Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 115: Territorial Negotiations
BLACKWOOD ESTATE - MAIN KITCHEN - 7:30 AM
The kitchen was already bustling with morning activity....pack members grabbing breakfast, staff preparing meals, the comfortable chaos of a large household waking up. The scent of coffee, bacon, and fresh bread filled the air, mixing with the dozen conversations happening simultaneously.
Elena stood at the counter near the back, ostensibly organizing dish towels but really just trying to calm her racing heart. Across from her, Lora.....another omega who worked in the main house....was giving her a knowing look that made Elena’s cheeks burn.
"You look like you’ve seen a ghost," Lora said with amusement, her hands busy kneading dough for the day’s bread. "Or something better than a ghost. Much better."
Elena glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation, then leaned in closer. "I saw him," she whispered, her voice breathless just from the memory. "The visitor. The one staying in the east wing guest suite."
"And?" Lora prompted, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"And I nearly died," Elena admitted, her hands twisting the dish towel she was holding. "Lora, I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. More beautiful than should be allowed. Looking at him actually hurt.....like staring directly at the sun."
She paused, struggling to find words adequate to describe what she’d experienced. "When I led him to his room last night, I could barely think straight. Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to get closer. To touch him. To offer myself to him. I literally had to clench my fists until my nails drew blood just to keep from reaching out."
Lora’s eyes widened. "That intense?"
"Worse," Elena said, her voice dropping even lower. "The sexual energy radiating from him....it was like being hit with a physical wave. My entire body responded. I got wet just from being near him. My nipples hardened. My skin felt too tight. And the worst part? He knew. I could see it in his eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing to me and found it amusing."
"Moon Goddess," Lora breathed. "What is he? Some kind of sex god?"
"Must be," Elena agreed. "Because the feeling was exactly like what we got from the Luna the first time the Alphas introduced her to the pack. That overwhelming sexual presence that makes you want to drop to your knees and beg. Except somehow even more intense. More concentrated."
Lora’s expression shifted to understanding. "Maybe he is one of Luna’s relatives? That would explain the similar energy signature. Succubi and incubi are supposed to naturally radiate sexual appeal."
"That’s what I was thinking," Elena said. "But I didn’t dare ask. Could barely string two words together in his presence without stuttering like an idiot."
Before Lora could respond, a sharp voice cut across the kitchen.
"Elena!"
Both omegas jumped, turning to find Mrs. Catherine.....the head housekeeper who’d been with the family for decades....standing in the doorway with her usual expression of stern efficiency.
"Yes, ma’am?" Elena straightened immediately, setting down the dish towel.
"The Alphas have requested that you summon the visitor and escort him to Alpha Damian’s office," Mrs. Catherine said, her tone brooking no argument. "Immediately."
Elena felt her heart drop into her stomach. Go back to him? Face that overwhelming presence again? Try to form coherent sentences while her entire body was screaming at her to do very inappropriate things?
"I... of course, ma’am," she managed to say, though her voice came out slightly strangled.
Mrs. Catherine’s expression softened fractionally. "Pull yourself together, girl. He’s just a man. A very attractive man, granted, but still just a man. You’re a Blackwood pack member. Act like it."
"Yes, ma’am," Elena repeated, though privately she thought ’just a man’ was the understatement of the century.
As Mrs. Catherine left, Lora gave Elena a sympathetic look. "Good luck. Try not to embarrass yourself too badly."
"I pray I survive this," Elena muttered, smoothing down her uniform and checking that everything was properly in place. Not that it mattered.....she could be wearing a potato sack and still feel completely exposed under that silver-eyed gaze.
She made her way through the estate toward the east wing, her steps becoming slower and more reluctant the closer she got. Her heart was racing, her palms were sweating, and she could already feel the telltale dampness between her thighs just from anticipating seeing him again.
Get it together, she told herself firmly. You’re a professional. You can deliver a simple message without falling apart.
She reached the door to the guest suite and stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths, trying to calm her racing pulse. It didn’t work. Finally, she raised her hand and knocked.....three sharp raps that sounded too loud in the quiet hallway.
"Come in," a voice called from inside.....smooth as honey, rich as velvet, with an accent that spoke of centuries and sophistication.
Elena pushed open the door and immediately regretted it.
Raphael stood near the window, backlit by morning sunlight that made him look almost ethereal. He’d clearly just showered.....his dark hair was still damp, falling in careless waves past his shoulders. He wore simple black pants and a white shirt that somehow looked like haute couture on his frame. The shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a triangle of pale skin that Elena’s eyes fixated on with embarrassing intensity.
But it was his face that truly undid her.
In the harsh light of day, he was even more devastating than he’d been in the dim hallway last night. Sharp cheekbones that could cut glass. A jawline that looked carved by a master sculptor. Lips that were somehow both cruel and sensual. And those eyes.....liquid silver that seemed to see directly into her soul.
He smiled when he saw her, and Elena’s knees actually went weak.
One corner of his mouth lifted in clear amusement, and Elena realized with mortification that he could probably smell her arousal. Could sense exactly what his presence was doing to her. And he found it funny.
Her face flooded with red, heat crawling up her neck and across her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words stuck in her throat. She had to try twice before anything came out.
"The... the Alphas want to see you," she finally managed, her voice embarrassingly breathy. "In Alpha Damian’s office. Now." frёewebηovel.cѳm
Raphael looked at the female werewolf in front of him.....fidgeting nervously, blushing furiously, her scent absolutely saturated with arousal.....and couldn’t help but smile. Not cruelly, but with genuine amusement at how utterly transparent she was.
Of course he knew the effect he had on people. Especially females. He was an incubus.....sexual attraction was literally woven into his DNA, radiating from him in waves whether he wanted it to or not.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He could mask his scent, could tone down the sexual energy he projected. He’d lived for over two centuries. He’d learned control long ago. To claim he couldn’t manage his own presence would be a disgrace to his heritage.
But he didn’t want to. Not right now.
Because he wanted everyone he encountered to know immediately.....to understand without words....that he was connected to Eve. That he carried the same energy signature she did. That they were family.
The pack was already used to getting this overwhelming sexual presence from their Luna. Experiencing it from him would require no introduction, no explanation. They would connect the dots themselves. Would understand that he belonged here, that he had a right to be here, because he was Eve’s blood.
So he let his natural energy flow freely, watched the reactions, and catalogued who could handle it and who couldn’t. Information that might be useful later.
"Lead the way," he said to Elena, his voice deliberately gentle to put her at ease.
It didn’t work. If anything, the kindness in his tone seemed to fluster her even more.
They walked through the estate hallways, Elena maintaining a careful three feet of distance at all times.....close enough to guide him, far enough that the sexual energy wouldn’t completely overwhelm her. Raphael followed silently, taking in the layout, noting security measures, assessing potential vulnerabilities.
When they reached the office door, Elena knocked with a trembling hand.
"Come in," Damon’s voice rang out from inside.
Elena opened the door and stepped aside to let Raphael enter. As he walked past her...just one second of proximity, barely close enough for their clothes to brush.....she felt her pussy walls clamp together involuntarily, her arousal spiking so hard she nearly gasped.
She quickly shut the door after him, leaning against it for support, breathing hard like she’d just run a marathon.
Get it together, she told herself again. Professional. You are a professional.
But Moon Goddess, that man was dangerous.
