Chapter 17
King
I was in a hotel room with an omega, and my dick was about to punch a hole through my new pants.
I paced around the suite, as if that would help me burn off the electric energy coursing through my veins.
Why did Lucy set me off like this? She’d talked the entire drive, alternating between singing along to her playlist, asking me what my favorite color was—something I hadn’t thought about in a couple decades—and giving me in-depth descriptions of the outfits she had planned for the upcoming town festivals.
By the time I pulled up to the Boston hotel near the gala venue, I knew more about sewing than I’d ever wanted to.
And I was utterly obsessed.
I hated small talk. And meeting new people.
But Lucy was sweet, charming, and fucking funny.
My cheeks actually hurt from smiling. For all my working out, my cheek muscles were apparently underused.
I would have blamed my strong reaction to her as my alpha getting worked up because I was trapped in a small, contained space filled with her scent, but she must have put on some sort of scent blocker because no matter how hard I breathed in, there was no hint of her floral sweetness in the air.
And that made me irrationally irritated.
Now I was a frantic, pacing mess as I waited for Lucy to get dressed in the bathroom because I didn’t want her out of my sight.
The door opened and I quickly arranged my face into what I hoped was a neutral, almost bored expression. Better she didn’t know how much she affected my alpha.
But then she walked into the living room and the earth stood still.
The top of the dress was low cut and covered in lace.
See-through lace. Her long, blond hair brushed the perfect curves of her breasts, and with each step she took toward me, the skirt’s high slit exposed her bare leg.
My mouth watered. I wanted to run my hand along her skin and bite her inner thigh, marking her so everyone knew who she belonged to.
Lucy exaggeratingly cleared her throat. “My face is up here.”
“Zoned out for a second.” Not sure who I was trying to fool because Lucy’s smirk told me I was full of shit. “You look…” Like the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. Like I want to throw you down on this bed and ravage you. Like I don’t want a single other person to lay eyes on you. “Nice.”
“Nice, huh?” She ran her hands along her hips. “I hope I fit in. I wasn’t sure what the proper attire was for a fake date auction winner.”
Hearing her say “fake date” left a sour taste in my mouth, especially since this event would be filled with rich, powerful alphas. Alphas who would love nothing more to steal her away from me. “The dress looks fine.” My voice was harsh, and her expression fell.
Shit.
“I mean, it looks good. Great. You’ll fit in fine.”
What the fuck was happening to me? I might not like people, but I’d never been such a bumbling fool.
Lucy gave me a tight smile and I groaned internally.
“Do you have everything you need? The car’s waiting outside.” I’d put Lucy’s bag inside the bedroom since she’d be returning here tonight.
Without me.
What if she wanted to bring someone from the event back with her? Fury flooded me, but before I could call off the whole event and keep her trapped here with me, she thrust her phone and a ziplock bag of makeup at me.
“Yeah. But can you hold these for me? I forgot to bring a clutch, and this dress definitely doesn’t have pockets.”
As if I needed another reminder of how the dress clung to her every curve. She lifted her skirt so that her heels wouldn’t catch as she headed to the door.
Reality slapped me and I scowled. “Are you wearing heels?”
Lucy gave me a look that screamed Duh, and my palm itched with the urge to spank her.
I crouched down. “And you removed the ankle wrap. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“What do you want me to wear? Sneakers?”
“They’d be better than those.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If you think there’s any chance that I’m leaving here in sneakers, well then…” She paused, furrowing her brow. “Then you are wrong.”
I snorted. “I’m surprised I’m not bleeding after that cutting comeback.”
She pursed her lips, but her expression quickly changed into something almost gleeful before smoothing out. “You’re welcome to go without me,” she said, batting her eyes and gesturing at the door. “I’m happy to stay here and order room service, and you can be auctioned off to someone else.”
I snarled and closed the space between us, crowding her until her back hit the wall. Our lips were inches apart, and I gripped her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “You’ll lean on me so you don’t aggravate your ankle, and you’ll tell me if it’s hurting.”
Her lips were parted, eyes wide, but she gave me a tiny nod.
I took a step back and extended my arm, which she took without argument.
This was going to be a long night.
“How are we playing this?”
