34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Abby
Walking into the office after telling Levi that I was looking for a new job felt weird. Walking into the office wearing casual clothes and a brand new bite mark from the world’s grumpiest tech genius felt weirder.
I meant what I said this morning. I didn’t regret it.
But I did wish we had more time before making things permanent. I had a mountain of fears I was still processing, and I didn’t know what to expect. I felt like I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Gage to flip some kind of switch and go back to acting like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the same room as me.
Right now, he had his hand at my lower back, holding the office door open just enough for me to pass through while pressing my whole body against him.
I remembered what he said about rubbing his scent on me and realized that was exactly what he was doing, and that he’d done it every time he held a door for me. I thought shifters just weren’t big on personal space.
But now that I thought about it, none of the other guys had to be touching me when we worked in the same room.
“You’re being territorial right now, aren’t you?” I whispered as he dropped a heavy arm around my shoulders and towed me to his side.
The wolf gleamed in his eyes as he glanced down at me. “I hope you’re prepared. My wolf is going to eat everyone alive if they even look at you.”
My steps faltered on their way to the conference room. “Is it always going to be that way?”
His possessiveness didn’t bother me, in theory, but the thought of him making a scene anytime another man uttered “good morning” to me seemed stressful. We’d already taken the stairs to avoid any of the other tenants in the building.
“It’ll get better with time.”
“Are you sure we should be here?”
Gage hung up on his brother earlier this morning, stuffed a massive serving of breakfast into a Tupperware, and told me to get dressed without explanation. I’d been too busy inhaling waffles on the drive over to ask what was happening. Apparently mating made me hungry.
“There’s an update on Cargill. Unfortunately, I made a rule about not sharing sensitive information over the phone, so here we are.” Gage had his nose up, inhaling deeply and repeatedly. “Why would Levi have clients in the office on a Sunday?” he muttered to himself as he guided me the rest of the way to the conference room.
Everyone was waiting for us at the table. The whole team, which was strange because that meant no one was watching Cargill. Even stranger was the way every single one of them avoided my gaze, as if I was the alpha and they were all submitting to me. I’ll admit, it was kind of a power trip.
Until I realized it was only because of the actual alpha that was hovering menacingly behind me as he pulled out a chair.
Working with shifters could be awkward. They noticed if your heart was racing and could tell who you’d been spending time with by your scent. All I could think about as I tugged out my own chair and plopped into it was the way I smelled—a combo of Gage, sex, and breakfast fixings—and how glaringly obvious it would be to everyone in the room.
To my boss, who was also Gage’s brother. To my co-workers, who I was expecting to start teasing me mercilessly any second.
Just when I thought my cheeks couldn’t get any redder, Gage lifted me out of my chair and straight into his lap.
“What are you doing?” I whisper screamed, squirming as he locked his arm around my hip.
His response was all wolf, grunting his annoyance until I stilled. Levi coughed, failing to hide his amusement as he made eye contact with a stack of papers on the table in front of him.
Jerk. If Gage decided to eat all of them, I wasn’t going to stop him.
Clearing his throat, he said, “I’m glad you two could join us. I’ll make this as quick as I can.”
“Why is no one on Cargill?” Gage asked.
Levi straightened. “Because Cargill is gone.”
“How the fuck did that happen?” He looked accusingly across the table.
Mason crossed his arms. “I just spent twenty-four hours sitting in a parking garage watching an empty window while you were busy getting frisky. Don’t give me that look.”
“If Cargill is missing—”
“They blew up the floor he was staying on,” Levi cut in. “We don’t even know if he’s alive.”
I felt like I swallowed ice. Gage squeezed my hip reassuringly.
“Manchini’s gone too,” Kai said. “Whole shop is cleared out. They didn’t leave so much as a stray receipt.”
“Shit,” Gage cursed. “Do you think Manchini is responsible for the explosion?”
“The official story right now is that they think a lithium battery overheated,” Levi answered. “If we believe Cargill’s original story, then this is Manchini’s M.O.”
“Or Cargill is setting shit on fire,” Gage muttered. “So, what the fuck do they know that we don’t?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” Levi slid a small blue flash drive across the table. “Someone left this in the office drop box this morning. There was a sticky note with nothing, but a blue star drawn in the middle.”
“Dallas?” Gage asked hopefully.
