Chapter 25
twenty-five
There’s some fucked-up irony in me loitering on Ivy’s dingy street, trying to hide from the nearest streetlight by standing in an alley.
But I can’t be seen.
And I’m sober enough to remember that, this time.
Completely sober, actually. Every time I thought about slugging some of the scotch Asher keeps on the bar cart in our living room, I found myself wondering how often Ivy had to shine those damned crystal tumblers. Then I’d start worrying about why I hadn’t heard back from her.
What if she needed me to come get her and I couldn’t wait around for a driver?
I had to have a clear head. In case she needed me.
I know, I know.
I’m a simp.
Shut up.
The creeping chill in the air reminds me of the other issue at play: summer is over. Our six months are more than up.
And we did it. We found our mate.
But now we need to convince her to come with us.
Anxiety buzzes under my skin at the thought of leaving her.
Here? I growl internally. This is the most dangerous street in the whole damn village. It will be cold soon, too. And icy. She wears those shoes with the thick soles, but she could still slip.
What will she do when her heat comes? That doctor said she has two months, tops, and the nearest public clinic is three towns away. Will strangers from a different city be the ones tending to her? What if they hurt her?
My Alpha presses at the surface of my skin, urging me toward the crooked stoop at the front of Ivy’s building. I grit my teeth, but I can’t stop myself from closing the gap between the side street and the scraped-up concrete steps.
It makes sense a moment later when the door cracks open, revealing a slice of pale skin and one light blue eye.
Unable to control myself, I practically rip the damn thing off its hinges. The next thing I know, there’s a surprised squeak tickling my ear, and my hands are full of Ivy.
Her body goes rigid as I lift her into mine. I drop my voice to a low murmur. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. I know you haven’t forgiven me, and I haven’t fucking forgiven myself, but if I don’t hold you for a minute, I’ll lose my shit, okay?”
She needs it, too. I can tell from the way she nods with almost frantic relief.
Some innate part of me also knows she hasn’t honored our requests. She’s even lighter than she was two days ago, and her skin is so pale, it almost looks translucent under the yellow glow of the nearest streetlight. Gathering her closer, I drop to sit on the top step and lean back to examine her.
Hell.
She looks exhausted .
Frayed , actually.
My hand snaps up from her legging-covered ass to cup her chin. Scowling, I demand, “Baby, what the fuck ? You haven’t eaten? Or rested?”
This girl might be good at taking care of us , but she’s obviously abysmal at looking after herself .
Fuck it.
That will be my job now.
Ivy blinks, dazed by my question—and probably the fact that I showed up here like a stalker, too. “Dair? It’s so late. How did you get out here without anyone seeing you?”
I arch an eyebrow at her. “You think you’re the only one who knows how to sneak out of that place, little dove?”
I’ve never considered where that nickname came from. Probably her light gray work uniform… and the fragile, flighty quality I’ve always seen in her. I wince when I think about the first time I said the words; when I was sloppy and drunk out of my mind.
Frowning, I add, “I can be pretty stealthy when I haven’t guzzled a snifter of scotch.”
Her wispy blonde brows fold doubtfully. “You do that every night.”
“Apparently not, now that I have an omega.” My shoulders bounce under her forearms, shrugging. “I had to stay alert, in case you needed me. Which, clearly…”
I nod at how her oversized black T-shirt hangs from her frail frame. A bud of warmth blooms in my center when I recognize it. Mine . She hasn’t removed it since Asher put it on her almost two days ago.
My scent must be fading now. Without thought, I guide her face to the crook of my neck, where I know my aroma is the most potent. My fingers slide to the base of her skull.
She moans softly, and my semi-hard cock kicks to life, throbbing under her gently rounded backside. Too thin , I think. Needs me to feed her and hold her and ? —
Goddamn it.
I cast a quick glare down at my impatient dick. Ivy follows my line of sight, her cheeks tinging rose.
I open my mouth to apologize, bracing to move her into a different position—but she swallows visibly… and scoots closer. Shuffling forward until her heated core hovers directly over the hardness pressing into my fly.
Another quivering breath ekes out of Ivy as she casts me a shy look. Something about her uncertainty calls to me on an elemental level, until I find myself bending to rest my forehead against hers, my eyes falling shut.
