Chapter 9: An Unexpected Visitor

The knocking on her door echoed through her apartment, and she rolled her eyes.

Really, Will? The man needed to learn the meaning of the word privacy.

She had politely asked him to give her some space, and yet here he was, showing up at her place uninvited.

Hadn’t she already agreed to endure an evening with him and his girlfriend?

She opened the bathroom door, and the steam rushed out of her small bathroom.

She held onto her blue towel, ensuring it was securely wrapped around her.

Her damp fingers curled around the doorknob, ready to confront Will.

But it wasn’t Will who stood there.

A gasp escaped Olivia as she locked eyes with Alexander’s piercing blue gaze.

He was leaning against the doorframe, his tall figure looming over her.

His white T-shirt clung to his broad chest, sending a shiver down her spine.

The recent flood of memories was still fresh, and it was so damn unfair.

As the chilly air from outside seeped into her apartment, she became acutely aware of her wet, bare skin.

But she couldn’t find the words to speak.

“You need to work on your intuition, ~Livy~.”

The way he said her nickname made her knees weak. “W-what?”

He lightly tapped her nose with his finger, teasing her like a cat. “You should’ve known it was me behind the door. Didn’t your little friend teach you anything?”

There was a hint of anger in his voice as he said the word ~friend~. He had never met Will. Why did he despise him so much?

Shouldn’t he ~appreciate~ Will for saving her life? If she wasn’t alive, how could he be here, irritating the ~hell~ out of her?

“What Will and I do is none of your business,” she retorted, clutching her towel tighter. His gaze hadn’t left her since she opened the door.

His intense scrutiny made her blush, the heat lingering on her face.

Just half an hour ago, she was on the verge of climax, thinking about him, and now he was standing right in front of her.

It wasn’t like she wanted to think about him.

She wanted nothing to do with him. All she wished for was to turn back time and escape the hospital the moment she realized an alpha was present.

Then she wouldn’t be in this mess.

“Are you going to invite me in?”

“No.”

He laughed, his head bowed, chin resting on his chest. “You’re the one who invited me here.”

She furrowed her brows. “Excuse me? I didn’t invite you.”

He held up his phone, displaying the text message she had sent him. ~Damn. Damn. Damn. Foot in mouth—or was it fingers in mouth in this case?~ She shouldn’t have sent that.

She had to admit, he had a point. But if he hadn’t been stalking her, she wouldn’t be thinking about him. He was probably doing some alpha ~thing~.

“And to you, the words get out mean please come over?”

“They mean you’ve been thinking about me.”

He wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t need to know that. His ego was already inflated enough.

“It means I don’t want you stalking me or coming over here. You don’t know me.”

“I’m trying to, but you won’t let me.”

“Why?”

“I told you already. I want you in my pack.”

“And I want you out of my life.”

He waved his phone, as if to further emphasize his point.

“Then why did you text me?” He let go of the door frame and took a step forward.

He was halfway in the hallway, halfway in her apartment. “I hadn’t messaged you. I hadn’t come around. I was a ~very~ good boy.”

Her lower lip quivered as his powerful aura enveloped her like a warm, comforting blanket. Something about the way he said that made her want to cross her legs.

“You’re in my head.”

Alexander smirked. “I like that.”

~Damn it~. This wasn’t going as planned. “That’s not—I don’t mean—”

He moved quickly—too quickly for her to react.

He used their proximity to his advantage, pressing her against the open door. One hand was on her hip, the other against the door. She was cornered.

“Do you think about me touching you that night?”

His breath was warm against her ear, causing her skin to tingle. She remembered the taste of his lips, the sensation of his mouth on hers.

“Because I think about it a lot.”

A warning bell was ringing in her mind. It was telling her to flee, just like she had that night. She struggled to swallow, her throat parched and constricting.

~Get a grip, Olivia. You’re not in heat~.

She needed to breathe deeply, to remind herself she was human. ~But he smells so good~. She didn’t need her wolf chiming in. She didn’t want this. ~Then why are you still here?~

“Were you thinking about me? In the shower?” His finger slipped inside her towel, tugging it gently.

His words sent a jolt through her, and for a moment, she thought her knees might give out.

It had been easier before; there was a table between them.

There were other people around. Now, they were alone.

His hands were on her, his mouth was so close to her skin, and it would be so easy to lean into him…

But he was the devil. He was a monster.

