"We're going to go see York," Marie says after a moment of silence before she drags a gawking Louisa out of the hallway.

"I'll be in the main office," Richard scowls, slamming his shoulder into Roman's as he walks out of the house.

Avery stares at Roman in silence, before she turns her back on him and storms into the kitchen.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Avery snarls, slamming a glass down on the counter and pouring some iced coffee into it.

"Look, I'm here to explain," he protests, and she grits her teeth, spinning around with a can of whipped cream in her hand.

"No, you don't get to explain. Hanging up a phone generally means that the conversation is over. It doesn't mean you run here," Avery scowls, turning back around and putting some cream on top of her coffee.

"No," Roman sighs, grabbing Avery's shoulders and turning her around.

"I want to talk to you, properly," he firmly says, and Avery raises a brow.

"Yeah. I can't talk to you if you don't put some clothes on," she shrugs, breezing by him with her coffee in hand.

"What clothes do you suggest I put on?" He grumbles, and she sighs.

"Goddess, do I have to do all of the work?" She mutters, pointing to a box clearly marked 'clothes' sitting in the corner of her home office.

He mutters something that Sonya doesn't care to listen to.

While she settles herself in her seat, she holds her coffee in both hands and observes his muscular back and glistening tan skin.

He is so hot, but he's such a dickhead, Sonya sighs, and Avery absently nods her head.

Once he dons a pair of shorts and a shirt, he turns to her, catching her staring.

"You see something you like?" He smirks, and she glares at him.

"I'm not seeing much," she shrugs, opening her laptop and sweeping her curls over her shoulder.

"I like that lipstick," he comments, and she raises a brow.

"It would look better on my chest, though," he adds, and she rolls her eyes.

"There it is. I was wondering where that wit was hiding, that sheer charm that no doubt drags in all of the girls," she sarcastically responds, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Say what you want to say first because I want to have a serious conversation about your new policies and what we can do about Elijah Preston," she firmly states, crossing her legs and getting settles as she puts a blanket over her legs.

"It's gonna be hard to talk to you about those issues when you look like you do right now," he breathes, and her eyes widen slightly before she purses her lips.

"Don't be such a prick," she scoffs, and he raises a brow.

"Don't be such a prude," he retorts, and she glares at him.

They sit in silence for a moment, the room awkward.

Roman looks around the room, wrinkling his nose up.

"This office is so not you," he sighs, rolling his eyes.

"And what is 'so me'?" She asks sarcastically, her fingers making mocking air quotes in his direction.

"You like decorations, little ones. Trinkets, ornaments. And you have pictures in the other office," he comments, and Avery shifts uncomfortably.

"And?" Avery shrugs, putting her glasses back on her face.

"Nothing. It's just an observation. I know you better than you think," he drawls, and Avery scoffs.

"If you knew me like you pretend to, you'd get on with this conversation so we can both leave each other alone," she rolls her eyes, sipping her coffee.

He watches her like a hawk, standing suddenly.

He leans across her desk, using his index finger to wipe something from her lip with a smirk.

Still making eye contact with her, he pops his finger into his mouth, sucking the cream off.

What the fuck, Sonya mutters.

My sentiments exactly, Avery replies, feeling slightly frazzled.

She clears her throat, sitting up and re-tucking her blanket around her.

"Okay, Elijah Preston. Did you find anything useful?" She asks, ruffling her hair at the roots.

He watches her every movement, which makes her feel immensely awkward - she doesn't like being watched.

"Suppose I did, what would you give me for my information?" He asks, biting his lip.

Avery's mouth drops open, and her eyebrows shoot up, barely able to hide her disgust.

"Are you always such a sleaze? What the hell happened to you?" She scoffs, her upper lip curling in disdain.

He rolls his eyes, lounging in his chair.

"What you'd get from helping - since you need to be given a rewards system as a toddler would - is the satisfaction of helping a rape victim and Goddess knows how many others he could have attacked with the poison he hurt York with," she snarls, her eyes flashing rapidly.

Roman raises his hands, shrugging.

"Sorry. I'll be serious now, I was only having a bit of fun," he sighs, sitting up properly and taking his leg off the arm of the chair.

"This isn't a fun matter to discuss, so the sooner we get it over with, the sooner you can return to whatever cave you crawled out of," she grumbles, trying to relax her muscles.

It's hard because every part of her wants to throttle him.