For the first time in days, my Alpha is settled . I’m still hard enough to drive nails, but the impulse to fuck isn’t nearly as strong as the need for this: the connection I feel when her gaze locks on mine, close enough for me to trace the silver-blue patterns carved into her irises.
I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to kiss her. She seems to be thinking something similar, because her teeth sink into her lower lip as her buttery sweetness deepens.
Shoving the impulse down, I focus on massaging the pulse throbbing at the nape of her neck. She sighs more deeply, nuzzling my forehead as she leans into my body like a good fucking girl.
The best girl .
My purr isn’t nearly as smooth as Bast’s or as even as Asher’s. It’s more of a dull roar, really, but I can’t strangle it this time. The vibrations melt into Ivy’s chest and goosebumps rise on her skin while I wrap my arm around her waist.
Some indistinct instinct floats to the surface of my consciousness. A new understanding of the woman so sweetly snuggling into me as if my affection is everything she’s ever dreamed of.
“I’m not angry, sweetheart. I know you didn’t mean to disobey Asher,” I murmur, working through the feelings. “You like to please us, don’t you, omega?”
Her answering whimper is desperate. Thin arms tighten around my shoulders, and I purr louder.
“Shh,” I soothe. “It’s okay. I’m here now. I’m here.” An image of her panicked eyes sails through my mind—that moment on the dance floor when I looked into her, saw her Omega… And knew, somehow, that no one else ever had.
“I see you,” I rasp, remembering how the words had calmed her then. “I see you both, okay?”
Ivy nods against my forehead, rubbing more of her sweet scent there. It reminds me that I haven’t marked her since yesterday, which is intolerable. With a gruff hum, I nuzzle both cheeks over hers before tucking her head under my chin. She quivers, perfuming at the sensation of my scent covering her.
Sweet, innocent baby. She probably doesn’t even know that’s what’s happening when her spine snaps straight like that. Or why it makes her so wet.
Damp heat seeps from between her legs and starts to sink into my lap. My knot expands, aching to fill her until neither of us can ever leave.
I bite down on a growl, forcing myself to concentrate. “You like to please us,” I repeat, “so why haven’t you eaten, baby?”
The way her muscles tremble under my fingers tells me she hasn’t rested, either. What has she been doing instead?
“I tried last night,” she admits. Her cold nose grazes the sensitive patch beneath my ear. My dick twitches. “But I couldn’t.”
I hug her harder. “You couldn’t ?”
She shakes her head. “I got sick when I tried. I think—my Omega was really upset I’d left you guys. That’s why I didn’t sleep very well. She was?—”
Embarrassment winds into her scent. I recognize it from the moment Asher pulled her out of his closet.
“Tell me,” I demand, tugging her into me as tightly as I can. Wishing I could pull her inside for safe-keeping.
“ Crying ,” Ivy finally whispers. “All night.”
I’ve experienced a lot of pain in my life. The physical kind, which started way earlier than it should have. The emotional kind, when I lost all the things that I loved.
Nothing like this, though.
An urgent burn rips through my gut while my lungs snag on the edge of a snarl. My Alpha snaps back to the surface, flattening my logic under his feral need to be with the omega who spent thirty-six hours crying for him. Needing him.
God, he loves that part. No one’s ever needed us before. And with good reason.
But now that this sweet, delicate woman does?
He’s not fucking that up.
And neither am I.
I pull back just far enough to catch her gaze. My voice is hoarse from the lump jammed in my throat. “I told myself I wouldn’t kiss you until you forgave me.”
She swallows, her scent turning saltier. Until I sigh, drawing her lips into mine.
“I think I lied.”
Ivy freezes, but only for a second. Then, to my shock, her mouth quirks up in a small smile.
Unable to wait another moment, I make good on my threat, fitting my lips between hers. Licking the taste of her from the full bottom curve before gliding my tongue into her velvet heat.
If Ivy’s touch starvation weren’t already obvious, it would be when she moans softly, hips squirming against mine. I growl, deepening our kiss as my hand slips to her ass, guiding the way she moves until she gasps.
There .
We have at least two layers of clothes between us, but I still feel her searing heat as the ridge of my erection finds the outline of her slit. When I tilt her hips forward and down, making sure my fly connects with her clit, her mouth drops open against mine.
