Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Convincing Avery to move in with him was a lot less harrowing than Ozen expected. Avery didn’t have a strong attachment to his apartment, and with the anxiety he was having at the thought of being away from Ozen, he didn’t argue about the idea of living together. Ozen had a sneaking suspicion the library had a small part to do with Avery’s easy acceptance. Avery looked giddy when Ozen said there were open shelves for him to add his own books to the collection.

He thought moving in together would be the hard part. As it turned out, work was the more troublesome matter. Ozen could tell it made Avery just as uncomfortable as Ozen to be apart from one another, but Avery refused to give up his job as a temp. His working contract as Ozen’s feeder was void now that they were mated, and Avery wasn’t the type to be a kept man. He wanted to work. So despite it still being early in their mating, he accepted when Brennus told him IT needed an assistant to keep track of things while they updated the company systems. It meant he was all the way down on the third floor, and Ozen wasn’t pleased about that. His foul mood was felt throughout the entire office, and Collette was careful to keep his meetings to a minimum to spare people from his wrath.

Ozen was distracted for most of the morning, his eyes constantly flicking to the clock on his computer screen. Avery told him he’d come upstairs to eat lunch with him, but time moved too damn slowly. No matter how much effort Ozen put in trying to distract himself with work, he’d end up looking at the clock again and only minutes would have passed.

His desk phone rang, and his voice was too terse when he answered. “Hawksley.”

“So the rumors are true, then.”

Taron’s voice made Ozen roll his eyes. “What rumors?”

“The rumors that the CEO is seething, and that people needed to avoid him. What’s going on? I thought you’d be in a better mood now that you’re mated.”

Ozen made an irritated sound and tossed his pen onto his desk, giving up the false pretense of getting any work done. “I’d be in a better mood if he wasn’t so far away from me.”

“What do you mean? Where is he?”

“He’s helping IT with their systems upgrade. He doesn’t want to be a kept man, so he insists that he keep working, despite the fact that I can tell it’s bothering him just as much as it bothers me to be separated.”

Taron sighed. “He is a stubborn one. I spent half the week with him. Getting him to relax was a colossal pain in the ass, I hope you know.”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask about that. What were you doing at Avery’s apartment the other night?”

Taron snickered, obviously amused at Ozen’s jealousy. Ozen trusted his friends implicitly, but when it came to Avery, he was turning out to be a possessive asshole. One of the movers smiled at Avery when packing up his things, and Ozen very nearly lost his temper.

“You told me he wouldn’t relax on his own. I was making sure he did. I didn’t want you worrying about him while you pulled your head out of your ass.”

Ozen’s face flattened. If Taron were around, he’d consider hurting him. Which was probably why Taron was smart enough to call this time instead of visiting Ozen’s office like he normally did.

“Considering what Avery believes is relaxing, it’s a good thing I hung around.”

“What do you mean?” Ozen demanded.

“You probably don’t remember because you were too busy glaring at me, but I told you about Avery’s writing, right? He’s really good. The book isn’t finished yet, but I read the whole thing in one sitting. It was that good, and you know how hard it is to get me to focus and sit still. He’s basically working three jobs—temp, feeder, and writer. You should ask him about it. And don’t leave him alone to relax, because he’s just going to work on his book if he’s not being watched. It’s no wonder you’re mated to him. You’re both workaholics.”

Ozen vaguely remembered Taron mentioning Avery’s writing, but he had been a little distracted at the time. If he was as good as Taron suggested, then it might be worth talking to Avery about. As a writer, he could work anywhere. Namely, as close to Ozen as possible. He just had to convince Avery to make his hobby his full-time job.

The day moved at a crawl, but lunch finally came around, and Avery showed up right when he said he would. He looked… strained, and his smile was forced. He didn’t relax until he was cuddled in Ozen’s arms. Ozen felt the tension of being separated from his mate slowly fade the longer he held Avery close.

“Missed you,” Avery murmured.

Ozen wanted to point out that he didn’t have to miss him if Avery would just come upstairs, but that wouldn’t help matters. He and Taron had made a plan to get Avery to switch careers, and if Ozen wanted him to be open to the idea, he had to be patient.

“I missed you too, firefly. Are you hungry?”

Avery hummed, burying his face against Ozen’s chest. Now that he was no longer hindered by the contract, Avery was incredibly cuddly. Ozen loved the easy affection, and he would never complain about having his mate close to him. Lifting Avery’s face, Ozen pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He’d denied himself the pleasure of kissing for years, and he couldn’t resist kissing his mate any chance he got.

Avery had a dreamy smile when Ozen pulled away, and his tension was gone. Ozen almost considered dragging him into the bedroom, but his need to feed him overrode the desire to fuck him. He’d indulge in that in their bed tonight.

“What are you hungry for?”

Avery thought about it, his head tipped slightly. “Something light, I think. You kept me up late last night, and I don’t want to eat something heavy and need a nap to get through the day.”

Ozen couldn’t help the smug smile on his face. He didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about that. He couldn’t resist when Avery was next to him all night. The first time it was because he was hungry. The other three times were just because he enjoyed making Avery scream in pleasure. Ozen couldn’t get enough.

Avery rolled his eyes when he noticed the look on his face. “Don’t look so smug. You came just as many times as I did.”

