Page 84 of Knot For A Moment

“I have plenty of clothes at home so I didn’t want to go crazy.”

Finishing the taco in a couple bites, he put the plate on the desk and came behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “You’re allowed to go crazy, little one. We want you to go crazy.”

“Once I move all my things I’ll feel better. See what I have and what I need.”

Gabriel rested his chin on the top of my head. “Why do I get the feeling that’s not the whole story?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed before he slipped my phone back into the hoodie pocket. “They told me you want to go back to the apartment one last time.”

“I do.”

“Does that require your things being there when you do?”

Taking a second to think about it, I spun the chair around to face him. “I guess not.” Going back was more about closure than anything else. Walking through that space and letting it breathe. Having it empty might be a nice full circle moment. “Why?”

Gabriel knelt down in front of the chair, stroking his hands up the top of my thighs, teasing the hem of Roman’s boxers. “Because I’d rather get movers in there to clear it out while you’re not there. We can go and monitor the process, but if Craig is watching for you, I’d like to minimize the time you spend there.”

I felt my shoulders wilting before I could stop them. That same inexplicable shame rose in my chest. If I hadn’t let my loneliness get the better of me, maybe I wouldn’t be dealing with this. If I hadn’t been such a coward. Or blinded by charm and a few decent orgasms.

Fuck, if I hadn’t run away from Ash—

“Where did you go, little one?”

It felt too vulnerable to meet his eyes. Rationally IknewCraig’s actions weren’t my fault. But it didn’t feel that way. I’d said yes to him, and then I’d made him angry. These were the consequences. There were so many different decisions I could have made and Craig wouldn’t be in my life—our lives—at all.

“Sloane.” Just a hint of Alpha bark in his tone to make me look at him, but the rest of my Alpha was still gentle. “There you are.”

“I should have known, right? Like I should have seen that he would act this way? I have to have done something to make him think this. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense.”

His eyes were hard. “I don’t think that’s true. Not that I’ve met the man, but if he thought he had you free and clear without resistance, he had no reason to show you anything else because he had what he wanted.” Squeezing my thighs, he pulled me a little closer. “Not that anyone should ever think they have you or own you without your permission. How did you meet?”

My body started to curl in on itself, and Gabriel didn’t let it happen. He pulled my legs down from where they were crossed and put them around his waist. My arms found his shoulders on their own.

I swallowed. “After a show last season. Some of us went to a bar. I don’t usually, but Dion convinced me. Craig was there, and he said he’d been at the show. Said he loved the way I danced and…” My cheeks flushed. I remembered calling Petra, more than a little tipsy, to ask whether I should let him fuck me. “I let him take me home. We kept seeing each other for a while. The glamor wore off, but he wassomeone.” Someone instead of no one. And recently, I’d been so tired of being by myself that it was easier to go back to a person I knew didn’t really like me than be alone.

Guilt built up in my chest, and I looked down.

“Do you need anything else for the night?” Gabriel asked.

“No.”

“Good.” Without shifting our positions he lifted me and carried me out of his office and up the stairs. Into his bedroom. The same warm, sandy colors and blonde woods. But comfortable.

“You have a fireplace?”

“Would you like a fire?”

Pretty much all Omegas loved warmth and closeness. Because I was cold so much, I craved heat like oxygen. “Yes, please.”

He set me on the bed and built a fire with practiced ease. There was kindling next to it and ashes already in the hearth, so it wasn’t the first time he’d built one. Soon it was burning merrily, and he came back to me, tugging Roman’s hoodie up and off. I didn’t stop him from stripping me completely and him doing the same before he buried us beneath the comforter, my back to his chest.

Gabriel’s purr relaxed me, a kiss brushing the back of my neck. “Now that I have you comfortable…”

He couldn’t see that I rolled my eyes or smiled. “I knew this was a trap.”

“Do you think we’re upset with you because of him? That we would judge you?” Gabriel didn’t take my teasing bait.

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