I looked up from my phone. I’d pulled it out the second we got in the town car the event organizers had sent.
Nothing on the internet could distract me from the omega sitting inches away, but I needed a moment to regroup after I’d almost kissed her at the hotel.
Which was probably why I’d been typing random words into my notes app the past few minutes as we sat in traffic.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Should we enter separately and pretend we don’t know each other?”
I scowled. “Why would we do that?”
“To make the auction more dramatic.”
“I don’t care about drama. I just care about the night being over.”
She nudged my side. “Come on. Live a little, Mr. Grumpy Pants. This is going to be fun! Free drinks, free food, lots of fun people-watching, and King, the businessman, being purchased at auction by a mysterious woman.”
She batted her eyelashes, and I suppressed a smile.
“Whatever you say,” I responded dryly. “But we’re going in together. It will still be dramatic if my mysterious date bids on me.”
She sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to make do with that.”
We neared the venue and my jaw clenched when I saw photographers lining the red carpet. Shit. Lucy was on the side closest to the curb.
“Wait there,” I said once we came to a stop.
Before she could respond, I was out of the car. “Move,” I snapped at the valet, who was about to open the door for her. His eyes widened and he stumbled back a couple of steps, hands raised in a placating gesture.
I opened the door for Lucy. She arched her eyebrows as she took my hand. She leaned in, standing on her tiptoes, and her lips brushed against the shell of my ear. “That was hot.”
Fucking hell. Every cell in me responded to her murmured words. She was going to kill me before the night was over. She looped her arm through mine, leaning into my side and wearing a brilliant smile as we started down the red carpet.
The journalists salivated when they caught sight of her, and no wonder. She was the most gorgeous woman in attendance.
“Welcome Mr. King! Who is your date?”
“Mr. King! We hear you’re going to be auctioned off tonight!”
Lucy waved at the photographers and of course, they lost their minds, turning their questions on her. She glanced up at me. “Aren’t you going to answer them, honey?”
“No.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and half carried her inside.
Not that it helped because the second we entered the large atrium, every single man fixed his eyes on her.
A low growl tore through my chest. Lucy jumped, but I kept her tight against me, my fingers digging in to her waist. Her practically bare waist because of the sheer lace.
“Why were they calling you Mr. King? What’s your last name?”
“King is my last name.”
“Oh! What’s your first name, then?”
I didn’t respond as I steered us through the large ballroom.
“Come on. What kind of fake date am I if I don’t even know your name?”
I huffed, but it was all for show. Being around Lucy soothed the prickly anger and frustration I constantly carried around, leaving me…happy? Fuck, it had been so long since I’d felt like this I didn’t know what to do about it.
“Sutton.”
“Huh?”
“My first name is Sutton.”
She beamed, her nose doing an adorable scrunching thing. “That’s not even bad! Not as embarrassing as my middle name.”
“What is it?”
“Bluebell.”
A chuckle bubbled from my chest, and Lucy narrowed her eyes in outrage. “I didn’t laugh at yours.”
Without thinking, I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. Even with her heels, she barely reached my chin. “Bluebell suits you.”
She pursed her lips but couldn’t hide the flush working down her neck and chest, drawing my eyes to her tits. I wanted to suck and bite them, cover her with my marks so all the assholes here knew they would never stand a chance.
I tore my gaze away. I never behaved like this.
It must just be my alpha responding to her designation, but the excuse was like ash on my tongue.
My assistant was an omega, as was my neighbor, and somehow I’d never had the urge to kiss the top of their heads…
or bend them over the closest table and fuck them so everyone knew who they belonged to.
I kept my arm around her as we made our way through the large event space.
The decorations were pretty standard for a party like this—white tablecloths, large floral centerpieces, and an excessive amount of glasses and silverware at every place setting.
Easels were set up along the back of the room, holding large pictures of kids with quotes about how cancer research had saved their lives.
I averted my gaze, focusing instead on getting to our table. Three women and two men were already seated—none of whom I recognized—but Lucy let out a soft gasp.
My fingers tightened on her hip. “What is it?”
“That’s Jacqueline Wu,” she whisper-shouted. “I can’t believe she’s here. Oh my god.”
“Who is she?”