She can't actually believe the difference in this man - he was soft and sensitive with her, but she supposes that this is what happens when you bruise a man's fragile ego.

"What do you need to know? I can have Ryan email you the file we have on him," he pipes up, his eyes never leaving her.

"Everything you have, and please stop staring at me," she mutters, looking out the window in an attempt to distract herself.

He nods silently, his gaze intense even when his eyes are flashing darker than she thought possible.

"He sometimes does research in our labs, but he crosses our borders more than that," he announces after a moment.

"What does that mean?" Avery asks, looking up from her laptop where she's typing furiously.

She's typing everything he says about Preston in an email for Zephyr. He has to talk to the family of that man and try to find out everything about his life. She doesn't envy him one bit, and she thinks every bit of information possible might make it a bit easier on him.

"It means he's on my territory for things other than research. I'm having Ryan look into it. I wouldn't be shocked if he had another child in our territory, we have a number of single mothers due to the safe haven law," he sighs, running a hand through his hair.

I wish I was the one doing that, Sonya mumbles, and Avery shuts her out with a twitch of her lips.

Her wolf provided much needed comic relief to situations like this.

"If he does, we better hope that it isn't another Freya situation. She was so broken when I spoke to her.. I can't have that happen again," she murmurs, running a hand through her own hair, appreciating how soft it is.

"I don't think it is," he pauses, furrowing his brow in confusion, "I think his mother lives on my territory."

"His mother? I was told his entire family lives in Moonstone Mountain," Avery replies in equal befuddlement.

"His parents split up, she filed rejection papers when she moved to my pack. I'll have Carolyn go get her," he nods, and Avery bites her lip.

His eyes instantly go to where her teeth are digging into the crimson flesh, and she notices.

Releasing her lip, she clears her throat and straightens up.

"Okay, well, at least that's one matter sorted," she mutters, taking a long drink of her coffee.

"Can I have a break before we dissect anything else?" He asks teasingly, trying to lighten the mood a little in the tense room.

If somebody walked in without knowing the topic of conversation, the heaviness would make them wonder if somebody had just been told they were going to die.

"Yeah, whatever," Avery shrugs, turning her back and looking out the window.

She hears noises behind her and swings around, laying eyes on Roman moving stuff around.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hisses, watching him pick up her laptop and place it where he was just sitting.

"I did it to get your attention," he murmurs, moving the things off her desk.

He places the pots and boxes onto the ground, and stare at her with heavily lidded eyes.

"Did what?" She asks, glancing between him and her stuff in confusion.

"I pretended to enforce those policies," he whispers, and she stares at him.

"Explain," she demands, a scowl coming onto her face.

He prowls towards her, his steps quick and precise.

He lifts her up, wrapping her legs around his hips and holding onto her thighs tightly, kicking her blanket away with his feet.

"What are you doing?" She whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking up at him.

"I told everyone to tell you," he murmurs, inching closer to Avery, "that if you were speaking to them, to tell you about that policy."

Avery pulls back, raising her eyebrows.

"But Carolyn-," he interrupts her, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"She thought it was real," he breathes, their lips almost touching.

He puts her onto the desk roughly, keeping his hands on her thighs, one sliding up to cup her ass.

This shit has escalated fast, Sonya exclaims, totally down with whatever is about to happen, I won't lie.

"I wanted to know what you and Scott had done because I was jealous," he murmurs, pressing his lips to hers briefly before continuing, "I want you all to myself."

"Oh," Avery murmurs, pulling his head down to him and pressing his lips to hers again.

They kiss for a few moments, their lips moving in sync slowly.

Roman pulls away, and Avery opens her eyes in confusion, furrowing her brows.

As soon as she opens her eyes, Roman pulls her hair, forcing her head up and leaving her neck exposed.

While he trails a finger down her neck, she contemplates buying a comfier desk to distract herself.

She notices Roman getting closer to the low neckline of her dress, and she glares at him.

"If you rip this, I'll murder you," she hisses, and he looks up at her with a smirk.

"Try and stop me," he quips, attempting to use his teeth and one hand.

He fails miserably, and Avery throws her head back and releases a breathy laugh, rolling her eyes.

As she rolls her eyes, she hears a rip, and she looks down as much as possible while he holds her hair still.

"Roman," she groans, scowling a little bit.

"I'll buy you a new one, I swear," he shrugs, barely able to hide his smirk as he kisses along the valley of her breasts.

