“I hope you enjoy the profits you made because you won’t be getting any more works from me.”
Her jaw drops. Before she can say another word, I turn on my heel and walk around the counter. There’s no way I ever want to associate with that snobby shrew.
For the next hour, I make cappuccinos, café au laits, and hot chocolates. My thoughts switch between cursing myself for being so rude and congratulating myself for standing up to the stuck up customer. The only way I can remain calm is by assuring myself that my art must have commercial value if Mr. Roberts stole so much of it to sell to that woman.
It’s time for me to start believing in myself and to move forward with the new life I’ll have with my exciting new mate.
Hours later, an imposing presence appears behind me and I turn to the doorway to find Mr. Roberts standing in his usual attire, looking at me like I’m a hot chocolate with whipped cream.
My heart flips like a panini. Which version of my mate will I get? The kind-hearted one or the wicked one?
“Uh oh,” Ryan mutters from my side. “Looks like you’re in trouble with the boss.”
“Yeah,” I reply with a nervous giggle.
“Alexis,” he says, using the exact inflections as Mr. Roberts. “Follow me.”
ChapterFifteen
My heart skips several beats as I walk through the coffee shop toward my mate. I’m ninety-nine percent certain that it’s him, even though he’s doing a convincing job of acting like Mr. Roberts.
There’s no way a skinny coward like my former boss could ever defeat a huge creature with tentacles, especially when unconscious and in the depths of his belly.
Jessika gives me a thumbs up in my periphery, and I suppress a surge of excitement, tinged with a bit of trepidation. Which version of my mate will I see when we meet in private? The gentle one, the wicked, or a completely different version who has picked up Mr. Roberts’s personality traits?
A shudder runs down my spine. I hope for both our sakes that Jessika is correct about umbras only assimilating the knowledge of the person they consume.
I walk past my mate, who leans in to sniff my hair, making my scalp tingle. He has never done that before, but if he truly was a water dwelling creature who took the shape of an octopus, maybe he didn’t have such an acute sense of smell?
He follows me through the back room. Instead of continuing toward the locker room and to Mr. Roberts’s office, I take a left toward the security door that leads to the living quarters.
The door slams shut behind us, and a set of invisible tentacles wrap around my waist, turn me around, and pull me into a broad chest.
“Oh.” I fling my arms around his neck. “It’s really you.”
His strong arms wrap around my back, thick ropey muscles that certainly don’t belong to Mr. Roberts. I lean into his shoulder, inhaling the scent of freshly roasted coffee.
This moment is utter perfection. Not only do I have a mate of my own, but he’s both a man and a creature with tentacles for quadruple the pleasure.
“Did you ever doubt me?” he says, sounding like his daytime self.
“Not really.” I pull back and gaze up into his handsome face.
He doesn’t look so much like his angelic self anymore. His skin is darker, with hazel eyes instead of bright blue, and hair a deep mahogany that’s even richer than Mr. Roberts’s.
“Is my appearance pleasing to you, my mate?” he asks.
I tilt my head to the side and smile. “You’re everything I could ever have hoped for and more, but do you still need to feed on my tears?”
He pauses, the corners of his lips quirking into a smile. “I don’t know, should we go upstairs and check?”
A jolt of arousal hits me straight in the clit, making my empty core pulse. Widening my eyes, I step back. “You’re not going to—”
“I ate a sandwich before leaving Gordon Roberts’s office,” he says. “So, I don’t need anything from you to survive, but I’d like to see if I’m still addicted to the taste of your pussy.”
One of his invisible tentacles pulls my hips flush against his thick erection. My insides turn to warm mush.
“I also want to fuck you with a real cock,” he growls.