Page 75 of Ready or Knot

I chance a look at Jude, and he nods.

“Thank you,” I say.

She doesn’t offer anything else as she walks out of the room, leaving the door open as she heads deeper into the building. Jude takes my bag and stashes it in the bottom drawer like last time before lacing his fingers with mine and guiding me around the desk. I perch in the center of it, careful to avoid his work materials, and he doesn’t hesitate to stand between my legs, his hands on my throat, his thumbs guiding my face to his, his lips insistent against my own.

“You feeling alright?” he asks me when he pulls away. When I nod, he kisses me again, his tongue moving slower against mine, and I relax into him, pressing my hands against his stomach.

By the time I pull away from him, I’m willing to bring up my worry.

“Violet thinks it’s odd that I didn’t go into heat, too,” I say, and his eyebrows draw low, his lips turning down at the corners. “I should really take the stimulant.”

He nods, and I blow out a breath.

“I’m scared to, though.” I whisper the admission, and he drops his hands to my waist, pulling me closer to him. He doesn’t offer any words, just his touch as he runs his lips down my throat and across my shoulder, his beard scratching at my skin enough that it warms my belly. My scent encircles us, and his hold tightens.

“We’ll make sure you’re safe,” he murmurs against my collar bone. “Carter and I have both been part of heats. You won’t scare us away.”

A swift stab of jealousy has me digging my nails into his shirt, and he grunts.

“They were before...everything,” he says, tracing his lips back up my throat, “when we were still wild and in our early twenties.”

I relax into him, letting him kiss along my jaw and then my lips.

“Alright,” I whisper against him. “It’s in my bag.”

He pulls the small pouch I keep my birth control pills in and hands it to me.

“Let me clean up, and we’ll grab a quick lunch on our way home.” His words are soft and soothing, and I bask in them, letting them coast over me until the worry isn’t quite so big. I take the pill with a sip of water, and he starts cleaning up his desk, organizing everything in succinct piles beside his computer before setting my bag on his chair.

He’s offering me his hand to help me down from the desk when there’s the distinct sound of crying from farther down the hallway. I look over my shoulder as Jude hesitates, his eyebrows lowering, his frown deepening into a scowl as someone stops in front of his doorway.

Melanie’s hair is disheveled, her blonde hair falling from its updo. Her mascara runs down her cheeks, pulled there by large tears, and her hands are shaking. Her lips curl into a snarl when she sees me.

“What did you tell him, little girl?” she hisses, fisting her hands as she takes a step into the room. “That you’d spread your legs for him if he got me fired?”

Surprise races through me, freezing me to the desk, my hand held limply in Jude’s grasp.

“What the hell are you talking about, Melanie?” His words are sharp.

“Your little side piece went and told my department chair that I’ve been harassing you in the workplace!” she says, hurling the words at me with so much venom that I flinch. “You have to tell him that she’s lying. My entire career is at stake.”

Jude drops my hand in favor of palming my knee, his thumb stroking my thigh. Her eyes catch on the movement, and she grimaces.

“Iris would have hated you for this,” she says.

Jude freezes, and I break my gaze away from her to double check that he’s alright. His Adam’s apple moves with a swallow before he tightens his grip on my knee. The action sends a bolt of lightning down my spine, and I clench my thighs, keeping my moan behind my closed lips.

“If your department chair has fired you, I can’t do anything about it,” Jude says after a long moment. His voice scrapes over my skin, and I hold back a whimper. His voice turns hard. “I’m positive Iris would have been angrier over my dating you than my choosing to advocate for my relationship with my matched Omega.”

Melanie gasps. “You wouldn’t.”

Jude tilts his head, assessing her with a critical eye that makes even me wither a bit.

“I thought I made it clear five years ago that I would.”

Her eyes widen, her body locking as she sucks in a hard breath.

Jude continues. “You of all people should understand my unwavering loyalty. Why would I not offer that to the person the Council chose for me? The person I have endured five years of disappointment and your bullshit to be able to meet?”

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