Page 95 of Altius
“And don’t pull a Wyatt,” Alijah said with an uncharitable laugh. “He took his shorts back and had to spend ages making it up to her.” He scratched his chin. “…on second thought, maybe he was onto something.”
“Dinner, Alijah.”
“Oh—right! Dinner.” He gave a start and hurried toward the living room, with Tenny ambling along in his wake.
Leaving me even hungrier than before.
***
Dinner was a subdued affair, eaten straight from the carton, sitting in silence around Morgan’s dining room table, the atmosphere thick with exhaustion. No one had any strength to spare.
Except me.
I was eager to return to my home office. Where her tantalizing scent couldn’t reach me. Or render my dinner bland in comparison to her enticing flavor.
Stop, I chastised myself, eating my chow mein in methodical bites. Now wasn’t the time for carnal thoughts. I had emails to send. Proposals to print.
But when should I present them to her?
Morgan yawned between bites of kung pao chicken. She’d done an admirable job polishing off most of it, along with her fried rice and egg roll, but she was listing to one side, hair still damp from the bath, eyelids fluttering as she resisted the urge to sleep.
Had someone put clean sheets on her bed?
There was no such item on my checklist. I’d focused on preparing for the heat itself, omitting the recovery phase—a regrettable oversight on my part.
Did my role as a facilitator give me the right to step in and ensure she continued to receive optimal aftercare?
Despite her half-raised fork, Morgan nodded off, mouth lax, head drooping, body tipping forward in her chair.
Wyatt gingerly caught her by the wrist, preventing her from falling over.
Joaquin was by her side in a flash, rubbing her back as she returned to her senses. “Come on, doc. Let’s get you to bed.”
“It’s all fresh and cozy,” Alijah added, hurrying over to help. He must have changed the sheets while I was showering.
Excellent. Now, I could focus on tomorrow. Let everyone get a solid night’s sleep before unveiling my grand plans.
Getting to my feet, I carried my leftover food into the kitchen and put it in the fridge. I never planned to finish it. But it was a regular action. To be expected. That wouldn’t draw Cal or Joaquin’s attention.
Returning to my office, I printed the requisite paperwork.
I sat at my desk, reading and rereading the fine print, hunting for any problematic detail that had escaped my prior scrutiny.
How would Morgan react?
Muted surprise, perhaps, eyes narrowing the merest millimeter, her lips knotting together into a tempting pout.
Or would her defenses still be lowered due to the after-effects of her heat, letting her genuine reaction slip through?
Tapping my fingertips against my chin, I swiveled my chair to face the direction of her suite at the opposite end of the building…where another man had long since tucked her in. Was perhaps pressed against her at this very moment, trailing goodnight kisses along the length of her neck.
Kiss.
Another missed checklist item. I hadn’t taken the time to kiss her before…
Shaking myself out of my lustful stupor, I turned back to my computer. But work held no interest for me. A rare occurrence that I found deeply unsettling.
It took me far too long to realize the writhing nausea creeping up my gullet was my alpha protesting. It was throwing an immature tantrum, the likes of which it hadn’t indulged in since I was a teenager, wondering why it fell on me to keep my brother fed for the rest of the week until our mother got paid.
