Page 16 of Therefore

Chapter Fourteen

Emerson

T he silence in my office was deafening. I didn’t even try to stop Trystan from storming out, and now…

As a lawyer, I cannot work for a client unless they trust me to do what’s right on their behalf. It’s a lot of faith to put in someone, but I’d never, not once, failed to gain their trust.

So then why, with the most important person finally brought into my life, would I fail so terribly?

I’d only wanted Trystan to see that he had options in life. He didn’t need to be constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for the law to catch up with him, or worse.

Maybe I should’ve waited until we’d dealt with his employer first, but I couldn’t help it.

Every day in the week since he broke into my life had left me wanting more of him.

My inner alpha ached to claim my omega. As far as that side of me was concerned, we had already waited long enough to start our future.

Our life together would be unconventional, but that thought only excited me more.

Trystan brought an exhilarating energy with him whenever we met, brightening my world in every way.

He was an entire spectrum of colours in a world of shadowy ink that threatened to consume me once again now that he was gone.

A gentle knock dragged me away from my thoughts and out of the cage of my office. Pearl waited in the bright hallway, not in her usual corporate attire, but in leggings and a baggy sweater, her hair piled on top of her head in a bright scrunchie.

“Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t want to leave without giving you this in person.” She handed me a plain folder. “It’s the details of that license plate you asked me to look up a few days ago. It’s registered under a false name, but I’ve finally managed to connect it to someone.”

“Thank you, but it’s getting late. Why are you still here?”

Pearl waved a hand in the air, brushing away the question like no big deal. “Oh, Harris asked for a favour, and I felt bad refusing. Plus, you were still here, and I wanted to give you some time before bringing this to you. I’m going in a moment, though. Gym, then home.”

A weak smile pulled at my cheeks. She worked far too hard. “Next time, please tell him ‘no’. Or I’ll talk to him. You’re usually here late enough as is.”

“It was no trouble, really.”

“Well, I appreciate it. I’ll look it over at home.”

Hefting her bag onto her shoulder, Pearl looked at me, raising a blonde eyebrow. “You’re not seeing Trystan tonight?”

My shoulders sank, and I shook my head silently. None of my plans for the night involved seeing my omega. It made me want to scream until my throat bled.

“I saw the look on his face as he left,” Pearl admitted, grabbing my full attention. “Personally, if I looked like that, I wouldn’t want my alpha to leave me alone for very long.”

Meeting her eyes, I asked, “Even if your alpha was the problem?”

“Especially then.”

She had a point. Every instinct in my body was telling me to go after him, to find some way of making him understand. I hated giving him space when I thought it would help. Maybe it was time to lean more on my alpha side.

Standing a bit straighter, I waved the folder, playfully shooing her towards the elevator. “Go. Take care getting home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Pearl smiled, seemingly satisfied with the change in my demeanour. “Okey-dokey. It’s been nice having you in the office more, by the way.”

“Don’t push it.”

Trystan’s apartment building was not what I’d call homely. Admittedly, I chose my place based purely on aesthetics and security—though, apparently, the latter needed work—but this was in a league of its own. A much dirtier, smellier league.

Yet for a chance with my omega, I’d live here forever without a single regret.

Not trusting the elevator, I climbed up the stairs to the third floor and found Trystan’s front door. My hand hovered near the wood as I inhaled deeply.

There. That faint hint of mint in the air.

I’m home.

The door opened before I could knock, revealing my omega in nothing but sweatpants hanging low on his hips. His chest heaved as he stared at me, his emerald eyes wide.

“It’s you. I could actually smell you out here. Wait, how are you here?”

“Bee put this address on the forms when you both visited last week.” I held up a paper bag of takeout containers like an offering. “Mind if I come in?”

He hesitantly took the bag and stepped aside.

Thankfully, the inside of his flat was a lot cleaner than the outside.

The living room and kitchen were one room, likely advertised as an open plan, but the reality was a lot more cramped.

