There was something to be said about annoying exes and their persistence. Sure, Max wasn’t officially my ex, but his persistence was definitely an annoyance.

And it was surprising.

He hadn’t really tried to talk to me after seeing me pretend-flirting with Lucas, something that relieved me thoroughly. But now he was back for some reason and coming on stronger than he’d come on in the past.

It had to be the new suit I was wearing. I never really wore fancy stuff like this before at work, where there was tight-fitting material around my chest and ass. But I knew this event was going to be big and fancy, so I had to go all out and put my best foot forward. And If I was being honest, it was most likely because I wanted Lucas to notice me.

I took the effort to go to the Armani store to have my suit perfectly tailored to my body. I chose the color that seemed to pop the most, which was unlike me—I normally liked to have a low profile and not bring attention to myself. The suit had the added benefit of making my eye color pop, too, and what started out as nervousness on my part ended with pleasantness as people complimented me for what I was wearing and how good I looked.

Apparently, Max noticed it, too.

He’d been easy to handle in the crowd, but I was getting uncomfortable. That was when I decided to ditch him and excuse myself to take a breather, with the waiting area as the only private place I could find, other than the restroom.

Imagine my surprise when Max showed up a few seconds later.

Then, further surprise when he started to become really aggressive.

I was getting sick and tired of it. He hadn’t even tried to apologize for what he’d done before, only made up excuses that I was weary of hearing. Then his hand was grabbing my arm, and he was forcing me to the wall as if that was going to get me to listen. Well, he had another thought coming.

I opened my mouth, prepared to give him a piece of his mind and burn him like an inferno.

But the words died in my throat when he was suddenly gone from hovering over me, and a familiar alpha voice penetrated the air.

“If you do that to him again, I will fucking end you,” growled Lucas.

I froze. Then I stared as Lucas grabbed Max’s shirt collars, pulling him closer until they were eye to eye. Max glared, but he seemed to suddenly realize who he was glaring at. He wavered. He stammered an apology. Then he was out of there before anyone could say another word.

Me? I was furious.

“What right did you think you had doing that?” I asked, pushing myself off the wall and approaching Lucas. There was a cool expression on his face that further infuriated me, and I let it show.

“It’s not about rights,” he said. “He was hurting you.”

“And I could have handled it.”

Lucas’ eyes narrowed. “By being polite and smiling at him like that?”

“By being calm and civil because I still have to deal with him in the office. And there will be consequences!”

“There won’t be any consequences,” Lucas said, with confidence.

“Stop handling things for me!” I practically yelled at him. Then I walked out on him before he could say another word, knowing it wouldn’t be anything good. I was highly emotional at the moment, and it wasn’t even because of what Max did. Lucas’ presence was getting to me, but for all the wrong reasons.

It was impossible to be objective and professional when he was around, because all I wanted was to be taken in his arms. Even when I was mad at him like I was at that very moment, part of me still wanted him.

Was that just my omega nature or was I being pathetic?

I was halfway down the hall when I heard footsteps following me. Knowing he wouldn’t have any qualms about arguing in front of a crowd, I ducked inside the nearest room, which turned out to be the closet. Then I waited for him to come in. I opened my mouth to yell at him again—

“I’m sorry.”

His words had me blinking. I could hear the sincerity in them, and it surprised me. Suddenly all the fight raging inside me was gone, replaced only by a certain weariness. And hurt.

It hurt to even look at Lucas. Along with the hurt was an ache that just never went away, even when I tried my best not to feel it.

I missed him. I missed talking to him and teasing him, and generally just being with him. We’d turned from strangers, to semi-enemies, and back to friends in the space of a few weeks—things were becoming complicated. Now, we treated each other as nothing but work colleagues.

I wanted the old Lucas back—and I wanted more than friendship.

Unfortunately, he didn’t want the same based on the fact he hadn’t mentioned our time together. If he had mentioned it, I would have let me know how I felt about him by now. It seemed obvious to me that the dressing room incident would just be the one-time thing, probably due to the circumstances we were in at the time. That was why I just didn’t want to put myself out there like that without knowing he felt the same way. I don’t think my heart could take that sort of rejection.

