Page 24 of Hired for Research
“Hey.”
He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, telling his stomach to quiet as he turned to meet chocolate eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Blonde brows were lifted, the quiet words holding sincere concern. As embarrassing as it was to admit to weakness, there was no other way to explain the tension radiating from his frame.
Turning his attention back to the doorway, he gave a half-hearted shrug.
“Yeah, I’m just not a fan of needles.”
“Ah.”
There was no judgment in her tone, but he judged himself enough for the two of them.
Her fingers were on his arm again, probing for a vein. He’d always been told he had perfect ones since they stood out so well, but it didn’t make things any easier for him. The fear wasn’t caused by any incident he could remember, it was just a rolling in his gut. A cold sweat that had nothing to do with how easy it was or not.
“You know, you don’t have to do this. I’m sure there will be enough others that one sample won’t make a difference.”
Gritting his teeth, he turned back to face her only to see her holding up the two vials, a smirk on her face as she pressed a cotton ball to the inside of his elbow.
“Am I good, or am I good?”
His mouth hung open, words failing him as he looked between his arm and the evidence that she’d already taken his blood without him feeling a thing.
“You’re amazing.”
Despite her own boasting, her cheeks colored at his praise. She went to wrap the Coban around his arm but he waived her off, folding his arm to hold the cotton ball in place long enough for the bleeding to stop.
Leaning in with the swab for his pheromones, Evelyn wiped it along each side of his neck before moving to the inside of his wrists. Her touch was light and sure, completely professional, and yet his shaft thickened at her nearness.
“So, no tattoos for you then I guess?” she asked as she stood to remove her gloves and clean up the supplies she’d used.
Huffing, he shook his head, looking from his arm to the vials of blood and trying to reign in his thoughts.
“First off, that’s different. It doesn’t look like a needle, and it doesn’t do the same thing.”
Lifting his gaze, he met her raised brows. It was hard to explain why one type of needle bothered him but the other didn’t.
“But, no, I don’t have any tattoos.”
Watching her lips twitch, curiosity got the better of him.
“Do you?”
The grin she’d been trying to hold back escaped as she turned away from him to grab the tablet. Passing it to him so he could fill in his information, the smug looked remained as one shoulder rose and dropped.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
A low growl vibrated his chest but the only sound that escaped was a groan. The tease had him picturing her naked, wondering where she’d have one, and what it would be.
His cock twitched in interest before he was distracted by voices beyond the door. Voices he recognized moments before his partner stepped into the doorway with two other Controllers.
As glad as he was that they’d finally arrived, they had terrible timing.
11. Evelyn
The rest of the day was a steady stream of alphas coming in to leave samples. She only convinced three of them to get the brain scans, but she reminded herself it was still day one, and even just a few were better than nothing.