A good day to forego the bra, Sonya smirks, and Avery barely refrains from rolling her eyes.

He probably would have ripped that too, Avery grumbles, and Sonya cackles.

While she's deep in thought and communicating with her wolf, he seals his lips around one of her nipples, and her back arches at the sudden stimulation.

Her arms give out and Roman quickly stabilizes her, his mouth never leaving her chest as he lowers her down to be flat on the desk.

"I didn't know I was that talented," he gasps out, laughing at the expression on her face.

"I hope you choke," she mutters, watching him kiss down along her stomach slowly.

"It'll you be choking in a few minutes," he murmurs, looking up at her with a devilish smirk.

Let's. Fucking. GO., Sonya screams, and Avery has never appreciated her internal commentary more.

As Roman takes off the rest of her dress, she raises a brow, laying on her desk in just panties and a cloud of irritation.

"This isn't fair," she mutters, unwrapping her legs from around his waist, and kneeling upon the desk.

He smirks as she unleashes her claws on her right hand, dragging them down the middle of his chest and shredding the shirt.

His eyes darken as she runs her hand along the panes of his chest, a smirk on her face as she unbuttons his shorts.

Booker is having what sounds like an asthma attack in Roman's mind.

I can't believe this is finally happening, Booker howls, and Roman bites his lip, his eyes never leaving Avery.

As soon as she unbuttons his shorts, she slides off the desk, lowering herself in front of him with a smirk on her face.

"You don't have to," he gasps, his entire body tensing as she wraps her hand around his cock.

"Trust me, I want to," she winks, and Roman swears Booker passed out.

He lets out a strangled noise as she licks the tip, and she pulls back with a barely hidden grin.

"So it is true, every single one of you is controlled by your dicks," she smirks, wrapping her crimson lips around his penis.

"Ave," he murmurs, one hand tangling into her hair and one hand bracing himself against the desk.

It would suck so much - ha, get it - if somebody walked in right now, Sonya snorts, and Avery has to hold her laughter back as she takes as much as she can into her mouth.

You could have at least taken the heels off before we did this, I really think we're gonna fall over, Sonya comments and Avery rolls her eyes.

We? There is no 'we' in this, she responds, and our calves will look great after this.

Sonya retreats, deciding to remain silent for the rest of the experience.

She keeps sucking and fondling until she hears a defiant "Nope!"

Roman removes her, gently pulling her backwards before she stands up in confusion.

"Not yet," he smirks, quickly putting her back onto the desk.

She doesn't question it, and in the blink of an eye, he has her laid out, and he quickly cuts off her underwear.

She stares at him with bated breath, and he runs a finger along her inner thighs.

She leans up to try to see what he's doing, and as she does, he secures his lips around her clit.

"Oh, straight in," she mutters, and she can feel him smile against her.

He slips a finger into her, and she twitches.

He pulls back and blows on her, and she furrows her brows.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She asks, her muscles tensing.

"Seeing how sensitive you are," he smirks, removing his finger and popping it into his mouth.

"Are you ready?" He asks, standing in between her legs.

"As I'll ever be," she smirks, and in a single move, he plunges into her.

She would have flown off the desk if he hadn't put his arm around her.

"This is fine," she gasps, wiggling her hips a little to try to adjust.

He begins thrusting once she gives him the nod, and he kisses her for a moment.

"Are you okay?" He asks hesitantly, and she raises a brow, digging her heels into his back.

"I'm fine, but you won't be when I'm done," she smirks, digging her nails into his back.

The encounter ends a few moments later, and he falls back into her seat.

"Nice work," Avery manages to get out after a few minutes, trying to catch her breath as she remains sprawled on her desk.

"Thanks, coach," he chuckles breathlessly.

"So where do we go from here?" He asks with a nervous note to his tone.

"The bathroom, I would say, to clean up?" She suggests, confused about why he sounds so worried until she realises he means between them.

"Oh," she mutters.

"That isn't positive," he mumbles, standing up and scooping her up.

"Direct me to the bathroom," he adds, walking out of the office shamelessly.

"Oh my Goddess, my family might be home," she hisses, instantly shrinking in his arms.

"Up the stairs," she comments, steering him a little bit.

"We can talk about us later," she mumbles, and he nods.

"That's okay," he whispers, kissing her nose, "we have all the time in the world."