Astrid had never slept so soundly as she did that night, but then again, she’d never been so exhausted. Zac kept her up most of the night, only stopping because she was starving after their fourth round, and he let her go to the cafeteria to get some snacks. He was relentless the rest of the night and by her seventh orgasm, she basically stopped counting, and it was around midnight she begged him to let her close her eyes. She was out cold within minutes.

That’s probably why the very loud ringing coming from somewhere on the floor didn’t wake her at first. It was only when she felt the bed shift and she lost the warmth of his body did she open her eyes.

“Zac?” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and found him standing with his back to her, his tight ass on display for her to admire. What I wouldn’t give to have a quarter right now, she thought. Hell, silver dollars could bounce off Zac’s buns ….

“… And you really can’t get anyone else?” Zac’s body tensed, then he let out a breath. “Fine. Book me on the first flight out.” He put the phone down on the bedside table and turned to face her. He looked thoroughly annoyed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Trouble at the London office.” He scratched his head seemingly unaware he was completely naked and sporting a half-chubby. “I need to head over there.”

She stretched out like a cat and yawned. “Well, if you have to—Zac!” She giggled when he swooped down on the bed and tackled her from behind.

“You are making it very hard for me to get on that plane,” he whispered in her ear.

“That,” she rubbed her ass on his now-hardening cock, “is the point, Zachary. Oh!” She moaned when his fingers slipped between her legs. He teased her until she was soaking and then nudged her thighs apart with his knees, and her eyes rolled back when he entered her in one swift motion.

He held her tight, one arm around her waist and the other over her breasts as he fucked her from behind. This morning’s sex session was quick and rough, and as soon as her body tightened around him, he let out a guttural sound, and she felt his cock twitch inside her as he came. Their movements slowed down and they lay there, panting as their breathing returned to normal.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really do have to leave.”

After their time in Colorado, she was the one who had run from him, unable to face the reality of what they had done. Or perhaps she wanted to be the first one to pull away before she got hurt. Last night, she couldn’t believe he would come after her, especially after she’d been too much of a coward to face him. And now, he was the one leaving.

“I’m not running away.”

She stiffened. It was like he could read her mind. “I didn’t say that.”

“I know, but,” he kissed her neck, “I just wanted to let you know. I’m not leaving you forever, not by a long shot. If I could, I’d bring you with me.”

“The terms of my punishment wouldn’t allow me to just take a vacation,” she said.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. A few days, tops,” he promised. “I really do hate to leave, but …”

She twisted her body to face him, then lifted her head up to place a kiss on his lips. “You have your thing. This is your thing and I have mine. Just … keep in touch.”

“I will.” He kissed her, long and deep, and even as he tried to rise form the bed, she sat up with him, not quite ready to let him go. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Right.” She glanced at the clock. It was four o’clock in the morning, so it should be safe for him to leave. Safe? Well, they didn’t talk about what they were exactly, but still, it probably wouldn’t be a good thing if anyone saw the Beta’s son doing the walk of shame out of her room.

As he dressed, she lay back in bed, gathering the covers around her. When he finished, she stood up to walk him to the door. “Have a safe flight,” she said.

He caressed her cheek with his fingers. “I will.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers softly. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe, didn’t even open her eyes when his lips left hers. And when she did open them, he was gone.

If it wasn’t for Zac’s lingering scent, she would have thought she’d gone crazy and hallucinated all of what happened. Her heart ached the entire morning, feeling so empty knowing that Zac was three thousand miles away from her. She went through the motions of her morning training, going to lunch, and the afternoon’s learning sessions.

It was around three o’clock when she got a message from an unknown London number during their afternoon break time. She was sitting down, having a cup of coffee and some muffins in the kitchen with some of the other trainees when her phone beeped.

Hi, beautiful. Made it back in one piece.

Her heart skipped a beat at the words on the tiny screen. She glanced around her, wondering if any of the people next to her could see the big grin on her face. Looking back down at her phone, an evil thought popped into her head.

