by Elise Jae
She drops her forehead to mine and lets out a shaky breath. “I must have known, subconsciously, that you were always a part of me.
“Every time I was with you, it was like everything I’d been promised.” She looks in to my eyes. “That partial bond gave me the time—the opportunity to fall in love with you Hazard. And I can’t be mad about that.”
I feel… everything through her and it’s almost too much. I bury my face in her neck, teeth on her skin and drive into her with all the lust and love that loops between us, building upon itself.
It builds to a familiar crescendo and breaks over me… harder than any orgasm I’ve ever felt. Because she’s coming and I fall with her, our orgasms pressing on each other like tectonic plates neither one willing to give up until something shatters.
And when we manage to find some semblance of sanity, I pull back from the wall, but I don’t pull back from her. The bathroom is hot and wet and smells like sex.
I need some fresh air to clear my head and to let the haze of what we’ve just done pass.
As soon as I cross the threshold, the bedroom air covers our skin, the relative chill bringing some clarity back.
She wraps her legs more tightly around my waist and tips her head back as if to take a clarifying breath.
I could stay here forever, holding her, within her, feeling her emotions cycle through me….
Like this laughing discontent. I search her face, not sure what she could possibly be displeased with.
“I think it’s about time you take me in your own bed, don’t you?”
I shake my head, and a faint pulse of confusion crosses from her through the bond, clouding her eyes.
“It’s about time I take you in our bed.” I throw her onto it and I feel her sharp breath a moment before she draws it. A moment before she bounces.
It’s weird and wonderful and I can’t wait to learn all of the ways this full bond will continue to surprise me.
Fifteen
HANNAH
I never really thought about what one of the Shadow Zone Brotherhood meetings would be like. Never suspected I’d be invited, much less required.
But we’ve both been summoned. And according to Hazard, we’ve been told to show up early.
I ignore the awkwardness of the seat edge against my back and lean my head on Hazard’s shoulder the whole way there, arms wrapped around his, hugging him close.
I’m still not ready to let him go.
I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to let him go.
A true bond is so strange and I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I’d had this with Noa.
The apprehension fluttering just under my skin is like an electric current. And I wish I could tell Hazard to turn around. Wish I could tell him whatever it is that has him feeling this way… isn’t anything to worry about.
But I don’t know, and I have a feeling asking would take more time than just getting it over with.
And maybe he’s annoyed for the same reason I am. D’s summons dragged us out of a very warm bed where I’d been successfully testing Hazard’s stamina. We could be going at it again.
“Just remember my usual precautions aren’t working as well anymore,” he says, shifting just a little. “Whatever you’re thinking is going to make me pop a hard on that no one will be able to ignore.”
“Not thinking… remembering.”
He groans, but warmth suffuses through the bond. Warmth and lust. The potential feedback loop is dangerous.
“Want to pull over and drop some snow down your pants?”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Too late.”
The entrance to the enormous garage attached to D’s outpost looms like the open maw of some giant beast and I can’t keep from holding my breath as we drive into the shadowy cavern.
I know Hazard feels the strange nerves that come from that silly allusion, but he doesn’t say anything. He just parks and drops his head to mine.
“We’re leaving as soon as we can. I’m not ready to share you yet and if I could have told Drift to fuck off, I would have.”
“To be fair, we probably needed to take a break.”
He turns, rolling his head over mine so we’re both facing each other, forehead to forehead. “I’ll pretend I agree with you.”
But he’s laughing on the inside. I dip forward, kissing him. “Let’s go in and see what the bossman wanted us early for.
Hazard barely gets the door closed behind us before Kimba says “Good, you’re here!”
She hugs me so tightly I might have bruises.
Still in her grip, I see D give Hazard a knowing look.
If I hadn’t worked for Margot for so long, it might have felt creepy, but I brush it off and instead, reach for the baby in his arms as soon as my hands are free.
“Hello you gorgeous thing you.”
They burble and I bounce them a little, looking at Hazard when I feel a different kind of warmth flutter through our bond. I could hold this sweet baby forever, but D holds his hands out after a bare minute. He’s not ready to give them over to anyone for long yet.
I give them back and wonder…
“Would you like some answers?” Kimba sits, D at her back, his eyes on the doors. He’s waiting for the others, and I know our time is limited.
“Of course.”
“You were detained because someone got it into their head that you were lying to the Agency.”
“Lying about what? That I wanted to stay?”
“They hadn’t noticed that you’d been here for over a year without having a child. Since that’s the whole purpose of the Agency—pairing us off to further the sian species—someone got suspicious.”
“They thought… what?”
“I couldn’t get that information out of them, so we can only speculate. But they detained you and shoved the bonding approval to the side until they could be satisfied… never mind that the bonding approval was pretty much a confirmation that you do want children. Never mind that one look at your late mate’s records would have shown that he never should have been placed with a mate in the first place.
“From what I can tell, the investigator is amazed you were able to bond at all.”
