Page 54 of Knight With Benefits

I could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes, and part of me worried she was gearing up to break things off with me. It might seem crazy to be so attached after such a short period of time, but if Gwyn told me she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore, it would break me. And as much as I loved my fellow Knights, if being part of them was a problem for her, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to choose between them. My brain said I’d remain loyal to my brothers, but I knew my instincts would pull me towards the omega.

“I can understand that. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like to protect the ones you care about. Things you wouldn’t even do to protect yourself.”

The heartbreak in her voice was so clear it made my chest ache, and I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to take her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her lopsided smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and every part of me wished I could take away the pain she carried with her.

“If you’re worried that associating with us will cause you problems, it won’t around here. The police were suspicious of us for the first few years after we started wearing our cut, but even they’ve moved on since they never had anything to pin on us.”

I didn’t say the only ones who would care were the ones already after her. She didn’t need the reminder, and her mood was already serious enough.

“So, you just go to The Hangout together and help people? Aren’t you supposed to have a clubhouse, and club-bunnies, or whatever they’re called? And secret meetings?”

Laughing, I shook my head and gave her hand another squeeze. She hadn’t pulled it away, and I wasn’t going to let her go if she was willing to let me keep touching her.

“You’ve seen too much TV. We do go to The Hangout to relax, but most of the guys work at Sebastian’s garage. A few have moved on to other things, or joined up after having their bikes worked on by us. We go on rides together on the weekends or whenever we get the itch, but we’ve never had a clubhouse outside The Hangout or the garage. And while some of the younger guys use their bikes to pick up women, about half of the Knights are mated, and we know better than to piss off their bondeds! No one needs a raging omega storming into the bar to scold us like we’re naughty schoolboys.”

Her eyes danced at that even though she tried to bite back her smile. We were walking up the sidewalk to her door, so I slowed and reluctantly let go of her hand. When her fingers slipped from my palm, her smile fell a little too, and she looked at the door then back to me.

“Your scent’s already inside, so there’s no reason to eat on the lawn today. Unless you want to.”

She looked as if she was unsure whether I’d want to go in. As if I’d ever pass on the chance to be allowed into her home.

“You wouldn’t have to carry the food as far, if we eat inside.”

She huffed, giving a little shake of her head as she pulled out her keys and put her back to me, unlocking the door. My chest swelled with pride at the tiny step in the direction I wanted us to go, my bear almost purring at the reminder that my scent was now all over her nest, even if she’d washed it off herself.

If I could behave, maybe one day she’d carry it permanently, with my mark on her neck.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gwyn

Things weren’t quite awkward, but there was still an energy between us that couldn’t be denied. It had shifted from tension to anticipation, but there was a bit of caution thrown in. I could tell Carl was holding back, and while I appreciated it, it also drove the omega side of me crazy.

I wanted him to want me so badly hecouldn’thold back.

Despite inviting him inside, I had worried I’d be uncomfortable with him in my home when we weren’t distracted by other things, but we fell into a natural rhythm that made it feel like he’d always been there. While I got out everything we needed for our lunch, he tended the food on the stove to be sure it didn’t burn. When I started putting things away, he washed the dishes and left them in the drying rack before cleaning the table.

It was… comfortable.

Which made me uncomfortable, when I started thinking about it.

Which then made me upset, that I was uncomfortable being comfortable with an alpha.

Frustrated with my circling thoughts, it was a relief to head back to the café to keep working. There was still a list of things that needed to be done, but it finally felt like I was on the right track and might finally accomplish what I’d set out to do.

If the opportunity wasn’t taken away from me.

It was hard to keep my thoughts away from the threat looming over me. Every twinge from my night with Carl only served as a reminder that my heat was drawing closer, and because of that I was back in the sights of alphas I’d rather forget existed.

My eyes slid to Carl where he was hunched over the floor making markings on the bare concrete while he measured and did things with some triangular tool he’d brought. I had thought measuring out the space would be a quick, simple task, but he’d been working on it for most of an hour, muttering to himself as he walked around the area I wanted converted into a reading space.

Pounding on the door in the kitchen had me flinching, my breath catching in my throat as a cold sweat broke out along my spine. I’d jerked to stare through the doorway toward the sound, then found my gaze swinging back to Carl as instincts kicked in and said to let the alpha protect me.

“Is that the person for the cooler?”

I blinked, my brain taking a moment to process the question and remember that I’d been expecting someone.

“Oh, uh, probably.”

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