“Don’t you have a party tonight?” Anya asked. “I already bought my dress. Thank God I didn’t wait till the last minute on that one.”
“Yes, something. City council shindig. Their yearly schmooze fest from what I understand.”
“Yeah, Del-Rey has a team out now going into place in case of snipers. He says his neck is itching.” Ashley reached back and scratched at her own neck. “So is mine. Do you think he’s messing with my mind?”
Anya had to laugh. “Did they dye your hair again, Ash? Sweetie, that stuff is rotting your brain.”
Ashley pouted. “And here I thought you loved me.”
Anya shook her head as she opened the door into her bedroom and came to a complete, hard stop. In a flash, Ashley was in front of her.
“Oh boy,” Ashley squeaked as the woman pushed away from Del-Rey’s arms. “Oh hell. Oh shit. Alpha, you f**king suck.”
Del-Rey watched as Anya stepped slowly into the room. He watched her carefully as Sofia Ivanova moved slowly away from him.
Hell, he was up shit creek now and it damned sure wasn’t what it looked like.
“Anya, you know this isn’t the way it seems,” he told her.
“Why is this woman here?” Anya was glaring at Sofia, her sapphire eyes glowing between lowered lashes. “This is my bedroom.”
“I’m sorry, Anya, this is my fault.” Sofia’s smile was nothing if not confident. “I came to see Del-Rey. We argued and I meant to leave the room. I was upset and used the wrong door.”
“Don’t insult me by lying.” She turned to Del-Rey, her nostrils flaring as she fought to control her breathing.
A perfect cloud of beautiful blond hair framed the other woman’s aristocratic features. She was slender, tall, willowy, and Anya had never liked her.
“Why is she here?”
He pushed his fingers through his hair with a grimace. “She’s one of our plants within the Council. She always has been. She came with information and I didn’t want her seen so I had her slipped in.”
“To my room?” Anya drawled. “Did you think my bodyguards wouldn’t know another woman had been in my room?”
“She’s going to be difficult about this, isn’t she?” Sofia whispered loudly. “She always was such a temperamental little thing.”
“She assumed the room was my office. I didn’t have time to inform her otherwise.”
He didn’t look the least uncomfortable. He was still dressed, his wrinkled white shirt hanging over his well-worn jeans. Boots were on his feet. Sofia was still dressed.
“I expect a little trust here, Coya,” he said darkly.
Anya snorted at that. “Get her out of my bedroom.”
Her fists were clenched, her teeth ground together.
“The next time you need to meet with someone, find a room other than my bedroom if you don’t mind.”
“Jealous?” Sofia gave a soft, tinkling little laugh. “Really, Del-Rey, don’t tell me you’re still sleeping with her?”
“Enough,” Del-Rey snapped, his expression growing forbidding. “I apologize for this, Anya.”
“Get out!” She jerked her door open and glared at Sofia. “Now!”
“Oh dear.” Sofia blinked back at her as Ashley growled behind her. “Del-Rey, perhaps I should leave. We can talk later.”
“I think I have everything I need,” Del-Rey snapped. “Ashley, take Sofia down the east tunnel. She has an escort waiting there. And be nice.”
“I’m always nice, Alpha.” Ashley’s smile was all teeth. “Come along, Ms. Ivanova, I know the way. Boy, whoever did your hair sure messed up. Bad dye job?”
Sofia’s lips tightened at Ashley’s “dumb blonde” routine. Anya didn’t even bother to warn her or Del-Rey that Ashley was going to make sure Sofia suffered before she left the tunnel. Even if it was only with words.
Watching the bodyguard warily, Sofia edged around the room and out the door, leaving Del-Rey and Anya alone.
“Your arms were around her.” Anya closed the door. “Doesn’t hurt to have another woman touch you, huh?”
“Just like a thousand needles slamming into my flesh,” he bit out. “Dammit, Anya, you know I wouldn’t touch her willingly.”
“What about before?” She stared back at him furiously. “She was an informant within the Council. She was part of your network even before I came to you, wasn’t she?”
She watched his jaw bunch. “Yes.”
“You already knew about the facility, and you still waited?”
“Sofia wasn’t in a position to do anything but get information out to me. We couldn’t have breached it without your help.”
“Too bad for me.” She smiled tightly.
God, that bitch had been right, she was jealous. So jealous it was eating her inside. She wanted to push him into a shower and wash the touch of that woman from his flesh.
“Because you really wouldn’t give a damn if I were f**king someone else, would you, Anya?”
“Should I?” she retorted. “Yeah, it was really pleasurable. Mounted, f**ked and knotted, then left to figure out what the hell was going on by myself. I’m really anxious to repeat the experience. Can’t you tell?”
Del-Rey stilled.
He couldn’t believe the words that came from her lips. She had refused to discuss that single night they had been together. She hadn’t spoken to him afterward. In the intervening months she’d only spoken when she had no other choice.
He could feel a curl of shame in his gut.
“It’s not always like that.” He stared at her, feeling the lash to his pride as it seemed to shrivel beneath her withering glare.
It would bounce back easily enough. Del-Rey had immeasurable pride and he knew it. Simply because he knew himself.
“It would never be like that again, Anya.” He would damned well make sure of it. “Do you think that was enough for me? That it was anything close to what I needed?”
She smirked. “Well, you were the one that flipped me on my stomach and decided on the position. Have you learned something since then?”
He snarled silently. “Mate, you’re pushing my temper.”
“Oh come on, Del-Rey.” Dampness glittered in her eyes. “Tell me, those years Sofia was helping you, did you ever f**k her?”