Page 111 of Their Knotty Pack
Well, now I feel kind of bad.
"I was just teasing."
He gives me a small smile. "I know, beautiful. What are you really thinking?"
"Nothing fancy, just a few homey touches. Some plants, maybe a few decorations."
He nods thoughtfully. "It can't be too expensive, though. We're running on the donation of Hannah's inheritance right now."
My jaw drops. "Brody, what streams of income do you have?" How long does he think the firm can last if they don't have any actual money coming in?
He grimaces. "None, right now. I've been meaning to apply for some grants…"
"And sponsors. I can tell you right now that Pack De Lucca will be all over this. I'll make that my job tomorrow when I'm not in any meetings."
He immediately starts shaking his head. "No, Bethany, I can't ask you to—"
"You're not," I say firmly. "It would be a stupid business decision to not utilize your connections—especially when that connection leads you to a literal billionaire and it's a cause they all support."
Brody's eyes dart to mine for a moment before they land back on the road. His hand grabs mine, twining our fingers together as he continues to drive home. He lifts our joined hands to kiss the back of my hand. "You're absolutely extraordinary, Bethany, did you know that?"
"Duh," I say, ignoring the way my perfume floods the car at his words. "I'm a damn catch."
Brody smiles at me, but then his nostrils flare, and something…different than I'm used to seeing flashes in his eyes. Just like that, though, it's gone. His fingers tighten in mine, his grip on the steering wheel white-knuckled until we get home. The tenseness is still there, just under the surface, and I wonder just how long it'll take for him to break.
Chapter 43
Bethany
Not very long apparently. We take one step inside the house and he snaps. One second, I'm putting my purse on the small table next to the front door, and the next I'm being backed up against the wall, my hands held above my head as his hips pin me in place and he runs his nose up my neck.
"Brody?" I squeak, my heart pounding. I'm not scared by any means—I know Brody would never hurt me—but this reaction…I've never seen anything like this from him. Kieran, maybe. But not Brody.
"Do you know," his voice is a low, guttural sound as his hips keep me in place, "how damn hard I've been all day, seeing you flounce around the office in that fucking skirt, knowing all the other alphas in the office could see you?Scentyou?"
"I'm sorry—" He cuts off my words by gripping my chin and pressing a savage kiss to my lips.
"Don't you dare apologize. Not for making me want you so badly." His pupils are blown, chest heaving as he pulls back to look at me, but I can't stop focusing on his words. He wants me.
The pressure of his hand holding my arms up, making me feel totally helpless sends a trickle of slick out of me.
Then, it's like he snaps back into focus.
Hiseyes dart from his hand on my chin to the one holding my wrists, and he drops both, backing away like I burned him. "Fuck!" He runs a hand through his hair, looking panicked. "Bethany, I'm so sorry."
"You…you want me?" I ask, unmoving.
"I…" he huffs a breath, shaking his head like he can't believe that's the question I just asked. "Bethany, I just cornered you like a damn animal. Like I'm no better than the very packs I'm trying to go against—"
"Don't say that," before I know it, I'm standing in front of him, taking his face in my hands. He lets me hold him there as I look at him, his breathing coming in short pants. "You arenothinglike them." Never mind the fact that him at near feral was gentler with me than Kieran was the first time we had sex.
"I almost—"
"Whatever youthinkyou were about to do, Brody, you didn't even get close. Besides, if I had said to stop, you would have. In case you didn't notice, I very much didnotsay stop."
"You should be running—"
"Your alpha is on edge, right? Because I was around other alphas all day, and I'm not…claimed by you?"