A fairly large sofa sat facing a TV, but most of the room was taken up by an impressive corner desk with a computer and multiple monitors.

Apparently, Trystan’s flatmate preferred the work-from-home lifestyle as well.

Peering inside the bag while he kicked the door closed, Trystan asked, “What are these? Waffles?”

“Pancakes,” I answered, casting my eyes around the room. “You said you preferred them, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” The corner of his mouth twitched in the tiniest hint of a smile. “Mind if I save them for breakfast? I already ate.”

“Of course. I came here to talk about what happened earlier.”

Leaving the bag on the kitchen counter, he took a seat on the sofa, curling his legs under him in the corner. “Talk or apologise? Because I know which I’m more likely to listen to.”

“Hopefully a healthy mix of both.” Sitting beside him, I asked, “You’ve never had an alpha in your life, have you?”

Trystan shook his head, tapping his fingers against his knee. “Even my parents were betas. Turns out you don’t need to be an alpha to hate your omega son.” He laughed bitterly. I was so glad they were dead. “But yeah, I’ve always stayed away from alphas where I could…until recently.”

“That makes sense. If you don’t mind me asking, when was your last heat before we met?”

“I don’t know. Guessing maybe…a year ago?”

A low, disapproving growl rumbled out of me, and I took his hand in mine, squeezing gently. “You’re supposed to take breaks from suppressants every few months to have your heat.”

“I’m also supposed to be an upstanding citizen. Look how well that’s going.” He chuckled, genuine humour lighting his beautiful eyes. “Why all the questions? This isn’t how I thought this conversation would go.”

“You don’t look after yourself,” I stated simply. “In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve constantly denied your needs as an omega, and frankly, it’s put you in some rough situations.”

“If telling me how badly I run my life is your way of apologising, you’re doing great.”

“An alpha’s job is to care for their mate. You’ve had to hide and deny who you are for so long, I think acceptance scares you. That it’ll somehow strip you of who you are. Am I close?”

“You better have a point soon,” he gritted out through a tightly clenched jaw.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” I muttered, rubbing a thumb back and forth over his knuckles.

“Trystan, I don’t want you because you’re an omega.

I want you because you’re mine , just as much as I am yours.

If you were a beta or another alpha, or even if I was an omega, it wouldn’t change anything for me. ”

Trystan’s throat bobbed as I spoke, but he stayed silent. The only indication that he was listening was his hand slowly squeezing mine a little harder with each word.

“I never intended to try changing who you are. My only goal is to keep you safe, which you don’t make easy, by the way.”

Laughter bubbled out of him for a moment, along with a tear he could no longer hold back.

He still refused to look at me. I reached up with the hand holding onto him and circled my arm around him, pulling him close.

He didn’t fight me. Didn’t yell or glare.

He just curled into me, resting his head on my shoulder and allowing me to hold him.

Vetiver continued to emanate from him as his soft curls tickled my jaw. Each inhale of his essence expanded throughout my chest, relaxing my shoulders and solidifying my resolve.

“Even if you reject me as your alpha, I’ll continue to protect you in any way that I can for as long as I am on this earth,” I promised, pressing my lips against his temple, then leaned close to look into his teary green eyes.

“It’s okay if you decide you don’t want this, but it won’t change the fact that I am yours and you are mine.

My omega. My mate. I’m all in if you’ll accept me. ”

Tension lingered in the air, thick and constricting around my throat as I waited for Trystan to say something. Anything. Please.

His hand released mine, and for a moment, all I could feel was the cool, empty air where he used to be.

Relief surged through my veins as warmth enveloped my thighs, and a weight settled on me.

Long fingers slid through my hair, gripping the strands to tilt my head and forcing me to gaze up at the omega straddling me.

He leaned down to me, his lips hovering a hair’s breadth above mine. “You won’t be able to bribe your way into my flat with pancakes every time you piss me off, you know.”

“Won’t need to. I’m never letting you walk away from me again.”