“I have no clue, but I can’t get that drive open, and that’s the closest we have to an explanation at this point, assuming it’s related.”
Gage swiped the drive into his free hand. “I’ll get it done.”
Tension stretched across the table as Levi risked a glance my way and added, “There’s one more thing.”
I held my breath, wondering what could possibly be worse than someone exploding Cargill.
“Abby has a visitor.”
Gage stilled beneath me. “Who?”
“This isn’t ideal, and I would have sent him away, but I’ve made some bad judgment calls in the last three months and I hoped that letting Abby choose what to do would be redemptive for me.”
“You know, you’re actually not any better at apologies than your brother,” I told Levi. “Who’s here?”
“Your ex-husband.”
“What do you mean my ex-husband? Like here ? Now? In our office?” I made my butt extra heavy in Gage’s lap just in case he was getting any ideas.
“He’s in the breakroom,” Levi explained. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see him or not and we had more important issues to attend to.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Gage stood, despite my heavy butt, and nearly toppled me as he set me on my feet.
“I didn’t invite him here. Say the word, Abby, and we’ll escort him out of the building.” Levi’s gaze flicked to me briefly for confirmation, then flicked away again when Gage bared his teeth.
“No need. I’ll handle him.” Gage was already halfway through the door, his body language screaming murder.
I wasn’t a fan of my ex-husband, but I didn’t really want to see him get mauled either.
“Gage, can I speak to you in your office, please?” I asked through clenched teeth, trying to ignore the curious and amused expressions from the other side of the table. I threw a glare at them over my shoulder as I followed Gage into the lobby.
“No,” he huffed, continuing past my desk on his way to kill David.
In my mind I visualized the bond. That beautiful, glowing thread. I grabbed it and yanked as hard as I could. Gage stopped in his tracks, rubbing his chest, and frowning at me.
“Jesus fucking Christ. You’re going to rip my organs out.”
I threw myself in front of him, blocking his trajectory. Under any other circumstance this could be a deadly mistake. A shifter on the war path wasn’t someone you wanted to interrupt. Fortunately, the vicious wolf running the show right now had a soft spot for me.
“I’m going to need you to chill out.”
“Zero fucking chill is going to happen right now, Abigail.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t Abigail me. Whatever you’re planning to do is reckless, and definitely illegal.”
“It’s only illegal if you get caught.” He stepped past me.
“ Gage! ” I circled my arms around his neck and used the only trick I had up my sleeve. I kissed him.
A switch flipped inside him. I felt it through the bond before I saw the glitter in his eyes. Instinct sent me backing away, thrill making my heart pound as he stalked after me. My back hit my desk, and he trapped me between his arms, taking my lips like he waited years to kiss me.
My body responded to his change of pace, and suddenly I was climbing him, tugging him down until I was nearly bent backwards over the desk. The kiss broke with a brief gasp as Gage lifted me into his arms, hurrying around the desk and past Levi or Mason—I didn’t dare look in their direction to see which one.
Gage slammed the door to his office with us behind it, pressing me into it so hard he almost knocked the wind out of me.
“Is this going to happen every time I touch you?” I asked breathlessly.
He brushed the hair from my neck, nibbling beneath my ear. “I fucking hope so.”
His mouth got to the mark at the base of my neck and my legs turned to jelly. Gage caught me as I slumped against the door, lifting me so I was tangled around his waist. He circled his hips slowly and deliberately, the seam of his jeans creating torturous friction between mine. My fingers took a fistful of his hair, urging him to move faster, and he growled at me.
It wasn’t an aggressive sound. More like a very deep purr. I was kind of obsessed with the way it vibrated through me.
The way I was desperate for him made me feel crazy. He was an addiction, and if I didn’t get a fix I would spiral. At the same time, there was so much more depth to his touch than desire. It was comfort, like a warm shower after a long day. Waking up under a thick blanket to fresh snowfall in the winter.
Some fearful part of me that was always under the surface—long before my marriage ended in heartbreak, if I was being honest with myself—was finally soothed. I didn’t have to prove I was worth loving anymore.
“Everyone in the office is going to know what we’re doing in here.”
“That’s the point.” Gage carried me across the room, dropping me onto his desk and sliding the zipper open on my jeans.
“I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Abby,” he yanked my jeans off my legs, “they’re all surprised we weren’t doing this months ago.”
“I also don’t know how I feel about that.”