Who’s this?

She pressed send and waited for his reply. It came back in no time.

That guy who snuck into your room and gave you ten orgasms. <Licking emoji>

She snorted loudly, which made hot coffee stream down from her nose and splatter her shirt. That got the attention of Layla, who was sitting beside her. She arched a dark brow at her but said nothing. Astrid fumed and typed out a message with one finger as she mopped herself up with a napkin.

Justin???? Send.

She hadn’t even had a chance to toss the sodden napkin when her phone starting ringing.

“Who the hell is Justin?” came Zac’s angry voice.

“Oh, boo.” She held the phone to her ear with her shoulders as she washed her hand. Everyone had left the break room, so she deemed it safe to talk. “That was payback.”

“Are you mad I left?”

“What? No.” She denied emphatically. “That last text you sent made me snort coffee through my nose and now my shirt’s all stained with coffee.”

He chuckled. “Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but half your shirts are stained with coffee.”

True, but that wasn’t the point. “How was the flight?”

“Boring. Long.” There was the sound of something rustling in the background. “Sorry, just unwrapping my sandwich. Didn’t have much time to eat. I was working most of the flight here. How was your day?”

“Same old, same old.” She leaned back against the sink. “Did you—”

“Yo, Jonasson! Stop sexting with your boyfriend.” Layla popped her head in through the break room door. “Get your butt downstairs! Your old lady’s about to have an aneurysm.”

“Sorry, Justin,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Until later.”

For the rest of the week, they communicated mainly through text during the day. He was five hours ahead, so she would always wake up to a very sweet good morning text from him, as well as details of how his morning went. She would text him during her breaks, about how training was going and by the time she was done, he was already winding down and they would continue texting as she was having dinner. Two days after he left, she convinced him to stay up past his bedtime for a naughty chat session, though ultimately, it left both of them unsatisfied.

She couldn’t bring herself to ask him when he was coming back. It sounded too needy on her end. She was aching to be near him. He didn’t supply the information anyway, but from what he’d been telling her, there really was a major problem at the London office. Then, on Thursday, he had to fly to Estonia which made the time difference even more difficult.

When Friday rolled around, she got her usual morning messages, but his responses to her texts took longer and longer to arrive. When he didn’t respond right away, she tried everything from shutting her phone off and checking if the Internet in the building was working. By evening, she said goodnight to him, but didn’t even get a response back.

“He’s probably sleeping,” she told herself as she sat in her room after dinner. It was two o’clock in the morning in Estonia, after all. The rest of the trainees invited her to go out to Blood Moon, but she declined. She wanted to be in her room, just in case Zac called.

She fell asleep reading the latest trashy romance novel from her favorite author and the next day, she woke up with her e-reader in her hand. Her stomach gurgled. God, these training sessions were so brutal, she was famished all day long. This entire week, she had at least three plates for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Despite her tummy’s demands to be filled right this moment, she realized that she hadn’t checked her phone yet.

Her heart soared when she saw the message notification. Her finger tapped on the screen.

Hey.

“Hey?” she said aloud. Twelve hours of radio silence and all he could say was “hey”? She wanted to toss the phone across the room, but decided she could play this game too.

Hey. Send.

He replied faster this time. Have you had breakfast yet?

Her stomach growled loudly. Breakfast was definitely in order. She was scrounging around for that package of cookies she kept somewhere in her closet when her phone beeped again.

That bagel place around the corner should have just opened.

Hmmm. Fresh bagels with a schmear of cream cheese and some lox and capers sounded great right about now. Her stomach agreed. She decided that Zac could wait and she needed food now, so she threw on some sweats, her coat, boots, and headed downstairs.

As she rode the elevator down, she stared at her phone, wondering what to write back. She wanted to sound casual, but not too casual in case it made her sound like she was being apathetic. But then again, she didn’t want to seem needy or dramatic either. Ugh.

