Page 10 of Therefore

Chapter Nine

Trystan

I t didn’t take long to realise that the easiest way into Emerson’s office was the front door. A couple showers later, Morgan & Watson’s newest clients were standing outside, ready to go meet their lawyer. Or at least, one of their clients was.

“Remember, keep the meeting going as long as possible,” I said, straightening my button-down shirt. “If anyone asks, I’m your cousin, here for emotional support.”

Bee nodded, dressed head to toe in adorable knitwear that would hopefully inspire some extra sympathy. “Right. My cousin with terrible IBS, who had to run to the bathroom as soon as we arrived and will be with us when he can.”

“Stop enjoying this so much. I’ll text you when I’m back outside so you can make an excuse and leave. If all goes well, Emerson will never know I was here.”

As much as I focused on avoiding Emerson, part of me was still desperate to see him. I couldn’t even blame the thoughts on my heat anymore. It was all me.

Getting so close to him would be a risk. If I caught his scent again, I’d have a hard time resisting the pull of his alpha against my omega. Luckily, I’d stocked up on pheromone suppressants.

I just needed to get through this job. Once it was over, it would be easier to stay away from him, and my attraction would fade, like with anyone else. The thought made my chest ache, but it was for the best. There wasn’t space for an alpha in my life.

We entered the building and immediately split up.

Bee headed for the receptionist’s desk, while I weaved through groups of lawyers until I slid into a bathroom stall.

It took a few minutes longer than expected—Emerson must’ve been running late—but eventually, Bee’s “affirmative” text came through. Three toilet emojis. Classy.

I waited a couple extra minutes, until I was sure no one else remained in the bathroom, before leaving and heading to the elevator.

There were security cameras everywhere. It had taken practice to walk around with my head angled away from cameras in a way that the people around wouldn’t see me as acting strange, but it was more than worth it during jobs like this.

Following Bee’s cryptic emoji message, I took the elevator to the third floor and began searching for Emerson’s office.

It was never easy looking for a particular room when I hadn’t had the time to properly scope out the building or get a good disguise together, but luck seemed to be on my side today.

Down the hallway of the first corner I turned, I hit the jackpot.

An empty assistant’s desk outside an equally abandoned office belonging to Emerson Richter.

Not wasting any time, I tried the handle—empty and unlocked, what a day—and slipped inside, flicking the lock behind me.

Emerson’s office was laid out in an almost perfect replica of his home office, albeit a few feet smaller. He’d decorated the walls with more art in place of the additional bookcases he kept at home, but otherwise, the layout was the same.

I wonder what else is similar.

Kneeling behind his desk, I grinned at the sight of a locked drawer. This time, I had no intention of waiting to get it open.

Two pins and a few well-practised twists later, I found…an empty drawer?

“I didn’t expect to see you back on your knees so soon, Trystan.”

I froze at the sound of his voice, mentally praying it was only my imagination.

Carefully glancing over the top of the desk, I spotted Emerson leaning against the open doorframe, keys dangling from one finger as he stared me down.

He wore an amused smirk, so different from the first time he found me like this, yet my heart pounded all the same.

I cocked a brow. “Don’t s’pose you’ll believe I got lost on my way to the bathroom?”

“Afraid not, love.” He chuckled as he closed the door behind him and locked it.

Rising to my feet, I tried to appear nonchalant as I leaned against the back of Emerson’s leather desk chair. “‘Love’, hmm. When did we start with pet names?”

“Somewhere between asking for your name and discovering your second break-in.”

I looked around the room theatrically, gesturing wildly with my arms to distract from my eyes searching for another way out of the room. “I don’t see anything broken here, do you?”

The office only had one door, typical, but no less disappointing. Even a bathroom would have given me options. How the hell was I supposed to get past him without alerting the entire building? Just needed to keep him talking and buy myself time to figure something out.

My fake grin faltered when a photograph poking out of a manila folder on the desk caught my eye. “Oh, but someone’s been doing his homework. Never been popular enough to have a stalker before.”

“I like to know who I’m dealing with. You left before we could talk properly last time.” He took a few steps closer but stayed between the desk and the door. “It’s not here, you know.”

