"I'm sorry," she said, keeping her head and eyes down. "It won't happen again."
But the show of submission didn't please him. Instead, it only riled him more.
He threw back the covers and stood up, looming over her in all his naked glory. It was all she could do to keep herself from licking her lips at the sight.
"Stop with that meek bullshit," he commanded. "The woman who begged for my cock last night isn't some timid mouse."
He was right.
She wasn't.
Pushing past everything she'd learned about communicating with alphas, she forced her chin up and met his fiery gaze.
"I can't stay here," she said.
The line of his jaw tightened. "Why not?"
"Because if I don't have a chance to explain myself to Dr. Cheung before Ian gets to him, I'll be kicked out of the university."
Samson crossed his arms. "Is that the only reason you want to leave?"
No. But it was the one least likely to rile his anger. "It's the most pressing."
"Then it's already too late," he said matter-of-factly. "We both know that coward you work with called your professor the second he hit the boundary."
Cassidy shook her head again, even though she knew every word he said was true. "You can't know that for sure."
"No," Samson admitted. "But it's been over twelve hours since he ran off and left you here. Do you really think a worm like that would waste any time telling the world what he saw us do on that patio?"
No. No, she didn't.
Fuck.
This time, when Cassidy's head fell forward, it wasn't for show. The weight of shame grabbed her and pulled her down.
And apparently, Samson wasn't having any of it.
"Look at me," he commanded.
When she didn't instantly comply, he grabbed her chin in his massive palm and lifted her head himself.
"Don't you dare feel ashamed of what anyone might think about us," he said. "You are an alpha's woman. My woman. And there is nothing more honorable than that."
Cassidy twisted her face out of his grasp. "I am not your woman," she snapped.
Samson's brows pulled down, deep grooves appearing over the bridge of his nose. She guessed it was time to see if he meant to keep his vow after all.
"Yes, you are."
Cassidy threw up her hands as she rose from the bed, standing toe to toe with him.
"You can keep saying that until you run out of breath, but that won't make it true," she said. "God knows, I wish it was. I wish I could stay here forever and be your woman. Hell, I wish I could claim you and be your mate. Your real mate. But I can't."
Samson stiffened. "Why not?"
Shit. Was he really going to make her say it out loud? Even though she was clearly torn up? Even though she could already feel the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes?
Apparently so.
"Because I am a beta, and you are an alpha."
"I don't care about that."
"Well, you know who does care?" she asked. "Alpha law. Beta law. Nature itself."
"Fuck 'em."
Cassidy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, even as the first hot tear fell down her cheek. "Why are you being so pig-headed about this?" she said.
"Why are you being such a coward?" he shot back.
Cassidy recoiled. Her bottom lip trembled even as her back teeth ground together in rage.
"I am not a coward," she stated clearly. "I am a scientist. That means I have to deal in facts. I can't lie to myself, no matter how good it feels. And the fact is alphas and betas cannot be mates. It's physiologically impossible."
Samson didn't budge, not logically or physically. He uncurled his arms and cocked his hands on his hips. Cassidy fought the urge to look down with the movement. The last thing she needed to be thinking about right now was his anatomy.
"You want facts? Fine," he said. "Tell me where you slept last night."
"Samson, this is—"
"Tell me."
Cassidy couldn't resist the command in his voice. Every part of her demanded she answer. "In your bed."
"The only ones who sleep in an alpha's bed are him and his mate," he said. "Fact."
"Actually, that's a cultural convention," she said, "not a tangible fact."
He obviously didn't like that answer because he stepped forward, forcing Cassidy to take a step back. She couldn't go far, though. After only a few inches, her heels hit the wall.
Cassidy tried to move around him, but it was like trying to scoot around a mountain. It couldn't be done.
She was trapped, so she tilted her head back and looked up at Samson's eyes.
"Then what about my knot?" he said. "You've been studying us long enough to know that an alpha's knot only forms when there's a bond."
Fuck. Cassidy worried her lower lip with her teeth for a second while she thought. She'd forgotten about that.
Well, not forgotten. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget the sublime feeling of Samson expanding inside her and pushing her to the physical brink of pleasure.
But she had woken up wondering if it was just a vivid hallucination induced by an overload of endorphins and other hormones. Because obviously, it couldn't have actually happened.
So appearances had to be wrong. He had to be wrong.
"You couldn't have had a knot," she said. "Only an omega can coax a knot. The changes in the vascular and nervous systems upon climax with a beta cannot—"
"Enough!" Samson threw back his head and roared the word. "Don't you think I know my own goddamn knot? I don't care what your science says—your science is wrong. Study me all you want, it's not going to change this."
He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his cock. She felt it grow—huge and hard as steel under her fingers. The feel of it, heavy against her palm, made Cassidy's body betray her. She gasped, and her knees weakened.
"You hide behind science. You pretend not to see what's right in front of you," Samson continued, raising his other hand and brushing his thumb against her nipple. "You came into this