All week long, they had been texting non-stop. Sometimes the messages were sweet, other times spicy. Or just typical banter. Once in a while he would say something that made her heart belly-flop right into her stomach. Like when he was describing the view of the Thames from his apartment and wished she was there with him. Or that sexy morning selfie he took the other day, with his hair mussed …

When she reached the lobby, she still hadn’t sent him anything and her fingers hovered nervously over the screen. She walked out the door of the building, biting her lip as she racked her brain, trying to find the right words to say. She was so engrossed that she didn’t hear the voice calling her right away.

“Astrid. Astrid.”

She was so surprised that she dropped her phone on the sidewalk, and it bounced on the pavement, skidding a few feet from her. She cursed and bent down to pick it up. Thank God for protective cases. When she looked up, she saw Zac, leaning casually against his Porsche, grinning at her.

“Z-zac!” Her feet seemingly had a life of their own as she sped toward him, running straight into his arms. God, this felt so good, feeling his body against hers. He lifted her up in a tight hug and pressed his lips to hers.

“You taste even better than I remembered,” he said when he pulled away.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.”

“Forget you? Never.” He kissed her nose and put her down on her feet. “Sorry for not answering you back, but I’ve been traveling for about twenty hours now.”

“Twenty hours?” she asked. “Why the hell would it take nearly a day to get back to New York from London?”

He let out a long sigh. “I made the mistake of hitching a ride with Bastian.”

She chuckled. “Ah, I think I understand.” Sebastian “Bastian” Creed Jr., one of Deedee’s brothers, was the typical playboy billionaire, jetting off all over the world. His biotech company had blown up in the last couple of years, and so he spent most of his time traveling the world and always seemed to be photographed at glamorous parties with A-list celebrities.

“I saw him in Tallin where he was showing off his latest software acquisition. He said he was heading back to New York in his private jet and that I should join him.” His brows furrowed together. “In the middle of the flight, he told his pilot to stop in Ibiza for a drink, and then one drink turned into two, and then—”

“You don’t have to tell me.” She knew all about Bastian Creed’s partying ways, at least from Deedee and Aunt Jade’s stories. “Did you end up in a hot tub full of lime jello with Spanish supermodels?”

“It was strawberry and they were Russian.” When her lips thinned with annoyance, he laughed and kissed her. “I’m joking,” he said. “But I fooled you there for a moment.”

“You wish.” When she struggled to get away from him, he held her tighter.

“C’mon.” He nodded to his car. “Let’s go for a ride.”

“Are you taking me to breakfast?”

Opening the passenger door, he gestured to the brown paper bag sitting on the dash. “I already got you breakfast.”

“Ooohhh!” She slipped inside the car and snatched the bag. “Still warm.”

He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. She was already stuffing her mouth when he sat down. “This—yummmmm—is—grrrmmm—delicious.” The cinnamon raisin bagel was so fresh and the cream cheese added just the right amount of salty-savory flavor. She swallowed the whole bite, and though her stomach demanded more, she put the bagel down on her lap and turned to him. “Wait, did you just lure me into your car with food?”

He laughed and stepped on the gas. “It worked, right?”

“Oh my God! You’re kidnapping me.”

When he stopped at a red light, he reached over to wipe a bit of cream cheese from the corner of her mouth. “Sweetheart.” He licked his thumb, making her mouth go dry when she saw his tongue dart out of his mouth. “I just want us to be alone for the weekend.”

“Weekend?” she asked in an incredulous voice. “We’re going away for the weekend?”

“Yes.”

“B-b-but I don’t have any clothes packed.” Oh God, why hadn’t she thrown on something—anything—nicer than her Mickey Mouse sweats and her ratty old coat?

The light turned green and he looked ahead. “We can stop somewhere and get you some basics. But you won’t be needing clothes where we’re going.” His gaze flickered toward her, full of heat and promise. She couldn’t help her body’s reaction—her breath catching and her core clenching with need as her panties flooded with arousal. That seemed to amuse him more as his lips curled up into a smile.

She leaned back and stared down at the partially-eaten bagel. I guess we’re going away for the weekend.