“Figured that out.” My jaw ticked as I cast my eyes over the desk again. “Do you genuinely not use that drawer, or did you empty it especially to tease me?”

“I know far more enjoyable ways to tease you.”

“That you do. Won’t work, though.” I smirked at Emerson’s confusion. His brow furrowed in a way that seemed foreign to him. “I’m back on suppressants. Took extras this time, too. Your scent won’t affect me again.”

Emerson laughed. Not in a mocking way, like he knew something I didn’t, but like he found what I’d said genuinely funny. I’d seen people stoned out of their minds laugh less than him. Fucker.

He rested a large hand on his chest as his laughter diffused into chuckles, then turned a charming smile on me. “Do you seriously think that some back-alley drug will stop you from being affected by my scent? I thought you were smarter than this, love.”

“I have no sense of smell. At all.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Hard to be affected by something you can’t sense.”

“You think so? Well then, let’s test that theory. Come here.” He held up his hands before clasping them behind his back. “I won’t touch you. Won’t do anything you don’t ask for.”

I hesitated for a heartbeat, then stepped around the desk and slowly approached him.

He had to be bluffing, right? My heat was over, so there was no reason for them not to work—even my cheap ones.

Suppressants worked on people’s pheromones.

It was biology. There was no way some alpha scent bullshit would have any… effect on…

Patchouli wafted over me. Sweet, musky earth with spices and a wave of vanilla, gently warming me from my chest. Soothing, with a tingling excitement that promised so much more.

Emerson didn’t laugh at my realisation. Instead, he took the final step towards me, close enough now that our lips would touch if I leaned in even slightly.

“Listen well, love. I am your scent match. Do you know what that means?”

I stepped back, my mind struggling to hold on to a thought.

Like a magnet drawn in by my presence, Emerson stepped towards me again, his eyes fixed on mine. Though his hands remained behind him, he was no less intimidating. “It means I am your alpha. Your alpha, chosen by the very core of who you are and by fate itself.”

For each step back I took, unable to tear my eyes away from him, he followed until my back hit a wall. He stayed the tiniest distance away, not quite touching me, but close enough that the heat radiating from his body felt like I was standing on the edge of a volcano.

“Therefore, your suppressants won’t work with me.

I’ve had your scent and you, mine. We may not have claimed each other fully yet, but your body will not allow you to block out your alpha.

I scented your icy aura and the layers of steel, smoke, and earth beneath it the moment you were in the building.

You, my omega, cannot hide from me. Not when you’re the one person I crave beyond measure. ”

My resistance melted under his intense gaze, like an ice cube thrown into the earth’s core.

“Please, touch me.” I spoke against his lips before kissing him like I was drowning and he was the air.

My hands fisted his hair, tugging at the short strands to keep him fused to my face.

Hands roamed over my waist and under my thighs.

I lifted my leg, wrapping it around his hip as he pressed me firmly against the wall, grinding our hardening cocks against each other through our trousers.

Teeth nipped at my lips, and I opened for him, allowing his tongue to enter my mouth as I savoured the taste of my alpha.

Every lick of his tongue against my own fuelled my need for him until I knew what I wanted.

Pushing against his chest enough to get some wiggle room between his muscular body and the wall, I dropped to my knees.

His hands automatically moved to stroke my hair. “What are you—”

I cut him off with a long, slow lick over the sizable tent in his trousers as my fingers worked his belt open. He quickly caught onto my idea and shucked his trousers down enough to pull his cock out of his briefs and guide it towards my eagerly waiting mouth.

Sticking out my tongue, I enjoyed the sensation of it entering my mouth.

Hot, thick, and heavy. Closing my lips around the head, I swirled my tongue around while sucking gently.

A deep moan slipped from Emerson. Salty droplets of flavour burst on my tongue, and I continued to lap them up and take him deeper, coating him in my saliva.

Every gasp and moan I coaxed out of Emerson spurred me on. I wanted to please him. Taste him. Consume him. Feel a powerful alpha come undone from only my mouth.

I took him deeper, bobbing my head further down his cock each time.

He hit the back of my throat, and the fingers in my hair tightened.

I gagged around him, and sparks of pleasure shot from my scalp to my throbbing erection, but I forced myself to ignore it as Emerson’s hips began moving in shallow thrusts.