Chapter 39 Chapter 39
Tiana
My eyes opened slowly, like surfacing from deep water.
My head throbbed. Each pulse behind my eyes felt like a hammer strike. My mouth was so dry that my tongue stuck to the roof of it.
But underneath the discomfort, something else registered.
Warmth. Softness. The scent of cedar and a masculine and clean fragrance.
Zane’s scent.
My eyes flew open.
The room came into focus gradually. There were unfamiliar pieces of furniture, a ceiling without the 47 cracks I’d counted in mine. And the windows had heavier curtains blocking out most of the morning light.
This wasn’t my room.
I turned my head slightly, taking in the details. A desk sat by a corner. Then a shelf.
That shelf that Zane had pinned me to, the day I tried exploring his room.
Zane’s room.
I was in Zane’s room.
Memory flickered in my brain. Fragmented images that felt more like dreams than my reality.
We were at the Convergence. Then dancing. I had wine, so much wine.
Then some arms I believed were Zane’s wrapped around me. Also, the solidness of his chest under my cheek. His voice low and strained saying my name.
Heat flooded my face.
We had slept together.
We must have. Why else would I be here? In his bed? Wearing—
I looked down and my breath caught.
His shirt. I was wearing his shirt. The fabric soft and enormous on me, smelling exactly like him.
My heart started racing for an entirely different reason.
A small smile tugged at my lips despite the pounding in my head.
Finally.
After all the tension, and all the almost moments. After the frustrating pushing and pulling, something had finally happened between us.
I lifted the blanket slightly, wanting to confirm, to see…
And yes, I was naked.
I was completely bare underneath the shirt.
My stomach flipped.
Oh, goddess. I was almost squealing with my legs shaking.
We had actually—
The door opened.
I yanked the blanket up to my chin, my heart slamming into my ribs because how do I face this man now, who had known what it felt like to be inside of me, when I could barely remember his taste.
Zane stood in the doorway.
His hair was slightly damp, like he had recently showered. His shirt hung loose and unbuttoned at the collar wearing a blank expression and his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.
“Alpha,” I started, my voice coming out rough and uncertain. “Did we… sorry, Good morning, Alpha. I mean, last night, did we—”
“No.”
The word cut through my chest the way it felt sending a knife haphazardly into a tomato placed on a chopping bold.
It was sharp. Inconsiderate and disastrous.
My face burned hotter. “Oh.”
He stepped closer, facing directly at me.
I pulled the blanket higher, suddenly hyper-aware of how little I was wearing and how vulnerable I felt under his gaze.
“Then why am I…” I gestured vaguely at the shirt, at the bed, at everything.
“You were drunk.” His voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. “You couldn’t walk. I brought you here, got you cleaned up, and let you sleep it off.”
Cleaned up.
The words sent a fresh wave of mortification through me.
“I don’t… I don’t remember much.”
“I know.”
“Did I…” I swallowed hard. “Did I do something embarrassing?”
His jaw tightened. “Define embarrassing.”
Oh no.
“What did I do?”
“Nothing that needs to be discussed right now.”
Which meant I had done something. Multiple somethings, probably.
I wanted to sink into the mattress and disappear.
“I’m sorry. Whatever I said or did, I—”
“Tiana.” Zane stepped even closer, standing at the edge of the bed now. Looking down at me with that same unreadable expression. “I need to ask you something.”
My stomach twisted. “Okay.”
“Does Kaius do everything you ask of him?”
The question hit me like cold water, clearing the little bit of residual sleep that might have stayed in my eyes. He had asked this question at the convergence hall and now he was bringing it up again.
“What?” I blinked, trying to process. “What does Kaius have to do with anything?”
Zane’s expression didn’t change. “Answer the question.”
“I don’t understand…”
“It’s a simple question. Does he listen to you? Do what you ask?”
My mind spun, trying to connect dots that didn’t make sense. Why was he asking about Kaius? What did last night have to do with him that the first question he had to ask on a morning after our supposedly ‘sex’ was this?
Well, it was Zane. Why should I expect much?
“I… I guess? He’s been kind. But I don’t ask him to do things. We’re just—”
“Friends?” Zane’s tone made the word sound like an accusation.
“Yes. Friends.” My voice came out smaller than I intended.
He studied me for a long moment. Then he straightened slightly, his posture shifting into something more formal and Alpha-like.
“I need you to do something for me,” he said. “And I am certain you are the only one who can do this.”
Ice spread through my chest.
“What… what do you need me to do?”