Chapter 41

“I’m finally warm.”

Zain opened his eyes and looked at Oaklyn. They’d both showered and hit the swimming pool to get rid of the smell. Now, they were soaking in the big hot tub. “Think I can fit one of these in my apartment?” He smiled. “I really like it.”

She smiled at him. “I think you’ll have to upgrade to a larger apartment.”

He sat up and wiped the sweat from his forehead away. “At this point, my future is up in the air. I don’t know if I’ll be back at headquarters or where I’ll be.”

She slid across the seat so she was closer to the side he was on. “New starts aren’t all bad, Zain.”

He shrugged. “I know. I’m just a creature of habit. I like routines, I like…”

“To organize your food before you eat it.”

He grinned. “Yes. Yes, I do that too.” He let his arms float out in front of him. Even his wolf seemed settled.

She touched his arm. “A little chaos and surprise aren’t bad things.”

He looked at her and watched a bead of sweat roll down her forehead. “After the last few weeks, I think I’ll have had my fill of those.”

Oaklyn smiled at him, and his wolf was closer to the surface. He didn’t know why. All he could smell at this point was the chemicals in the hot tub. Oddly, that was more comforting to him than the bath bomb scent. “You’ve done well.” She said it softly. “You don’t even look surprised when things happen.”

He snorted. “I think my face freezes while I’m thinking, ‘Oh shit,’ and it must cover up the surprise.”

She laughed quietly. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.” She moved her hands back and forth in the water. “Everyone knows you and trusts you, and I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard one of them say something about how Zain always has it covered.”

He sat up straighter. “Ordering supplies and kits for them or arranging a new ride isn’t exactly the same as what the teams do.”

“Maybe not, but without you, they wouldn’t be prepared to do what they needed to.” She sighed and then looked at the door. “I think we should get out. Otherwise, I’m going to sleep right here.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Although, I plan to do this every night until we’re done in Chicago.” He stood up and got out. Going over to their hotel robes, he picked one up, turned around, and held it out for her to put on.

“I could live here.” She tied it and smiled at him.

He looked around. “In the pool room?” He put his robe on and slipped his feet into the complimentary slippers.

“No, silly. Some place like this hotel.” She laughed. “Anywhere with space to move around is my dream.”

Zain turned around and studied her. The white robe pulled up to her chin, highlighted her face, and made her hair seem brighter. His wolf was very alert. He could lie about some things, but her beauty wasn’t one of them. Smart, beautiful, and compassionate. Their mate.

“Did I lose you?”

He blinked. “No.” Clearing his throat, he motioned to the door. “It’s been a long day.”

She nodded. “We’ve saved six of our kind in the last few days—” She walked out into the hall. “—Bill. That’s somethin’.”

She was right. He’d never directly been involved in it before. Helped organize it. Listened on the comes during it but had never been present. They went through the hall door, and an employee stopped and watched them. They were smiling at them in a weird way.

Oaklyn slowed down and walked closer to him. “Is my hair standing up or something’?”

He shook his head and watched the staff at the front desk both smile at them in the same way.

“Mister Jeggins,” The manager smiled again. “I must apologize. If we’d known, we would have given you the bridal suite.”

Zain slowed his steps. “That’s…”

The woman beside the manager nodded. “If we’d known you were on your honeymoon, we would have prepared your room differently as well.”

Zain looked at Oaklyn. She just smiled back at her.

“You didn’t seem, uh…”

The woman nudged the manager. “It’s plain as day when they look at each other.” She smiled at them both again.

“Is fine.” Oaklyn moved closer to Zain. “I’m very shy about public displays. You understand?”

The woman nodded. “Yes. Congratulations to both of you. There’s champagne and fruit in your suite right now, and we’ll send up a complimentary breakfast in the morning.”

Oaklyn hugged Zain’s arm. “Ah, thank you. That is very sweet.” She looked up at him. “Isn’t it, Bill.”

Zain held her look for a moment. Illias. This reeked of Illias, and he was going to cuff him in the head the next time he saw him. There had been no mention of being newlyweds in their files. “Indeed.”

“Enjoy the rest of your evening.” The manager inclined his head to them.

“Thank you.” Zain put his arm behind Oaklyn and guided her toward the elevator.

She leaned against him. “Did you…”

“No. I suspect Illias is behind this.”

She giggled and looked over her shoulder back at the desk. “Did you put our stuff away before we came down?”

He nodded and leaned his head down on hers. “Yes.”

“Oh good.”

He made sure nothing was left out anytime they left the room. Despite having asked for no maid service during their stay, he still packed up any weapons and the earbuds when they left the room. It was a good thing his paranoia and neatness prevailed. The elevator door opened, and then both hurried in. When it closed, he looked down at her. “Don’t say anything.”

She gave him a curious look but nodded.

He didn’t trust that someone wasn’t listening to them on the elevator. Staff members weren’t his only worry. If they’d managed to put a program on his laptop in the Alliance Headquarters—tapping into cameras at a hotel wasn’t an improbability.

When the doors opened, he took her hand and started down the hall. It wasn’t until they reached the door did he realized he’d done that. He looked at their hands and then at her. She smiled, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Releasing her hand, he opened the door and then went inside and inhaled slowly.

Oaklyn walked into the sitting area and did the same thing. She glanced at him and shook her head. “I smell the woman at the desk downstairs.”

Zain nodded and walked into the bedroom, and opened the closet. The clothes hung up were still evenly spaced apart. He squatted down and looked at the briefcase. The piece of string was still situated under the corner of the case.

“I guess your tidiness is useful after all.”

He glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting on the corner of the bed.

“I watched you place that string there and thought some of his marbles must be missing.” She smiled. “Now I understand it.”

