Page 41 of Their Alpha

Whether Gideon was forcing himself to put on a brave face or not, he did a good job of giving Artemis the grand tour. It was interesting to see the house through his eyes as he told Artemis about the old-fashioned facilities in the kitchen, showed him the store of water and nonperishable food I’d stocked up on, though it wasn’t much, and then showed him the back porch.

Artemis was impressed with the view from the porch, even though the light from the moon and stars barely lit the area.

“I bet the view is spectacular in the daytime,” he said, resting a hand absently on my shoulder when we found ourselves looking out across the ocean. “Once we get everything settled up here, we should go down and explore the beach.”

“I’d like that,” Gideon said, his smile genuine and more relaxed.

We moved back into the house and explored the bedroom from there. There was only one bedroom, which wasn’t ideal, but it had a queen-sized bed. I’d replaced the mattress when I first bought the house because the one that had come with the scant furnishings that were already there was ancient and gross, so the bed, at least, was basically new.

“I think you did good,” Artemis said once we’d finished the tour. “The house is cute, and if I didn’t have a bond to follow, I wouldn’t have known it was here. The drive is really well-hidden where it meets the road down there. I feel like we’ll be safe here.”

At least for a while. I felt that thought from him as loudly as if he’d spoken it.

It was almost midnight at that point, and my exhaustion was really catching up with me. Having Artemis around removed the sense that I had to be alert at all times to protect Gideon. Gid had been fading fast since halfway through the tour. Just looking at him, I thought there was a good chance he would fall asleep on his feet.

So after fetching a few bottles of water from the kitchen for us to wash up and rinse our mouths with after brushing teeth, I ordered Gideon to get ready for bed. He didn’t protest, even though he sent a few questioning glances to Artemis, and within five minutes of climbing into bed, he was asleep.

“He’ll be okay,” Artemis told me as the two of us took a bit more time to move our bags into the bedroom. I was surprised Artemis still had his overnight bag from the days of our heats. “We can both protect him, and I honestly think Goode won’t be able to find us here.”

“You said you saw someone arriving at the farm as you were leaving,” I said as we moved into the bathroom to wash up. “Did they see you as you left?”

Artemis frowned, and I felt a swoop of dread in him, like he hadn’t considered that.

“They must have,” he said as he got out his toothbrush. “But they were so far away when I pulled out of the drive that they couldn’t have seen my license plate and I drive a really common car. I still think we’re safe.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t really reassured. I would have felt safer if Artemis hadn’t been seen at all.

We finished washing up and climbed into bed. I moved immediately to spoon Gideon from behind, like we usually slept, then jumped a little when Artemis got in behind me and spooned me as well. It felt so good, so comforting, even though I still had the last vestiges of post-heat aversion to touch.

At the same time, there I was, in the middle. It felt a little too on the nose.

That didn’t stop me from falling into a deep sleep in record time, though. Artemis was right. I had only just finished my heat, and I hadn’t stopped for more than a few seconds to recover that energy. Throw in a mad-dash flight to a remote section of the coast in order to avoid a monster and it was a wonder I hadn’t fallen asleep on my feet while getting ready for bed.

We all slept latethe next morning. Too late, all things considered. The more time I spent with my guard down, the more likely it was that Goode would find us and take Gideon.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

“You need to give yourself a break,” Artemis told me softly after breakfast, once the three of us had started the process of cleaning up the house to make it habitable in the long term.

“What?” I asked Artemis over my shoulder as I scrubbed out the kitchen sink while letting the water run. It was still slightly brown, and until it ran clear, I didn’t want any of us to wash dishes, or anything else.

Artemis moved closer. He glanced over his shoulder tothe living room, where Gideon had begun the process of taking all the cushions, curtains, and carpets out to the front of the house to beat clean, then slotted himself in behind me.

The feeling of his large, warm, alpha body against my back was like a breath of heaven in the middle of a storm.

“You’ve been fighting so long and so hard,” Artemis said, his voice still practical, even though he slid his arms around me in a hug. “I admire your strength and your determination. It’s incredibly hot.”

I sucked in a breath as I felt a pulse of arousal through our bond. Better still, it wasn’t the sort of dominant, aggressive arousal you might have expected from an alpha. It was more the sort of arousal that came from the idea of me tying him up and making him submit to my will. That threatened to get me all worked up, and there wasn’t time for that.

“But you need to take your foot off the gas for a second,” Artemis went on. “Breathe. I honestly think we’re safe for now. Let yourself rest.”

“I’m trying,” I said. I left the sink running and turned to face him, gripping the sides of his shirt as I did. “I’m not used to trusting anyone else to take care of Gideon. I’m definitely not used to letting anyone else take care of me.”

“Get used to it,” Artemis said.

That was all he needed to say. He rested a hand on the side of my face, then leaned in to kiss me soundly. I closed my eyes and let myself float in the feeling of being bonded, loved, cared for.

At least until a bumping from the other room broke us apart.

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