The comm buzzes, indicating someone at the door.
I press the release, and I swear the door slides open in slow motion.
Heat snakes up my spine as I drag my eyes up his toned body.
Damn… I had heard that being an omega made your sex drive go haywire, and I’ll never forget the pain of my heatwave and the need that came with it, but I was not prepared for the reaction my body had to seeing Zayd again after so long without any contact with a man.
“Never mind. This was a bad idea. I can’t—” I back away from the door too quickly, leaving the door release out of reach and Zayd standing there, tempting me in a way that makes me want to march the ten miles to our house and kick Sutton in the nuts. Then, to add insult to injury, I trip over the chair behind me and tumble backward.
“Layla.” Zayd steps over the threshold into my room to scoop me off the floor and lay me in my bed. “Did you hit your head? Should I call the med comb?”
“I’m fine,” I say, wincing at the pain in my elbow that hit the edge of the coffee table on my way down.
When the buzz of my not-so-funny bone finally fades out, and my other senses kick back in, I scurry to the head of the bed to put as much distance as I can between Zayd and me.
“Don’t come any closer.” I put my hand up, another buffer between us as he leans in.
“You are hurt, Layla. Please let me look at you.” He reaches for my arm.
I pull it to my chest and hug it tightly. “I’m fine. Seriously. Just please stay back.”
Zayd huffs a laugh through his nose. “That will make the scent marking process a little difficult.”
“How can you take this so lightly? Isn’t being near me driving you crazy with desire?” I can’t be alone in this.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for his restraint, but I’m going to be really pissed if he somehow got over me in the last couple of weeks while I somehow became more attracted to him.
“I apologize, Layla. I am only trying to make this easier for you. I know you do not want to be here. You do not want me here or have me mark you.”
Oh, great. Now I miss his levity. Wish I’d never scolded him for it.
“It’s okay. I just wasn’t ready to feel like this. This… Needy. It caught me off guard. Obviously.” I sweep my arm, gesturing at the floor where I fell.
Zayd grins, baring his fangs.
It still amazes me how non-threatening his smile can be while so cavalierly brandishing such deadly weapons.
“If you would like me to come back later, after you have had a chance to prepare, I—”
“No. I’m feeling much better now. I just need a minute. And, honestly, I think it will be easier to get used to it if you stay.”
Zayd nods and sits there like a statue.
“So… How are you?” I ask him when I can’t stand the silence any longer.
“I am well,” he says, stiffly.
I side-eye him. “I don’t believe you.”
His shoulders fall, and he slumps over until his forearms land on his knees. “You are right. I am miserable.”
I sigh, feeling like I can finally breathe normally again. “Me too.”
He turns his head to look at me, and it’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him. He looks as defeated as I feel.
“I miss you, Layla. I know I am not supposed to let my feelings intrude on our arrangement, but since you asked, and I cannot lie to you, I miss you. Desperately.”
“That’s what caught me off guard. When the door opened, and I saw you standing there, I realized I had been missing you. The guilt was a punch in the gut because I’m only supposed to miss Sutton.”
