He reached out, pushing some of her hair back off her face. “I don’t know, we’re both in your bed, so I’d say it worked to a certain extent.”
“You’re funny.” She giggled and leaned forward, kissing him. “So what are you going to do when the house is completely done?”
“I don’t know. Figure out the role of being the alpha. I don’t suppose you’ve got some pointers?”
Ashley pressed a finger to her lips. “I don’t have a clue,” she said and laughed. “Sorry. I guess the real answer is that they work hard, you know.” She shrugged. “The previous … er, you know, well, he didn’t do a whole lot. Not that I can remember. You’re going to have to ask my parents.” She winced.
“What is it?” he asked, worried that he’d hurt her. He pressed a hand to her stomach. Had he fucked her too much her first time?
Ashley covered his hand. “It’s nothing. I was … with me saying that you’d need to talk to my parents about what an alpha does, I was worried that you’d regret what we just did.” She had averted her gaze as she spoke the last part.
Her age. He’d not even thought about that. Placing a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her head back. “Look at me, Ashley.”
She glanced up.
“I know I fucked up and I’m not going to lie, your age is an issue for me, but this, between us, is real. I’m not giving that up.”
“Okay, I just don’t remember what life was like, not really. I was like ten years old, so I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to what an alpha did.”
He looked at her, unable to think of what to say. Phoenix didn’t have a clue what an alpha did. He’d never been in this position before so it was all new, but he didn’t want Ashley to worry.
“Do you want to tell people?” he asked. This was a far more pressing issue to him. He’d figure out his role, but what did they do? They had kept their relationship a secret for so long. He didn’t know what to do now. If it was left to him, he’d announce it from the freaking rooftops. He wanted the whole pack to know, including her parents.
“Maybe we should keep this between the two of us for now. You know, just in case.”
He agreed but couldn’t help but wonder, just in casewhat?
Chapter Nine
Two Weeks Later
Her parents had nearly caught them so many times. Even this morning, Phoenix had no choice but to sneak out of her bedroom. Her father had been there waiting and Ashley had been on the other side, listening.
“Phoenix, are you coming out of my daughter’s bedroom?”
“No, er, I’m just about to knock. She wanted a wake-up call.”
“That’s not like Ashley,” her father said.
“She’s been working very hard.”
And while her parents were out at night, she and Phoenix had been making up for lost time. That was her morning wake-up call.
She had been so worried. The last two weeks were like a crazy dream. They spent every waking moment together, or at least as much as possible. Once they were at his home, it was hard for them to be alone. There were so many workers, and Phoenix was on hand for everything. As for her, she worked in the garden, and knowing that Phoenix was jealous of Daniel, she kept her distance from her friend, so he wasn’t uncomfortable. Once all the workers were gone, it was just the two of them.
Phoenix had told her it wouldn’t be long before they could stay at his home, and she was looking forward to that. The only time they could have sex was when her parents were out of the house. To just spend time with each other, without the sex, they waited for her parents to go to bed, and Phoenix would sneak into her bedroom, which she loved. It was like a dream—a forbidden, scary, dream—but it was one she didn’t want to wake up from.
“This is so beautiful,” Phoenix said, moving in behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Someone might see,” she said.
“I don’t care.” He kissed her neck. “It looks great. You and Daniel have done an amazing job.”
She leaned back against him. Ashley hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about their mating bond yet, because his bike still posed a big threat to her. She didn’t know what she would do if he needed to leave, to climb on that thing, and be gone in the next.
The last thing she wanted from the pack was pity. That was the only reason she didn’t want to tell the whole pack they were together. Otherwise, all she wanted to do was tell everyone. The night after she lost her virginity, her mother kept looking at her, claiming there was something different about her, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Phoenix pressed a kiss to her neck.