My dick hardened just at the thought of Cassidy. I wanted to see her. To smell her. To taste her. I craved her more than I craved freedom. More than the air I breathed. She was all I could ever need, and I couldn’t wait to be in her presence again.
I wondered what she was doing. Did she remember much? She didn’t drink enough to have forgotten everything. She had to have remembered more than enough, otherwise, Charlotte wouldn’t be staring me down, lecturing me to keep my dick in my pants.
Because, at the end of the day, my lack of keeping my hands to myself was what her drawn-out act was all about. Keeping me and the rest of her subordinates under control and obeying her every word.
She always checked up on us in some way, shape, or form with each client. Brunch the following day. Or an afternoon spent shopping. Tea or a nightcap after dinner. She had a thousand ways. Cassidy must have let it slip the things we had done to her. It struck me as odd considering she didn’t strike me as the type to kiss and tell.
I might be getting rusty on figuring people out.
Or… maybe Cassidy hadn’t said a word regarding our sex, and Charlotte pieced everything together. She was a shifter. She probably smelled us on her.
“She wasn’t supposed to remember a thing,” I said, lying through my teeth.
Charlotte snapped, “Regardless, sex shouldn’t have happened. You broke my number one rule, Steele.”
“Again. Sorry?” I said with a shrug. “I honestly have no idea how she could remember much of anything. We followed protocol, even with that one exception.”
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” she asked.
“You don’t actually want me to answer that question, do you?” I asked back.
She stared at me coldly. Her dark brown eyes deepened to an even darker shade. I shrugged.
“Did you mate with her?” Charlotte asked through a deep breath while pinching the bridge of her nose.
I sighed. Of course, she would ask that question. Did I mate with the woman? I didn’t know. Maybe. I wasn’t sure what it felt like to find a mate.
Still, I had never met a woman like her before. She was different in every way. First, she was blond. I normally went for brunettes. Her hair was shorter too, styled in a pixie cut, where I normally prefer the women with hair that stretched toward their ass. The longer, the better. She also had blue eyes that were bright and warm and... Well… I never particularly had a preference for eye color. She was sweet, kind, and voluptuous with curves for days.
The point was that Cassidy was the complete and utter opposite of the typical women I vied for. But she had my everything.
So, did I mate with her? I would have to do some more thinking on that later. For now, there was only one reason I figured Charlotte would ask me such a thing, and it wasn’t because she was curious. The dangerous glint in her eyes, coupled with the corners of her lips angling downward all attested to her hidden agenda.
If I had mated. We just might be dead. Figuratively or literally? I could never tell with Charlotte. I supposed it all depended on how vindictive she was feeling on any given particular day.
Regardless, I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I never had a mate before… but if I had to guess, it was Cassidy. But if I let that flow from my lips, I would be putting Cassidy in danger.
All I can think about was being close to her, but being close to her for the sake of protecting her? I would rather that not be the reason for being around her. My animal stretched against my frame in agreeance. He wanted to be near her too. All of the times. All of the days. All of the ways.
But he also would rather it not be out of necessity.
Charlotte slammed her hands onto the top of her desk and leaned over it, glaring at me. “Answer me!”
I met her furious gaze with a raised eyebrow. Her lips were set in a deep frown of disgust. Almost as if she could taste the bitterness of betrayal in the air. And there was an interesting “V” shape between her eyebrows that added a certain flare to her whole stance.
I probably should have been taking her seriously. She wasn’t one to make idle threats.
I almost roll my eyes at her exaggerated angry expression. Every level of emotion from her came with its own expression, and she overplayed each and every single one of them. The expression she had donned was close to the top of the list.
“Can you repeat the question?” I asked through a heavy sigh.
She growled. “You are pushing your luck, Steele.”
I was pushing my luck. But she really was being ridiculous. I only barely heard her question thanks to being so deep in thought about Cassidy. She said something about Malachi… at least, I thought that was what she had mentioned, but I could be wrong. Maybe she was asking where he was. Not that I was his keeper or would have the first clue on where to start figuring that out.
“I haven’t seen Malachi since this morning,” I said. “I have no idea where he is. Perhaps, he’s still sleeping under his rock somewhere.”
I found it interesting that she didn’t ask about Dallas. Perhaps he had already crossed her path and she had torn into his ass before bringing me some of the same.