Chapter Eleven
Trent dropped the weight with an odd sense of familiarity when it struck the padded ground.
He’d been adrift all day, unable to settle.
Keeping his distance from Alison hadn’t helped at all.
He’d thought if he could just stay away from her for a little while, he’d figure shit out.
Except the longer he avoided her, the more uneasy he grew.
Is it the bite? Had he somehow created a bond without meaning to? Had he connected them together?
No, a claiming bite didn’t work like that. It was a physical sign, nothing else. Nothing mystical. He was just an idiot who wanted a woman he couldn’t have.
So, instead of focusing on that, instead of dwelling on it—or at least pretending not to dwell on it—he’d thrown himself into every other task he could think of.
He’d caught up on the news, reorganized the clothing he’d hung in his closet and gone for a swim. Finally, when he’d glanced out the window to find Alison in Daniel’s lap, her lips around Kyle’s cock, he’d decided there was no option besides lifting the heaviest weights he could.
At least when he was doing that, he wasn’t thinking about her, or about how badly he’d wanted to go outside and join in.
But he couldn’t bring himself to.
The wounds between them ran too deep, created too little foundation. Sure, taking her together would have been like old times, but Trent had said goodbye to that life already. He wasn’t a man who liked to lie to himself and he’d accepted that it was over.
“Oh.”
Trent turned to find Alison at the doorway to the gym, a towel over her shoulder, frozen in place. A bandage on her shoulder drew his focus, proof of his loss of control the night before.
He turned away, shame crawling along his nerves. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you wanted to work out. I’ll get going.”
He went to pass her, to leave, but Alison’s small hand closed on his arm. He had to either stop or try to fight her—and for reasons he didn’t understand, he didn’t want to fight her.
“You can’t avoid me forever,” she said.
“I thought you might want some time to yourself.” Meaning without me.
She sighed but didn’t let him go. She probably knew that if she did, he’d keep walking. “I didn’t ask for that, did I?”
“No.” He turned toward her but kept his gaze on her hands, on her cuffs, anything but her face—or worse, the bandage on her shoulder. “But you ran pretty fast that night.”
“You bit me. I am allowed to be a little freaked out.”
He blew out a long, slow breath then met her gaze. He expected fear there. After grinding against her in her sleep, coming on her thighs and leaving a permanent bite on her shoulder, why wouldn’t she be afraid?
He braced for it, but her green eyes lacked any fear. Instead, he found that same strength he’d spotted the first night, that steel that ran through her.
He’d given her every reason to fear him, but she stood there as though the thought had never crossed her mind.
“I’m sorry I bit you,” he said, trying to make his voice as earnest as possible. He needed her to understand he hadn’t crossed the line on purpose, that he would never do something like that without her permission. “I was asleep, and I had no idea what I was doing.”
Alison released him, then nodded. “I know you didn’t mean to.” She slid her hands over her hips as though to put them in her pockets, then frowned when she realized her pants didn’t have any. “We were both asleep. It wasn’t either of our faults. I know this isn’t the most comfortable situation.”
He huffed a sound that was almost a chuckle.
Her phrasing was funny—not the situation.
“Comfortable, huh? Yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it.
” Even with how easily she spoke of what had happened, he struggled to let it go entirely.
“I really am sorry. I’m not anywhere close to perfect, but I’m willing to admit it when I’m wrong.
It won’t happen again. I need you to know that, to understand that. ”
She nodded once, a quick jerk of her head. “I know. We’re good, okay? I don’t think you’ll pass as a slaver if you’re afraid to even look at me.”
Trent lifted his fingers but froze half-way to the bandage. Would she want him to touch her?
Alison didn’t move, and that gave him the confidence to touch the soft bandage that covered the only claiming bite he’d ever given in his life. With her that close, it also let him inhale.
She smelled of Daniel and Kyle. That took him back, like an old taste of home.
Maybe that was fucked up, but it didn’t stop it from being true. He knew that scent, something he’d lived with, something as reassuring as his own.
“You smell like them,” he admitted before his brain could catch up and stop him.
She froze for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. “If you’re going to try and embarrass me—”
He shook his head, cutting her off. “Nothing like that. It just surprised me for a minute.”
