Omega in the Sand - Aria Grace Page 0,40

okay?" he asks me, once we're alone.

"I don't think so," I admit, leaning against him as we walk through the quiet halls of the hotel. "But I will be."

His presence is reassuring. No one is going to grab me. No one is going to accuse me of anything. While Duke is by my side, nothing's going to go wrong. Even if it does, I know it'll all work out as long as we're together.

"There's still one more thing I've got to take care of," he says as he digs in his pocket and produces a keycard. "Go to my room. The number is on the card. I've got to find Warren and try to fix things with him."

"Is there anything I can do?" I ask, frowning deeply as I look down at the card in my hand. "All this is my fault. Well, not all of it, but most of it."

"I think there's enough blame to go around without you trying to shoulder all of it," Duke says, shaking his head. "For now, go up to my room. You can take a shower if you want. Get comfortable and try to relax. Order anything you want from the kitchen. If there's anything you can do, I'll let you know. I promise."

I nod slowly and shuffle toward the elevator. Duke watches me until the doors slide closed. I don't want to let him go right now, but I know this is important. If there's any chance that he can salvage things with Warren, I want him to do it. Especially since it was my choices that led us to this point, no matter what Duke says.

I find Duke's room easily enough and do my best to get comfortable. His scent is everywhere and it goes a long way toward putting me at ease. I take a bath and soak in the water until it turns cold. Every moment I hope he'll make an appearance and I'll be able to woo him into bed with me.

When I finally drag myself out of the water, I dress myself in one of his t-shirts and chuckle at just how much smaller I am. I throw myself onto his bed and snuggle beneath the blankets, adopting a semi-seductive pose so that I can greet him with a wink and a smile.

But my yawns grow ever more devastating. Eventually, I succumb to sleep.

Sunlight streams through the window, pouring across the bed and waking me fully. I slowly sit up and look around the room. I'm alone still. The clock on the nightstand says it's seven in the morning. I frown, thoroughly disappointed that Duke didn't come back to me.

Except, there's a blanket on the sofa that wasn't there before. Dirty clothes piled by the door to the bathroom, and light filtering beneath the door.

I tilt my head quizzically to the side, a slow smile spreads across my lips at the door swings open and Duke emerges in a cloud of steam. A wet sheen clings to his rippling muscles. A white towel is wrapped around his waist, held in place by one hand. The other hand smooths back his wet hair as his eyes meet mine.

"Did I wake you?" he asks as he stops in his tracks.

I shake my head. "When did you come back?"

"Late," is all he says.

"I tried to wait up for you," I tell him with a slight pout.

"It took me longer to talk things through with Warren than I thought," he admits as he tentatively steps toward me.

I don’t exactly want to bring this up now, but I need closure. There’s too many questions swirling in my head and they’re distracting me from the dripping alpha before me.

“What about Anders? I mean, Andre.” I meet Duke’s gaze with a pained expression on my face. The whole thing still has me all kinds of messed up.

“He was arrested last night and taken back to the city,” Duke confirms. “Warren’s already gotten in touch with a lawyer and is getting everything sorted. Apparently a lot of people want a piece of Andre. He’s probably going away for a very long time.”

I shake my head slowly. Still annoyed at myself for being so easily manipulated. “I feel like an idiot,” I admit. “He was right there the entire time. He was using me and I just…let him. At least you were onto him from the beginning.”

“He’s a con artist. It’s what they do,” Duke reassures me. “Besides, I might’ve had suspicions, but I didn’t act