[Carmen]I never had the occasion to threaten someone, but I certainly never thought I would enjoy it as much as I did. When Rock started kissing me, I forgot that anyone else even existed. He might like being dominant, but I didn’t like the idea of those trolls threatening him. He was mine. I wouldn’t let them hurt him. I didn’t know if Elle was strong enough to do what I said, but I pretended I did. Gemma once told me that pretending hard could make anyone and anything seem convincing. After the room was empty and we were alone, Rock returned to my neck. When his lips hit my mark, it was just as I’d always heard it felt. His mark may not have started my fertility cycle, but it felt exactly as it should. Realizing his ear was so close to my face made me eager to taste him. He kissed and licked the edges of my ears before, but I’d never done it to him. If he liked how my hands felt on his ears, he’d love this. When I licked him and he shuddered, I knew I’d won. Especially, when he told me I made him like a horny teenager. That was what I wanted. I knew it wasn’t appropriate at work, but listening to him take charge of everything all morning made me feel like a horny teenager, too. Gemma had been really put off when I started becoming aroused when Rock was talking to his men. I sucked the rim of his earlobe into my mouth and teased it with my teeth and tongue. Rock grunted and groaned, his body working away against mine. With my free hand, I stroked his other ear.“You are so good at this, Carmen,” he breathed. “I can’t control my body.”I giggled. “I know the feeling.”“You need your Alpha, my little wolf ѕlut?” Rock murmured as he ground himself between my legs. I moaned. “Always, but we shouldn’t do it in the office, Rock.” “If this keeps up, that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he warned.“I want to, but it’s wrong,” I replied. “We can as soon as we get home, though. Can you wait for me, my Alpha?” “You were so hot when you threatened those trolls, Carmen. How did you know our parents used to scare us with stories about witches? I didn’t tell you that.” He pulled back and took my hands, sitting me up on the table. I hadn’t realized that they used witches to scare their kids. Though every parent has a bogeyman they tell their kids about. Ours were hunters and rogues. “It made sense to me that enough heat can melt rocks. I know most trolls are made of stone. It was either that or hydrochloric acid and I wouldn’t know where to find that,” I admitted. Rock was silent for a moment. “How did you know about hydrochloric acid?” “While I was waiting for your birthday, I read about what could be a threat to you. Trolls are immune to most weapons because of their hard skin, but there had to be something other than large-caliber weapons and cannons that could hurt you. I found out about the acid that can melt stone. My first mate may have given me up, but he was vulnerable. He died and I spent the last few months being grateful he gave me up.” He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his attention on me. Rock was the first one I told about my mate rejecting me and now he was the first one I admitted this to. He was my safe place. “I was so scared of losing you, Rock. You have a safe job, so I knew the only ways left to lose you were rejection and something hurting you. Are you as safe as the other trolls? Or does your softness put you in danger, too? If hunters attack, will you die?” I whispered. “I’m safe. I promise you, I’m safe,” Rock whispered back.His arms wrapped around me and he held me tightly. I was so scared of losing him. I shook a little in his arms. “Never be afraid of losing me, sweetheart. I’m always going to be here. In all of my years, hunters have never attacked the fae. They barely know we exist and have no clue we live in communities like we do. I’m not a warrior and I don’t get into a lot of fights. But I do feel very protective of you. I shouldn’t have threatened those guys with anything other than firing. It’s hard for trolls to find work because of our personalities,” he explained. They were never attacked by hunters? I couldn’t imagine a world like that. Our family would be safe. No hunter would harm my mate or any children we had. It was an exciting prospect. Being with Rock had already made me even safer than before. The threat of hunters always scared me more than anyone else, because I would never know if someone was there or if I was really hidden when I thought I was hiding. There had been attacks and I was always taken care of by someone else. I was afraid of what would happen when I became an adult. Especially without a mate. I hugged him back. The goddess had given me everything I needed when she gave me Rock for my second chance mate. I thanked her for that. “We need to get you all set up. Once you’re working, you’ll feel better. You’ll have your friend, someone to talk to when I’m not around, and you won’t feel like you’re alone. I know this place is a lot for you to do alone,” Rock told me. “I’ll figure it out, Rock. Don’t worry about me.” “When we get home, though, I want to explore what you did to my ears more. That was amazing,” he purred, pulling back and tracing a finger over my lips. “I’m glad you liked it.” I smiled and he chuckled, before taking me out of the meeting room. He guided me back to his office, where Gemma was. I could smell her waiting for us in there. “Well, that didn’t take as long as I expected.” She scoffed. “We just needed to talk,” I said. “Yeah, I could see what the conversation was about before I closed the door.” “Gemma, why don’t you take Carmen around and help her examine the rooms, so she doesn’t get hurt? I’m going to get her workspace set up,” Rock requested. “Sure. We can explore together.” Gemma came to take me from him and led me back out. We spent about an hour feeling out rooms while we explored. The office was large and small at the same time. There were two locker rooms with showers. One was labeled with an ‘S’ and the other was labeled with an ‘F’, the fae locker room and the shifter one. We went back to the meeting room