Read 7 Degrees of Alpha (a collection of seven new BWWM, Alpha Male Romances) for Free Online

Jones’ voice brought tears to Val’s eyes, and she couldn’t help the tremble in her voice. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
    “Val?”
    “I don’t know,” she said stronger, her control tattered as the tears fell from her eyes. 
    “Give me your address, Val. Now .” Jones’ tone said that he wasn’t taking no for an answer, and Val didn’t have the energy to fight him on it. Too much had happened today for her to be in any state of mind to fight anyone, on anything, especially not Jones. He seemed to have taken it upon himself to insert himself into her life, regardless of whether she wanted him there or not.
    She gave him her address and went back into her room to change before he arrived. She didn’t want him to see her still as he’d left her earlier, unchanged and unkempt.
     

****
    19:49 p.m. October12, 2004
     
    Val heard an insistent pounding on her front door.
    “Who is it?” Val called out.
    “Val, open the door. It’s me,” she heard Jones’ muffled reply.
    Stepping back from the door, she allowed him to enter. Jones took one look at her face, took note of the tearstains and weary expression before he pulled her close and enveloped her in his arms. Val exhaled deeply, passing the weight of her troubles over to Jones’ strong shoulders. She could do that, she knew, just for a little while, while she mended a little, and then she could take the burdens back.
    Slow tears spread across her cheeks, leaking from her eyes, and she used her tongue to catch the moisture, willing herself to make as little noise as possible. Val felt like such a fool, but the gentle pressure of him cuddling her was just what she yearned for and hadn’t had for far too long; longer than she cared to think about.  She gave herself up to the feel of Jones’ solid chest, pressed firmly against her. She breathed in his earthy, masculine scent and took the comfort that was freely given.
    Jones couldn’t believe his ears, let alone his eyes, as he sat across from her an hour later, cradling a cup of coffee that he’d made for himself. He’d called in a favor and had a locksmith at her door before he’d had a chance to lead her further into her cramped apartment. He was shocked that the strong, independent woman he had taken to lunch that afternoon was now a trembling bundle of nerves, sitting across from him nursing an identical cup of coffee to the one he had. She gripped the cup so tightly that he thought it would shatter any second.
    “Relax, Val. Tom is changing the locks. No one will be able to get in. Okay?” he tried to reassure her. 
    “It’s not that. I don’t even know why I'm like this. I mean really, you’d think we’d had the greatest relationship in the world, the way I'm reacting, but it wasn’t like that,” she said, wiping at her face, absent-mindedly.
    The slight tremble of his heart when he heard her confession concerning the sorry state of her relationship caused him to want to jump for joy. He didn’t know if he should be quite so glad that she’d got rid of the guy, leaving the way clear for him, or if he was feeling jealousy that someone else had had her before him. Even though the first reaction was entirely valid, the second reaction was utterly ridiculous because he’d only just met her.
    He shook his head in denial, but of which theory, he didn’t know. All he knew was that there was more to their budding relationship than his initial reaction warranted. She moved him, touched him in ways that he hadn’t felt before. He knew they fit together, perfectly, but he couldn’t push her, not when she was so newly accessible.  With the connection to her that he felt, he imagined her tucked up neatly beside him, where he’d decided she belonged the moment he saw her smile.
    Tom came into the sitting room. “Jones, I finished with the locks. Simple job really,” he told them.
    Jones jumped out of his seat, following the locksmith to the door. “Thanks. I owe you