He hooked his pointer fingers in the waist of my panties and tugged them down, kneeling before his desk and spreading my legs wide. “How do you feel about this?”
His tongue stroked along my core with gentle precision. My hips moved on their own, following him as he retreated. One hand tangled in his hair, the other covering my face as a series of conflicting emotions bombarded me.
I needed Gage to touch me. Feverish heat was building under my skin just like last night, and it was almost to the point of discomfort. Even the tiniest pleasure from that one swipe of his tongue was sweet relief. At the same time, I was half naked in broad daylight, exposed to him and the giant window behind his desk.
Insecurity frayed at the edges of my desire, filling me with a dizzying combination of hot and cold.
Gage’s mouth connected with my core again and my legs flinched.
“Abby,” he purred my name, caressing me with his breath, “no one can see you through that window.”
“ You can see me.”
He lifted up on his knees, taking the bottom of my shirt and folding it up over my head. “I want to see you. I need to see you.”
Now I was naked, completely bare as he stared at me. It wasn’t that I was exceptionally insecure, but I was never a “do it with the light on” kind of girl either. I was attractive, but not sexy. And though I had come to like my body well enough, flaws and all, Gage was seeing those flaws for the first time.
In broad daylight.
He was so much better looking than anyone I’d ever been with. Literally perfect. Perfect skin, adorable hair, thick arms, chiseled chest. I felt lacking next to him. Like any moment he would notice the cellulite on my inner thighs, and the way my stomach wrinkled over itself and realize he could do better.
More than anything that pissed me off because I shouldn’t have to be a supermodel to be desirable. To make a good mate. A good wife.
Maybe these insecurities had nothing to do with Gage and everything to do with my past and how deeply it wounded me. I walked around every moment of every day feeling like I wasn’t good enough.
“Do you want to see me?” Gage stood to remove his shirt, tossing it behind him and unintentionally flexing every one of his perfect, perfect muscles.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Do you want to know,” he leaned over me, kissing above one of my breasts as he trapped me between his arms, “what it feels like when you let me see you like this?”
“Yes.”
The bond flared with sensation—pride, pleasure, longing so intense it was palpable—and it left me breathless. My hand came to rest over his heart, where I could almost see the bond connecting us.
“I’ve thought about stripping you on this desk and making you scream every day for the last three months.”
I sent my own feelings along the bond, letting him know that I was still angry.
Gage chuckled. “Let me make it up to you.”
I opened my thighs for him. “Make it up to me twice.”
He was eager to oblige me, and by the second time, I forgot about the window. Forgot about the light, about any part of my body except where he was touching me.
I was still riding that wave when he rose, hurrying to remove his jeans, and plunging into me so deeply and roughly that I screamed.
“This,” he took two fingers and rubbed my over-sensitive clit, “is mine.”
“Yours,” I moaned.
“And this,” he took the soft part of my stomach in his palm and squeezed, “is mine.”
His other hand came beneath my back, lifting me until I was pressed against him. Our lips clashed only briefly before he gripped the back of my neck.
“You’re mine, Abby.”
“Yours,” I hummed, inclining my head to reveal the mate mark.
Gage bit down on it, not as hard as the night before, but hard enough to sting. At the same time, he thrust into me, freezing as he twitched and groaned with climax.
Breathlessly I kissed along his chest. When I got to his peck, I gave an experimental nip.
The hand clasped at the back of my neck tightened, and two electric blue eyes stared down at me. Interesting. That got the wolf’s attention.
Feeling bold, I lifted myself up into a seated position, secured my legs around his waist to hold him in place, and struck. My teeth came down on the base of his neck, mirroring where he left his mark on mine.
I didn’t have fangs, and it took considerable effort to bite him hard enough. I wasn’t sure if I broke the skin, and if I did, it probably wouldn’t leave a scar.
Either way, I was pleased to pull back and see a ring of pink skin where my teeth had been.
Gage removed his hands from me, slowly easing one up to rub the mark. His eyes were neon, so bright it was like a power surge was happening behind them. For a moment I couldn’t understand what emotion was playing out on his face, or what I was reading through the bond.
I thought it would help him overcome some of his territorial temper tantrum so I could find out why David was bothering me. Now I was worried he would wolf out and bite me for real.
Then Gage was hugging me, scooping me into his arms as he perched on the edge of the desk. He pressed his face into my hair, hiding his expression from me. He couldn’t hide from the bond though.
