Page 10 of Instant Bond

“You were?” I asked. His shy little smile made me want to hold him against a wall while I kissed him breathless.

“They said they’re all done with me today,” he said. When he pulled out his phone to glance at the time, he gasped. “Oh! Damn it! It’s later than I thought.”

“You even sound cute when you curse,” I observed, which made him shake his head a little, grimacing.

“I have to be home, like, really soon.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get home on time.” But I wondered what he was so nervous about being late for.

True to my word, I had my driver floor it on the way back to Cameron’s apartment. But even with the added speed, we had a few minutes to talk, which I was glad for.

“So, um, I wanted to thank you for everything today. It was all really, really nice. They didn’t ask me any questions about anything, though?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of all that tomorrow.” We wouldn’t.

“What’s even going to be left to try tomorrow?” He asked, a little wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty you haven’t tried.”

“Let me guess,” he started, and for once instead of timid nerves I could see a sparkle of humor dancing in his hazel eyes. “You’re going to put me on some special table and give me a deep tissue massage with some fancy oils or something, right?”

The mental image of his tight, pretty body barely covered by a towel and slicked with oil was very, very inviting. I’d have to consider it sometime outside of my place of work.

“Morrison Beauty doesn’t make massage oils.”

“Wow, really? Seems like that’s maybe the only thing you guys don’t make.”

“We do make a shimmer body oil,” I offered. “If you want to sparkle in the sun like a Pacific Northwestern vampire.”

He giggled at my reference. “I don’t know if that’s for me…”

“I’m sure you’d look incredible,” I told him. His laugh was so cute. I wanted to hear it all the time. “It seems like you’re getting more comfortable with me. I’m glad. You don’t have any reason to be afraid of me, baby boy.”

“Uh, well, I was never afraid of you exactly,” he said, staring down at his thighs. Sunlight from the window highlighted his fresh, glowing skin, making him look even more ethereal than normal. “I’m just not used to all this.”

“All this?”

“Attention and stuff like that. Plus, alphas don’t usually like me.” As he finished that sentence, he winced a little, like he’d revealed something he hadn’t meant to reveal. I was shocked to hear him say that, but it mattered very little to me what other alphas thought of him. If anything, it was good. It would result in less bloodshed that way.

“Why not?” Even so, I couldn’t help but ask.

Sighing, Cam wrung his fingers together nervously. “It’s complicated.”

“If it’s complicated, then forget about it for now. Like I said before, I only want you focused on me and how you feel today.”

When I reached out to him, this time only briefly petting my fingers down his hair, he didn’t look quite so petrified.

“Okay. I’ll try.” He hesitated for a bit before speaking again. “You were really generous with everything today. And then togive me all this stuff, too… This is all so different for me. I just want to make sure you know how much I really appreciate it.”

“I enjoyed it too, so there’s no need to thank me. Watching you allow yourself to be treated the way you deserve was very…” I paused, considering my wording. I still couldn’t come on as strong as I’d like. Even if hewasstarting to warm to me. It wouldn’t do to scare him off. “It was very pleasurable for me.”

“Is that, like, a thing for you?” Cam wondered, before groaning and pressing his fingers to his eyes. “God, sorry, that was so rude of me to ask.”

“A thing?” I repeated, amused. “In what sense do you mean?”

“Forget it.”

“If there’s anything you want to know about me, I’m happy to share. Don’t worry about offending me, Cameron.”

---