45. His scent

Shrugging off the thought of coming back at a later time, she stepped out the elevator doors when they came open on the top floor. A hand reached for the knob only to drop back to her side, belatedly realizing that neither of them had thought to give her an access card. Netayah was considering heading downstairs to find the men to allow her to have access to the suit, when suddenly the door came open from inside.

Only to become completely frozen where she stood outside in the hallway, as she came face to face with the massive wall of muscles. The breath got stuck in the back of her throat as Netayah stared at the chest that was before her, missing none of the well-defined muscles. Helplessly her gaze followed the path of a bead of sweat that dripped down it, moving through the valley of defined pecks, a trail through chiseled six-pack, right to the light pattering of hair under a belly button. Against her better judgment, her focus remained on it, right to the waistband of shorts that hung limply on lean hips, blocking off that part of his body.

Her hand was inching ever closer to that chest, helpless to deny the pull that urged her to reach out, when suddenly it dawned on her what she was doing. Snapped to attention at the thought her fingers had been inches away from stroking his chest, mortified to have been caught gawking at him. “I am so sorry Xios, I don't know what came over me.”

“I'm not complaining,” Xios snickered roguishly as he leaned against the doorframe of the apartment, a hand came up to stroke fingertips down her face. “Feel free to touch me whenever and wherever you want.”

Again her hand was reaching out to touch the chest that'd been freely offered up for her inspection, only to suddenly jerk it away again. She vehemently shook her head, clearly flustered. “Um..I...ah don't think that's a good idea.”

“Why?” he challenged.

“I gotta go,” she hissed.

Practically jumping over him in order to get through the doorway, she fully intended on racing up the inside stairs to the second floor. Where she could escape to her bedroom, lock the door to confine herself inside and remain there until she could get a handle on her emotions. Before she did something stupid that could jeopardize everything that she was working towards, the kind of life that she was hoping to build.

A few moments later she reached the safety of her apartment but didn't feel a sense of relief until she was barricaded inside of her private bedroom. Sighing in relief now that she'd gotten inside without doing anything stupid, like completely forgetting herself and allowing her to touch the man. To kiss him. Fuck, she was in trouble. Though she knew eventually at some point their relationship would reach that point, she wanted the chance to get to know them first and vice versa.

Netayah wanted -nay she needed to- know that this was something all three of them truly wanted out of their lives, without doubts or reservations. And not because it was the destiny mapped out for them or the calling of the mate bond in their blood, but because they truly wanted to be together. But the more that she was around them, the scent assailing her senses and vibrations thrumming through them, it became harder and harder to deny them. Either of them.

Muttering under her breath at the ignorance of her actions today, she angrily stripped out of her clothes intent on gathering her things to take a cold shower. She'd gotten no further than the foot of her bed when suddenly she froze in mid-step, instantly knowing that something was different in the room. She sniffed. Oh god no. His scent was here.

Moaning in despair as she was assailed by the spiced vanilla scent that came at her from all angles, having little doubt he'd been inside of her room today. He hadn't merely been inside, he'd wallowed in it. Gripping onto the bedpost, fingers digging into the hardwood, she continued to inhale deeply, breathing in his scent with each breath she took. It was so powerful, so potent, stirring long-buried feelings inside of her and dredging up instincts she wasn't even aware she was capable of.

Driven by a compulsion that couldn't be ignored Netayah stumbled towards the edge of the mattress, breathing in his overpowering scent. Scrambling up into the center of the mattress where it was the strongest, she knelt there against the softness as she reached for the black shirt. His shirt. Unable to stop herself from giving in to the urge, shaky hands brought his shirt to cover her nose, burrowing her face into the warmth that enveloped it.

“Xios,” she moaned.

Falling face first into the wide expanse of the mattress, Netayah rolled around in the scent he'd left behind in his wake, continuing to smother his shirt in her face. So lost to the urges that rose up inside of her at that moment, the need for his scent too overpowering to ignore, she failed to hear the knock at the door. Nor did she acknowledge the movement from inside the apartment, that led to footsteps on the second floor and her bedroom door came open.

Until she heard the sharp intake of breath.

Snapping upright at the soft catch of breath that penetrated her senses, Netayah lurched forward onto her knees, noticing him standing in the doorway. “Xios,” she rasped thickly. It came out more like a growl if she was being truthful.

Xios stood rooted in the doorway of her bedroom, his hands were clamping onto the frame, as if he were struggling to keep standing there. “I'm sorry,” he growled thickly in the back of his throat, his eyes pinned on her on the bed. “I didn't mean to disturb your...nap. I simply wanted the opportunity to apologize for what happened downstairs.”

Assailed by the shame of the position he'd caught her in, a blush staining her cheeks she reached for the blanket, to hide her body from sight. “I can explain,” she stammered.

He grinned widely at her. “There's no need, my love, you aren't doing anything wrong. It's natural, all part of the process.”

“Oh,” she sighed, at that moment realizing just how ignorant she really was, as she honestly didn't have a clue as to what had come over her. Luckily he did.

Xios started to turn around in order to leave, guessing she needed her privacy at that moment, but suddenly stopped before he could. He turned back around to face her. “Sleep in my shirt tonight, it will help you. And if you have any further need for my clothes, then all you need to do is ask.”

“Okay,” she squeaked.

Then with promises to see her later for dinner, Xios stalked out of the bedroom, then a few minutes later the door could be heard closing. Netayah fell back against the bed mortified by what just happened, the realization Xios caught her half-naked wallowing on the bed, sniffing his shirt. Like a fucking dog. Goddess, what was wrong with her? What the man must think of her?

It was horrifying to know that he had bore witness to such a private and intimate moment, yet it also excited her that he'd been there to see it. Her gaze focused on the shirt that she'd been clutching to her face, the one that was submerged in the man's scent, knowing that he'd been wearing it. Having little doubt of how the garment had come to be inside of her bedroom, undoubtedly he had left it behind when he'd come into her room. When he had taken the time to painstakingly mark every inch of her bedroom chambers in his scent, familiarizing herself with the scent of her mate.

Netayah was aware that's what the man had really been up to when he'd entered her chambers while she'd been out of the house, it being an old custom. While some might have been freaked out at a strange man inside of their bedroom quarters, and had it been anyone else she would, but it was different for him. She liked that the man had been inside her bedroom, that he had rolled around inside of her bed, leaving his mark on the bed as he would to her someday. And soon too, if instincts were right. Despite her earlier determination to take things slow, to give all of them the opportunity to bond on an emotional level, the realization excited her.