Bait & Switch (Alphas Undone #1)(33)

Lacey’s expression hit me like a gut punch; I could barely breathe. In her eyes, I saw pure horror and heartbreak. She was so scared, so disgusted—and it was all because of me. In that moment, I hated what I saw in her eyes.

Then she ran, darting out of the room just as quickly as she’d appeared.

I eased Daniella off my lap and onto the bed, and she gave a soft sigh. When I pulled off her blindfold, she looked drained, drowsy, as she rested her head on the pillow.

Daniella was riding a serious endorphin high, swaddled in the warm fog of subspace. As badly as I wanted to go after Lacey, I knew I had to handle Daniella’s aftercare first.

I brought her a mug of hot, sugary tea, sat with her while she drank it, and rubbed her back until she fell asleep.

Then I wrote her a note—Let’s talk in the morning—and left it on her nightstand. It was kind of a cold move, but I had to do some damage control before Lacey freaked out even worse. Or called the police on me.

I had no idea what she could be thinking. What she’d just witnessed had obviously confused and frightened her. I thought I’d made Daniella’s kinky desires clear before . . . but evidently, being aware of BDSM was different from stumbling into a scene up close.

Did Lacey think I was a monster now? How much of our relationship could I salvage?

Hardly daring to hope, I hurried outside toward my truck, hell bent on getting to her apartment.





Chapter Fourteen


Lacey

Uncontrollable shaking racked my body. Anger. Fear. Disappointment. Confusion. Jealousy. The sheer number of emotions warring for my attention were overwhelming.

I paced my living room, my hands still trembling. It was a miracle I’d driven home without crashing. Tonight, on my way home from work, I’d spotted that same white sedan in my rearview mirror, and I panicked.

Instead of leading him to my home, I’d driven straight to Nolan’s. I heard the TV playing inside and let myself in when there was no answer at the door. The last thing I expected was to interrupt a scene between him and Daniella.

The scent of sex was burned into my nostrils. As was the sight of Daniella, bound and blindfolded, her ass splotchy with large red handprints. Nolan’s handprints.

Chills swept down my spine as I leaned against the dining room table for support, unable to banish the vision from my brain. My fingers curled around the edge of the table and I drew a few deep breaths, trying to calm my rioting heartbeat.

My own visceral reaction to seeing them startled me with its intensity. I’d told myself all along that I didn’t care what they did in bed, but now I knew that had been a bald-faced lie.

The reason it mattered so much? The reason my heart felt like it had just been ripped in two?

Horace had been right—I was falling in love with Nolan. And seeing him with Daniella not only hurt like a bitch, but it made me panic about losing him. They obviously shared something that he and I never would.

One thing that was odd . . . I suddenly realized Nolan had been fully clothed.

Before I had time to dissect that, a series of knocks rained against my door. Startled and still shaking, I hazarded a glance out the peephole.

It was Nolan. Veins stood out against his neck, and his blue eyes were so dark, they looked almost black.

“I know you’re in there,” he said. “Let me in. We need to talk.”

Shit. I wasn’t sure I could face him right now, but I had no choice.

I unbolted the lock and opened the door.

“Are you okay?”

The first words out of his mouth caught me off guard. I’d expected some backlash over me just wandering inside his house, or a lecture about how I knew the score all along and had no right to be mad. Instead he seemed genuinely concerned. For me.

I shoved a hand against his chest, pushing him back a step. “No, I’m not okay.”

Unable to meet his dark eyes, I turned away and stalked over to the window, where I looked down at the parking lot. Watching the old lady from unit 6D take out her trash was better than letting Nolan see me cry.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

He crossed the room to sink down on the couch. He looked so out of place on the dainty, floral-patterned thing, I would have laughed if my stomach weren’t tied in knots. His large frame, muscular build, and strong jaw dusted with a five o’clock shadow was at odds with my feminine apartment, with its splashes of purple and cream everywhere.

I turned to face him, my hands on my hips. “It’s stupid, right? I knew from the beginning that you’d never be mine. But silly me, somewhere along the way, I started to think maybe, just maybe you’d want more . . . with me. But now I see that—”

“You see what?”

My eyes flared on his. “That if those are the kinds of things you’re into, I’ll never be able to give you what you need.”

“Damn it, Lacey. I’d never make you feel like you had to do those things.”

Something between a gasp and a forced laugh escaped my throat. “You’re an *, Nolan.”

“I need to explain some things to you. Will you sit down?”

I was so angry that my skin felt hot all over, but something inside me needed to hear whatever asinine excuse he was about to come up with.

“Fine.” I sank onto the couch beside him.

He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Daniella’s a submissive.”