A heartless brute who would likely kill her the moment he was done with her.

Right?

“No.”

“You’re lying,” he said, chuckling. “Want to know how I know?” He tapped his nose.

“I can smell how much you want me right now.”

Her eyes widened, and she turned to rebuke him. But that was a mistake. Now her mouth was close to his, and she could almost feel his lips on hers. “Leave,” she whispered.

~Don’t breathe, don’t think.~ If she thought about it, she might turn slightly more, and that would be a ~very~ bad idea.

She could feel the warmth of his mouth as he parted his lips.

“Is that what you really want ~Livy~?”

“Olivia. My name is Olivia,” she responded, her words barely audible.

“I prefer Livy.”

He brushed his lips against hers, and she forgot how to breathe. ~Run~.

That’s what she should be doing. But she was frozen.

Tears welled in her eyes and a sense of despair filled her chest, heavy like a dark weight. She shouldn’t want him.

She shouldn’t want any of this, but her body was reacting to his as if it was ~made~ for him.

“P-please.”

She was pleading.

She was begging this man to leave because she didn’t have the strength to walk away from him again. Will was right; they were monsters. He was relishing this, enjoying her pain, taking pleasure in her torment.

A kind person would have left her alone. He wasn’t kind.

Olivia shut her eyes, bracing for him to continue her torment—but nothing happened.

She heard the seconds ticking by in her mind, her heart pounding in her chest, but still nothing. She bit her lower lip as she dared to open her eyes.

She expected to find herself looking into his blue eyes, but she was wrong. He had…stepped back? His hand was still on her hip, but he had put some distance between them. ~Wait—what?~

“I’ll make you a deal.”

“What?”

“Tomorrow. I’m picking you up at one o’clock. You come with me. No questions asked.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because if you agree, I’ll leave.”

She had heard that before.

~Yeah, but then you texted him~. She didn’t need her own thoughts working against her. She was doing a good enough job of that on her own. “And if I refuse?”

“I’ll keep you pinned to this wall and do everything you’ve been dreaming about.”

~Ah~. He wasn’t wrong. She hadn’t been ~dreaming~ about him.

All her thoughts about him had occurred while she was ~wide awake—~not that it made the situation any better but… “I haven’t been dreaming about you.”

“Fine,” he said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Everything you’ve been fantasizing about.”

She had almost surrendered to her fate, been a slave to her own body, to the wolf howling within her. If he pushed further, would she run? Where would she go?

Would she run down the street in her towel? Would she give in to him?

“W-will you bring me back?”

She belonged in a mental institution if she was even considering accepting his proposal.

Every time she laid eyes on him, she fell deeper into the abyss. What she needed was space.

“If that’s your choice when the sun sets. Sure.”

“Should I trust you?”

“Absolutely.”

She knew she shouldn’t.

He was everything she had vowed to avoid. Olivia searched her memory for a single lie he had told her. So far? ~She came up empty~. That didn’t make him a saint.

It didn’t change who he was, but it made it difficult to resist the longing that was taking root in her heart.

“So, what’s it going to be, Livy? A wild romp against your front door for all your neighbors to witness, or a little adventure with me?”

His nose grazed the length of her neck. “You want to join me. You want to give in.”

His words struck her like a freight train.

She froze, his words echoing in her mind, and she responded without thinking. “Yes.” That wasn’t her.

That response didn’t come from her. But her mind wouldn’t let her do anything else. It wanted her to agree with him.

The word no was there, and it felt like she could utter it, but yes slipped out instead.

He chuckled as if he was privy to a secret while she was left in the dark. “See you tomorrow, ~Livy~.”

As Alexander retreated from her, she felt the air rush back into her lungs as she finally took a breath. Had she been holding it in?

“Wear a dress.”

Her lips were tingling, yearning for a sensation they didn’t get to experience again. “Why?” she managed to ask.

“I’m fond of them,” he responded with a playful wink.

And that was all he said before he vanished from her sight.

As swiftly as he had barged into her apartment, he was gone. She placed a hand on her chest and held onto the towel that was on the verge of falling and pooling at her feet. She had accepted his proposition for a second time.

Why couldn’t she reject him?

Why did his words have such power over her?

It was persuading her that her ~no~ wasn’t the right response.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter. He was gone. He had left, so she had triumphed.

And tomorrow?

He could go to hell. She wasn’t going anywhere with him.