The Arrangement
Chapter Twenty-One

Emerson was feeling totally bliss. He was Cloud 9. The way he was feeling, he had not felt such things for years. He never thought he ever would again. But everything changed with Madeline. Everything.

Abigail still held a part of his heart, always would. But Madeline held every other inch of his heart. He had let go of his dead mate. He let go and now all his focus was on the woman he loved that lay in his arms.

A couple hours ago, in between their love making, he had made a call to push back the meeting until that afternoon. He would have liked to push it back to next week, as all he wanted to do was spend the time with his mate. But with the dire situation, that afternoon was the latest it could be.

He kissed Madeline’s bare shoulder softly. He caressed her arm as he gazed upon her sleeping form. There were multiple love bites scattered on her neck and collar bones. He knew he would replace more if he moved the covers away from her naked body.

The thought of her naked body and all the marks he had left on her skin made him hard. It would have been so easy, just to slip inside and make her his again. Easy, so easy. But he wouldn’t. He had been too rough on his mate. He had started out slow, passionate. But as the time went on, he took her harder and harder. He hadn’t meant to, but he had. And so, he knew she was sore and exhausted. He would be a good mate let her sleep and recover.

Emerson carefully slid out of bed. He pulled on some shorts, in case an idiot decided to burst into his Wing. It happened once before so he wasn’t taking any chances.

He kissed Madeline’s head and quietly walked out of the bedroom.

He found himself staring at the stove. He wanted to make breakfast for Madeline. Nothing extravagant, just scrambled eggs. Only problem was, he wasn’t sure how to make scrambled eggs. He had never had to make food on his own. There were always cooks around that made the food. And the couple times that he had tried…well…let’s just say he set the kitchen on fire.

But that was years ago, when he had been a boy. He was a man now. Surely, he could make scrambled eggs.

But, how much eggs would he need?

What about the cheese?

What cheese did his mate like?

What if she didn’t want cheese at all?

Pepper or no?

Was he supposed to put butter on the pan before he began?

It was safe to say that Emerson burned the eggs. No, burned wasn’t the right word to call it. the eggs looked more like charcoal. He wasn’t sure how that was possible. It wasn’t as if he had cooked it too terribly long. Or that the heat was on too high- nope, it was the heat. Somehow, the stove was on high.

How did that happen?

He heard a stifled laugh behind him and he whirled around.

Madeline was dressed only in one of his shirts. She was leaning against the wall with a hand over her mouth to try and cover up her giggles. It seemed that she was done hiding them as she dissolved into laughter.

He made an annoyed face though they bother knew it was fake. He walked over to her and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist. “How long have you been standing there my mate?”

She leaned into his touch. “Ever since I smelt the burning.”

He sighed. “I tried to make you breakfast,” he explained.

“And how did that work out?” She asked with a glint in her eyes.

He poked her ribs and she squealed. “If you think you can do any better, give it a try.”

She bumped him with her hip. “Will do. What do you want for breakfast? Eggs, toast, pancakes…”

“Pancakes my dear, if you think you can make them.”

“Oh, I most certainly can,” she said confidently. “Though they may not be as good as your cooks”

“We’ll see.” He kissed her cheek then leaned back against the little dining room table. He crossed his arms and watched her work.

He had no idea what she was doing. He was not a cook. All he knew was that Madeline was grabbing random things and mixing it in a bowl.

One of the cooks kept restocking his kitchen. There were mostly fruits and vegetables in the fridge and canned food in the pantry along with some bread. Though he did have ingredients to make cookies. It was the only type of food he could bake. The reason for it, when he was a little boy, he loved cookies, used to steal them from the kitchen all the time. So, one of the cooks taught him how to bake cookies so he would stop stealing them. But how Madeline made pancake batter out of that, he would never know.

Emerson came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He put his chin on the top of her head. She leaned back against him and put her hands on his as she waited for the pancake to cook enough to flip.

Unlike him, Madeline knew when the right time to flip the pancake was. It was a nice, golden brown color. He sent his Beta a quick text to have some syrup delivered to the Alpha’s Wing. He didn’t want to leave Madeline until he absolutely had to.

He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. His lips skimmed her mark and her breath hitched. He smelt her arousal, but as much as every bone in his body wanted to through her against the wall and take her, he restrained himself. No, she needed time to recover. Besides, if he fell into temptation, they wouldn’t be leaving their room for a long, long time.

His lips curled back and he snarled when there was a knock at the door. It was an effort to leave his mate and it was an effort not to tear his Beta limb from limb for interrupting.

“Here you are Alpha.” Brandon handed him a bottle of syrup.

He gave him a mocking salute and left before Emerson lunged at him. he slammed the door, shaking his head.

