All Hallows Eve, Vol. 3

Chapter 10

Ten

The idea of taking half a day doesn’t sit well, so after wallowing in my new found emotions, I pull myself out of my bed and into the shower. I go through the motions of getting ready, while not really there.

Sure, my body isn’t afraid to remind me of what I did last night, and my stomach has learned a whole new acrobat routine for the nerves swirling around inside of me. If it flips or turns one more time, I might die.

I make ginger tea to settle my stomach and a small breakfast of butter toast and banana. Then I head out the door, ready to face the mess I created by not sending Oz packing the second he showed up.

Drawing in a deep breath, I pull open the front door and step into the brightly lit office, a contrast to the overcast morning and threatening rain clouds outside. Sally, the receptionist, looks up the second the bell rings, ready to greet whoever has come in.

“What are you doing here?” she asks. “Mr. Ashbourne said you would be in later.”

Shooting her a tight smile, I say, “It turns out I didn’t need the time after all.”

She shrugs like it doesn’t actually matter to her one way or another. “Mr. Cross and Mr. Sterling are both in terrible moods.” She lowers her voice and leans over her desk. “I think their ruts might be coming on,” she says conspiratorially.

“Thanks for the heads up,” I say as I breeze past her. If my stomach weren’t already in the throes of the best acrobat performance of its life, her words would have set me off.

Wade’s door’s shut, and he doesn’t look up as I pass. He has a pile of files on his desk, and his usually flawless hair is a mess of unruly strands. It looks as if he’s run his fingers through it and tried to pull it out of his head.

I open my bottom drawer and set my purse inside before settling into the chair behind my desk, just outside Beckett’s office. His door is open, but I didn’t have a chance to look inside. And Oz’s office was empty, but he has a file open on his desk, so I know he’s here.

Before I can log into my computer, the intercom on my phone buzzes with an echo of Beckett’s voice. “Ally, come in for a moment.” Irritation fills his tone, proving Sally’s words correct.

My breath freezes in my lungs, and I force out, “Right away, Mr. Sterling.”

I wipe my instantly clammy hands down my pants and take a steadying breathful of oxygen. Pasting on a smile, I cross the room to his door and pause at the threshold. His suit jacket’s off, his tie loose, and he looks as if he didn’t shave. It sets off alarm bells in my head. It’s nine am, and he looks like he hasn’t slept. I tamp down on my concern and clasp my hands in front of myself, until he looks up and motions me in.

“Shut the door,” he snaps.

Sally has to be right because he hasn’t been this grumpy in at least six months. “Sir?” I ask, happy my voice didn’t come out strangled.

He focuses on a file on his desk, then brings his eyes up to me again. There’s a fire in their depths that’s familiar. In fact, my body recognizes it so well, from just one night, that slick gathers between my legs. Talk about classical conditioning. And hey, it only took me one night in their arms to attune to them. Go me, those tortured dogs have nothing on me.

“Sit.” He gestures to the chair across from his desk, and I force myself across the space and into his orbit. He leans back and links his fingers together over his abdomen, silently watching me. It feels like the calm before the storm.

I force myself not to fidget, although the urge to pick at my nails is almost overwhelming. “Did I do something wrong?” I finally ask when I can’t handle his intense gaze burning holes into me any longer.

His eyebrows lift slowly, and his lips form a tight line. He slides the file across the table, but says nothing. I risk a glance down at it, and my breath catches. My application for the hunt, with my signature and name, next to my NDA…also with my signature. I wet my lips with a quick swipe of my tongue before facing the firing squad.

What do I say to this? What’s he even asking?

“Sir?”

He huffs out a clipped laugh. “You’re going to pretend?”

A dry swallow works my throat as my stomach goes for the gold metal. “Pretend?”

He explodes from his chair, slamming his palms down on the desk. I jump and squeak in shock. He rubs his hand over his face, straightens up, then comes around the desk to lean against it, arms crossed, directly in front of me. An almost violent energy flows off of him, and my confused as fuck body responds by my nipples perking up and poking out, and even more slick preparing me for something that isn’t going to happen.

I part my lips to say something, anything to break the tense silence that has fallen, but nothing comes out. This is it. The end of my job. The end of my fantasy because obviously lying to myself hasn’t worked very well. Dee was right—I’ve been half in love with these three much longer than I’ve worked here. But this is the end. The weight of it settles over me. At least I have savings to tide me over until I can find a new job.

Straightening my shoulders, I say, “I didn’t know.” It comes out weak and hollow, like the lie it is. I knew long before they caught me. I may not have known when I signed up, but when they blindfolded me and took me back to their house…

He drags his eyes from the tips of my high heeled shoes to my lips, pausing at my mouth, before holding my stare.

