Page 3

Silas

Silas didn’t notice the sun had risen and he no longer needed the lamp he’d switched on when he’d arrived at the office at the ass crack of dawn.

His focus was on the multiple projects that Dad had emailed him an extensive list of, along with details of which brother had which part to deal with.

He’d never gotten, until now, just how good Dad was at juggling all the work balls and not dropping a damn one.

He stretched, arching in the seat, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard as he made a list of priorities.

Fortunately for him, working on the ranch had turned him into an early riser, which, with everything he was going through, would be a necessity.

He didn’t let out the groan of complaint, having worked in the family business since turning eighteen.

His first love would always be horses, and his long-held dream was to shift gears from the fashion industry, his second love, to only work at the ranch.

But that now seemed even further in the future than it once had.

Buying a ranch had always been part of his plans, and he’d achieved that quicker because of investing in Sax’s business.

His parents had offered to loan him the money, but Silas didn’t want that.

He wanted to do it for himself. They’d both been so proud of him when he’d achieved his goal and that he’d not let it interfere with his job at the company.

Over the years, he’d learned to juggle both sides of his life.

The ranch got as much time as Starling Enterprises did. It was partly why he’d given up on attempting to have a relationship with anyone. They required energy and plenty of time, neither of which he was willing to give.

A flash of purple silk wrapped around a lean, tattooed body swam into his mind.

He shut the memory out, which was harder than he liked, to focus on the computer screen.

His personal cell phone rang and he answered it without checking the screen, knowing at this time of the day it would only be one man.

“What now?” he asked without preamble.

“Nice to speak to you too, boss!” Ethan answered, sniggering. “I got an issue.”

“When do you not have one?” he fired back, tapping at the keyboard before reaching for the mouse to save what he’d been doing before he did something daft and hit the wrong key. Distraction around the computer was never good for Silas.

Ethan launched into the reason for the call and Silas groaned, already opening up anew word document. With two staff members leaving the ranch, he’d have to move some folks around the ranch while they looked for new ranch hands.

“You sure about this?” Silas ran through the list of names he’d typed, seeing that Ethan was right. They had very few options available to them.

“What the fuck stupid kind of question is that? What am I supposed to do? Cut myself in fucking two?” he groused, and Silas didn’t need to see his ranch manager's expression to know how genuinely pissed off he was right then.

All the amusement leaching out of Ethan’s voice was not something that happened often, so when it did it was that much more effective at guilting Silas about this current situation.

Not that he or Ethan had any control over it.

Two of their best cowboys had quit because they’d gotten offered a more profitable job, and there wasn’t much arguing with that.

Silas had no fucking clue what the job was, and he didn’t rightly care, but it left them in a hole with the ranch booked up with city folks looking for a ranch experience aimed at team building.

It had turned out to be a lucrative side line, suggested by Jupiter when Silas had a moment of weakness and mentioned how the ranch was eating money.

The big companies, it turned out, were prepared to pay handsomely for the privilege of being forced to work as a team.

Silas had reaped the benefits, booking months in advance for corporate packages.

However, Ethan couldn’t manage all the additional work it created alone.

“Cranny can help,” said Silas.

“Cranny! He’s—”

Silas shook his head and stopped the rant before it got going. “Don’t fucking start again ‘bout him not being up to it. That record got broken long ago. You and I both know he can show those city slickers what real cowboying is ’bout without breaking a sweat.”

“I know that, but he’s not who I would have picked to help take up the slack when he can get easily distracted by Zippy and his antics,” Ethan groused. He groaned, and then Silas heard a soft thud.

“You bangin’ your head on the desk again? What has Zippy done now?” Silas asked, unable to stop from smiling.

“Don’t fucking ask. He’s a menace. If Zippy wasn’t such a fine fucking horseman, I’d fire his ass for plain stupidity.”

“Whatever is going on with him and Cranny, I wish to fuck they’d decide whether to go at it like rabbits, or find themselves mates. It would be easier for everyone.”

“I hear ya.” A heavy sigh came through the speaker. “That doesn’t help me right now, though, does it?”

A knock on the door stopped Silas from answering. “Come in,” he called out, his gaze never lifting from the computer as he considered the list of names, thinking it was Wendy, his secretary. “We could give more responsibility to Brye. He’s sensible enough not to frighten the natives. He could…”

Silas’s nose twitched madly at a smell that made his gut clench. His wolf whined when his gaze drifted up to meet a pair of pale green eyes. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Silas demanded, with no consideration to Ethan listening in.

“Huh?” came through the speaker.

“I work here,” rasped an all too familiar voice that gripped Silas’s balls in a vice-like hold.

The omega that had occupied his thoughts far too much after their tryst walked towards him, hips swaying seductively. The confident fucker who’d gotten him to…

Fuck, was this a joke or what?

Aware he was blushing harder than a virgin getting naked for the first time in front of a lover, Silas stared at the offered hand. “I’m Ziggy, your assigned PA.”

“Is this a joke?” he finally voiced aloud, because it sure as hell felt like it.

Ziggy’s gaze dipped to the phone on the desk. “You might want to finish your call before we have this conversation?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve got all the fuckin’ time in the world,” Ethan said sarcastically, before laughing aloud.

Silas’ face burned like the sun in the middle of Texas summer but through sheer force of will, he never dropped his gaze from Ziggy. Internally though, he floundered like a fish back on Ziggy’s hook.

“Behave Ethan!” he snapped harshly.

“You’re no fun sweetheart,” Ethan crooned, further winding Silas up.

