Page 208 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

The rest of the briefing passes in the usual rhythm of questions, updates, and decisions, but my attention keeps returning to Halley.

Not because she needs watching or babysitting in an environment like this, but because she doesn't. She's a natural leader.

She handles herself with the same calm certainty she's had since her death washed away the years of crushing self-esteem issues. She speaks when necessary, says exactly what needs saying, and never wastes words trying to prove she belongs here.

She's incredible.

And fuck, her competency and confidence are rut-damn sexy.

I catch some of the Prime Alphas looking at her with something more than just admiration, and my possessiveness curls at the edge of my restraint.

They can look all they want, but she belongs to me. To my Pack. In our nest.

By the time the last datapad is closed and the final acknowledgment is given, I'm hard and thankful for the desk hiding the strain in my trousers.

Finally, chairs scrape back and orders for the next three days are confirmed. Officers file out, already moving on to their next responsibilities. Zero leaves without looking directly at Halley even once, and Jason gives us both a glance that carries entirely too much awareness for my liking before following Shade into the hall.

'Don't make a mess,' Shade says with a snicker in my mind, and I yank hard on our bond in retaliation, satisfied by the distant yelp that echoes from the hall.

The door shuts behind the last of them.

Silence settles over the office.

I automatically reach for my datapad on the corner of my desk, pulling up the reports I was reading before the meeting. There is always another file to review, another decision to make, another task waiting to be handled before someone brings it to me.

Then I realize Halley has not moved.

I look up.

She is still standing at my right side, one hip against the edge of my desk, watching me with an expression I know well enough now to distrust on sight.

"You forgot to dismiss me, General," she says.

My grip tightens slightly on the datapad. "You don't require formal dismissal, you know that."

"No?" Her gaze drops to my mouth for a second, then returns to my eyes. "That’s not the impression I got from the way you were glaring at me for the last hour and thirty minutes."

"I was not glaring at you."

"You were." She pushes off the desk and takes a slow step closer until her hip presses against my side. "Very sternly."

"I am, as you pointed out earlier, a very stern person."

That gets a smile out of her. It's small and pleased, dangerous because I'm dancing right into whatever game she's playing. Sometimes I think she spends too much time with Blaze, and his impish ways are rubbing off on her.

"No," she says softly. "You're not. At least, not with me."

I should tell her to go and finish the paperwork in front of me while my head is still clear. I should do several things that would be sensible and responsible, and entirely in keeping with the important position I hold.

Instead, I sit there and watch as she catches the back of my chair and turns it toward her. By the time it stops, she is standing between my knees, bent over me with one hand planted on each armrest and a wicked smirk promising pleasure.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Knox

This close, I can smell her properly. Warm skin with notes of lavender and lightning, and a hint of Omega sweetness. The faint trace of my own scent still clings to her from yesterday, and my cock throbs as I swallow thickly.

Halley notices.