Chapter 17
As Ice grappled with Hazard, something teased at the edge of his senses. He tried to stay focused on their match, but his gaze was drawn to Hazard’s throat. Sweat gleamed on his tan skin. His Instinct, dormant for years, suddenly came to life with a soft whisper. Breathe .
Caught unawares, Ice drew in a deep breath through his nose without stopping to question the directive. That’s when it hit him. The scent of apple. But not just any apple. The wonderful, fresh, bright note of a Granny Smith. And it was coming from Hazard. He’d sweated through his blockers and for the first time Ice could fully take in his scent.
His eyes went wide in surprise as he realized why he’d been craving the fruit for the past few weeks. Hazard stopped fighting for a moment. Their eyes locked, both of them aware of Ice’s discovery. Then, Hazard took advantage of his momentary distraction. The omega raised his arms and brought his fists down in a hard chop block on Ice’s shoulders. The move forced Ice to drop Hazard from his hold.
“Something on your mind, sir?” Hazard asked as he skipped back out of reach.
The corporal’s tone was innocent, but mischief danced in his eyes. The little shit. He’d known all along why he’d suddenly started eating Granny Smith’s every damn day.
With renewed focus, Ice surged forward. Getting in close, he swept Hazard’s ankles with his foot, sending him crashing to the mat back first. Before he could recover and get back on his feet, Ice dropped down on top of him, caging in Hazard’s hips with the muscles of his thighs. Hazard sat up and swung at him but Ice caught that arm, then the other. Forcing Hazard to his back again, he pinned both of his arms to the mat. Ice leaned down so that his upper body was over Hazard’s and their faces were inches apart.
“Submit,” he growled husky and low.
Hazard tugged hard at Ice’s hold but didn’t manage to escape. “Make me,” he said with defiance sparkling in his jade green eyes.
“I believe I already did,” he shot back, squeezing Hazard’s wrists.
A slow smile curved Hazard’s lips as he looked up at him.
“I’ve still got lots of fight left in me, sir.”
He opened his mouth and turned his head toward Ice’s arm, clearly about to bite him with his sharp canines. Ice narrowed his eyes in warning.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
Hazard pouted but turned away from his intended target.
Behind his mask, Ice had to smile at the omega and his irrepressible spirit. He would never give up until he was truly beaten. Ice admired him for that. And from this position, he couldn’t help but once again admire his good looks as well. He looked flushed and happy, clearly enjoying their match. And he smelled amazing. Ice wanted to press his face close to Hazard’s throat and draw that scent deep into his lungs. If only he could...
* * *
Hazard stared up at his captain from his position flat on his back, arms over his head, Ice’s heavy weight pining him to the floor. He’d seen the exact moment Ice realized his craving for apples was because of him. The alpha claimed he didn’t need to scent, but his body clearly felt otherwise. And his Instinct had compensated for what it was missing with a substitute when it couldn’t get the real thing.
As he looked into those deep, dark eyes, he wondered if Ice would change his stance on scenting. Before he could ask him, someone cleared their throat. Someone else coughed.
Hazard blinked. He’d pretty much forgotten that they weren’t alone in the training area.
“Uh... are we supposed to wrestle like that?”
At the question, Hazard tilted his head back to look at the crowd of people watching them. The privates gawked at them with wide, shocked eyes. Shifting his gaze, he saw an upside-down Major Ortiz. Her arms were crossed over her chest and a fierce frown tightened her face.
“Privates, you’re dismissed,” she snapped. “Ice and Hazard, you stay.”
Not a word came from the soldiers as they left with a hurried shuffle of feet. Once they were out in the hall, they exploded with chatter, no doubt gossiping about the sexually charged sparring session they’d just witnessed. The tale of it would probably be all over base within the hour.
Hazard rolled his eyes. Ice released his wrists and pushed off of him to stand. Hazard kipped up to his feet.
“What the hell was that?” Ortiz asked sharply. “You’re supposed to be putting on a sparring demonstration but instead you roll around like two wolves in the thick of mating season!”
Hazard straightened his shoulders. “It won’t happen again, Major.”
“You bet your ass it won’t,” she snapped, her brown eyes glinting gold with anger. “Don’t think either of you are too senior to be put on latrine cleaning duty.”
