Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“Ahem.”
They flinched. Wrenching his eyes from Anthony’s, Michael turned his head.
Liam stood a few feet away, watching them with a puzzled little frown on his beautiful face. “What’s going on here?”
Michael straightened to his full height, suddenly realizing that he’d been slouching against the wall, uncomfortably close to baring his neck to another alpha in public. Fuck.
“Liam,” he said, picking up Liam’s slim hand and kissing the air above his knuckles. His delicate scent calmed his agitation a little. Mated omegas had that effect on all alphas, though it helped that he’d always liked this particular omega. Liam was poised, beautiful, and well-mannered—everything Michael could want in an omega.
“Is everything all right?” Liam said quietly, his pretty eyes flicking between his eldest brother and Michael.
“Why wouldn’t it be all right?” Anthony said.
Liam raised a pale eyebrow. “You were staring at each other for a long time. It looked... odd. Intense.”
Michael rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the ballroom and catching more than a few puzzled looks.
Fuck.
He’d noticed that it had been happening a lot lately, with Anthony and him completely forgetting that they weren’t alone whenever they talked. At least Michael tended to forget that, his body becoming hyper-focused on the other alpha. But he wasn’t sure what Anthony’s excuse was. He wasn’t the one whose body was fucked up after taking another alpha’s knot.
In any case, they needed to be more careful. Both being alphas was probably the only thing protecting them from scandal—most people simply couldn’t fathom an attraction between alphas, so they would overlook strange behavior like that. For the time being.
“You know your brother,” Michael said. “He was bored, so he was bothering me, as usual.”
Liam chuckled. He clearly hadn’t bought the explanation, but he was too well-mannered to call him a liar. “Between you and me, Ant just needs a mate to bully around.”
“Ant is right here,” Anthony said dryly. “Run along, Li. I need to talk to Michael. Alone.”
“So rude,” Liam said, shaking his head. “No manners at all.” He eyed the space between Anthony and Michael for a moment. “Don’t quarrel at a ball, brother,” he murmured, lowering his voice. “Our family doesn’t exactly need another scandal.”
“We weren’t quarreling,” Michael said stiffly. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure whether they had been quarreling or not. Lately, all his interactions with Anthony had this strange edge to them, as if they were building toward a big, nasty fight. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Anthony was goading him on purpose, trying to make him snap.
But he did know better. For all his infuriating ways, Anthony was a good friend. He was trying to help. It only came across as aggressive and challenging because neither of them could help themselves. They were alphas. Instincts were hard to control, the urge to take charge and fix the situation messing everything up.
“It didn’t look like that,” Liam said with a nice smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was undoubtedly aware of the attention on them and wanted to quash any gossip before it could spread.
“We weren’t,” Anthony said, laying a heavy hand on Michael’s shoulder. “And even if we were, it’s none of your business, Li. Run along.”
Shooting his brother a strange look, Liam left.
“He’s right,” Michael murmured, taking a step away from Anthony—trying to subtly remove Anthony’s hand from his body.
Except Anthony moved with him. His hand remained where it was, heavy and hot.
Michael forced a strained smile. “Stop touching me,” he muttered under his breath.
“Hugh said I’d need to get you accustomed to my touch without associating it with what happened.”
Michael ground his teeth. “In the hypothetical situation you described to him.”
“Yep,” Anthony said, following him out of the ballroom as Michael slipped through a door.
“There’s no way he thought it was hypothetical if he gave you advice on how to handle it.”
“Even if he does suspect something, it’s not a problem. He’s my brother-in-law. He won’t tell anyone.”
Throwing him an annoyed look, Michael lengthened his strides, shrugging Anthony’s hand off and marching toward his helicopter. But Anthony caught up to him and followed him into it.
Michael took a deep breath—and instantly regretted it as he inhaled a lungful of Anthony’s scent. “I didn’t invite you to join me,” he said evenly, turning to the window.
“You’re angry with me.”
Michael balled his fingers into fists. “Home,” he told the pilot curtly before closing the partition between them and the pilot. “Whatever gave you that impression?”
“Look at me, Michael.”
He clenched his jaw and continued staring out the window as the helicopter took off.
“Look at me.”
The hairs on Michael’s nape stood up. He dug his nails into his thighs, trying to resist the Voice. But it was futile. The command hooked into his belly and tugged.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled, whipping his head around and glaring at his friend.