Joy. Gage was dumbstruck with joy, and I got the feeling he wasn’t entirely sure what that emotion was. He was excited and shocked and more than a little guilty.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered. “I will.”
“I believe you,” I answered, curling into his embrace.
After a quiet moment Gage released me, stepping into the private bathroom in the corner of his office and coming back with a warm, damp towel. He cleaned my legs carefully and gently before handing me my discarded clothes.
“Let’s go home,” he said, stuffing his feet into his jeans and lifting them to his waist. “I’ll fuck you and feed you until you can’t leave the bed.”
“That is a tempting offer.” I wriggled into my own jeans. “But we have unfinished business.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think we do.”
I fished the flash drive out of his pocket and handed it to him. “You know this is all you’re going to think about until you find out what’s on it.”
He cupped between my legs, backing me into the desk again. “This is all I’m going to think about until you force me to leave you alone.”
“Gage,” I breathed. “I have something I need to do too.”
Gage stepped away from me, his face going cold. “If you think I’m going to let you—”
“Timeout.” I took a moment to pull my shirt over my head and cool my temper. “Rule number four, remember?”
“You didn’t let me finish. If you think I’m going to let you talk to him without killing him, you’re out of your mind.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to, Abby, but I don’t know if I can stop myself from getting violent. There’s a reason newly mated shifters isolate themselves from their pack. Until the bond has time to settle in, a shifter is very volatile.”
“Okay.” I uncrossed his arms, putting my mouth up to his chest and saying, “Don’t kill my ex-husband, wolf. He has something I want.” Then I kissed the spot where I imagined the wolf was sitting inside Gage and turned to leave.
Gage snagged my arm, whirling me back around. His eyes were that vibrant color, the wolf peering out at me. “What could you possibly want from him?”
He was growling, the tendons in his neck visibly vibrating. I hadn’t seen him lose control to the wolf yet, but I knew it could happen. The wolf probably couldn’t get out of Gage’s office. I wasn’t going to take that risk though.
“Everything important to me.” The expression on his face went darker. “Like stuff, Gage. My things!”
I rested my butt on the edge of the desk with a sigh. “He really did get everything in the divorce. That includes my grandmother’s China, and the antique display case for them. My mother’s engagement ring too, and a dozen more irreplaceable items.”
“He took all that from you and you don’t want me to kill him?”
“I don’t know if he still has it. I don’t even know why he’s here. Maybe some distant relative of mine died, and they contacted him about the estate. Or maybe something bad happened to my sister and they couldn’t contact me.” I felt guilty even saying that out loud. When was the last time I talked to my sister?
Well, it was when she kicked me out of her house and said my husband was right to leave my “judge-y ass.” I wasn’t the one that burned that bridge.
“I’m going to find out what he wants and I’m going to demand my stuff back.” Which is what I should have done months ago. I should have fought him for what was rightfully mine—and more. That bastard owed me years of my life and if I couldn’t get that back, I should at least be compensated for my time. “Assuming his mate didn’t burn it with the rest of my things.”
Gage exhaled. “I need you to make me feel worse about this.”
“Huh?”
“What would it feel like if I broke him in half and you never got your stuff back?”
I closed my eyes, thinking about the fresh devastation that left a hollow in my middle. It wasn’t just that he took it from me, it was that none of it mattered to him. He only kept it to please her, and that was so unfair. I felt robbed.
I was going to pass those heirlooms down to my children someday.
Children that I would have with Gage, I realized.
Whatever I was sending down the bond was a confusing mess, sadness, rage, and a hint of excitement for the future.
“Somehow, I’m feeling more murderous.”
I took his hands in mine. “If you kill him, I’m going to cry. A lot. All the time.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “Five minutes, then he’s out of here.”
I stood on my tiptoes, kissing his cheek. “Five minutes and if I don’t get what I want, you can toss him out the nearest window.”
“The glass is bulletproof,” he said with disappointment, leading me out of his office.
I never thought I would see David again. I hoped I wouldn’t. I was going to go out of my way to burn the memory of him from my mind.
That was easy now. Since I started working at Silver Bullet, I scarcely thought of him, except during those brief moments I let my anger get the better of me.
He wasn’t like I remembered him.