“I’m not sure we did… not truly.” They both look at us like we’re holding some huge secret, but it’s Hazard that I look at. It’s him that I tell. “What we have… it was nothing like this with Noa.”
Kimba’s glance goes to Hazard, but if she has something to say about that, she keeps it to herself. “Who could possibly have wanted the Agency to detain you? The tip was anonymous.”
“It might have been one of Noa’s business partners. He said some things after Noa died.” I turn to Hazard before he can say anything that I feel in the dark thoughts forming. “But he’s not a problem anymore.
“And it probably didn’t help that when they detained me, I’d just seen Hazard. Their scans were thorough enough they would have known we’d broken rules I didn’t know existed.”
“Which rules?”
“The ones where I wasn’t allowed to be alone with him.”
Kimba’s scowl is pure confusion. But she shakes it away. “Why would his business partner care you’re with Hazard?”
I look at the floor, but an immediate idea forms. “I think he was listed in Noa’s will as the secondary beneficiary. But even if he was after the money, I would have had to have died before Noa. Locking me up isn’t going to revert the will to the other legatee.”
“And if something were to happen to you now?”
A sharp sensation stabs at my right side and I don’t have to look at Hazard to know just what kind of glare D got for suggesting that.
“It would all go to Hazard… and even if I hadn’t bonded, the money would have gone to Margot. I have a will in place….”
“What?” Hazard takes my hand and I can only guess what he’s feeling through the bond.
“Noa was adamant that I set up the will. He was neurotic abou
t it. I honestly thought he might have tied me to a chair and brought the lawyer in if I hadn’t gone to them when he demanded.”
Both men look toward the door and I know they can hear something outside that neither Kimba nor I can.
This was the part I was apprehensive about.
“We could go,” Hazard says against my hair. “I can sneak you out before anyone else sees you. I don’t care what Kimba and Drift say about it. We can put this off if you’re uncomfortable.”
“Will you be uncomfortable?”
He looks at me like he wasn’t expecting the question, and then it dawns on him. “Because you’ve slept with half the guys who’ll be in the room?”
I do the math in my head as quickly as I can. “More than half.”
“No. If you recall, I’ve watched you with three of them.” He tips my head back so he can kiss me. It’s a deep, toe curling caress of his lips. “And if any of them has anything to say about it… well, I can always hide the body.”
I laugh against his shoulder, and when I turn back, the door opens to show the two people I was most apprehensive about.
Fault has to duck through the doorway, his mutations—something I’d only started to catalog when I made a fool of myself—are kind of startling.
But when Wren sees me, she lights up. “Hannah!”
She actually runs across the space to me and half bowls me over. The enormous sofa catches us both.
“Generally,” Kimba says from her place on the couch, “When we’re happy to see someone, we just hug them, we don’t tackle them.”
But she’s laughing, and Fault is too.
When she pulls me upright, she doesn’t let me go. “I have a million and five questions—”
But before she can get even one out, Kimba says “They can wait. Give her some time to get used to us.”
She looks at me before she says. “It can be strange, suddenly having a huge family when you’ve only had yourself to rely on for so much in the past.”
I don’t ask what she knows, and Hazard—feeling my discomfort, no doubt—sits beside me, taking me away from Wren. “I’m not ready to share her just yet.”
Brows flying high, I’d guess Fault has told her stories about Hazard and I. But she goes to sit with Fault, a tiny smile on her lips.
And others arrive in quick succession after that.
Kilo—one of the last through the door—actually trips when he sees me and almost falls down the stairs.
“Uh,” He actually blushes. “Hey.”
He shuffles over to the other side of the couch… seemingly where the unbonded ones have relegated themselves.
But as soon as he sits, Kilo seems to work up the nerve to be the first to ask. “So does that mean you’re not working at the club anymore?”
Hazard and I talked about this already, what I’d say. “I’ll just be cutting my schedule back.”
Eyes shift to Hazard, but more than half of the men around me know his proclivities for watching. It shouldn’t surprise them.
One of them curses under his breath. “At this rate, Margot’s going to bar the rest of us from the club. Who’s her next most popular employee? Because Surge needs a mate. And we all know he’s going to have to steal his.”
“Shut up.”
Kimba quickly reintroduces me to the bondmates… I don’t know if she meant to imply what she does when she doesn’t introduce any of the brotherhood. I’ve met them all, even if I haven’t slept with—Hazard was right, it’s only about half.
The only one of the bondmates who seems to have a problem with me is Andrea. Which is strange, since I’ve never slept with her bondmate—though I’d seen Strike at the club a few times in the first week I’d worked there.
But when Drift starts talking, I barely retain a word of what he says. Hazard’s fingers on my neck kneed at that little knot of tension I hadn’t realized was building with each introduction. Add that to the fact he is not tamping down the desire flowing through our bond… and it’s making my seat on his lap the best kind of uncomfortable.
By the time the meeting’s over, I’m surprised I haven’t ground my teeth to dust.