After a final glare at them both, she left.
Hazard turned to his captain. “Looks like we need to have our sparring sessions in private from now on,” he teased.
“Better yet, we won’t spar at all.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Ice crossed his arms over his chest. “This isn’t about fun. It’s about learning technique and improving skills to be ready in the field for whatever comes at you.”
Hazard grinned and rocked up on his toes. “Admit it. You’re afraid that I’ll beat you if we actually get to finish a match.”
Ice scoffed. “I’m not afraid of anything. Especially not afraid of getting beat by you.”
Hazard tsked and shook his head. “So cocky, Captain. Well, when you’re ready for a private, no interruptions, one-on-one rematch, you know where to find me.”
He turned to go. Leaving the gym, he could feel Ice’s gaze following him as he crossed the expanse of the hardwood floor, all the way until he went through the double doors. Once he was in the hall and out of Ice’s line of sight, he let out a deep breath.
“Holy shit,” he cursed under his breath. He’d joked and kept it playful in there. But if he’d stayed a moment longer, he would have been on his knees, presenting his ass to Ice for a good, hard fuck.
Rolling around on the mats with the alpha, bodies pressed together, breathing in his warm cedar scent had his belly clenching tight with desire. It had taken every ounce of training he possessed to control his own scent and not flood the entire damn gym with the smell of aroused omega. Especially since he knew Ice was attracted to him and wanted to kiss him.
Yeah, it didn’t matter what another alpha came along now. No way anyone else could manage to steal his attention away from the captain. He wanted that alpha and no other. But Ice was his superior officer. And relationships between an enlisted soldier and an officer were forbidden. What the fuck was he going to do?
* * *
Ice watched Hazard saunter off without a care in the world, clearly unaffected by their match. Meanwhile, his jaw was clenched so tight from the effort of holding back his arousal it was a wonder that his molars didn’t shatter into pieces. With Hazard’s warm, muscled body between his thighs and the sweet scent of apples in his nose, he’d come dangerously close to giving in to the desire humming under his skin. If their match had gone on for much longer, he would have ripped off his mask to kiss those mischievously smiling lips, perhaps even rocked his hips to let his cock drag over the flat plane of Hazard’s belly.
Ice groaned. He should have never agreed to spar with him - not after realizing how strong his attraction was for the corporal. But as he’d stood there, watching Hazard train the privates, his hackles had gone up. He didn’t like seeing the soldiers touching him, knowing they were getting their scents all over him. He’d been hit with the irrationally possessive urge to march right up to Hazard and scent mark him so that his scent would be the only one the omega wore on his skin.
Of course, he couldn’t do that. But sparring with him had been the next best thing. Sparring left him free to touch Hazard, free to feel his body and rub those other scents away with his gloves. He’d been so focused on getting rid of the other’s scents that he hadn’t even questioned the instinctive urges. He usually flat out ignored those wolfish instincts. Or simply didn’t have them after deliberately burying them. But to his surprise, he’d had them in full force today. His Instinct had even returned, both familiar and unfamiliar after a decade long absence. He didn’t know if its appearance was a one-time thing or if his effort to silence it was no longer effective.
And the other surprise. Learning Hazard’s scent. He hadn’t expected to discover the reason he’d been craving apples was because of his squadmate. He hadn’t consciously been aware of Hazard’s scent since the omega was always on blockers around him. But his deeper senses must have uncovered it from the hints he sometimes picked up. And that knowledge had remained hidden within him, while outwardly manifesting in his craving for apples.
Of course, that lead to the question of why he’d needed to experience that scent so bad that he’d gone out and bought two bags of Granny Smiths. That was more apples than he usually ate all damn year. He didn’t crave York Peppermint patties because of the major’s scent and he’d certainly never had the urge to go out and mow the lawn because of Jax.
Ice adjusted his mask to make sure it was still in place after sparring with Hazard. Maybe it was best not to look at that too closely. Regardless, sparring with Hazard again was out of the question. Not in public and definitely not in private despite Hazard’s teasing offer. He could imagine pinning the pretty wolf beneath him before fucking him until they both shuddered with their release all he wanted. But in reality, that was never going to happen.