David was handsome, pretty the way Levi was. Sharp cheekbones, striking eyes, and just enough sculpting to his jawline that he could fantasize about taking his looks to the big screen—he took a single acting class in college and loved to tell people about it when they mentioned his passing resemblance to one celebrity or another. He wasn’t fit the way Gage was, but he took good care of himself.
I used to think he was too good for me. Used to wonder how someone like me landed someone like him. He didn’t discourage that notion.
Looking at him now, paler, thinner, and a little squirrelly, I felt revulsion. Genuinely nauseous. Maybe it was the bond, or maybe it was bone deep regret at my own choices.
I didn’t speak as I stepped into the break room, coming around the table and taking the chair furthest from where David sat.
“Abby, you look…” As he said it, I realized I probably did look disheveled. Sex hair, tender lips from kissing Gage for nearly twenty-four hours straight, and clothes that I hadn’t bothered to adjust before marching down the hallway.
“Yeah, and you look like shit. Why the hell are you at my job, states away from where you live?”
David clasped and unclasped his hands on the tabletop. “I know you’re probably pissed at me.”
“If I could prove you committed fraud in my name, I would have you thrown in jail.” I tapped my fingers on the table, pleased with how composed I was. Six months ago, I would have been flustered and speechless. I wouldn’t have been able to look him in the eyes. Now I was staring him down, channeling my inner Gage as I imagined the noises David would make if I did let my mate wolf out and eat him.
“Look, Abby, I didn’t mean for things to go the way they did. I never expected to meet Chloe. I didn’t even know about fated mates!”
“I could point out that hiring a team of lawyers to decimate me in court and steal all my belongings isn’t something you can ‘accidentally’ do, but I’m not going to waste my breath.” I leaned forward. “What are you doing here?”
“Your sister told me that you took a job at a high-end security firm in Seattle.”
“My sister?” Pain lanced through my anger. My sister who hadn’t spoken a word to me since she kicked me out of her house after only a week, knowing my other option was homelessness, was talking to my ex-husband? “When did you talk to my sister?”
“She and I keep in touch. Mark and I game together. Maya joins us sometimes.”
“You play video games with my sister.” I nodded, as if that was a perfectly reasonable scenario. My ex-husband was playing video games with my sister, and apparently gossiping about me while doing so.
When I didn’t say anything else David continued with, “Chloe is a Hyena shifter.”
“Good for her.”
“Did you know female hyenas take more than one mate?”
I blinked twice, my mouth ajar. Then I laughed, loudly and rudely. “That is unbelievably ironic.”
David scowled at me. “You don’t have to be a bitch about it! I came here to ask you for help. She moved two random men into the house.”
“Well, it’s your house. You made sure of that. Can’t you just kick them out? Throw their things out the bedroom window while the neighbors watch?” Okay, that one was a little petty.
I didn’t get a response from David. We were both too distracted by six and a half feet of menacing wolf shifter as Gage strolled into the room. His movement was too casual, trying to give the impression of relaxed calm. That was not what the bond was telling me.
He twirled the chair beside mine, straddling it and leaning with his arms crossed over the back. Carefully, he brushed the hair off my neck to reveal the mate mark, laying a tender kiss in the center.
“If you ever call my mate a bitch again,” he said softly, “I’ll remove your head from your spine.”
David’s jaw literally dropped. His eyes rounded, flicking between Gage and me then back to Gage.
“That wasn’t five minutes.”
“Please reward me for my remarkable self-control right now.”
I gave the middle of his chest three pats. “Good boy.”
Gage caught my arm, nipping at the skin around my wrist. “You’re asking for it.”
I looked up at him from beneath my lashes, biting my lip. I was asking for it. I couldn’t help myself. He was magnetic, and now that I didn’t have to pretend to be professional, like I wasn’t constantly thinking about licking him in inappropriate places, I was struggling to control myself.
But there was still something I needed to finish first.
“You’re—you’re with a shifter?” David finally stammered. “Is that why you took this job? To get with a shifter to get back at me?”
I laughed again. “Literally nothing I have done with my life in the last three months has been about you.”
“Thanks, by the way. Your loss was my gain,” Gage said, surprising me. He meant it. Of course, he meant it. But some part of me was still waiting for the rest, watching for that inevitable moment when he realized what he’d done and went back to hating me.
Gage dropped a hand on my thigh and squeezed. A sensation like a warm hug came down the bond, comforting my runaway thoughts.
Okay, I could get used to this.
