Page 28 of Dark Goodbye

He stares at me, his eyes boring into mine. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way to satisfy myself.”

This time, Mogen’s face mirrors my own as a flush rises up her weathered cheeks. Ducking her head, she exits the room, leaving just Davix and me by ourselves. Part of me wants to call out, to beg her to stay, but I can’t. The plea lies silent on my lips.

Since I’m officially no longer a child, it feels foolish to even contemplate asking for a chaperone. As of a week or two ago, I officially no longer needed protection of that sort. However, knowing it and practicing it are two vastly different things. Deep inside, I still long for the naivety of my youth, of being allowed protection without fear of reprisal.

Without saying a word, Davix walks over to me and slides his palm across the sling. His very touch is electric, begging me to reconsider my stance against him. It’s alluring, a siren’s call that I have to face at some point. When will the day come that it’s all too much and I just give in? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?

If only he would allow me the use of respirators. That would go a long way in curbing these wayward thoughts. Even though his touch does funny things with my stomach, when coupled with the masculine scent that seems to cling to him like a second skin, I’m helpless.

But it’s just my hormones. That’s all it is. It has to be. If no one at the commune made me feel this same need, then that must prove it’s my omega dynamic and not some cosmic pairing that’s forcing slick to gather at the juncture of my thighs.

The scent of my arousal hangs heavy in the air, thick and heady. In fact, it makes my head swim, and yet, Davix seems to be immune. Here I am in constant turmoil, and he’s standing there like I’m just some other patient — cool, detached.

Just one more way things are not fair.

I study his face, noting the changes etched into his features from the time spent apart. Three years is not a long time to some, but with him, they seemed to have hit hard. No longer does he sport a shadow where a beard should be, but instead, it’s thick and full, and for a moment, I long to run my fingers through it to determine its texture.

Lines mar his forehead, speaking of stress and possibly loss. No doubt the revolution I’ve heard smatterings about. Still… My fingers itch as I pull forward, only to be stopped by those damned chains that hold me nearly immobile. In a way, I should be grateful; they’re stopping me from making yet a bigger fool of myself than I already have.

“Would you like for me to give you a pain-numbing injection before I move you?” His voice is deep and thick, sending another sliver of need through me.

“That’s fine.”

With a wink, he leans in closer, dropping his voice another octave. “Or would you prefer I employ a more pleasurable way to distract you from this pain?”

My clit thumps painfully at his words, luring me, urging me to forget that he’s an enemy. “I’m not begging. Not that easily.”

His soft chuckle peppers the air as he brings up his finger to tap it on the tip of my nose. “That’s not what I was offering, but I’m glad to see you are at least thinking about it.”

Heat engulfs my face as I stare up into his smug face. “How was I to know? As an Alpha, isn’t that all you think about?”

“As an Alpha, no,” he hedges, reaching into a nearby drawer to grab a syringe. “As your Alpha, not a moment goes by where I don’t imagine my face between your thighs, my cock sliding into your tight wet heat, and my knot binding us together while I continue to pleasure you, driving you so wild you lose the ability to both think and speak.”

My throat goes dry, and based on the slow curve of Davix’s lips, he can hear the rate of my heart as it beats wildly in my chest. Clearing my throat, I glance about the room, determined to look anywhere other than directly at him. But it’s no use.

Even though I can’t see him, his scent continues to fill my nose, flooding my brain with wants and desires that have no place here. “I never said you were my Alpha,” I eventually grumble, wincing as the medicine floods into my shoulder.

“You don’t have to say it, not with your words at least. Your body is telling me everything I need to know.”

Whipping my head back around, I pin him with a hard glare. “Just because your nose-.”

Once more, he taps the side of his nostril, smiling as if concealing the world’s best joke. “My nose has nothing to do with it.”

“But-.” Dumbfounded, I stare at him, but I still cannot figure out what he’s hiding.

Reaching into his pocket, he shuffles about for a moment before holding out his hand. In his palm are a set of respirators that are barely visible. Even when Davix tilts his head up, I still can’t see them. It’s as if his mustache completely erases any trace.

“The moment I saw you were in trouble, I put these in. I had to make sure nothing deterred me from rescuing you, not even the threat of going into a rut myself. That’s also why I’m not taking them off. Not yet anyway.”

Scoffing, I shake my head. “Please, like you’re really that noble.”

His brows furrow for a moment, driving a shaft of fear into my heart. “I made you a promise, and these respirators will help me keep that promise. I will not allow you to goad me into taking them out.”

Desperate to change the subject, I squirm about, shaking my good hand in the restraints. “Well, what did you mean then? When you offered a more pleasurable way.”

“My purr, of course. But since you seem so convinced that I have nefarious reasons-.”

My stomach clenches as I mull over his words. More than anything, I want his purr, I need his purr, but at what cost? It feels like every small concession I make is yet one more piece of my soul that’s ripped from my body. “Look, I’m sorry. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?”