CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Raze's saber grumbled and growled the whole way to his office. As much as Raze tried to shut him up, it was no good. His saber was pissed. The rejected look in Affina's eyes as the elevator doors closed made him kick himself as well. But it was too late to do anything about it now. He had a new temp coming in and a meeting at noon. As much as he loved Affina, now more than ever, he needed to do what he could to take care of her as well as the others.
He stepped through his office door and stopped dead. The temp looked up at him.
"Hi!"
Bethany.
Raze swallowed hard. They never sent a temp back a second time. Never. It was his only stipulation.
"Hey."
She rounded her desk and sauntered toward him. "A friend of mine gave me a heads up at the temp agency that you were back and slid me into this position." She touched his chest. "I hope you don't mind."
Raze's saber hissed and paced, wanting to push Bethany away.
Raze stepped backward. "Great. Well, I'm uh... leaving again soon, so unfortunately this will be a short assignment. Probably less than a week."
Her expression fell. "Oh."
"I'm expecting a call in about fifteen minutes so I need to get moving. Excuse me." He scooted around her and headed for his office.
Raze closed his door and breathed deep. How was this happening? He couldn't have her there. Affina would freak if she saw Bethany. Especially with them in a weird place right then. He had to get her out of there.
He'd barely gotten his things set down when Bethany entered, her perfume a bit stronger, her lipstick a shade darker and her blouse open an extra button.
Raze groaned. This was not going to end well.
****
"We're here Miss." Ario looked at Affina in the rearview mirror and she nodded. The giant store with a red bullseye on it loomed over her. She had to keep her fears in check. She needed to show the others that it was okay.
"We'll be about an hour, please, Ario."
He nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be right here."
"What is this place?" asked Satia.
"It's an indoor market. It is supposed to have everything we need in it," replied Affina. The memory of the girl from the clothing shop insulting her by suggesting she shop here instead, slapped Affina. She wished Razor was with her. She pulled out her phone to send him a message and then put it away again. She wasn't sure what the barrier was that had erected between them, but it wasn't going to be overcome easily.
Ario rounded the car and opened the door for her. The rest of her clan piled out behind her. At least they looked like they fit in better than she had on her first day. In some of Razor's less formal clothes and Satia in a black dress, they all looked relatively like humans. Large humans. Large, wild-eyed humans.
Affina sighed. There was no use waiting. They had to do it. They had to go inside.
She closed the door and the group walked toward the entrance.
"It smells here," Medajon said in their native tongue.
"And it's too bright," Boramus replied.
"These clothes itch."
"At least you can move in yours," said Satia.
"Enough!" Incus growled. "Be grateful you are still alive and that Queen Affina is willing to help you at all. She doesn't have to."
The others bowed their heads in shame. Affina shook her head. This was going to be harder than she thought.
An hour later Affina left the store overwhelmed and with two cartloads of clothing, toiletries and shoes. Her clansmen had never been so happy. After so long on the run to be able to have such basic necessities was like a dream. She'd let them pick whatever they wanted, though Satia had to be persuaded to buy a bra and underwear. Affina couldn't blame her.
Ario helped load everything into the trunk as the others got in the car.
"How about some lunch?" he asked.
"I think that would be wise. Maybe something simple. Sandwiches and soup."
"I know just the place."
Affina walked around the car and Ario opened the door for her. She slid inside and looked at her phone. Razor hadn't called her once.
****
Raze hung up his call and rubbed his eyebrows. The last piece of land was firmly within his grasp. He stared at the satellite image of the lodge and the surrounding area. Five hundred acres on all sides. Two thousand acres for the clan to live and breathe and run without anyone coming near them. And the timing was perfect with the rest of the clan having arrived.
Bile rose in his throat. They would never accept him as king without Affina there to tell them so. He'd worked too hard for their benefit to have them still treat him like a common slave.
A knock sounded on his office door. Bethany opened the door and popped her head in.
"What can I do for you?" Raze asked.
"I just wanted to bring you your messages from when you were on the phone." She crept toward his desk the scent of fear and arousal wafting off her.
"Thank you. You can leave them there."
She set them on his desk and waited.
"Was there something else?"
"I... wanted to apologize for how I reacted when I visited your apartment. I'm truly sorry. We never said we were exclusive. I should have known better. I just wanted to apologize to you for that. It will never happen again."
"Apology accepted. Thank you. Nothing has changed though, Bethany. I told you before that we cannot be together and we can't."
She rounded his desk and sat on it, her skirt hiking up high.
"I don't get it though. I thought we had something between us."
"We did."
Her eyes brightened with hope. "So you admit there's something there? I don't mind sharing you if that's what you need. And I won't be clingy. If you need to leave town I'm fine with that. Whatever you need." She slid onto his lap before Raze could do anything and ran her hand up his chest.
Instinctively Raze raised his hands away from her.
"Uh... what are you doing?" he stammered.
"Yes. I'd like to know that myself." Affina stood in the doorway holding a bag and a drink.
Raze jumped from his seat. "Fina."
She shook her head and walked out.
"Fina!" Raze raced after her as she strode across the outer office toward the glass door. "Fina stop!"
She halted and turned, rage planted on her face. She walked back and shoved the food at him.
"Fina, this isn't what it looked like," he said in their tongue.
"So you haven't slept with her?"
He couldn't change what he'd done in the past. All he could do is be better for the future. For her. "Yes, I have, but that was before you came. Fina, I love you. I've always loved you."
She took a deep breath and stepped forward, laying her palm on his cheek. "And I you, Razor. But I think we're just too different. I hoped it would not be so, but it is. You haven't even been away from me for a couple of hours and already I find another woman sitting on your lap."
"Fina I told you. It isn't my fault. I didn't ask her to be here I fired her. I didn't encourage her."
"But you didn't stop her, either." She shook her head. "I can't do this. I thought I could but I can't. I can't take not being able to trust you. I can't take never knowing if a woman is going to throw herself at you."
"Is that how you really feel? Do you really not trust me to stay true to our bond? I told Mandrake I wouldn't take another as mate and I meant it. I will never, as long as I live I’ll never take another to mate, to my bed or to my heart. You are my everything."
Tears welled in Affina's eyes. "I think it might be best for everyone if I take the others and we'll go to the lodge for a while. To try and help them settle in."
Razor's heart caved into his chest. "Don't do this. Stay here. We can send them to the lodge and I'll make sure they are taken care of."
"They are our people. We can't just leave them to fend for themselves after all they've been through."
"And I can't leave here," he said. "I have a business I have to take care of to ensure we are provided for as well as our children and their children."
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I know."
She strode through the glass and down the hall. Bypassing the elevator she headed straight for the stairwell and disappeared.
He stood in the lobby of his office staring after her long after the stairwell door closed. His saber roared to be let out. To go to her and drag her back. To make her understand.
"I... I think maybe this was a mistake. I'm gonna just go."
Raze turned. Bethany grabbed her purse and coat without looking at him and headed for the door.
Raze's phone buzzed and he set the bag and drink on the receptionist desk and pulled it out of his pocket.
"This is Razor."