Page 33 of The Alpha's Surrogate

She locked her fingers with Callahan’s. He was only about half a foot taller than her, but he still managed to dwarf her. His breath was hot on her hair, and it tickled her neck.

He stirred and nestled closer to her. It felt good to have him so close, but she couldn’t shake the guilt that was swelling inside her. In a few seconds, it overwhelmed her, choking her.

She scrambled out of bed and staggered toward the balcony. Her legs felt rubbery and she held the railing to steady herself. She took several deep, steadying breaths, but the guilt remained with her, pounding down on her.

Dr. Stephanie’s words rang clearly in her head, rebuking her and forbidding her from having intercourse with Callahan. It was unlikely for the doctor to find out, but the risk was too great. If it was discovered, she could lose the rest of her payment.

For the first time in days, she remembered the consequences of not paying Klaus and the were-bears. What was she thinking allowing things to go so far with Callahan?

She felt worse because she was the one who had initiated everything. Deep down, she knew that if she had to choose again, she wouldn’t do a single thing differently. She knew the price of her actions with Callahan was steep, but she felt amazing, and she still wanted more.

But it was so dangerous, in more ways than one. She turned to look into the bedroom. She could see Callahan sprawled on the bed through the transparent curtains, his chest rising and falling peacefully, while she was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

She’d started something she wasn’t sure she could finish, and one of them was going to end up hurt as a result. And yet, all she wanted to do was crawl back into her bed and have another go with Callahan. She wanted to spend the whole day tangled in his arms.

She tore her eyes away from his gorgeous form and looked at the woods stretching out endlessly before her. She loved how the sun felt on her naked body, warming her pleasantly. She loved it here. She wished this was her life, but she knew it wasn’t. It would never be.

She went into the bedroom and grabbed a robe from the closet door. She tied it around her waist and stepped out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She did her best not to look at the bed. She doubted she had the will to resist if she did.

Their clothes were littered around the house when she got downstairs, and images of Callahan taking her right there against the wall poured into her mind. She closed her eyes in sweet remembrance, and she could taste him again.

A knock sounded on the front door, startling her. She gathered the clothes quickly and hid them behind the couch to be taken away later. She straightened her robe and opened the front door.

Alpha Fannar stood outside with a box between his two hands. He looked shocked to see her, taking her in with one quick glance before his face turned expressionless again. “Hello, Josie. Is Callahan in?”

“Uhm, yes. He’s upstairs…sleeping,” she said. “Er, do you need to see him? I could go get him for you?”

“Oh, no,” he said, glancing at her. “I have a long day today and I can’t stay. Actually, I think this is for you.” He handed her the box.

She glanced up at him, curious. She opened the box and the sweet, strong smell of mana crystal flowers drifted up into her nose. She clapped and smiled up at Fannar. “Thank you!” She took the box from him. “He told me I was going to get some but I didn’t think it was possible. This is amazing.”

A rare smile appeared on his face. “Callahan can be…persistent. Anyway, please tell him I stopped by. And tell him I’ll see him soon.” He turned and left without further ado.

Josie shut the door and took the box into the lab. She took it out to her greenhouse, where she had created a shaded enclosure specifically for the mana crystal flowers. She couldn’t replicate the temperature in the mountains, but with proper care, the plants would still thrive.

She mixed the mountain soil with the tropical one, then planted the mana crystal plants. Fannar had also gotten her some crystal seeds, which she planted in plain soil to see if they would take root. She was giddy with excitement.

She spent the next two hours buried in work. She’d managed to recreate some of her notes from memory, and now that she had the flowers again, she didn’t have to start from scratch with her research.

Quincy had introduced her to a plant, midnight bloom, that he claimed had similarities to mana crystal, albeit weaker in comparison. He’d toyed with the idea of combining the two to see how they worked together, but he didn’t have mana crystal for the experiment.

She’d done some tests on midnight bloom and saw that he was right. There were similarities in the two plants, and now that she had gotten a batch of mana crystal flowers, she was excited to start testing hypotheses.

It was a welcomed distraction from Callahan. She hoped he would see last night as what it was, a one-time event that could not be repeated. She knew that it would be hard for him, but it was better now than in the future, when things became too intense for both of them.

She checked her equipment and samples, double-checked, and then triple-checked for good measure. Satisfied, she went to the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

She found Callahan sitting on a stool, sipping coffee and scrolling on his phone. He was topless, wearing only sweatpants. Every cell in her body screamed at her to turn around and run as fast as she could away from him.

He looked up at her and smiled. He set his mug down and got to his feet. “Hey, you. I looked everywhere for you when I woke up, but you had disappeared. Good morning.”

He reached out and took one of her hands, pulling her toward him. His second hand settled on her waist, sliding down to sit on her butt. He leaned forward to kiss her and she panicked.

Josie twisted out of his embrace and walked to the coffee pot on the kitchen counter. “Good morning,” she said in a shaky voice.

Her heart was racing in her chest. Callahan was acting like he wanted to pick things up from where they’d left off last night.

She avoided his eyes and poured herself some coffee. After a moment, Callahan returned to his seat. She could imagine the confusion he felt. One moment she was ripping the clothes off his back, and the next she was avoiding him.

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