Page 19 of Undone
“I had to save you,” Michael said, gripping the minibar behind him. “I’m not sorry for what I did. You’re alive. That’s what matters.”
Slowly, Anthony got to his feet. He set his drink down and took a step toward him. “You...” He searched Michael’s face.
Clenching his jaw, Michael gave a short nod.
Anthony shook his head slowly, his scent full of shock, denial, confusion, anger, gratitude, and so many other emotions Michael couldn’t discern.
But finally, they settled on an emotion he could recognize: rage.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
Michael glared at him. “You don’t get to be angry with me! I saved your life, damn it!”
“I didn’t ask you to save it!” Anthony growled, starting to pace the room.
Michael scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Some gratitude would be nice. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to—to go against all my instincts?”
A muscle jumped in Anthony’s jaw as he stopped in front of Michael. “Yes,” he said in a clipped voice. “I do have some idea. I’m an alpha too. I didn’t ask you to force yourself to take my knot.”
Michael flushed. “You would have died if I didn’t—”
“Then you should have let me die!” Anthony growled, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, his expression half furious, half distraught. “I feel like I fucking raped you.”
“You didn’t.” Michael glared. “It was my choice.”
Anthony let out a harsh laugh. “Was it really a choice when you felt like you had no other choice?” He raked his fingers through his dark hair, frustration and anger turning his scent so potent it made Michael’s instincts go crazy, his anxiety spiking from the proximity of an angry alpha so close to him.
“It was my choice,” Michael bit off. “If anything, you’re the one who couldn’t consent to it. I did. Do you think I raped you?”
Anthony gave him a tight, withering look. “I wasn’t the one taking another alpha’s knot up my fucking ass. That’s not the same thing.”
His face uncomfortably warm, Michael struggled to hold his gaze. “It was still my choice to do it, and you should respect it.Let’s just move on, all right? What’s done is done. It changes nothing.”
The expression on Anthony’s face was downright incredulous. “You’re susceptible to my Voice now. It definitely changed something.”
Michael cleared his throat a little, gripping the bar behind him more tightly. There was a part of him that still bristled and snarled at the mere suggestion, but he could hardly argue. “I’m working on it,” he said stiffly.
Anthony eyed him for a long moment, his expression difficult to read. “Is it just me? Or do other alphas’ Voices work too?”
Michael frowned. “I don’t know.” He actually wasn’t sure what answer he would prefer.
“Then we should test it,” Anthony said. “Do you have any alphas among your staff?”
“I’m not going to ask my servants to use their Voice on me,” Michael ground out. “How do you think it would look? With the way servants gossip, it’ll be all over social media within an hour.”
“Right,” Anthony said, a wrinkle forming between his brows.
Why did he stand so damn close? Michael’s skin prickled, every instinct screaming to push the other alpha back.
“Have you seen a doctor?” Anthony said.
“I’m fine,” Michael bit out.Get out of my personal space, damn you.“Why?”
Anthony cocked his head to the side, his gaze roaming over Michael’s face. “It’s possible there is something wrong with you physically. I mean, I was poisoned by an alien toxin with unknown properties. It completely screwed with my biology and triggered an unplanned super rut.” A muscle ticked in his cheek. “If I knotted you, my fluids got in you. The toxin could’ve been in my semen. There’s no telling how it might have affected you.”
“I’m fine,” Michael said, with less certainty this time. “It’s been weeks.” But it was tempting to blame his recent obsession with ass play on the alien toxin. Very tempting.
“There are plenty of slow-acting diseases,” Anthony said with a frown. “I have trouble believing that you’d become susceptible to another alpha’s Voice just after being knotted once. It shouldn’t work like that.”
