Chapter Four
Grant
During the day, the desert sun made the pool area off my villa blazing hot and filled with glare, even though the patio itself and half the pool were shaded by a crimson bougainvillea vine climbing over a white-painted pergola.
All that meant was, I spent those hours lying on a float, sipping sparkling water, and dictating correspondence.
My assistant back at the office would take it from there and see to it everything was properly delivered.
How any business person managed to fit in a vacation before electronics, I wouldn’t imagine.
The anti-glare on my screen saved my eyes, as well.
But once the sun set, real work came into play.
So to speak. I sat on the patio with my tablet on my lap, enjoying the pleasant breeze.
The resort had a central building with all the amenities anyone could want, but I preferred one of the villas where space between structures allowed me the peace and quiet to work or relax or even sleep.
Something I’d done far too rarely over the past few years.
My home in the mountains and my cottage on a beach in Oregon also provided this kind of atmosphere, where only nature’s sounds provided a background to my thoughts.
Leaning back in the comfortably upholstered chair, I inhaled the scents of desert plants and listened to the rustle of small animals in the distance.
My wolf stirred, interested in going out to chase a few of them around, but that would have to wait.
Maybe tomorrow. I have to finish this.
You always say that. He sounded sulky. To be fair, he had the right.
I’d always tried to keep his needs in mind, but I couldn’t remember exactly when the last time was.
A surge of familiar guilt rose inside me at disappointing him.
My former partner had made it quite clear that he felt the same.
After five years, he told me he could no longer tolerate being an afterthought.
Via text. Because, he typed on to say, it was our usual method of communication.
Not my fated, he’d nonetheless been a good male, kind and considerate, and I made sure to give him a big settlement. He’d earned it.
My wolf didn’t have the ability to leave me—at least not so far as I had ever heard of anyway. And he deserved a better other half than me.
I promise to do better.
He didn’t respond. I couldn’t blame him.
My whole life was about business, the one thing I’d been good at, but my failure to acquire the nightclubs had shaken me, maybe more than I’d realized at the time.
If they could say no, so could anyone. I brought up the list of targets on my screen.
The companies I planned to buy next. Many people in my position bought businesses and took them apart to sell the pieces, but I’d never liked that idea.
Sure, it made money, but so did my method of buying, improving, and then either keeping or selling a business that people would take on to run instead of run into the ground.
It would be all right. I hadn’t lost my touch.
Tapping the controls built into the table, I turned off the lights and settled in to watch the stars for a while.
The villa was far enough from the main buildings, and my patio faced away from them, so the view of the heavens was extraordinary.
Glittering silver jewels with occasional hints of blues and reds and other colors if I watched long enough. Shifter vision helped.
I might look into a place in the desert in the near future.
As much as I enjoyed this resort, I preferred to be in my own space if I was going to come out this way often.
Work forgotten for the moment, I watched the heavens and daydreamed a bit about what kind of home I would buy.
Maybe I’d just buy some acreage and build myself.
I’d like a building that blended into the landscape. All earth tones, large open space, and maybe a mini observatory on the roof. It would be—
A shout from the villa next door knocked me out of planning mode. Followed by another and another. The walls of the buildings were thick, not quite soundproof but designed for privacy. What kind of party was going on over there, anyway?
These villas were quite pricy and while they could sleep several people, I’d never been here when more than a couple were in any of the villas near me.
I had heard a couple of parties, but nothing like this, and I picked up the phone to call the front desk before setting it down again.
We were far enough away from the main building that by the time someone got here, I could have easily resolved it myself.
Muttering under my breath, I stomped down the path that connected the back side of the buildings, assuming any party I could hear would have spilled out in to their pool area as well. But when I reached the villa, the patio was dark and empty. An all-indoor party on a beautiful night like tonight?
How odd.
The patio gate required a keycard or code to enter, so I moved around the outside of the building.
Blinds shielded the windows, but I could still hear the noise from inside.
Dancing maybe? It didn’t matter so long as they agreed to keep it down so I could get back to work. Daydreaming could wait for another day.
I knocked, but as soon as my fist hit the front door, it opened.
Made sense if they had a lot of people coming and going and didn’t want to keep having to answer it.
But when I stepped inside, the living room was also unpopulated, but the noise went on.
Ugh. Not that I minded a kink scene, I just didn’t like walking into someone else’s uninvited.
But there was no help for it at this point, so I continued toward the bedroom, calling out, “Hello? Anyone here?”
The scene that met my eye could have been a kinkster’s dream, except the omega bound and gagged on the bed turned wild eyes on me. There was no consent here.