“What am I going to do with him?” He muttered to himself.

He heard his mate’s sultry laugh. “Not tear out his throat for knocking on the door.”

He bared his teeth to her and she laughed again. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the pancakes. Thankfully, she was almost done. Emerson was starving, having worked an appetite with all their activity.

Emerson sat at the table, watching his mate. More specifically, her ass. She scowled when she caught him. “Ugh, you’re such a guy.”

He laughed. “Last time I checked.”

She hurled a spoon at his head. He ducked before it could come in contact with him. he chuckled to himself.

Madeline set a plate in front of him. The golden-brown pancake was staring at him, practically saying, Eat me.

And so, he did. He cut off a piece, dipped it in syrup, and shoved it in his mouth. He moaned at how good it was.

“These are the best pancakes I have ever had,” he said seriously.

Madeline blushed. “I mean, they’re okay.”

Emerson grabbed her waist and pulled her into his lap as she walked by. He grinned at the squeak she made.

“They are better than okay,” he said, “They’re amazing and wonderful and-”

She put a hand over his mouth to shut him up. It didn’t work, because she removed her hand when he licked it, saying how gross it was and wiping her hand on his chest in disgust.

He raised the fork with a piece of pancake on it to her lips. She grinned and bit it off. He cut off another piece and fed it to her before taking another bit himself.

That was how they ate two pancakes, taking turns eating, Madeline cuddling into her mate’s chest.

Emerson only let her go so she could package the rest of the food and put it in the fridge. But the moment she was finished, he was throwing her over his shoulder. He laughed at her squeals.

“Put me down Emerson!” Madeline demanded.

“Alright.” He threw her onto the couch and covered her body with his.

She squirmed beneath him but it only awakened something. He ground against her and they both released a moan. He rested his forehead against her shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to her mark. He smiled at her whimper.

She wiggled under him, trying to replace friction. Using his hips, he pinned her down. he raised his head and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. She tried to wiggle under him again he pressed her further into the couch.

“Not now, my love. If we succumb into temptation, we won’t be leaving here in a long while. Which cannot happen. We both have responsibilities we can’t ignore.”

“You’re Alpha, I’m Luna, surly we can evade our responsibilities for a day or two.” She pressed her lips to his mark, then ran her tongue over it.

Emerson groaned and his body shook.

“My dear Madeline, Brandon would have my head if I missed our meeting in-” He checked the clock, “-an hour.”

“Now we can’t have that.” She grinned. She kissed him quickly before pushing him off her. She sat up, running a hand through her hair. “What shall we do in the remaining hour that I have you then?”

“A movie?”

Madeline hit him with her pillow and he yelped. “A movie? Seriously? How lame are you?” She asked. “Do you have board games? Cards?”

Emerson hit her with the pillow. “Board games? Really? How lame are you?” He mocked her.

One thing led to the next, and they were in a full out pillow fight war.

If anyone had told Emerson a couple months ago that he would be having a pillow fight with the woman he fell in love, he would beat him into a bloody pulp. And yet here he was, doing exactly that. Hitting the love of his life with a pillow.

He let her win. Mostly because he was afraid she’d kick him out to the couch that night if he won. Women got scary when they didn’t win.

Emerson leaned back against the couch, rubbing his panting mate’s back. He had turned the tv on and they were currently watching a cheesy chick flick. He didn’t mind as long as it made her happy. Even though he was so confused on what was happening.

They held each other until it was time for Emerson to go. Madeline was reluctant to let him go, but with some coaxing, and some promises, she let him go.

“Do you want to come with me?” He asked her.

She shook her head. “No, I was going to go see Dylan.”

“Who?” Emerson didn’t like the thought of her spending time with another man.

She sighed. “The girl who died, Mackinlay, that’s her mate. I want to check on him, see how he’s holding up.”

He cupped her cheeks. “Okay. Just be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She nodded and leaned in to kiss him. He met her lips and kissed her softly, gently. He pulled back before it could escalate into anything. He really needed to go to his meeting. He kissed her temple then walked back to their room. He changed quickly. He kissed his mate one last time before walking out the door.

“Have fun!” His mate called out to him.

He grumbled, but a smile formed when he heard her beautiful laugh. “I’ll see you tonight.”

He sent a wink her way. He smirked at the blush on her cheeks. He closed the door. He nodded to Madeline’s guards as he passed them in the hall.

“I’m not late Brandon. There’s no need to come and get me,” Emerson said as he met his Beta on the flight of stairs.

“We think we’ve recreated the formula to cover our scents, like those Rogues did and like your father did as well. It still needs be tested, but we think we’ve got it.”

Emerson jumped into action, following his Beta, and praying to whoever was listening that it would work.