Ziggy’s eyes narrowed as he stared him down in challenge. Sweetheart. That endearment from Ethan held a whole different meaning when aimed at the sexy snake.

Ziggy’s penetrating stare never moved from Silas.

Was he trying to figure out if there was something between him and Ethan?

Not that it mattered. There had been no personal conversation at the club.

None. It had all been dirty demands. Hard fucking.

A crazy ride that ended with Silas leaving while Ziggy slept, not hiding his desire to stay and cuddle.

Ethan didn’t do shit. Never!

He swallowed so hard he felt his Adam’s apple, felt like it was trying to block his airway.

“Give Cranny the opportunity and figure out what you can offload to Brye. Speak to the accountant ‘bout the pay increases they’ll require so he can adjust accordingly.” As he spoke, he never shifted his attention, forcing himself to keep his shit together.

“Okay Boss, but I’m so fucking gonna do the whole ‘I told you so’ when it turns to horse shit.”

“I know you will,” he sighed, finally shifting his attention from Ziggy. “Let’s hope you’re wrong. But until you advertise and replace the cowboys, we’ve got no other options as I can’t leave here until I’ve grasped all the reins.”

“You can dream. And more than one set of reins ain’t a party, for sure. I’ll make it work for now. See ya.”

The call ended abruptly, as it always did with Ethan, leaving Silas with no option but to hang up and give his time to the silent man standing watching him intently.

Silas recalled exactly what he’d written in the group chat—aptly named Alphaholes by Jupiter—he had with his brothers when he’d questioned what kind of name ‘Ziggy’ was.

It suited the snake shifter.

“This is awkward, it seems,” Ziggy murmured, those pale eyes captivating Silas. Daring him.

Silas sat back and gave himself a moment to consider what the hell he was going to do, if anything. Whatever, he needed to deal with it before his brothers found out how badly he’d screwed up by fucking his PA.

“It appears so,” he answered finally, dark brows merging into a straight line.

“So what do you suggest we do about this?” Straight to the point, something Silas admitted he admired. Suggesting a repeat of what they’d done while Ziggy wasn’t under the influence of his heat… wasn’t the right response, was it?

Silas looked at the pile of work on his desk, shoving hard at the urge to do just that. “Sit and I’ll talk you through my expectations and what I’ll require while attempting to juggle all my existing responsibilities.” His authoritative tone drew a raised eyebrow, but Ziggy took the seat.

It was only then that Silas noted the iPad in Ziggy’s hand. He flipped open the case and grabbed a stylus, and then returned his unwavering attention to Silas. “Will this list include the guy you were talking to?”

Silas frowned and came forward to rest his elbows on the desk. “Why do you ask?”

“’Cause I got the impression what you were discussing isn’t related to the fashion business.” He offered a bewitching, sexy smirk, and Silas crossed his legs awkwardly to squeeze his twitching cock between his thighs.

This was going to be a fucking nightmare!

“I have Ethan to manage the ranch I own. It’s not, nor will ever be, part of your responsibilities,” Silas stressed, before moving to reach for the mouse to click and close the open file and then open the one with the list of requirements that Ziggy would need to help with.

“How long have you been with Starling Enterprises? Are you up to scratch with all the departments and where they overlap?” Was it wrong to hope he said he had no clue so Silas could go to Hollis and ask for someone else?

Ziggy gave him a cursory glance before returning to looking at his iPad.

“I’ve been with the company for over a month.

I’ve worked alongside Hollis, and he’s given me the background to each department and who manages them.

Your area is manufacturing, warehouse management, and stock control.

This crosses over with all departments. Booker deals with trending fashions and designers.

Taylin focuses on accessories, working closely with Booker.

Jupiter has global fashion shows and deals with sourcing models… ”

As he continued, Silas zoned out, listening to the sexy rasp that made the hairs on his body feel they were being brushed lightly by tattooed fingers.

Disconcerted by how distracted he was, when he’d never had trouble compartmentalizing in the past, Silas shifted on his seat, uncrossing and crossing his legs once more.

What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe he should go back to Hidden Desires and find another omega to fuck this one out of his system?

“Did I miss anything?”

He blinked, then blinked again to focus on Ziggy when he heard amusement, only then realizing his hand was squeezing his cock.

What. The. Fuck. Was. He. Playing. At?

He was losing his goddamn mind, gripping his cock in front of his PA.

He purposefully placed his hand on the desk.

“I’ll send an email of the list of requirements that are to be dealt with urgently, along with all the projects I’m currently working on.

” He ran through those he could remember while avoiding looking directly at Ziggy. “Do you have all that?”

How hard he worked to add neutrality to his voice was no joke. He needed the omega out of his office so he could get his fucking shit together.

How do you propose to do that? The snark from his wolf side was not what he needed right then.

“Yep.” Ziggy rose slowly and as he lifted his arm up to push a hand through his hair, the loose-fitting shirt rose to reveal a sliver of pale pink silk.

Holy-fucking-Christ, was he wearing the silky underwear under his clothes? To work?

Faint.

He felt faint.

Where the shitting hell was the air?

Ziggy’s face swam in and out of focus and Silas gripped the edge of his desk, willing the other man to leave before he passed out.

“Good…”

As trained moment passed, then Ziggy swung around and disappeared out of the door.

Whatever Ziggy’s reaction was to his behavior, yeah, Silas couldn’t tell because he was barely hanging on.

The second it clicked shut, Silas shoved everything into a pile on the corner of his desk and rested his forehead against the cool wood, gulping like a damn fish out of water.

Images of what Ziggy had done to him played like a damn movie on repeat.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

What the ever loving fuck was happening to him?

Lust… it was just lust.