Page 19 of Alpha's Forbidden Bond

“I guess the wood just finally had enough,” he said.

“It hadn’t shown any signs of being wobbly or anything.” I shook my head. “God, I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if you weren’t here. Or hell, what if a customer had been on the ladder when this happened? They could’ve sued the shop, or Georgie personally. That would’ve been the end of this place.”

“The good news is that it wasn’t a customer, and nobody got hurt.”

I nodded and then waited for him to put me down. This seemed like a natural stopping point in the conversation, and there was no reason for him to be holding me anymore. But instead, Andreas kept a firm grip and didn’t break eye contact. I noticed, not for the first time, what a pretty shade of blue his irises were.

“Thanks for catching me,” I said in a low voice. I could feel the warmth radiating off his body, and the way he looked at me, I got the impression that he felt the same charge I did. There was an energetic give-and-take between us, a push-and-pull that was causing my body to almost vibrate with anticipation of what might happen next.

“You know,” he said after a while. “I didn’t just come here to save you from a potentially lethal fall… I also came to do this.”

Andreas lifted one of his arms so that the gap between our faces was smaller, and then he bent down just enough to cover my mouth with his. I gasped with suprise and kissed him back. He tasted like the most delicious cup of coffee first thing in the morning, and when I ran my hands through his hair, I found the locks were thick and soft like a lion’s mane. His kiss grew in intensity, and he walked me over to the only wall of the bookstore that wasn’t covered in shelves. Through some combination of dream magic and Andreas’ impressive strength, he swung me upright so my legs could wrap around his waist. My feet didn’t touch the floor once.

He pressed my back into the wall and began kissing down my neck. I could feel his desire pushing against the fabric of his pants and digging into my inner thigh as I started to slide down slightly. I held onto the back of his neck with one hand, then reached the other one down, tugging up on the hem of his shirt. I let my fingers dance along the crevices of his abdominal muscles and moaned softly when Andreas dug his teeth gently into the skin above my collarbone. I pushed one finger underneath the waistband of his jeans, and this drove him mad.

Groaning, he lifted me from the wall, and for the first time since he caught me, I was back on my own two feet. He pawed at my body, tearing at my clothes, until somehow I was standing there in the middle of the shop, completely naked. My core throbbed with anticipation as he used the pads of his fingers to massage my clit.

“Don’t stop,” I begged. “Please, don’t stop.”

“Never,” he whispered into my ear before plunging two of his fingers inside of me. My head fell back into the wall, and I closed my eyes, wanting to feel every inch of him as he penetrated me deeper and deeper. He began moving his wrist around, pushing his hand upward with faster and faster movements. I was on the verge of an orgasm. When Andreas used his thumb to once again press into my swollen clit, I crested over the edge of pleasure.

“Yes! More! M?—”

Something hit my window.

I shot up in bed, my body still tingling from the wet dream I’d just had. With wide eyes and a frantic heartbeat, I stared out the window above my little kitchenette's sink. It was pitch black outside, a night with no moon, and I held my breath as I listened closely for another noise. At first, all was quiet, but then I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps.

Someone was definitely outside the house.

I grabbed my coat and shoes as quickly as I could. Then, at the door, I decided to take things slow. If I could open the door silently and peek out, maybe I could catch whoever this peeping Tom was in the act. Otherwise, I might give them enough warning to dart around the corner or disappear into the surrounding woods. I curled my fingers around the cold metal of the handle and breathed in deeply. My mind, which had been racing with all sorts of troublesome thoughts and worries just a moment ago, went silent as I prepared to step outside.

The door creaked as I pulled it towards me, but a gust of cold wind muffled the sound. No one was directly outside the door, but that wasn’t where I had heard the noises anyway. I had to get around the corner without being seen or heard. I waited until the wind picked up a second time and then darted around to the other side of the house as quickly as possible. Putting my hands out in front of me, as if that was going to stop an incoming attack, I finally released the breath I’d been holding.

The attack never came. There was nobody there. I dropped my hands to my sides and looked around the backyard and surrounding area. There wasn’t enough mud on the ground to make out footprints, and now the wind was getting so loud I could hardly hear myself think. Whoever had been looking in my window—which I was almost positive someone was—had managed to get away. Or maybe they were hiding somewhere that I couldn’t see on this impossibly dark night.

Were they standing just off to the side, watching me right now?

The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I suddenly felt the urge to get back inside and behind a locked door. When I re-entered my basement apartment, however, I did so cautiously. Looking around to ensure nothing seemed amiss, I checked the bathroom, the closet, and under my bed before I got back under the covers.

I stared up at the ceiling for a while, jumping at every little sound, even the ones I was familiar with—like the whistling from the upstairs heaters, or a car door slamming in my neighbor’s driveway. It took me a long time to fall asleep again, and the last thought I had before I closed my eyes for good that night was a recollection of something Georgie had mentioned on our walk home.

“You should get yourself some pepper spray,” she said. “Just in case.”

I decided right then and there to drive across town to the store first thing in the morning.

Chapter 9

Andreas

“Why do you have to go back again?” Mikeal asked. “I thought you went to buy mattresses yesterday.”

“I purchased them yesterday, but they had to get them out of the back of the warehouse, and there wasn’t a forklift driver working that day or something.”

I tried to remember exactly what the sales associate at the store said was the reason I couldn’t retrieve the mattresses the day I bought them, but Mikeal didn’t seem to be listening all that intently anyway. He’d asked the question and then returned to zoning out as he’d been doing all morning. He was stirring his oatmeal around in the bowl rather than eating it, and his face sagged with exhaustion.

“Did you not get any sleep last night or what? You look like a zombie.”

He shrugged. “I got some. Then I woke up early and just decided to get up and work on Sammy’s car. I don’t know what that kid did to his engine, but I do know that he’s lying about having changed the oil recently.” He laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d never changed the oil in that car.”

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