I can feel a faint tension through the bond and I look at Hazard. He’s waiting for something, watching Drift like a hawk. I barely hear the words “thank you” before Hazard stands, throwing me over his shoulder. I shriek in surprise and immediately wish I hadn’t.
He doesn’t say goodbye. He just marches right out the door with me.
“You are a freaking caveman.”
He squeezes my thigh as he strides across the garage, “And I can feel how much you love it.”
He lets me down, but only so he can lean into me, pressing me between his erection and the car.
When his lips find mine he’s ravenous and I almost remind him I’m not going anywhere any time soon. Not that he gives me the opportunity to speak.
It’s not until Kilo comes out, snickering as he gets on his bike that Hazard lets me up for air.
“Everyone in there knows exactly why you did that.”
“You’ll outlive any embarrassment.” He kisses me again, a diversionary tactic.
“I’m not sure I can make it home….” A wicked smile twists his lips. “We could use the back seat.”
Tempting… but there are going to be more people coming out that door at any minute.
“At least let’s get to our own garage first. There’s no need to shock any of the bondmates—I think one or two of them are already uncomfortable enough around me.”
“Only one,” He pulls open my door and doesn’t try to get me in the back seat. “And Andrea and Strike are moving to the other side of the caldera, so it wouldn’t be an issue for long.”
Despite his earlier words, he drives us home at a reasonable speed and doesn’t even touch me until the car is off.
But he doesn’t let me leave until the car’s windows are thoroughly steamed. And more than a few handprints streak the glass.
Sixteen
HANNAH
When I pull into Margot’s parking lot, a tiny shiver slides down my spine.
This is the furthest I’ve been from Hazard since we’ve bonded, and the difference of how distance made me feel with him compared to how I felt with Noa is startling.
But I ignore it, because I’ve got a pitch to make.
I pull open the door and am hit with the throbbing bass and this time it doesn’t induce nausea… it just pulls memories from the back of my mind.
My eyes have barely adjusted when Margot reaches me.
She pulls me in with a rib crushing hug. “I am so happy to see you.”
“Same.”
“You’re okay?” Margot pushes me back to arm’s length, studying me.
“I am. I’m here to talk about coming back to work, and some schedule changes.” I glance around the packed room, at the girls working and the dancer on the stage. “And there’s some things I think you and I need to talk about… some things we probably need to add to your interview questions.”
Eyes narrowed, Margot studies me a minute longer and then nods, turning me and looping her arm through mine as she leads the way to the back.
Two men step out, hopeful looks on their faces.
“Sorry guys, I’m not working right now.”
They both look disappointed, but I know they’ll find what they want with someone who is on the clock.
The dressing room feels strange, and I can’t help but look at the tiles where I'd fallen, where it felt like I was dying.
Margot tugs me away from them.
The couch is a familiar comfort, and Margot sits on it, curling one leg under her as she faces me. “You’re welcome to come back to work, of course. You knew that. I just need your permits on file and you can go back to doing what you’re so good at.”
“I’ve already sent them over to you. And while I am definitely coming back, I won’t be here as often.”
“Of course not. You’ll have a home and a b
ondmate that you actually want to go back to.” Her smile is a little too knowing. “You know everyone here makes their own schedules.”
“That brings me to the second thing we need to talk about.
“The questions.”
“Did you know Hazard was the first sian man I slept with at the club?”
“Of course. I keep track of all of you girls. I need to know who’s obsessing and if there are any problems. I probably should have told you to take a step back from him, but I wanted you to be happy.”
“He was the first person I’d slept with after Noa, and Noa had some secrets that meant…. We never fully bonded. So the other part of the bond latched on to Hazard.”
Her face clears a little and she dips her head to the side in a half nod, half shrug. “That explains a few things.”
“Does it?”
“How you always knew when he was here. How he never slept with anyone else. And I do mean never. And I may have implied that he could be the one to get you pregnant, since your bondmate wasn’t doing his duties. The way he looked at me—like I’d suggested he tear his own heart out…. I knew then and there the man was in love with you.”
“You told him to offer to be my baby daddy?” I can’t stop the snorted laugh that comes with that.
It was unforgivable when I did it. Somehow, her doing it is just ridiculous.
“And I didn’t even know what a piece of shit your bondmate actually was at the time. I swear, if I could go gut the man myself, I would. Asshole.”
“Well, he’s gone, and you don’t have to go away for murder, so we’re all happier for it.”
“Especially Hazard.” Margot smiles and takes my hand. “Truly, I am so happy for the two of you. You look healthier too… not that I could tell anything was specifically wrong with you before.”
Hazard was a little obsessive about taking care of me, and the attention was starting to show.
“That brings me to one of the terms of my reemployment… I’d want Hazard to be able to join me whenever he wanted, at no charge.”
“Considering how he helped sell the idea of you before, I don’t think that will be a problem.” She pauses, looking toward the hall. “Does this mean you’re going to try to get pregnant?”
