Page 26 of His Captor

Awkward.

The next hour felt like I was walking through fog and quicksand. Everything I needed to gather for my trip home was already in Ace’s car, so there was nothing to keep us from leaving almost immediately.

We were silent on the drive to the airport, which was both too long and too short. I didn’t know what to say. Thank you? You’re the hottest, nicest alpha I’ve ever met? I wish we could fuck like bunnies for another three days because nothing has ever felt as good as your cock in my hole?

“Which terminal does your flight leave from?” Ace asked as we pulled into the departures part of the airport.

And that was it. With a few mundane questions and clumsy movements as we both tried to take my suitcase from the back seat at the same time, my moment in the sun with Ace was over.

“Well,” I said, standing on the curb with my suitcase between us.

“Well,” Ace echoed.

His eyes looked like they wanted to ask me not to go, like he wanted me to stay and spend the rest of my life with him. It had to be my imagination.

“Okay, I should go check in,” I said, twisting halfway and pointing at the counter through the glass wall behind me.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

More painful stalling.

“It really was one of the best weekends of my life,” I said in a quiet, far-too-emotional voice.

“Mine, too,” Ace said, breaking into a more genuine smile.

He stepped forward and hugged me. Even with layers of clothing. My post-heat aversion made me want to scream like someone had thrown acid at me.

At the same time, I never wanted him to let go. I breathed in a deep lungful of his summery scent, and I heard him do the same with me.

Then he stepped back and it was over.

Like a zombie, I walked into the airport. Something inside me kept screaming for me to go back, to cling to my alpha. The screaming only got louder as I checked in, then made my way up to the business-class lounge to wait for my flight.

I called Simon once I got there.

“Thank God you’re okay and that you’re coming home,” Simon said in a rush almost as soon as he answered.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said using the same, hollow tone of voice I’d used to tell Ari I was fine.

“Are you sure?” Simon asked after a short pause.

“I’m sure,” I said.

I absolutely was not sure. My body felt like I’d been beaten, my insides were squirming like I’d picked up a parasite, and I wanted to weep into the soda I’d gotten to go along with my lunch…which I didn’t feel like eating.

“I might have picked up a bug of some sort out here,” I said, staying quiet so none of my fellow travelers would hear me and give me the side-eye. “I’ll be home tomorrow morning,so it doesn’t really matter. I might take a few days off work to recover.”

“Okay,” Simon said, sounding unsure. “I’ll pick you up at the airport. Text me when you land.”

I said goodbye, ended the call, then sank back into my chair, closing my eyes.

It had just been a business trip with a moment of fun tacked on the end. So why did I feel like I would never be the same again?

CHAPTER EIGHT

Mason

Go back. Go back. Go back right now and get him.

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