“Ally—” he says, my name sounding like disappointment on his tongue.

My heart cracks a tiny bit as I wait for him to say more. But I can’t hold in my words as they tumble out like a plea. “I didn’t tell anyone.” Technically that’s true. Dee guessed.

“You think that’s what this is?”

Misery settles over me like a wet blanket. “Isn’t it? I get it. You have to let me go.”

“Let you go,” he says slowly like he’s speaking an unfamiliar language. “No. You aren’t being fired.”

I sag back into the chair with relief. Then I spring to my feet. “Thank you. You won’t regret it. The NDA still stands.”

“Sit,” he commands.

Folding back into the seat, I snap my mouth shut. Whoops, I got ahead of myself there. My cheeks heat, and I stare at my hands.

He swears under his breath then says softly, “Look at me.”

When I bring my gaze up to his, he traps me with the intensity in his.

“The NDA’s broken, Sweetheart. None of it mattered the second you allowed Ozwald into your apartment—yes he told us. He couldn’t wait to rub it in our faces. The omega who blew our minds, that I stupidly had sign an NDA, always the untouchable employee, but that never stopped the fantasies. Or the roleplay with other omegas.” He smiles slightly at admitting he’s fantasized about me…that he has gone so far as to pretend another omega was me.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I hadn’t tried that route with other alpha’s, but it was always a disappointment. And now, I wouldn’t even try; hell, even my toys are a hard sell now.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

He smiles wider at my words, but it has an edge to it. “You’re so innocent, it almost makes me hesitant?—”

“Hesitant for what?”

“Sweetheart, we may be lawyers inside this building and in the courtroom, but outside of both and in the privacy of our own home, we are deviants. We’ll corrupt you. You’ll never be the same again.”

How’s that different than right this second? Or the other night? I nod like I’m considering his words. But there’s no choice here. I let Oz into my apartment because I crave his brand of contained crazy. I love the way his obsession feels. And if he actually wanted to claim me, my answer wouldn’t be no. The same can be said about Wade and Beckett.

“I think that ship has sailed, Mr. Sterling,” I reply, finding a boldness I didn’t know I possessed as I lean forward and graze my palm over the clear shape of his cock pressing against his slacks. Granted, he’s not hard, yet , but he will be.

He growls low in his throat and covers my hand with his own. I expect him to remove my touch, but he presses my palm firmer against him as he hardens beneath my fingers.

With his free hand, he reaches over to his phone and hits the speaker phone for Sally. “Yes, Mr. Sterling?”

“Sally, ensure there are no interruptions until this afternoon. I have an important task I need to work on.” His eyes never leave me, and it feels as if I’m on a roller coaster and I’ve just plummeted over the first drop. It’s thrilling and exhilarating all at once.

“Will do. Anything else?”

“Absolutely no interruptions,” he stresses. He doesn’t wait for a response before he ends the call.

Without saying another word, he unbuckles his belt. The swoosh of it running through the loops as he tugs it free has desire settling in my belly. My gaze drops to watch his fingers work, and I capture my lip between my teeth in anticipation.

“Maybe you'll be the one to corrupt me,” he says, gripping my chin and freeing my lip with his thumb. “I'll never get any work done with this sweet mouth so close.”

He fishes his length out, pre-cum already beading along the slit. His fingers wrap around his girth, and he slowly strokes himself from root to tip. Pinning me in my chair with a heavy lidded stare.

I lick my lips. “You can try.”

“Is that a challenge?” He stills, pheromones bleeding off of him.

A grin pulls at my lips, and I lean across the space and slip my tongue over his head, lapping up the tart lemon of his cum. It zings over my tastebuds, puckering my mouth until the sweet settles in. Just like his musk.

His fingers tangle into my hair, slipping strands out of my tidy bun, as he tugs me forward. I’m on my knees taking him into my mouth, his encouragement on the back of my head urging me to take him deeper.

“Fuck, there’s no point in trying, I’d rather focus on your lips.”

His ragged words send a thrill through me. I hollow my cheeks around him, and he growls, low and long. When he pulls me away and tugs me to my feet, I go willingly.

“Going forward, pants are not allowed in the office,” he says. I laugh, followed by a gasp when he pops the button on my pants and has them and my panties at my feet in seconds. “Dresses only, Sweetheart.”

“That’s a little sexist,” I say. “Sounds like some kind of law being broken.”

“Take me to court,” he growls. Then he twists me away from him and pulls my back to his front. “Bend over.”