Dustin pounced on me the moment we got out of the shower. We’d already had marathon sex the night before. Then he woke me up with more that made me soft and pliant. Now that we were out of the shower, dry, and dressed, it seemed he wanted another round, and I was sincerely glad I had the stamina to keep up with his youthful abilities to get hard minutes after an intense orgasm.
I wasn’t complaining, but I had to get to work this morning, and another round of letting him have his way with me would not only make me late but would also possibly anger those I had meetings with. Most of my clients were the types who thought everything was supposed to go their way, that I would bend to their wills, that I would set aside everything just to have them in my schedule.
They were wrong, but I hadn’t yet had to tell them that. I didn’t feel like telling them today, either, so I hugged Dustin to me and kissed the side of his head. “You will make me late, beauty.”
He groaned. “I don’t care. Call off.”
The way he pouted had a giddy thrill run up my spine and settle warmly in my chest. But something was bothering him, and I wanted to know what it was.
Before I could ask, Beth knocked on the door, opened it, and stuck her head through the opening. “Breakfast is served in the parlor. Get at it before it gets cold.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dustin said. He seemed to have a healthy respect for her, which I both loved and found amusing. Then again, he could put away a good amount of food, and Beth made sure he was always well-fed. It probably should not surprise me that he was buttering Beth up with the way he ate.
“What are your plans for today?” I asked as we sat down. I plucked the covers off the plates to reveal fluffy pancakes, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, syrup, and bacon. Every breakfast had to have bacon because Dustin looked like a wounded puppy if it didn’t. And Beth fell for it every time. Now she made sure it was with every morning meal no matter whatever else we had that morning.
Speaking of, he took half the rasher of bacon and stuffed a crispy piece in his mouth, folding it so he could eat it whole. I guessed it must have been his transition giving him such an appetite. But I also wondered if it was because he finally had enough food. From what I’d gathered, he had always skipped breakfast and lunch and survived on ramen noodles and other cheap, unhealthy foods when it came time for dinner.
If he stuffed himself full-to-bursting at every meal because he wasn’t certain he would always have this life, it would gut me. I wanted to ask, but I was afraid the question would put him off and make him ration himself unnecessarily.
Still, I watched him eat, satisfied that he was getting full. He was developing a healthy glow to his skin, which was now softer to the touch, and he now took his time eating, letting himself enjoy each meal instead of inhaling it like a vacuum hose.
“You gonna stare at me and watch me eat all morning?” Dustin asked. Amusement shone in his bright silver eyes. “I mean, I know I’m hot, but you should probably eat your own breakfast unless you want to incur Beth’s wrath.”
Ah, yes. Dustin was right. Beth didn’t take well to wasting food. I sighed and took a sip of my tea before loading my plate with pancakes. I slathered them with a thin layer of yogurt, sprinkled some of the granola atop, and added a few slices of strawberries and a few blueberries.
Dustin watched me, and when I went to cut into my pancakes, he tilted his head like a confused puppy. “No syrup?”
I glanced over as I made the first cut. “The yogurt and fruit are sweet enough.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Weird. You’re weird.”
Dustin, of course, had slathered his pancakes with mounds of whipped butter, sprinkled them with granola and crumbled bacon, then liberally doused the poor things with gobs of thick syrup.
I had the strangest feeling that he would be hyper later and instantly felt bad for the security team and Kevin.
We ate in silence for a moment until Dustin shifted in his seat to face me fully. “Cass?”
“What is it, beauty?”
“How long will you be at work?” He tilted his head and ran a hand up my leg, instantly flaring my quiescent libido into a raging inferno that had me hard and aching, slick wetting my asshole.
Dustin scented the air and grinned victoriously, but he kept his hand just shy of where I desperately wanted it. “You might want to clean up before you leave. I could help you with that, of course.”
I cleared my throat and squeezed his hand. “I think I had better take care of it myself. You would make me later than I already will be.”
Taking a bite of my pancakes, I gave myself a moment to chew and savor before answering his initial question. “I should be home around five-thirty. Why?”
He gave me a flirtatious look and went back to eating as if we hadn’t said anything. It put me ill at ease, but I went back to my meal, hoping he was simply curious.
