Page 19 of Knot Letting Go

“Hey Aubrielle, did you know tonight is a very special night?” Quill yanked me to the edge of the big swirling ballof anxiety in my mind. He’d straightened in his seat and sat perched on the edge closest to me. “Let’s leave Enid to clean up, and I’ll show you.”

What was he talking about? Was he trying to flirt with me? I was in no mood for such a thing.

“Go on, dearie. I’ll keep your gelato in the freezer in case you want a sweet treat later.” Enid gave me a soft smile as she finally took the remainder of my dinner away.

Quill stood and crooked his finger at me. “Come on. Consider it inspiration for your mermaid tail.”

What the heck was he talking about? I shouldn’t go anywhere alone with an Alpha, especially not one that turned the usual butterflies in my stomach into a frenzied pack of seagulls. Yet Enid didn’t seem concerned about it, and I could excuse myself from his company faster than I could from the table when we were all seated there.

There was also something in me that wanted to follow him, that was desperate for his attention and his heady scent. It scared me and made it difficult to say no to him at the same time.

“Alright. Thank you for dinner, Enid.” I nodded to her as I stood and followed Quill up the stairs. He passed the second floor and kept going to the third. His floor.

I’d been avoiding coming to the third floor, even when Quill was gone on his business trip. I had no use for the workout room since keeping up with Lillianna all day was exhausting enough, and I’d never been big on video games to explore the game room. As for his bedroom, I tried not to imagine it, but it was luxurious and modern in my dreams.

I nipped my lower lip as I rounded the corner of the stairs and stood in the hallway. The workout room was on the left and the game room on the right. Each room had three large paneled glass walls. Lots of windows lined each exterior wall and the glow of the setting sun cast a golden sheen over everything.

Both rooms were done in a minimalist style. While the workout room had white walls with black accents and a dozen machines, the game room was more colorful with various shades of blue accented with yellow and orange. There were three flat screens on one wall with a shelf of several consoles and cartridges lined on it. A projector and screen graced the opposite wall with cozy recliners in front of it. The chairs looked like they could swivel to face either the movie screen or the gaming ones.

“You can use any of these rooms any time you want.” Quill slowed so I could admire them. “Sometimes I bring Lilli up here and we play old games like Mario Kart. She also really likes VR and pretending to be a cat. There’s educational stuff on the VR too. Like going into space or deep sea diving. With her so into being a mermaid, that might be something you two could do on a rainy day.”

Nervous as I was to be alone with him, this made me smile. Lillianna would love pretending to explore the ocean. Callista had never really told me much about her brothers, but Quill was an excellent uncle. It was sexy.

I bit the side of my tongue.Stop thinking stuff like that!

Quill’s grin grew broader as if he knew precisely what I was thinking. “We’re almost there.”

Where? To his bedroom? Oh God.

Yet instead of taking me to the door at the end of the corridor, he went into the game room and led me to where there was a small coiled stairway hidden in a corner. It led up to a hatch. “This goes up to the roof. You don’t have a fear of heights, do you?”

I shook my head. The roof? He had said something about inspiration for my mermaid tail. Why would anything like that be on the roof?

“Good. You’re going to love this.” Quill wound his way up the metal stairs and unlocked the hatch before pushing it open.Warm sea air was vacuumed inside and washed over my skin. I carefully followed him up, exiting the cool air conditioning into the warm breeze. He offered his hand to help me up, and I reached for it without thinking.

The second our hands clasped, the rest of the world disappeared. There was only this gorgeous Alpha staring down at me with dilated eyes. A wave of electricity went through me and every nerve seemed more alive than it had been before. The firmness of his grip, his masculine scent filling my nose, and his heavy breaths making his chest rise and fall.

I wanted to press my body against his, to be wrapped in his strong arms, and snuggle against his chest listening to his heart beat. Did it pound as loudly as mine?

“Oh, Aubrielle.” His tone was low and growly as he urged me up onto the roof, tugging me toward him.

A gust of wind blew over us and his black hair danced across his forehead. He was more than just handsome. He was like the god of love come to life. Slick suddenly soaked my panties, and I was keenly aware of what was happening.

We were compatible.

It was no gentle poke telling me this Alpha could be my mate. It was like being thrust into a volcano and you were stuck in that moment of sizzling heat before you hit the lava, struck by the intensity of it. Scared yet mesmerized. I wanted to flee and melt into his arms at the same time.

With both feet on the roof, I reclaimed my hand and hid it behind my back as if not seeing it would make this situation any less real. I took five steps away from him, and each one nearly broke me with how hard it was to do.

My friends told me how powerful it was when they met their mates. Yet by the time I heard the stories, they were all happily in love. It was pure romance.

This, Quill and I, it couldn’t happen. If I had wings, I’d jump off the roof and fly away into the sea.

“Aubrielle.” Quill stepped toward me and I backed away again.

Swallowing a whimper, I shook my head to whatever he was going to say.

I scanned the roof for something, anything to put between us. There were a half dozen Adirondack chairs with pillows and blankets folded underneath. There were small tables positioned around them. The chairs faced the west where the sun was setting over the Pacific. Golds and pinks played over the rippling water. To the east, the full moon was starting to rise over the Cascade range of mountains.

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