Ozen chuckled, stealing a quick kiss before making a few suggestions. They decided on a restaurant close by that had amazing wraps, light but still filling and very healthy. They sat close, enjoying each other’s company as they ate, and Ozen wondered for the hundredth time how he got so lucky.

He was paying for their meal when his phone rang. He handed the waiter his card as he put his phone to his ear, lacing his fingers with Avery’s as they waited for the receipt.

“Hawksley.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch, Mr. Hawksley,” Collette ground out. “I can’t get them to leave.”

He sat up straighter, listening intently to the other end of the line. “Who?”

“Calvin and his lawyer are here to see you. They’re insisting you meet with them.”

“Tell them I’ll be right there. Are you in any danger?”

Collette scoffed at his concern. “I’m fine, sir. I’ll let them know you’re on your way.”

When he hung up, Avery shot him a worried look, tipping his head. “What’s wrong?”

“Apparently, instead of waiting for court, Calvin and his lawyer have decided to confront me directly. Do me a favor and tell the waiter we’re in a hurry. I need to call Maverick and tell him to meet us upstairs.”

Avery was quick to action, popping out of his seat and scurrying away to find the waiter. Ozen appreciated the fact that he never had to ask Avery twice to assist him. He set aside his adoration for his mate for now, dialing Maverick as he tossed his napkin onto the table and stood.

“Van Buren.”

“Maverick. There’s a little weasel in my office, causing trouble. Do me a favor and make sure he doesn’t leave.”

A low growl filled the line, and Ozen could almost hear the dragon itching to play. Legally speaking, if they irritated a dragon, it wasn’t held against him if he killed them, as long as they got a fair shot at running away first. Dragons were temperamental and the government was firmly in the belief that if you were stupid enough to pull their tails, you deserved to face the consequences.

“I’m on my way up now. How far out are you?”

“Maybe ten minutes. We walked here.”

“Good.”

Ozen fought back a grin. He got the feeling that Maverick was hoping they poked the dragon. He was tired of dealing with them.

Avery appeared at his side again, card in hand, and he took Ozen’s hand when he offered it.

“We’re on our way.”

Ozen hung up, and they made a beeline for the door. A part of him wanted to leave them to face the dragon alone, but he also wanted to confront the little shit himself. Calvin had avoided being face to face with Ozen since his attempt to kill him. He wanted to see what kind of idiocy would make him brave enough to come to Ozen’s office directly.

“Do we need to call the police?” Avery asked, hustling to keep up with Ozen’s long strides. He never complained, but Ozen slowed just a little so Avery could more easily keep up.

“Not yet. It wouldn’t hurt for you to record the interaction, though.”

“On it,” Avery said with a sharp nod. He had his phone out, and the camera pulled up before they even entered the building. They got a few curious looks as he stormed past the turnstiles. One of the security guys opened the gate at the end for him and Avery, so they skipped the lines in front of the turnstiles entirely. Perks of owning the company.

The wait for the elevator to his floor was short, and Avery bounced on his toes the entire way up, watching the numbers rise on the screen above them. It was only when they stepped into the office that Avery hesitated. His grip on Ozen’s hand tightened and fear tinged the air. The reaction set Ozen off and he glowered at the chimera, who was glaring at his mate.

“Finally,” Calvin snapped. “What? Did you crawl here?”

“Watch it,” Maverick warned him with a growl.

“Or what? You can’t do anything to me! I’ve got proof that he fired me to hide the fact that he broke the contract first!”

Ozen resisted the urge to snort. This ought to be good.

He wanted to hear what the idiot had to say, but first, he had to settle Avery. He strode around the group, keeping Avery against his side and as far from the chimera as possible. Once they were on the other side of his desk, Avery relaxed a little. Ozen didn’t release his hold on him, but he gave his attention to the men across from him, gesturing for them to go ahead and prove it.

“My client brought to my attention that you fed from another before the contract was formally terminated.” He shot a pointed look at Avery. “And you’re still using that feeder now. We have reason to believe you set my client up so that you could tarnish his reputation and choose a new feeder.”

Ozen sighed heavily. “There are two flaws with your accusation. The first being the idea that I would need an out to find a new feeder. It’s written in the contract that if we lacked compatibility, we’d go our separate ways. Considering the tantrum your client threw merely because I wouldn’t make my assistant cater to him, our compatibility was immediately called into question. I was patient and gave Calvin a chance to cool off before participating in a feeding, but his refusal to show up when called voided the contract automatically. Which negates your second point, I believe. Once he voided the contract, I was free to feed from whoever I liked.”

The chimera frowned, ripping open the file in his hand to check the contract. While it would have been difficult for Ozen to break the contract without paying through the nose, he wasn’t completely locked into it. There were some outs, including incompatibility. Ozen usually only used that when he and a feeder couldn’t get comfortable enough with one another, but it still fit here. Maverick pointed that out to him during their first meeting after Calvin’s lawsuit was brought to their attention.

“That clause is too vague. It’s open to interpretation,” the chimera complained.

“Feel free to put it in front of a judge and ask for their interpretation of the matter, then,” Ozen offered. He knew they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t be here if they thought they actually had a decent case. They were here to try and force a settlement. They were targeting the wrong incubus for that.