When we finished, I went to clean up and take care of my arousal alone since if I had Dustin help me with it, I wouldn’t make it into the office until after lunchtime. I made sure my clothes were arranged properly and went back to the parlor to find it empty.
After checking his room, I headed for the front hall to find him waiting with my jacket in his hands. He helped me into it and turned me around. I melted into him when he pulled me in by a fistful of my loose hair and kissed me breathless, tongue and teeth and the sweetness of berries and syrup. I shuddered and leaned our foreheads together when he pulled away so we could both catch our breaths.
Then he put both hands to my face and made me look at him, his eyes intense and hard as he said, his voice gravel and smoke, “Hurry home.”
I smiled gently and pressed another kiss to his cheekbone. “I promise.”
Dustin would be the death of me.
I sat in one of my offices, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows when I should have been finalizing contracts. Nothing I attempted today had lasted more than five minutes before my mind wandered back to the estate and Dustin. What was he doing? How was he coping without my presence? Why did he look so intense when he kissed me goodbye that morning, demanding I hurry home?
Everything seemed to narrow down to Dustin. I loved him desperately, could not imagine my life without him. But no matter how my heart tripped over itself every time I looked at him, I could not shake the feeling that I was a hypocrite. Here I was in a relationship with a fledgling elf, yearning for a soulbond that I was unsure I would ever have, and I had refused to welcome my own son’s chosen mate into the family because Kennan had not formed a soulbond of his own.
Every cell in my body, every tattered shred of my broken soul, yearned for a soulbond, but I could not ever imagine myself giving Dustin up. I could not imagine a life without him in it, by my side in all things. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get rid of that nagging ache inside that wished for a bond-mate. It ate at me, driving me to madness and interfered with my work when all I wanted to do was go home and force Dustin to look into my eyes, to see if we could form that fabled bond, to see if Dustin was destined to be mine even though my soul kept screaming that yes, he was meant to be mine in all ways.
The deep sigh that left my lungs fluttered the steaming surface of my tea as I held it to my lips. How long had I held it there while daydreaming about my beauty? The tip of my nose was warm. Condensation had gathered there, making me wrinkle it.
Disgusted with myself, I turned my chair around and tried to focus on the holoscreen that hovered above my glass desk, tried to force myself to get some work done, but I already knew it would be a futile exercise. Dustin had overtaken my entire world, even my workdays.
“Mr. Ardal, your eleven-thirty is here to see you,” my receptionist said over my CommLink.
Biting back the groan that threatened to undermine my control, I closed the contract’s file and dismissed the holoscreen. “Send him in.”
Moments later, a little mole of a man entered my office, and for the next half hour, I did my best to listen to his concerns. The entire time, my mind kept wandering back to the estate, back to my beauty.
I would never make it. My day was going down in flames, and it wasn’t even lunchtime.
“Your mind seems elsewhere, Mr. Ardal,” Mr. Harper said, amusement in his tone. “You look a cross between starstruck and pensive. Have I come at a bad time?”
The sigh finally escaped me, and I rubbed the inner corners of my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. “No. I apologize.”
“New relationship?” he guessed correctly.
I stared at him. His flaming red goatee, balding head, and beady eyes were made softer with his amused smirk. It surprised me that he looked… friendly. Few in this industry were, but Mr. Harper had always been an easy associate. “How did you guess?”
“You have the same besotted look I had when I met my wife.” He chuckled and sat back. “Want some friendly advice?”
“If you’d give it, certainly.”
His smirk grew. “Go home, Casersis. I doubt you’d get any work done, and whatever you do get done will be half-assed at best. Go home.”
I laughed. Unable to help myself, I laughed until I curled over and rested my overheated forehead against the glass top. “I have been fighting that impulse since I left the house this morning. You have no idea.”
“Oh, I have a very good idea,” Mr. Harper muttered. “I was useless for months after I started dating Alicia.”
Dating. I should start taking Dustin on dates. That would get him out of the house. Hadn’t I already had that thought? Hadn’t I agreed to do such things with Dustin a few weeks ago when we had come to our agreement? And I hadn’t kept my promise. I had gone right back into my usual routine, and Dustin suffered.