Zain stood up. “I’ve always done it. Since after my mom—” He exhaled. “Its easy to see changes when everything is in order.”

“So you organize your food because…”

He laughed. “I might be a little OCD.”

She stood up, still smiling. “I find it endearing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “My OCD tenancies are endearing?”

She came over and smoothed the collar of his robe. “Yes. You’re a complex man.” She tilted her head. “Not like any I’ve met before.” She rubbed her hand up and down the front of his robe. “I like it.”

Zain’s wolf felt like he was trying to push through his skin to be closer to hers. He didn’t know what to say and was having trouble focusing beyond the scent of her filling him.

“That was a compliment, Zain.”

This close, he could see the light spotting of freckles across her cheekbones. Her eyes had grey in them. How had he not noticed this before? He knew her wolf’s were brown, and from a distance, her eyes looked brown as well.

“Are you okay?”

He blinked and looked down at her again. “Yeah. It’s, uh, hard to concentrate when you’re this close.”

“I’ve been this close to you most of the day.” Her tone was soft.

He shrugged. “Most of the day, I was scared half out of my skin.” She’d taken the clip out of her hair so it hung down on her shoulders. Without his permission, his hand reached and touched it. It was thick but silky.

“The way you’re looking at me says you want to kiss me.”

He immediately looked at her mouth. His wolf stopped, frozen in place inside of him. “I thought none of that mate stuff was allowed.” His voice had dropped lower.

“It's not. Neither of us needs that in our lives right now.” She licked her lips. “Is a kiss breaking the rules?”

“I wouldn’t want to break rules.” He leaned down closer, inhaling and taking the scent that was so uniquely hers into his body. Her breathing changed.

“I think we can bend them a little without them breaking.”

He nodded and placed his hand behind her head. When their lips touched, it was so slight he wasn’t sure if it had been his imagination or if they had. Lifting his head, he searched her eyes, not wanting to do anything she didn’t want. She reached up and put her hand behind his head and applied just enough pressure that he knew she welcomed another kiss.

When his mouth covered hers this time, he was able to taste her. He’d thought her scent was perfect, but her flavor sent fire through his whole body. He wanted to pick her up, place her on the bed, and explore every inch of her body. His wolf was so close Zain could hear her heartbeat. Breaking the kiss, he lifted his head and looked down at her. Her eyes were filled with wonderment. She touched her mouth and held his look.

“Is it supposed to feel like that—with mates?”

He couldn’t think of words right now. “Like what?” He rested his hand on her shoulder and dragged his thumb along her jawline. His wolf froze, and Zain realized he had been thinking of leaning down and biting her.

“Amazing.” She whispered and ran her hands up to his shoulders.

“The rules.”

“Aren’t broken yet.” Her eyes darkened, and he knew her animal was as close as his.

He glanced behind her and saw the bed. His animal let his opinion of that be known. No marking. Grasping her waist, he picked her up, turned, and set her on the dresser. Pushing her knees aside, he placed his body between them as he lowered his mouth to hers again.

Her hands were in his hair, in a painful grip, keeping his head where it was. When their tongues danced, he could feel the sharp teeth in both of their mouths. Their animals were so close, they’d have to be careful not to cross any lines that couldn’t be uncrossed.

Tearing his mouth from hers, he dragged air into his lungs. “This is a bad idea.”

She nodded and tugged his robe open so she could run her hand over his bare chest. “A terrible idea.”

Zain nodded, seized a handful of her hair, and brought her mouth back to his. Her taste was like a drug coursing through his veins. If one could be instantly addicted to something, he was. Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against her. “You don’t want a mate.”

Her breathing was as uneven as his own. “You can’t have one.” She whispered. Leaning forward, she licked his throat.

Zain growled and dragged her face back up to his. “New rules. We can do this, but no marking.”

“No marking. Stay off the bed.”

“Yeah. No bed.” Leaning back, he spread her robe open and pushed it down her arms. Her shoulders were sprinkled with freckles, and they went down her chest. He wanted to taste them. Leaning down, he kissed her shoulder and then pushed the straps of her swimsuit off. She sucked in a breath and pulled her arms out of it. Watching her eyes, he pushed the wet material down over her breasts and then brought his hands back up over them. Her breathing increased, and she closed her eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her. Not a gentle exploratory one, but he claimed her mouth as his. He couldn’t mark her, but he planned to claim every part of her. His. His wolf stirred and didn’t object to that idea. With a growl, he tore his mouth from hers and picked her up. She wrapped her legs tight around his waist and grasped his head.

He dragged his mouth over her throat. She moaned. When he realized he was dragging his sharp teeth over it, he moved his mouth away from it and licked his way down over her skin. Sharp nails dug into his shoulders when he closed his mouth over a hard nipple. Gently, he scraped his teeth over it and then moved to the other one.

Oaklyn was squirming against him, making Zain want to shred the rest of her suit so he could feel her nakedness against his skin. Her scent changed, and it was like it was weaving a spell around him so that he could only think of her. The feel of her skin. The taste of her. With another growl, he set her back on the dresser and then dropped his robe on the floor. He shoved hers down her arms and then picked her up and stood her in front of him. It was hard to do it gently and not rip it off, but he managed to undo the back of her top and remove it from her body. Dropping to his knees, he pulled the bottom half of her suit down her legs. Sharp fingernails dug into his shoulders as he did. When she stepped out of it, he grasped her waist and boosted her back up on the dresser.

Wedging his shoulders between her legs, he ran his tongue up the inside of her one thigh and then the other. Her breathing was coming in huffs now. He looked up to see her watching him with heavy, lust-filled eyes. “I don’t think I can leave you behind when we’re done at that party.”

She nodded. “I know.”