She didn’t look away, and her gaze felt far too knowing. “What happened between you three?”
“Nothing that matters anymore.”
“With the way you three are acting like scorned lovers? It seems like it matters.”
“We had a difference of opinion, had to go in different directions. I’d love to tell you it was some dramatic falling out, but that isn’t the case. I couldn’t live the life they lived anymore, and with some friendships, you’re either close or you aren’t. Still, we can work together, don’t worry.”
She pressed her lips together, the answer no doubt unsatisfying. Get used to disappointment.
“The agent will be here tomorrow. Are you ready?”
Trent ignored the pit in his stomach at the thought of facing them, at the idea of sliding into a role he was not comfortable with.
Being a Dom? Sure. He could do that, and even if it had been a while, he knew where his priorities were. He knew his line.
But even pretending to be a slaver? Having to act like that? It turned his stomach.
He’d gone to sleep each night with his own little pep talk, telling himself he could do this, that he just had to keep moving forward, that it was for the greater good.
Still, he thought about the omegas they had, the ones who would go through hell if he failed, if Alison, Kyle and Daniel failed, and that made him know there was only one answer.
No matter how badly he didn’t want to do this, he didn’t have a choice.
“Yeah, I’ll be ready.”
* * * *
Daniel pulled in a harsh breath when he saw Alison walk down the stairs.
He’d seen her almost entirely naked, but it was nothing compared to this.
She wore the black dress they’d picked out for the meeting, a short one that showed off her toned legs and lean waist. It plunged low enough for a hint of cleavage, and the shoulders went down into long sleeves.
The back dropped low, so it appeared she showed a lot of skin while keeping herself covered—and the bite safely tucked away.
“Holy shit,” Kyle said, the man less capable of keeping in his opinions.
Alison faltered on the last step, as though the praise had thrown her. Her hair was down, the curls adding to her allure, framing her too-perfect face. She smoothed the dress as though she could make some change to it that would make her more comfortable.
“Sorry,” Kyle offered. “I just didn’t realize you’d be such a knockout in it.”
“I’m not really a dress-and-heels sort of girl.”
Kyle move in once she stepped off the stairs entirely. He circled her, slowly, his fingers tracing the waist of her dress. “Well, don’t worry about that. As soon as we’re done, I’m more than willing to strip you out of this.”
The pink on Alison’s cheeks only made her look even better, especially with how she pulled in a shaky breath.
“How about we focus on the job?” Trent’s voice came from the top of the stairs as he passed Alison, not looking at her or saying a word about her attire.
The fact that he was right only annoyed Daniel, especially about this topic. “Oh, so you care about completing a job now?”
Trent shook his head and didn’t rise to the barb. “We have backup, but they’re not close. It means we’ll be on our own for the actual meeting. Alison, safe word?”
“Master.” She rolled her shoulders, as if trying to release the tension building up there.
Then again, this was likely the first thing she’d done with them that she was in any way comfortable with. Submitting? Trusting? Those things were beyond her expertise, but from what he’d seen, lying and putting herself in danger were par for the course for her.
And why that made Daniel smile, he wasn’t sure. Maybe because she’d been so unsettled that he was grateful for the chance at something where she could feel in control.
And a little later, when I pull that dress off her, I can take some of that control from her again.
He’d dreamed of her, thankful that she hadn’t been in his bed because he might have just done something they’d both regret later.
She hadn’t lifted her boundary of no sex or kissing, but Daniel wasn’t too disappointed in that.
They had time, and as he’d proven to her, there was plenty of fun to be had without his dick ever going into her.
The loud roar of an engine outside had all of them coming to a stop, their gazes moving over.
It was time.
Daniel gestured for Alison to go to the pillow in the living room while Trent went to the front door.
Alison knelt, so much more graceful at it now than she had been that first time.
She brought her wrists behind her automatically, and Daniel hooked them.
He clipped a leash to the ring at the front of her collar, but left it dangling, hanging down over her cleavage.
He slipped the blindfold on next, ignoring the way she licked her lips.
He wanted to kiss her, but he settled for pressing one to her forehead as he held the headphones in his hands. “Try to breathe, sweet. We’ll get through this fast, I promise.”
With that, he put her headphones on, leaving the noise cancelling off so she could hear the conversation around her.