Turning his attention back to David, Gage asked, “Did your mate tell you about mating frenzies? How dangerous it is to bring a newly mated shifter around anyone they perceive as competition?”
“Yes.”
“So, you knew that bringing your new mate to the house you shared with your wife could have gotten her killed?”
My head snapped up. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Chloe was under control,” David insisted.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Gage snarled. “Did you also know that Abby was forced to live out of her car because of you?”
“I knew she was between places. But she got a new job!”
“And you still thought you were going to show up here, unannounced, and jeopardize that new job so you could ask her to help you undo your mistakes?”
David opened his mouth then shut it again. His eyes were like golf balls as he fished around for an excuse.
Surely, that wasn’t the only reason he was here. David was impulsive, but he had to be smarter than that. He had to know I wouldn’t help him.
After a strained silence he blurted, “I have your mother’s ring.”
“Where?” I leaned across the table, as if he would pull it out of his jacket pocket and hand it to me.
“It’s in a safe place. I’ll trade it for your help.”
Pressure dropped in the room as Gage stood. Dominance roiled around him like thunderclouds, pressing down on David until he dropped his chin to his chest. Surprisingly, I felt nothing except a surge of excitement.
I liked it when Gage went full alpha.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” His words were controlled but he couldn’t hide the gravel in his tone as the wolf glittered in his eyes. “You’re going to give her back that ring. You’re going to give her everything that belongs to her. Abigail, start making a list.”
David audibly swallowed.
“When she’s happy— if she’s happy with what she receives—I’ll consider getting you the contact information for your local Hyena pack. They might help you.”
“You’ll consider it ?” I had to give David credit. It took guts to ask that question with a furious and territorial shifter looming over him.
“I’ll let Abby decide if you deserve her help.”
“I don’t owe her anything.”
“Wrong fucking answer, asshole.”
I thought about kissing Gage again but somehow, I didn’t think that distraction was going to work this time. He was poised for attack, muscles bunched, an electric aura building around him as he prepared to shift.
So, I pulled the only other card I had up my sleeve. “Levi!”
Everything happened too fast for me to track. Levi must have been closer than I realized. He was through the door in a moment, Ezra hot on his heels. Levi served as a wall between Gage and David while Ezra physically removed him from the room.
Unfortunately, the break room was the smallest room in the office and separating Gage from David meant separating him from me. The noise he made was pure fury as he charged his brother. Levi dodged, and I narrowly avoided being crushed.
Gage came around the table, torn between running after David as he was dragged down the hall or attacking his brother, who was close enough to touch me. All it took was Levi inclining his head in my direction and Gage was gone.
He dropped fast, clothes splitting open as smoky brown fur covered his skin. I’d only seen Gage’s wolf twice. He was taller than the table, hair raised, teeth bared. Levi was always talking about challenges and that Gage was on the cusp.
Pretty sure this was more than on the cusp. This was a full-blown challenge and the answering growl coming from Levi was not good.
“Shit!” I shoved Levi as hard as I could, startling his attention from Gage long enough for me to force him toward the door.
He was more controlled than Gage because even as his eyes glowed, his expression was relief when he slipped through the doorway and slammed it shut behind him.
Gage hurtled at the door, but his paws slipped on the linoleum, giving me the precious seconds I needed to beat him there. I covered the door with my body to block any attempt at breaking through it.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said to the snarling animal in front of me. “You’ve already hit your door destroying quota for the year.”
He lunged at me, teeth snapping. I turned my face away, bracing for the bite, but he came away with nothing but the fabric of my shirt. The wolf jerked his head back, nipping irritably at the cotton.
Even though I knew this was Gage because I saw him shift, there were a lot of logical hurdles my brain was struggling to jump over right then. My muscles quaked with adrenaline and if he snapped at me again, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t pee my pants.
“Gage, you’re scaring me,” I admitted shakily.
The wolf immediately flopped back onto his haunches, lips drooping to cover his teeth. I studied him warily, still plastered against the door. Blue light shone from his eyes. They were so bright it was almost difficult to look at, like sunlight on snow.
Those triangular ears swiveled constantly, making little tufts of dark brown hair bounce around his forehead. His shoulders were at height with my stomach, but he dipped his head to look smaller. He was cute in a menacing sort of way.
The storm of territorial rage was blocking out most of the bond. I couldn’t judge what was going through his head. If anything was going through his head.
