Page 25 of Brandy Snap: Part Two

I surprised us both as a low growl rumbled through me. Her head knocked back and I paused as we met each other with heated looks.

Like Caspian, I had begun to find it more difficult to control myself around her. Though control had different meanings for us, we could both agree we were less stable since Melanie had entered our lives.

She released a shuddering sigh, her fingers tracing up my lapel. My breath caught as they danced across the line of my collar, and I hissed as a single finger drew a line across the bite-laden skin of my throat.

I had to pull us back for once.

“What were you doing with Zania, Melanie?” I asked, trying to divert her attention. “I saw you exit a room with her and her mates. Why would you talk with her alone in the middle of a party you are attending with us?”

Her eyes widened the second I asked, but I needed a distraction. I would prefer not to be seen making love to her in a glass elevator at a busy party.

The need on her face slipped, and I cursed myself for breaking the tension as her hand fell to press against her stomach.

Her body stiffened, a tremble running through her.

From the way she’d dashed towards me in the ballroom, I guessed it had not been a positive conversation, but the reaction now told me Zania was up to the same tricks she had been pulling since Caspian presented.

Melanie seemed unhurt, but there were plenty of other ways to damage a person than wounding them.

“Did she do anything to you?” I asked softly as the elevator kept rising.

Melanie shook her head at first. I could push her, ask her exactly what happened in that room. Caspian’s fathers were no joke. They followed Zania’s commands more like servants than her mates, and being cornered by them was enough to make anyone cower.

“She just made it clear she doesn’t want me anywhere near you,” she said, head still down.

It was definitely more than that, but she obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Melanie’s perfume curled around her, her slick raw, and my alpha instincts were telling me I had to provide for my omega.

“Then we have to show her we want you to stay,” I said, already leaning towards her.

Another tremor ran through her, but this was accompanied by lust. “Sin, I…” But she trailed off as she saw my expression.

It wasn’t simply my need to taste her. I had to assure her she was completely wanted—by me, at least.

We both jumped as the bell pinged and the doors slid open, revealing a darkened corridor.

Melanie cleared her throat, and I took that as a cue to move on.

There was the briefest hint of hyacinth in the air as I strode into the corridor. Melanie stiffened as she sucked in a breath. People could disguise the emotions in their scents, but I didn’t believe she was acting as her nervous gaze swung around the corridor as if Zania was hiding behind a door.

She dipped her head again as I neared our destination.

“Is Caspian okay?” she asked, and the vulnerability there spurred me into action.

“Don’t ask about our mate when I’m the alpha holding you,” I said stiffly, and she looked up to meet my hard gaze. “I brought you here to forget about what happened.”

There was a door to our right, possibly the worst door I could have chosen, but I was feeling vindictive after witnessing her fear.

I had enough restraint to turn the handle, at least, jutting the door with my foot so I could carry her inside.

“Where are we?” she asked, the scent of her slick growing even stronger.

“Zania’s living room,” I replied as we entered. She drew in another of those harsh breaths, so I continued. “I can take us to a more appropriate room, but with the way you smell, I’ll fail to reach our destination.” Though filling the entire third floor with the scent of vanilla and brandy may be preferable at this stage.

Heart in my throat, I held her tight as my cock pulsed, already walking her over to the sofa that sat against the far wall. The scent of stale hyacinths polluted the air. It must have beenweeks since she was last in the room. As soon as I stripped back Melanie’s dress, the scent would be wiped away.

Her back arched, her breasts squashed against my chest as she squeezed me.

“I need it, Sin,” she gasped, suddenly jutting her hips. “Can you smell how much I want you?”