Page 129 of The Gift
He goes to say something, and I get an alert on my phone, interrupting us. Since Lennon disappeared, the little dings on my phone take priority. Koda passes my phone from my Burberry and leaves me to find a bottle of water.
By the time he’s back, which is literally twenty seconds, not only am I flushed but kind of excited. His feet stop a few feet away, and he drops those brown eyes full of understanding, but my peachy scent is as subtle as ever these days.
“Good news?” He tips his head patiently. This man has the patience of a saint and the body of the devil.
“My agent told me to stop working for free. She said I looked like I needed to get some pack cock and that she’s contacted all my upcoming shows and told them one of the other Alliance representatives would be doing it instead.”
“You should do what your agent says.”
“She’s okay, Koda,” I whisper, jumping into his waiting arms.
“I’ll get Valak to do this interview. Then I’ll take you home and do exactly what your agent said.”
“Funny she said the same thing, about Valak, I mean.” I wiggle out of Koda’s arms and bend down to get all my gear, of course he cups my ass before taking my bags from my hands and carrying everything for me. I intertwine our fingers, and he kisses the back of my hand, living openly certainly has its benefits. And he is only one of them.
“Your arm isn’t giving you problems?” he asks.
“Nope.” I make a point of showing him. Of course, he kind of glares until I stop waving it around.
“You still hot?”
“Are you saying I’m not?” I tease him, grabbing his hand and putting it on my stomach.
Perhaps my body is releasing all the stress I’ve been holding since Lennon left, but since her call, I think I’m having a moment. Like an omega moment. It’s all so new, but if I put together how horny I am, how hot and snappy I’ve been, small rumbles in my tummy are nothing to do with the food I’ve eaten. I’m having a spike in my heat cycle.
Koda’s hands are huge and he always runs warmer than me, and when he touches my stomach, he knows what to do and he also knows what it means.
“You’d be early, though it would explain why you’ve been mouthy…” he says, his hand rubbing in small circles, his alpha magic somehow making the smallish cramps go away.
“You say that like it’s a problem that I’m whiney for you.” I hold his arm up so I can slide under his side.
“Nothing better than your omega being hungry for her alpha.” He chuckles, leaning over to kiss my head, growling in my ear. “How wet are your panties?”
“Wet enough that we need to leave.”
“Just how I like ’em.”
I never figured the small things would add up to be so enormously life changing and healing. The A-team spoil me constantly with little touches, sweet words, heartfelt gifts, mind blowing orgasms, and by simply being around.
Living with them is like a dream come true, except for the cleaning. Honestly, I can’t get over how much mess they make, and it’s mostly in the downstairs part of the house, since that’s where we all are. Downstairs was never going to be my space, it was always going to be ours, which is why we are also looking for a bigger house and a cleaner. Though that’s an issue for our future. Now, like Lennon accurately said, it’s time for me to properly introduce my pack to my nest.
We stop on our way out, Koda speaking with Valak. As always, he’s looking angry and menacing. I leave Koda to speak with him while I apologise to Ruddy for having to do my makeup only to leave before going on set. Instead of air kisses, we do selfies, with promises of tagging each other before he dashes off to fix another supposed catastrophe.
The two alphas, Valak and Ruddy couldn’t be more different, but they both make a point of ignoring my peachy scent as it gets stronger by the second. And that is such a strange concept, me scenting in public.
I hang back while Koda speaks with Valak, though Koda’s eyes are on only me.
Since Valak’s in charge of security, he—and his shitty attitude—have been over to the house a few times, and despite being a right prick and always pissed off, I actually feel safe around him. I feel a connection to him although it’s probably just our trauma talking, because under his fury, he has ghosts in his eyes like I do in mine.
“Bails.” Koda interrupts my thoughts, holding the door open to the garage downstairs. And then he puts our bags in the back of his big ass truck before helping me up like he always does. His truck seriously makes me feel like a pip-squeak.
My phone rings, honestly, my phone always rings and it drives me crazy. If it wasn’t one of the A-team, or Lennon, I’d let it ring out.
“Hey, Ash.”
“Bailey girl, I was calling to wish you good luck. You should be on in about ten minutes, right?”
“Wrong.”
