Page 56 of The Alpha's Fake Mate

I breathed deeply of it all. “Orion, you have to—“ I gulped. “Please—“

His hands gripped firmer, pushing me back so I couldn’t nuzzle. “Coffee?” he softly asked. “Or do you need to lie down imminently?”

“What?”

“You’re drunk. You need to lie down, I think,” he said.

“Yes.”

He set me back a little more but kept one hand under my arm to help me walk without falling.

The staircase loomed up and up, never ending. The cat followed us on silent paws.

The next thing I knew, I was in my room with the blue walls and the dark, soft spread. He helped me sit and lie back, and he removed my shoes. What was happening was out of my control. I wanted something so far away, so distant I felt like crying. It was out of my reach. It was in my heart but buried deep. It was a need that required a trust I would never have.

I turned my head into the pillow so Orion couldn’t see any of my thoughts displayed on my face. I said in my voice that sounded far away, “You can go.”

“Not until I see that you’re okay.”

I peered at him with one eye and watched him bring a trash can and place it beside the bed.

“What’s that for?”

“In case you feel sick.”

“Oh.”

He pulled the comforter from the foot of the bed over my still-clothed legs.

“There’s water on the nightstand,” he said.

“That’s good,” I mumbled.

“The phone I gave you is on the nightstand, too. Call me if you need me.”

“You can go.” I squirmed deeper into the blankets and pillows as I saw him move to the foot of the bed. Panic shot through me. “No! Don’t go!”

“I won’t.”

After that, I don’t know how long he stayed. I felt Snowball jump up onto the bed and settle himself against my legs. I strayed in and out of weird sleep that felt hot and cold.

I wanted him there. I liked knowing he stood by close but not too close. But I didn’t want to like it.

I had no experience. I was too young for all of this. Everything that had happened and was happening seemed like a dream.

But it was no dream. And all my problems were not going to vanish by morning.

Chapter Fourteen

Orion

I stayed away from my office all morning and sat in the dining room waiting for Holland to come down. He did. Eventually.

Freshly showered, he had on clean clothes, though they were still his Zilly’s uniform of black trousers and white shirt. I still hadn’t seen him wearing the jeans I’d given the Omegas at Zilly’s.

I’d ordered new clothes for him the day I brought him home, and instructed him to browse for more, but there hadn’t been time for them to arrive. I figured we’d shop for all the more personal things he might want later.

When he entered the room, I looked up and our gazes met. As usual, his strength came through his stance, keeping himself steady, eyes locked. The only indication he might have retained some residual embarrassment from last night was an edge of pink flush at the tops of his cheeks. He looked well-rested and fearless.