Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Cora--
I can’t decide if I’m more disgusted with myself or the misogynistic alphaholes I just escaped from. I keep replaying their faces in my head– how they both looked at me like I’m some adorable puppy that just peed on the floor because I got too excited when someone came to visit. I know I won’t be able to run or hide from Landon, but it’ll be a long-ass time before I ever come face to face with James again. I’m not positive, but it sounded like Landon was joking about James being some kind of hardcore Dom, and I’m not comfortable having him know that kind of thing about me. I don’t even want to know that about him, though it does explain some things. It would make sense for a people so caught up on dominance and submission to take it into the bedroom as well. Ugh, I’m sure Emory knows all about it, then.
The secretary– his name tag says Corey Edwards– paid me no attention as I blew by him. I’m sure my scent is telling him all he needs to know. Landon comes out a moment after me, still chuckling, but I can’t look at him right now. I stride over to the elevator as evenly as I can and push the button once instead of the five million times I want to push it. I know it wouldn’t make the elevator move any faster, but it feels like it would. I would give a lot to feel less pitiful at this moment.
Landon must catch that exact thought running through my head, because he hugs me from behind as we both wait for the doors to open. Sweet kitten, you’re not pitiful. You’re strong and capable and gorgeous. James just noticed how sweet and subby you can be sometimes and fell into habit. It doesn’t say anything bad about you as much as it does about how much time James must be spending in sex clubs.
I crinkle my nose. This is almost the pep talk I needed, but it still falls short. Landon sighs as the elevator dings its arrival and I pull out of his arms. He’s still laughing at me, and I won’t have it. Once we’re in the elevator with the doors closed, I cross my arms and stare straight ahead. “I mean it, Landon. You might find it offensive when I tell you that you’re in the dog house, but I don’t really give a damn right now.”
He laughs at me. “Good one. It’s nice to see your sense of humor is still there, at least. Your problem is that I can still smell you, though. There’s no hiding it from me, kitten.” Landon sidles closer to me, pulling me against him so that my face is buried in his chest. He moves my hair to one side and kisses up the other side of my neck. “You must have been a very very good girl to earn praise from James, of all people.” He’s whispering now, his breath fanning just behind my ear and raising goosebumps all down my body. “I think behavior that good should be rewarded, don’t you?”
It feels like all the blood is draining out of my brain, following the natural pull of gravity and Landon. Every whispered word plinks warm and heavy in my pelvis. I can already feel how wet I am by how my panties are sticking to my lower lips, clinging and teasing as much as my mate is. “What…” I stop to clear my throat. “What kind of rewards?”
Landon growls briefly. “Let me get you out of here, sweet mate, and I’ll show you exactly what kind of reward.”
The elevator doors ding and open again, back into the ‘lobby’ of this insane building, and I almost hear the soap-bubble pop of the spell breaking. My eyes bug out at Landon, incensed to realize he did this to me– not just in public, but in a building full of shifters who will all smell exactly what’s going on. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? What was this, a pissing contest?”
His cheeks briefly color, but he’s otherwise unapologetic as he holds the elevator door open for me to pass by him. Fat chance. I might just camp out here until I get myself back in order– the hallway Blaze walked us through has doors all the way down each side, and they all look like individual offices. Someone could walk out at any moment on some mundane errand, only to be assaulted by my scent. I wish I knew exactly how all that works. How does scent travel for them? How long does it linger? Do some people have better noses than others?
My thoughts are interrupted by Landon’s impatience. He grunts at me but doesn’t offer any warning before tossing me over his shoulder. “You’re losing brownie points, kitten. I can’t get you home for your reward if you won’t leave the elevator. You keep forgetting that we’re not human in the weirdest ways. Don’t you think it’s normal to arouse your mate wherever they are? You are mine, Cora, and everyone here can smell that. The smell of how hot I can get you on a short elevator ride is just as normal as the smell of someone’s mild annoyance or exhaustion from a long night or excitement at a job well done. No one here will care about the smell of your arousal. They’ll be irritated that we don’t smell like their pack, more than anything else.” He smacks my ass, then takes a deep inhale. “This siren song is just for me, baby, and I fully plan to answer it.” With another smack, he walks us out both doors and to the car. Mysteriously, we don’t see a single other shifter this time.