and the kitchen. We looked around the lobby again and then went back to the office. She led me around the office and told me what I was finding in different areas. I would need to run through everything as Blanche if I was going to remember layouts. Ever since I found the cheat, it was as if my brain stopped remembering how to do it otherwise. It was strange how the mind overwrote certain skills when it found an easier way. Not that I entirely minded. It only happened in places where I could safely turn into my wolf. In the places where I couldn’t, I would remember a little and use my cane for the rest. Being blind was a challenge, but it didn’t stop me from doing whatever I wanted. It was always other people who stopped me. If I wanted it enough, I would find a way. That was why I hoped we could have a baby at some point. I knew I could figure out a way to raise it and help Rock. I would be able to face any challenge that came with that. Especially with my mate right there next to me the whole time. “You ladies all done?” Rock asked. “Yep.” I smiled. “Are you?” “All that I have left is loading up your programs and getting them set up. Have a seat and I’ll let you know when I’m done,” he replied. I nodded and sat in one of the chairs opposite my desk. Gemma sat beside me. I listened to Rock typing and clicking away. After a while, I heard the program talking. I smiled broadly at my mate. He was amazing and took such good care of me. “Come here, Carmen,” Rock ordered. Getting up, I felt my way around the desk and found him sitting in my chair. Rock pulled me into his lap and guided my hands around the desk. I blushed because I knew Gemma was watching. “Here’s the phone with a headset. That way your hands can stay free while you’re taking calls. It only covers one ear, so you can hear what’s going on in the room as well. Over here, is the keyboard and the mouse. Here’s the monitor. I have it set to a low brightness setting. If you need privacy for your work, I have some headphones you can plug into the speakers, right here,” Rock murmured as he guided my hands around. I hadn’t ever been shown things in this way. I was simultaneously turned on and the most attentive I had ever been in my life. It felt natural for Rock’s hands to be on mine, for his chest to press against my back, for his lap to be so warm and firm under me. Gemma snorted. “You two are weirdly adorable. I may have had my reservations about you, but this shows me more about how much you care about her than I thought it would. No one has taken care of Carmen like this before.” “Well, she’ll have it from now on. Carmen is my true mate and I’ll always take care of her. That’s my whole purpose now.” “And I’ll take care of you, too. I’ll do everything I can to make your life easier.” I moved my hand on top of his. “Softer.” Rock chuckled. “I know you will.” His phone started ringing and he shifted me around to fish it out of his pocket. I could tell when he hit the talk button because someone was screaming on the other end of the line. Then someone else came on. “Hey, Boss, we need you at the Thompson site. The lady has some issues with what we’re doing,” a man said on the other end of the line. “She won’t talk to me, she wants my ‘manager’. You know the type.” “Dear goddess,” Rock sighed. “I’ll be there in fifteen to twenty minutes. Stop all work until I get there.” He hung up the phone and hugged me to him, rubbing his nose against my hair. I didn’t scold him for messing up my hair, though. It sounded like he was heading into a stressful situation. “Gemma and I can take care of the office while you take care of the customer. You’ll have to trust us to do it sooner rather than later,” I told him. “I was hoping today could just be spent with me teaching you what you need to know to take over here. This woman is always a problem. But her money is good. Can you ladies take care of calls that come in and things like that? It’ll be boring, but you don’t know any of the other procedures.” “We’ll be fine, Rock. Don’t worry. Gemma and I can figure out some way to entertain ourselves between calls. You go take care of your people,” I told him. I got off his lap and he stood behind me. Turning, I hugged Rock and he hugged me back. It was the first time we had really been away from each other since his coming-of-age party. I would miss having my mate by my side. He let me go, then gathered his things and left. I pulled my chair back to the desk and sat down, feeling cold and empty. There was no way he could be there with me every moment of every day. This would be the first of many times that Rock had to leave. I couldn’t fall apart each time he did. “Are you going to be okay?” Gemma asked. “You look lost.” “Rock has never been further than the next room. It feels like I’m alone. Thank you for coming to work here. I would hate to be alone with a stranger today.” “I’m your bestie, don’t even worry. Your mate will be back as soon as he can. As lost as you feel right now, he feels it too.” “We’re too different. He can’t feel my feelings,” I admitted. “I was talking about his feelings. You didn’t see his face. I thought he was going to cry when he stopped and looked back into the room. Rock feels the same way you do. He doesn’t want to be away from you any more than you want to be away from him.” I smiled at her. “Thank you, Gemma. I can’t see him, so I miss things like that. He seems so sure of himself and what he’s doing. Sometimes I worry that I’m going to be a burden. It makes me push harder, but it also makes me scared that I won’t see it.” “Don’t be afraid, Carmen. Rock loves you. He’s so in love with you that it makes me a little jealous. I don’t think you could ever be a burden on him. He would strap you to his back and carry you around if he thought you would permit it.” Gemma laughed. She made me feel better. My friends always knew what to say to get me out of my funks. I put on the headset and familiarized myself with the buttons for a few moments. Then we started talking about the pack and all of the gossip she didn’t want to tell me when she was over at the house.