Running my hands up his thighs, I held his hips, my heart pounding as I patiently waited for him to make the first move.

The moment he closed the miniscule gap between us, my chest swelled, and my alpha roared triumphantly.

Our mouths moved in tandem, tasting and memorising each other more with each addictive movement.

“This really wasn’t how I thought the conversation would go.” Trystan chuckled breathlessly. “I half-expected you’d throw me over your shoulder, slap me on the arse, and tell me not to run off again.”

“I’d be happy to do that if it’d make you feel better.”

He purred in my lap, every bit the content omega as he peppered soft kisses across my jaw and down to my collar. Pausing for a moment, he breathed against my skin, inhaling my scent and steadily relaxing against me.

“I’m still not totally comfortable with all this omega stuff,” he admitted in a small voice. “I’m barely used to heats, and I’ve had those for years.”

“That’s okay.” I ran a hand up and down his bare back, enjoying the way he shivered in the embrace. “We can figure all of this out as we go. The important thing is that you’ll tell me if something is too much.”

“I can do that,” he promised, licking over my lower lip and pulling me into another toe-curling kiss.

Running a hand through his hair, I added, “And on your next heat, no running. You let me take care of you, understand?”

He leaned back out of my reach with a smirk, playing thoughtful as he arched his back and let his tantalising nipple piercings twinkle in the light. “You saying I have to retire the knotted dildo?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed, yanking him back and playfully swatting his arse. “I love to use toys on you. I can picture you now, bound and desperate, dripping with slick, while you try to take a knot at both ends.”

Heat pooled low at the thought, and I felt Trystan grow hard against me. As I ran my thumb over his bottom lip, he wrapped his lips around it and sucked. The sensation travelled straight to my rapidly hardening cock.

Pressing down on his tongue, I asked, “Do you like the sound of that, love?”

He nodded, moaning around the digit as he held onto my forearm with both hands.

I let him pull my arm down, dragging my thumb over his pouty lip, then his chin, and rested my hand at the base of his throat.

His pulse danced beneath my fingertips, and I could feel my own heart matching his, beat for beat.

Would I ever get used to being so close to him?

I hoped not. I wanted to feel this excitement every second I spent with him.

“I want you to claim me, Emerson,” Trystan said, slowly rolling his hips against mine. “Make it so everyone knows I’m yours.”

My heart caught in my throat. A bond mark would make him mine for life, no matter what. “Are you sure, love? It’s a huge step, and I don’t want to push you—”

“You’re not,” he insisted, digging his fingers into my arm. “Every instinct I have is screaming at me to let you in, and I’m ready to dive off this cliff with you. Be my alpha, please. Bite me.”

My already fragile restraint took another gut-punch.

Sliding my hand up, I tightened my fingers around his neck enough to hold him securely but not cut off airflow.

His pulse quickened, and I crept my spare hand down his back, under his sweatpants and boxers, to gently rub across his hole.

He was already leaking slick. I dipped my finger in with ease, dragging a delicious moan out of him that vibrated against my hand. How was I supposed to resist this?

Tilting his head to one side, I breathed along the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

Trystan’s intoxicating vetiver scent intensified with every movement of my finger against his hole, begging me to sink my teeth into him.

A soft whimper squeaked out of him as I grazed my teeth over the spot where I’d mark him.

“I’m going to claim you, Trystan,” I promised. “But you’re going to wait until this beautiful arse is swallowing every inch of my knot, like a good omega.”

“Fuck, yes.” His hands released my arm, reaching down to yank my belt open. “Give it to me, alpha, please. You know I can take it.”

“I do, love. You take it so well for me. Tell me, which room is yours?” I asked, tightening the arm still fingering him as I stood, holding him like the horny brat he was. “If anyone were to come in and see you like this, I’d be very upset. Understand, love?”

He nodded in my grip, reflexively wrapping his legs around me. “End of the hallway, next to the bathroom.”

“Good boy.”