Gage described being the wolf as being a simpler version of himself. Conscious and capable of emotion but not as concerned with human details. Could he feel more than one thing at a time, or was he stuck in a loop of anger until I redirected him?
“Gage?” I forced my locked knees to soften, lowering myself to the ground in front of him. Now that I was down, I wasn’t sure it was the right choice. He was a good head taller than me, and much heavier too. “Are you in there?”
A wet nose prodded my cheek in answer.
I laughed nervously. “Hi.”
He pawed at my leg. Holy shit, he was huge.
“Thank you for not killing anyone.”
His head dropped across my thighs with an unhappy grunt.
I thought of the story he told me about Jameson’s law and where it came from. Clearly I didn’t understand the extent to which he truly had control over himself in this situation. It was a risk I shouldn’t have taken.
“I’m sorry I put you in that position.”
With a snort he pushed the weight of his body against me, making me fall backwards into the door. My legs splayed out in front of me, and he took advantage, draping his body over them and propping his head on my chest.
I laughed, relieved this time, as I felt one singular emotion clear the anger in the bond: Happiness. “You’re not so scary, are you?”
Gage nuzzled my neck, finding the spot at the base where his mark sat, and pressing his nose to it. He sniffed at it thoroughly, finally resting his head back onto my chest with a contented sigh.
We sat like that, my hand gentle stroking the soft fur around his ears, until my legs fell asleep. Finally, I couldn’t handle the weight anymore, nudging him with my knee and saying, “I think it’s time to come back now, Gage.”
I hadn’t gotten a good look the first time he shifted, and I was afraid I might not like what I saw as Gage lifted up onto his feet. Movies always depicted shapeshifting as grotesque.
What happened next was strange but a beautiful sort of strange. It was like a wave receding, revealing tan skin and muscle.
Gage was on his knees, unashamedly naked and aroused. The expression on his face was warm and playful, eyes gleaming with his intent. I remembered the last time he shifted, how he described it as feeling drunk, and wondered how coherent he was.
I never got a chance to ask, my mouth too occupied by his as he scooped me up. This kiss was soft compared to the others, a gentle, languid meeting.
His hands were less unhurried when they found the button of my jeans and once again began removing them from my legs.
The newly bonded part of myself welcomed it when he turned me, my back to his chest. I wiggled anxiously as I felt him rubbing against my ass, wanting nothing in the world as much as I wanted him inside me.
At the same time, I was too aware that we were on the break room floor, and everyone would know what we were doing again and even if they didn’t hear us, they would scent the evidence once we left. Maybe I was just too modest for shifter lifestyle, but I couldn’t decide if I was panicking about this sudden change in our behavior at the office. Were we always going to be disappearing into every office, closet, and corner for a quickie in the middle of the workday?
All my concerns melted away when Gage pushed into me. His pace was slow at first, his mouth climbing up the side of my neck. As he reached my mark he quickened, thrusting roughly just as his teeth found that spot again. By now it was fairly tender—as was the rest of me—and I winced. Immediately he released me, hovering his lips over the mark but not touching.
His hand trailed along my hip, sliding downward until he was between my legs. He punctuated each thrust with a stroke across my clit.
I tried to quiet my moan as I came undone, muffling it with the back of my hand. Gage gripped my arm, holding it down and demanding, “I want to hear you.”
I forgot my embarrassment, letting go completely as he stilled inside me with a groan. I would do anything that Gage wanted, no matter how insane, and that was a little scary.
But I trusted him, and that meant trusting him not to push me too far.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, sliding off him and turning in his arms.
“When are you going to stop apologizing for other people’s actions?”
“I mean I’m sorry I insisted on that meeting. I could have had your brother take a message.”
“I understand why you needed to do it.”
“Really? Because you’re making this angry murder face…” I rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
“That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”
“I should have gone home.” I wiggled my pants back on, readjusting the waist over my hips. “It’s just stuff.”
Gage stood, opening the break room door a crack, and swiping something from the floor in the hall. A pair of jeans and a black T-shirt.
One of the guys brought him spare clothes. How thoughtful. And mortifying.
“It’s not just stuff. It’s your stuff. And you’re going to get it back.”
“Maybe I won’t. I’m okay with that. I already grieved that loss.”
“Yeah, I’m not okay with that.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest. “Let’s just go home.”