Chapter Eighteen

Zhang

He was in love with me. I'd known I felt that way about him almost since he got in the rideshare at the airport that day. And lust had been present right at that time. A fact I informed him of after he spilled and knotted inside me right when we got back from the airport.

"That's a great compliment." He stroked my mating mark with a fingertip. "But I hate to think I'm just a hunk of meat to you."

"You know better than that." I kissed his hand and turned it over to kiss his palm. "I think I said I love you."

"I believe I recall that." He tipped my chin up and kissed me on the lips. "I thought, if you're not too tired, I would like to take you over to my headquarters and show you around."

"Okay. I would like to see it. Do I have time to shower and put on some clothes?"

"I sure hope you do. I'd hate to have to beat up every guy in there for ogling my omega."

I giggled, knowing he wouldn't do that at all, but liking that he might be just a bit jealous. "I better not wear the new jeans I bought, then."

"Oh, go ahead. I don't mind scraping my fists on a few bearded chins." But he was smiling, too. "I'll shower with you."

"If you do, we probably won't get to the place until midnight," I warned.

"It's quieter then anyway."

And we were kissing again.

We did arrive at the gym building after midnight, but if this was quieter, I didn't want to see what it was like during the day. "We're open 24/7," he explained. "Some people can't sleep or maybe work a weird schedule, but they still like to work out."

"What a great resource for them. Are there any other gyms open all the time in the area?"

"Not in this area, but in some of the other cities and towns where we have centers. But we stay busy enough."

We walked through all the different areas, and he showed me how some things worked. I knew his career had him on all of these at some time or another. "Don't you get tired of it all?"

"No." He stopped then nodded. "Yes, sometimes I do. Especially as the business has grown and takes more of my time. It can be exhausting to handle both sides of the job. But both require my direct touch."

We strolled from the weight room into a big empty room where they had yoga and some other classes then into the pool area. "This is nice." I knelt and dipped my hand into the water. "Nice! Perfect temperature. Do you have a sauna?"

"Sauna, hot tub, steam room, ice tubs…and some other things, yeah. Your favorite right?"

"Not the ice tubs." I shivered at the thought. "But then I don't really do anything to need them."

"No, you don't." He winked at me. "And never change. I like that body just the way it is."

My cheeks warmed. "Maybe I might try some light yoga sometime."

"If you like. Don't do anything just because I do it. You do you, and I'll do me, okay?"

"How about if I do you?" I was inordinately proud of my silly phrasing, but Shane scooped me up and carried me through the main area of the gym with no sign of caring who might stare or comment. "Where are we going?"

"I want to show you my office."

Of course, we did more than look around, but that was okay. I loved the idea that we were taking advantage of any space available to us to celebrate our love. If only I could stay here forever and not have to go back to the rat race. Then life would be perfect. I just needed to figure out what to do for work here. Because while I could see my alpha could well afford to support us both, I did not like the idea of being a burden. I'd supported myself for years and didn't want that to change.

It wasn't until I found myself with my pants around my ankles and my ass on the edge of a large mahogany desk, my alpha sucking my cock with great vigor, that I realized I needed to trust more and not fret so much. Fate wouldn't have put us together without a way to make it work.