“Go home, Casersis.” Mr. Harper stood and adjusted his suit coat. “I’ll forward my requests as a CommMail. Deal with it when you have your head back on straight.”
I lifted my head to stare at him. “You are willing to wait? I thought you were in a rush.”
He shrugged and headed for the door, taking his coat from the rack in the corner and draping it over his arm. “Consider it a favor between friends. Besides, I know for a fact you do your best work from home. If you have to do it with your lover on your lap, I don’t need to know the difference.” He grinned back at me from the door. “I don’t care how the project gets done, just so long as it does. Either way, I’ve done business with you for years. I know you’ll get it done without the quality suffering.”
“You are a darling, Griffin.”
Mr. Harper winked at me, chuckling to himself as he left. I heard him murmur, “He’s done for the day, Sam. Send that poor bastard home before he screws something up, yeah?” before the door shut behind him.
Heat seared my skin, flowing from the tips of my ears down my neck until I couldn’t stand it anymore and covered my face with both hands and laughed. I was a mess.
I opened my holoscreen and made a few adjustments to Mr. Harper’s files, making sure they synced with my home office. He was right. I did work better from home. I felt more comfortable there and had fewer interruptions on most days unless Dustin needed an outlet for his boundless energy.
I made a few arrangements and powered down my workstation. As I was getting my coat on, I had a strange feeling come over me.
A moment later, my CommLink chimed with an incoming call. “Kevin calling,” said the pleasant female voice, and I sighed. “Answer.”
“Dad, you need to get your ass home,” Kevin started. “Please, for fuck’s sake, get here quick.”
My heart rate picked up at the panicked tone of his voice. “What is wrong, my son?”
Kevin’s groan was so loud that my CommLink implant vibrated with it. “Dustin’s gone bonkers. He’s making everyone crazy. Come home, dad. Please. Do something about it before I wring the kid’s neck.”
After Mr. Harper’s words, I had already planned to go home and was almost ready to leave my office as if I had needed someone’s permission to leave work and rush back to the estate. To abandon responsibility just to bask in Dustin’s warm presence. It seemed the universe was pushing me home, and I wanted to give in, but I had so much work to do. Even at home, I would have to get some of that work done. Going home early did not mean I could laze about and do nothing but satisfy my beauty.
“Dad,” Kevin muttered, “I’m not kidding. Get your ass home and deal with this. He’s freaking out the staff, his security detail, and I’m not sure what to do without duct-taping him to a fucking chair.”
I chuckled at the image that presented and shook my head. Apparently, however, that was the wrong thing to do as my son growled and said, “It’s not funny, asshole.”
I snorted and drank the rest of my cold tea, taking a moment to allow myself to sober and give Kevin my full attention. “What is he doing?”
“The better question is ‘what is he not doing?’ Dad… just get home.”
With those last words, he ended the call, and I sighed. A coil of dread circled in my stomach until I pushed open the door and left my office. Samuel looked up at me from over the rim of his coffee mug. “Going home, Mr. Ardal?”
“Yes. Please clear my schedule for the rest of the day.”
“Have a pleasant day, then.” He pulled up my calendar and smirked as I passed. It puzzled me that I saw not a single appointment for the rest of the month, and it made me wonder what exactly Mr. Harper had told him before he left. Before he left, my schedule was booked full for the next two weeks. Had he tipped him off to make all those appointments go away? What would my clients think?
It did not matter. The only person who mattered at the moment was Dustin. He was still transitioning from human to elf, and he needed more of my attention than I could give him if I were to be in the office every day. Mr. Harper was a godsend, and Samuel knew me too well to ignore Griffin’s order. Humbled, I was immensely grateful as I headed down to the underground garage to meet with my security personnel and head home.
As I made my way into the elevator, I received a CommMail from Kevin that made my blood run cold.
“Get here. Now. Dustin’s lost his entire shit.”
With those words swimming in my mind, I bolted for my car as soon as the elevator doors opened. My security head caught up with me, struggling to keep pace. “What’s wrong?”
I did not even glance his way. “We must hurry. Something is wrong with Dustin.”
