
“Uh, maybe never,” he deadpans. “You promised, and you’re a bonded woman now. I’ll go all caveman on you and drag you back by your hair.” A grin threatens at the corners of his mouth.
“That sounds really kinky, but I gotta be honest with you, sex is genuinely the last thing I want at this moment,” I say, dipping my head back under the spray and letting it run over me.
“Oh, I don’t know.” He watches me through the glass shower doors. “Might not be so awful,” he says, eyes traveling up my body. He’s nude, and I can clearly see that part of him is still somewhat interested.
“If you don’t at least let me get clean and feed me first, I will literally claw your eyes out,” I warn.
He laughs. “Fair enough.”
He finishes up his own pre-shower necessities and then slides in beside me.
We’ve actually done this a fair number of times before.
Mostly silently, of course. But sometimes when you have sex multiple times in one night, you need a shower in between.
I reach for the bottle of my shampoo that at some point had magically appeared, like my favorite energy drinks in the fridge.
Just another thing I had willfully ignored because I didn’t want to face what it might mean.
“When did you buy this to keep here?” I ask, squeezing a large dollop into my palm.
“A couple weeks after we started, I think?” He flushes slightly and rubs the back of his neck.
“I had this random thought in court that your hair wasn’t shiny and soft-looking, and I realized it was because you’d showered over here the night before.
So the next time I was at your place, I looked to see what you used. That shit is ridiculously expensive.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Yes, it is. I don’t think I ever properly thanked you.” God, I am stupidly in love with this man.
“I can feel what it means to you in the bond,” he says quietly.
“Good. And when the idea is a little more appealing than it currently is, I’ll show you in other ways too.” I stand on tiptoe and kiss him gently.
We finish showering, and I strip the bed while Mark works on ordering us something to eat.
Since I don’t have any clothes with me, I snag a button-down out of his closet and toss it on.
“Hey babe, can I use your phone to email Shelby?” I call loudly.
“I need to tell her where I am and see about getting some clothes.”
He leans against the doorframe. “If the alternative is keeping you here in my shirt like that, then the answer is no.” He holds the phone out to me, and when I reach for it, he grips my wrist and pulls me to him.
He kisses me thoroughly, almost reverently, until I’m breathless and beginning to lightly perfume.
“The code for my phone is 051291,” he says, pulling away finally.
“Just going to give me that so easily? What kind of lawyer are you?” I tease.
“The same kind that signs contracts without reading them, apparently. I have nothing to hide. Plus, how else are you going to learn my birthday?” He flicks my nose and heads back to the kitchen.
I unlock the phone and open his email, quickly drafting one to Shelby telling her I was with Mark and I’m feeling much better. And that I was in desperate need of a supply drop as soon as possible.
Almost instantly, it rings, and Shelby’s name flashes on the screen, with “Ava’s EA” in the company section of the contact. It makes me smile for some reason.
“Hello?”
“I like how you email me that like I didn’t already figure out where you were,” she says with a laugh.
“How?” I ask, settling crisscross applesauce on the bed.
“I knew you wouldn’t have gone to a clinic like Alfred had Jack and Mateo believing. Which really only left one spot. Though I did cross-reference the route the car service took you to verify.”
“Shelby, I think the word you meant to use instead of cross-referenced is hacked,” I say dryly, “since I can’t imagine they gave that information up willingly. Though if they did, I am going to have a field day taking them to court.”
“Psh. Whatever. If Mark goes across the hall to Mrs. Choi, she has a bag for you with some clothes and toiletries.”
I scrunch my face in confusion, and almost as if she can see me, she continues. “You all weren’t exactly subtle with your heat. When I came by, she was practically guarding the elevator and making sure no one approached Mark’s apartment.”
“Are you kidding me?” I ask, embarrassment making my face heat.
She laughs. “Nope,” she says. “It’s cute, though. I explained who I was and gave her the bag.”
“Yeah, but that means she knows…” I trail off, chewing on the edge of my thumbnail. “In the last four days, I’ve gone from a handful of people knowing my secret to, like… ten.”
“Ava, babe, I know we drafted an NDA for Mark, but I think you’re going to have a very hard time keeping the lid on this one now that you’re bonded. I mean, I’m assuming you are.”
“We are,” I admit. Anxiety churns in my stomach, and I close my eyes. I wish I could have stayed in my little bubble with Mark for a while longer.
“Hey,” she says softly. “Do you want me to come over and we can start brainstorming? You always feel better when you have a game plan.”
“Yes, but I think I want to do it at home. This heat has been wonderful, but riding one out without a nest has me feeling some kind of way.”
She makes a sympathetic sound. “I bet. And being freshly bonded, you’ll want him in it quite a bit. You two won’t be able to stand being apart for very long for the next couple of weeks.”
I glance at the time. “I think Mark just ordered us food. So maybe meet me at the penthouse in like… three hours?”
“Of course.”
We hang up, and I come out to the living room. “Apparently, your neighbor has a bag of my clothes and has been playing heat security.”
