Page 73 of Dangerous Heat

“I love you,” Caspian murmured, collapsing down on me.

Unsure of who he was talking to, I kissed the side of his head. Shan kissed his back, pulling out and collapsing beside us. For the moment, we were all exhausted, though I knew it wouldn’t last for me. I’d be ready and raring to go shortly after Caspian’s knot deflated enough to slip from inside me.

“Will you let me knot you next time?” Shan asked, forgoing cleanup in favour of cuddles.

“Yeah, I will,” I said, having decided on my answer before my heat started. That was how I knew I wouldn’t regret letting him knot me.

“Can’t wait,” he said.

Caspian was dozing on my chest, and it wasn’t long before I was taking a little nap too, my body resting before the next round.

ChapterTwenty-Four

EMMETT

Leaving Freya with her cousin in a debatably dangerous building had worried me, but I knew she wouldn’t accept any form of hovering. She was also perfectly capable of taking care of herself, despite looking like a small, weak Omega.

I wandered the building instead of staying to eavesdrop on their conversation. The building was set up like a combination apartment building and office building. The original intention of the construction company had clearly been apartments, before Nolan swooped in to make this his company headquarters. Where Nolan lived on the penthouse floor was the most heavily guarded by security cameras and locked doors. Most other floors, people were free to come and go from.

Lower down, where Freya had been kept, the half-finished level was unguarded and empty now that she was no longer in residence. I skipped past the floor quickly, heading down further.

At the parking garage level, I finally encountered some resistance.

Three men stopped me from exiting the elevator, demanding to see some identification. I held up my hands and was about to press the button to head back upstairs when Clement appeared behind them. “Let him through,” he said, clapping one man on the shoulder. “I don’t know why he’s down here, but I’ll find out.”

“Mere curiosity,” I said, but stepped off and let the doors close behind me.

“If it’s curiosity, let me give you a tour of our defensive level.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking, or if he was actually going to give me a tour. His tone was dry, but he hadn’t been emotive any of the other times I’d met him. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. With Freya going into heat, we weren’t about to leave. Besides that, I trusted Nolan. Shockingly. Cas seemed to like him, Shan was warming up faster than expected, and Freya’s taunts to him were more like flirting.

An understanding of the layout of this place would help me feel more at ease, though.

Following Clement through weapon stores and milling guards, he ended up leading me into an office which had originally been a supply closet. There were still brooms and mops leaning up against the wall in the corner. “What are you really down here for?” he asked.

He closed the door behind us, blocking all light except for the one dim bulb hanging above his makeshift desk. I shrugged. “I was wandering. Knowing the security measures makes me feel more secure.”

“Not trying to sneak out?”

“If I was going to sneak out, I would have climbed out a window. I may not be the most intelligent investigative mind, but even I knew you had half an army down here. Why is that, by the way? Is this protection against Kylan, or does Nolan have other enemies we should be worried about?”

“Nolan has plenty of enemies. It comes with the territory of being an assassin who controls about twenty other assassins.”

“Any notable?”

“Why would I tell you? So you can join forces with them?”

I scoffed, leaning my back against a metal shelving unit screwed into the wall. “I’ve got nothing against Nolan at this point. Freya likes him. Once they figure out their relationship, we’re all going to be spending a lot of time together.”

Clement raised an eyebrow. “You’re with Freya too?”

“No, definitely not.”

But I wanted to be.When she’d sat on my lap during the conversation with Altair and Sky, I’d had to use every speck of self-control I possessed to avoid rubbing my scent all over her. Sexual desire for her was still developing; I didn’t know her well enough for it yet. However, my Alpha need to make her unavailable to others was out in full force.

Even if sexual attraction did eventually manifest, I wouldn’t pressure her into being with me simply because I was connected to Caspian. As long as she allowed me to have my relationship with him, I could admire her from afar and be happy that way.

“Ah, but you will be,” Clement said, nodding like he understood.

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