“I’m sorry for taking that away from you. I knew you could have dealt with it. It just made me so angry,” Lucas said.

“I know. I was angry, too.”

Lucas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he stepped forward until there was not much space between us anymore. “I’m sorry for hurting you, Leo.”

Something pierced my heart at the words. I nodded my head, at a loss for words.

“I’m sorry for shutting you out like that.”

My mouth was dry now. “There’s no need for you to apologize, Lucas.”

“Yes, there is,” he said firmly. He shut the door and turned on the light bulb, giving us some dim lighting. “I’ve been a complete jerk to you. You didn’t deserve that. And… I hurt you. Emotionally.”

I shook my head. “No. No. There were two parties to that incident, Lucas, and one of them was me. I was willing. You didn’t hurt me.” My heart beat fast, and I had to swallow before saying my next words. “You… you pleasured me. Thoroughly. And it was a wonderful experience.”

Silence filled the room. Something shifted in the air and surrounded us, turning it thick. I watched his eyes darken as he stepped even closer, his mouth inches away from mine.

“You pleasured me, too,” he murmured in a low voice that sent my stomach skittering in a flutter. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it… and sure as hell tried my best to.”

My face turned hot. “I… I couldn’t stop thinking about it, either.”

“Where does that leave us, then?”

It was a loaded question. Despite our nearness, Lucas didn’t make any moves, instead standing in place and just looking down at me with that contained heat in his gaze. His hands were tight fists at his sides, and it spoke of how much effort it took for him not to come any closer.

God, even just looking at him standing before me made me ache.

He was waiting. He wanted this to be my decision, respected me enough to turn away if I said no—and I knew he would turn away when I told him I didn’t want it.

But did I want him to turn away?

I knew the answer to that. It was practically shouting in my face. And I knew I had to make a decision about it. Now.

I stood on tiptoes, because even in my new shoes, Lucas still had a good number of inches on me. I had the pleasure of hearing his breath sharpen for a bit, of seeing his gaze darken even further. Then all that was forgotten as I pressed my lips against his, soft and willing lips.

It was the only invitation he needed. Like a dam that had been broken, Lucas’ arms banded around me, hauling me up to him until our bodies were pressed against each other. The heat from his huge body seeped into me, and my chilled skin suddenly felt oh-so-hot, like it could melt ice. He opened his mouth and so did I, and we kissed like that—with all the pent-up passion we had for one another, the hunger that threatened to drive us crazy as the need grew and grew.

His hands slid inside my pants, and he touched me like a whisper through my underwear. I moaned into his mouth, feeling it deep in my body.

“You’re hard already,” he groaned out.

“Yes,” I whimpered. “My ass is hungry too. Please touch me. Please fuck me.”

He groaned even louder, and I bit his lower lip to keep him quiet. This got him chuckling, even while his hand kept rubbing my dick and making me feel so, so good. His other hand was squeezing my ass tightly.

I knew a few more minutes of this and we’d be taking our clothes off. I knew we wouldn’t be able to control ourselves, not when there was this much chemistry and heat between us. It was going to be explosive, and the closet wouldn’t be able to contain it.

But God, it was so tempting to just give into him right there, right then.

Lucas knew how to touch me. He knew the exact buttons to push to have me vibrating in his arms, and he was using it now as he made me melt deeper into his touch. I was weak and powerless against his alpha powers, and I loved it. I was being dominated, and all I wanted to do was to give myself to him completely.

And to have that cock inside my—

With another stifled moan, I took hold of his collar and abruptly pushed him off. His mouth disentangled from mine, only to settle on my throat.

My mind was incoherent, but I tried to talk, anyway.

“If we do this here, we wouldn’t last five minutes.”

Something hardened in him, and it wasn’t his bulge—no, that was already hard and pressing against my stomach to begin with. It was his resolve. Lucas kissed me one more time, making me helpless as I throbbed all over.

Then he was pulling us both out of the closet.

“Come with me,” was all he said.

Dazed, aroused, he lead the way, and I followed.

I’d follow that alpha anywhere he’d ask me to.