11 Chapter 11 PISSING CONTEST
“Are you okay?” Lucian asked, glancing at the locker room door. “I thought you were taking a shower.”
Kieran stepped back as if it pained him, his jaw clenched tight. For a moment, he just stared at me, his expression unreadable. Then, without a word, he turned and left.
I shook my head vehemently. “No, baby, not hurt. Just sore.”
His head jerked to the side, and for a heartbeat, neither of us moved-me, shocked that
my ex-husband had tried to kiss me; him, stunned that I’d dared to slap him.
Kieran had never once exhibited any jealous or possessive traits—at least not when it
came to me. Then again, it wasn’t like I’d really garnered any male attention in the decade
we were married.
So what the hell was this?
All the confusion and tension of the day faded away when I heard the front door open
and close, followed by the sound of rushing feet heading for the kitchen.
He’s going back to her. The thought soured in my mind. I could still see them earlier,
Celeste pressed against him like she belonged there. The perfect Luna. The perfect mate.
After all, there was a more likely explanation than jealousy and possessiveness: ego.
Not into the near-kiss or Lucian’s declaration. Because the fact of the matter was the
same-no one but Daniel truly wanted me.
“That’s amazing, Mom. I’m proud of you.” He beamed. “I wish I could grow up faster so we could train together and I could protect you.”
I took a long drink of water, letting the cold liquid soothe me. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand when I was done.
“Get it together, Sera,” I chastised myself sharply.
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I groaned, my whole body protesting with me. “Just kill me here and now.”
He truly was the greatest thing that had ever happened to me. I swore then and there that no matter how hard it was, no matter how much my weak body ached afterward, I would keep training. I would grow stronger and be the kind of mother my son could be
proud of.
“I’m coming, fuck!” I muttered angrily as I trudged to the door, tying my robe haphazardly
around my waist.
Two Alphas had basically had a pissing contest, and it would have happened over a plot of land just as easily as it happened over me. I didn’t need to read too much into it.
Every day after dropping Daniel off at school, I headed straight to OTS headquarters,
where Lucian, the sadistic bastard, devised innovative new ways to make me hate my life.
He frowned. “Why?”
“Mom!”
Celeste.
But as I twisted the cap off the bottle, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had
shifted.
What would have happened if I’d let him?
His eyes lit up. “Like the kind Dad does?”
When Leona and Christian asked to take Daniel camping on Sunday, I agreed wholeheartedly. I canceled training for the day and spent the morning giving my poor, abused body the rest it deserved.
Whatever asshole at the other side of the door deserved to have their eyes assaulted by my gruesome appearance as punishment for desecrating the sanctity of my rest day.
When the hot water started to cool, I took that as my cue to step out of the shower.
Lucian laughed. “That would defeat the whole point, now, wouldn’t it?”
I closed my eyes, the water running down my face, and pictured the dark, murderous way with which Kieran looked at Lucian, at Lucian’s hands on me.
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“Thanks.” Our fingers brushed, and I remembered his words from earlier: “I plan to court
her.”
“Here.” He offered me one, his grip steady.
In all the years Kieran and I were married, he’d never once kissed me-not my lips, at least. When we had sex, it was clinical, functional, a way for Kieran to take care of his needs. If at all his lips touched me, it was my neck or my tits, never anything so intimate
as kissing me on the lips.
The pride that shone in his eyes made every sore muscle worth it.
I’d made my peace with that a long time ago.
That finally broke through whatever madness had gripped him.
I felt the sting across my palm before I realized that I’d slapped Kieran.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Lucian,” I said.
SERAPHINA’S POV
My chest warmed. When was the last time I had someone in my corner the way Lucian
was?
A week later, the only thing keeping me from rescinding my vow was Daniel’s proud
smile every time I came home bruised and aching.
I stood there long after the door shut behind him, my breath uneven, my skin still buzzing where he’d touched me. A traitorous warmth coiled low in my stomach-one I refused to
acknowledge.
“Oh, baby.” I pulled him to me again, and this time, he was careful not to hold me too
tightly.
“Did you take a hit to the head?” I shoved him again, but he was immovable, his dark eyes burning into mine. Beneath my palm, his heartbeat raced as wildly as my own.
He chuckled, a little self-deprecatingly. “Right. Well, if you need anything, Sera-and | mean absolutely anything-don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here for you.”
I headed downstairs and began preparing dinner in anticipation of Daniel’s return from
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school.
I smiled. “Nothing that intense-not yet, at least, but… yes.”
When I opened the door, however, I immediately regretted my decision. I should have taken a shower, waxed, blow-dried my hair, and put on a full face of makeup.
Because even on my best days, I already paled in comparison to her. I didn’t need to give her more of a leg up.
Kieran was a proud Alpha who probably had double the normal testosterone level of a normal man. And Lucian hadn’t made things better by announcing to the room that he
was interested in me, no matter how nice his intentions were.
I turned in time to catch his hug but couldn’t help wincing when he squeezed my middle, drawing a protest from my abused abs.
“Mine,” he’d growled just before he tried to kiss me.
“Okay, I can take you if you like.”
I yanked my shirt back on, my skin still humming. No way was I showering here-not with them just rooms away. I needed air. Space. Distance.
He beamed. “I look forward to our next session.”
“Let me remind you of two things: One, we’re divorced. Two, your precious Celeste is
right outside!”
brought my fingers up to my lips, the water sluicing between them. I hadn’t let him kiss
but I still felt the shadow of his lips, the warmth of his breath against me.
me,
I didn’t let myself think about what happened in the locker room until I was home. But as
soon as I stood under the shower, the hot sprays washing over my sore muscles, I couldn’t keep the thoughts at bay anymore.
He froze and pulled back immediately, looking at me in horror. “Are you okay?” he asked in alarm. “Are you hurt?”
“I’ll do it at home,” I said, refraining from saying why.
My chest heaved as I braced my hand against his chest and shoved him away from me. He
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didn’t budge, both his arms caged me against the lockers, his body radiating heat like a furnace. The scent of him-cedar and something darker, wilder-flooded my senses, making it hard to think.
He’d always been… mild with me, even when we had sex. I knew that all the extremes of his emotions-passionate love and fervent jealousy-were reserved for Celeste.
“Have you gone raving mad?” I hissed, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.
The rage he exhibited seemed an awful lot like jealousy, but I couldn’t understand why.
So you can imagine how utterly pissed I was when the insistent ringing of the doorbell interrupted my precious, delicious sleep and forced me to drag myself out of bed.
But today…
How could this happen after we had already divorced?
When I stepped into the hall, Lucian was there, rounding the corner with two water
bottles in hand.
***
I dismissed the thought. Lucian was a protector-he’d probably just said it to deflect the
tension. And it had worked.
I shook my head, smiling. “I drove here, remember?”
I shrugged. “Your mom had a training session today.”
His lips pursed, and I thought he would protest, but he just nodded.
My hair looked like an abandoned raccoon’s nest, and my breath stank to high heaven. I
was hunched over, wincing with every step. I didn’t mind, though.
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