I take the opportunity, sucking on her tongue while I urge her to grind faster and try different angles.
I worried her lack of experience would be a hurdle for me. Something I’ve never had to contend with before, and might not be good at managing.
But it isn’t. Instead, knowing she might never have done this before fills me with the deepest sense of satisfaction. Because she’s choosing me to show her. Letting me adjust the slant of her core to demonstrate how different types of pressure affect the sensations we can create together.
There’s joy in it, too. Witnessing her awe, having her cling to me while she learns more.
Trying to trust me, I realize.
And goddamn it, I will be worthy of that.
My internal vow has me scanning the street over her shoulder, ensuring it’s still as empty and dim as it was minutes ago. The way my shirt drowns her helps, too. Anyone walking by wouldn’t be able to see how insistently she’s working her pussy along my hardness. They’d just see a couple making out a little too passionately in the shadows.
Still, when a fresh burst of her perfect perfume swells around us, I have to suppress the territorial urge to hide her. Instead, I groan into Ivy’s mouth and slide her over my covered dick until the top of her clit presses into the knot thickening at the base of my shaft.
“Feel that?” I murmur. “My knot is a picky son-of-a-bitch. I can’t remember it ever being this hard.”
A tremor of pleasure and disbelief rolls down her back, pressing her pebbled nipples into my chest. “R-really?”
I nod, dipping my head to kiss her flawless milk-white throat. Imagining a silvery bond mark branded there is enough for me to swell even wider. “I know you’ve seen me with a lot of women, but I didn’t knot any of them. I usually can’t, but I never wanted to, anyway.”
Ivy listens, sadness creeping back into her essence. It must have been agony to watch me fuck around like that. If the roles had been reversed, it would have driven me insane.
“I won’t take you until I’ve earned your forgiveness,” I promise, my chest aching with determination and a smoldering sort of longing. “But, fuck, I will be dreaming of this pretty pussy every damn day .”
She draws another gasp at the same second I drag in a loud breath. Her voice shakes. “Do you want me to s-stop?”
I shake my head, gritting my teeth as I work her along my length faster. “You are perfect. Gorgeous and so fucking sweet. I’ll always get you off, no matter how much it tortures me. You can have it anytime you want, and I’ll fucking crawl for the privilege of being the one to take care of you.”
I wish I could pretend I said the words to make her come—but, really, I can’t stop them once they start. Either way, they shove her to the edge. Until she’s pumping her slick core over mine with the sort of intent that can only mean one thing.
“That’s it, baby. Come on my knot for me.”
Her keen is brief but breathtaking. I swallow it, along with the roar vibrating in my throat. My cock twitches, cum sizzling up my clothed length until it jets out, bursting into the damp fabric between us and the muted pulse of her swollen clit. She feels it and seizes up again, letting her pleasure crest a second time.
God, I’m so fucking proud .
The depth of it carves into my middle, winding me. I cup her jaw again, admiring the way the ink branded into my fingers looks against her peachy skin. Kissing her as she whimpers and sighs. Holding her, so she knows I meant every damn word I said.
Ivy burrows into my chest, seeking warmth and the stronger scent pouring from my neck. I soothe her with long passes over her spine and gentle fingers along her arm, barely recognizing myself.
But my relief is undeniable.
Jesus . It’s like I’ve finally inhaled after holding my breath for months .
Her fingers stroke the back of my hand. She pulls at my wrist until the tattoo on the back of my hand is under her nose—the wildflower I got for my mother.
Ivy’s voice is light and quiet. “This flower has more thorns than petals.”
And, damn. That about sums me up, huh?
I chuckle into her hair. “Fitting.”
When she giggles, a peaceful languor unfurls in my limbs, settling the beast behind my diaphragm. All from having my omega in my lap, sated and smelling like the sweetest slice of heaven.
“I’m not sure how I’ll live without this now that I’ve had it,” I mutter.
Ivy stills for a moment, glancing back at the image inked into my scarred knuckles. Then she releases an unsteady exhale and leans back to find my gaze. “What if you don’t have to?”
It’s my turn to shake, I guess, because an involuntary tremor bolts down my back. “You mean…?”
Her eyes shine up at me, a small, timid smile playing at her kiss-swollen lips. “I want to go with you. I want to try.”