“Mrs. Choi?” Mark asks, brows furrowed.
“That’s what Shelby says.”
“Guess we were sorta loud, huh?” He chuckles, seemingly nonplussed by it until he sobers again. “You feel anxious through the bond. What’s wrong?”
“I think the bubble popped,” I say quietly. “I didn’t have any real control over your neighbor finding out, or even the beta driver that drove me here, and it’s crashing in that we have to go out in the real world tomorrow and deal with everything.”
He comes around the couch and gathers me in his arms. “And we will face every bit of it together. You’re right, though—we do need to have some serious conversations.”
“Shelby is going to meet us at the penthouse in a few hours to start making battle plans.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Suppose that’s first on the agenda of conversations, hmm? Where do we want to live?”
I try not to stiffen and to keep a mature, level head to have an open discussion about this. Of course Mark wouldn’t automatically want to give up his apartment. Yet the idea of leaving my penthouse and my nest when I’m already feeling this vulnerable and exposed makes me extremely anxious.
He laughs. “I’m kidding, little cereus. I like this place well enough, but I have no real attachment to it. Your place is larger, and I’m assuming you own it instead of renting, right?”
I nod.
“So, yours makes the most sense. Though you will have to concede some closet space to me,” he says.
There’s a knock at the door, and Mark drops his arms from around me to go answer it.
I have the strongest urge to hide, and even though I know it’s just habit, it’s something I’m going to have to work on.
I don’t want Mark to ever feel like I’m ashamed of us, because I’m not.
It’s just that a lifetime of hiding doesn’t magically get better overnight.
He stands in the doorway talking for a few minutes, and I stand on tiptoe trying to peer around him. Except he fills the frame, and I can’t see a thing. Finally, he turns and kicks the door shut behind him, juggling what looks like a large donut box and one of my overnight bags.
“Food and supplies from Mrs. Choi,” he says, holding both up. The scent wafting from the box has my interest. He opens the box, revealing neatly lined rows of what appear to be round rolls of bread. Inside the lid of the box, there’s a labeled grid.
“What are those?” I ask, perching on one of the chairs.
“I’m about to change your whole life,” he says with a grin.
“These, my dear, are called a kolache. This half of the box is filled with sweet fillings like apple, blueberry cream cheese, and chocolate hazelnut. The other half is savory, like sloppy joe, breakfast burrito, and uh—” He looks at the grid. “—mac ‘n cheese.”
“That’s a lot for just the two of us,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I ordered a variety.” He cocks his head to one side. “Where’re you at in that head of yours?”
I sigh. “I’m anxious and feeling out of control. And…” I hesitate, but we’re bonded now, which means no secrets, so I continue, “I’m in recovery for an eating disorder. I haven’t had a relapse in several years, but feeling like I do right now is a trigger I have to really fight to overcome.”
There’s no judgment or pity on his face, just concern. “How can I help you feel less anxious? Or support you in general with this?”
“Talking about it helps. And I think once we get home, I’ll feel a little less on edge. Shelby said part of it is that we are newly bonded and I’m away from my nest.”
“Then let’s go. Get dressed. I’ll pack a bag, and we can take breakfast with us.”
“Just like that? No arguments?”
He sets the box on the table and kneels in front of me.
“Ava, I guarantee there are plenty of arguments in our future. Probably even today, since you have a tendency to make me want to strangle you on a regular basis. But when it comes to stuff like this, my job is to be whatever you need me to be.”
A few hours later, the intercom buzzes beside me. “Ms. Kendrick, you have several guests wanting to come upstairs, including your brother and Ms. McGregory,” Alfred says.
Several? I push the button to respond, “Uh, sure, let them up.”
Valentino jumps off me since I dared to shift my lap, turning to glare at me with airplane ears and a swishing tail. I sigh. I had just gotten her to stop scream-meowing at me for being gone, even though it was clear that Jack and Mateo had taken care of her.
“You want me to get the door?” Mark asks from where he’d been working on his laptop at the end of the couch with my feet in his lap.
I shake my head. “No, I’ve got it. I’m sure I’ll have a million questions to answer.”
When the door opens, I find that Alfred was correct. It is several people: Shelby, Ron, Jack, Mateo, and… my parents. “Jeez, Shelby, you couldn’t have warned me you were bringing a welcoming party?”
“Sorry, boss. Soon as I let Jack know that I’d heard from you, it sort of spiraled from there,” she quips.
My mother pushes to the front and clasps her hands on my cheeks, looking over me as if she needs to verify that I’m alive.
She hugs me tightly and then pulls back to look at me some more.
“I could murder you for scaring us like that. Flying across the ocean thinking my daughter is on the verge of death, and we get to New York and nobody is sure where you are?”
I grimace. “I’m sorry, Mom. I wasn’t exactly all that lucid, and Mark said that Alfred filled Jack and Mateo in that I was safe, at least.”
At the mention of his name, she releases me and steps around me to stare at Mark, hands on her hips. “Yes, I have things to say to Mr. Taylor, too,” she says coolly.
Swell. This should be fun.