Page 31 of Gold Sector

“Well, he’s not wrong. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself at home.” He steps toward me with a small smile. “You’re safe here, Taliana. And I don’t mind you treating my space as your own.”

“Is that what guardians are required to do?”

“It’s what they volunteer to do,” he tells me.

“And… and we share everything?”

“We can share whatever you like.”

“Including… the bed?” I ask, my cheeks suddenly warm. “To sleep, I mean. Not… not… the…” I close my eyes and growl a little, irritated with myself for stammering.

I grew up in an environment where this was required of me, but over the last few years, I’ve tasted freedom unlike any I’ve ever known.

And my father encouraged my independence.

Yet he told me to bow upon arriving here, to respect the Gold Sector Alphas, to win over a mate. But what’s the point if it turns me into this incoherent mess?

“Your bed makes me want to nest,” I grit out, too exhausted and overwhelmed to hide how I’m feeling. “I’m also really hungry and thirsty. And… and Ihatethis dress.”

I finally open my eyes again and find him smiling at me, like he’s amused.

“None of this is funny,” I tell him, miffed at the humor dancing in his gaze. “I haven’t slept well in weeks. I haven’t eaten a meal in… Actually, I’m not sure how long. And the bath I took before arriving here today was in the ocean, so all I taste is salt.”

He’s no longer smiling.

Probably because I gave him a tone.

Which is the wrong thing to do with an Alpha.

But it’s been a really long day. All I want is a bath, some food, and a nap.

In that very comfortable bed meant for nesting, I think, shivering.

“All right,printesa mea,” he murmurs, the foreign words sounding hypnotic on his tongue. “Come with me.”

He doesn’t wait for me to obey, instead moving forward with purpose through the foyer. He only pauses to pick up a tray with one hand and a bag with the other, then continues into the living area of his suite.

I follow because what else am I going to do?

But as he bypasses the dining table—adjacent to his kitchen—and saunters through his bedroom, I begin to frown.

That frown deepens when he leads me into his opulent bathroom.

I freeze on the threshold as he sets the tray down near one of the sinks. The bag goes to the floor, and the Alpha faces me once more. “Come here,” he beckons.

And for whatever reason, my feet do what he asks.

His lips curl a little, like he knows I’m no longer in control, and he catches my hips.

My breathing halts, my insides turning to liquid as I all but melt into his touch.

Except he doesn’t pull me closer. He lifts me up onto the counter instead, situates me between the sinks, lets go…

And hands me a water bottle from the bag.

“Drink,” he demands.

I blink dumbly at him for a full second before I do exactly as he says.