Chapter 9
9
BENJAMIN
I should have been the one on my knees in the shower. The scent of Connor's release had filled the small bathroom, even after he'd rinsed his shorts. Drying them out hadn't made the smell go away, either. It lingered in the air.
I'd never been particularly fond of cum, but Connor's was different. Everything about Connor was unique. He should have been another annoying alpha, except he didn't frustrate me as much as they usually did. He was sweet, kind, and wowzah, did he know how to use that tongue. I couldn't stop fantasizing about what he could do with his knot. I'd seen it pop when he came, but he ignored it afterward. It didn't make sense to me after all the horror stories I'd heard in school, where alphas tried to shove their knots in omegas' hole after blowjobs. The excuse was always, "It hurt!" and they ended up hurting their omegas instead.
"Does your knot hurt?" I asked.
The offending anatomy had long since been tucked away inside Connor's shorts and pants, but he glanced down at the slight bulge before meeting my gaze. "No. It's annoying sometimes, but it doesn't hurt."
"All those stories in high school?—"
"Alphas who didn't want pushback when they suggested sex instead of a blowjob." Connor shrugged. "At least, that's the locker-room talk I heard."
"It made me want to leave them the fuck alone," I said. "I've never had sex with an alpha."
"Well, I call what we did in the shower sex."
My face burned. He was right, of course. I'd never done more than kiss an alpha because I didn't want to be knotted. Now, it was all I could think about.
"I avoided sex with omegas, too," he said. "Omegas are scared of us, but betas like to play."
My face burned even hotter. "Yes, they do." I'd never had one eat my ass the way Connor did, though. He knew what he was doing with his fingers, and his tongue seemed to defy logic.
"You're not bad, for an alpha."
"As far as omega mates go, you're the best." He grinned. "You're also my only omega mate …"
"Good." The word was more forceful than I'd meant it to be. I couldn't explain it. Connor was mine. I didn't want him thinking about other omegas, and I'd damn well better be his only mate for life.
Where had that thought come from?
I needed to get out of the pheromone-filled suite before I tackled Connor to the bed and rode his cock until it was time to leave. I'd never find a present for my nephew that way.
"Want to look for a Wonderdog 3000 with me?"
"Isn't that the furry robot dog?"
I nodded. "My nephew has been begging for one since last Christmas."
"We can look, but I'm pretty sure they're all sold out from here to Vancouver."
"I don't care. I'll be the worst uncle ever if I can't find this toy." My nephew was a bratty little punk, but I didn't want to be a bad uncle. I would find him the Wonderdog 3000 or something just as awesome.
"You can't be the worst uncle ever because I am." Connor hung his head and his shoulders slumped forward. As much as I wanted to know the story, it wasn't my place to ask. We'd just met, and while he'd given me two mind-blowing orgasms, I wasn't ready to share generational trauma with him.
He retrieved his fanny pack from my suitcase but left his suit coat and the toy wolf with me, promising he would buy a souvenir in the B&B's gift shop and use their plastic bag as his luggage. I hated that idea, so I bought him a small carry-on like mine while he was busy looking at sea turtle figurines. The rainbow designs were gorgeous, I had to agree, but the plain hard-shelled suitcase was far more practical, even if his puffy coat would take up half the space inside.
I handed him the suitcase while he was still studying the intricate detail on the turtle shells, and he frowned. "What's this?"
"A gift."
He shook his head. "I can't accept this."
"A loan then?" I asked. "When you get home to Phoenix, you can send it back to me."
He looked even more hurt than he had before.
I leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Please, just use the suitcase. I don't want your little dog to get smushed in the overhead bin or stepped on beneath a seat."
"For Wolfy, then." He nodded and a hint of his former grin returned. "I'll do it."
"Thank you."
"You two are so cute," Burt said as he sauntered into the gift shop in plain clothes and no makeup, sending the young girl working the register scurrying for the front desk. "How did you sleep?"
Connor and I glanced at each other, and he grinned. For a moment, I worried he would spill our sexcapades, but he cleared his throat and motioned for me to share.
"Comfortable bed. Can't complain," I stammered.
"Good! I'm so glad!" Burt pointed to the figurines. "They're lovely, aren't they?"
"Yes!" Connor's smile returned full force. "How much?"
"Twenty dollars."
"Oh." He patted the turtle made of black stone and said, "Maybe next time."
"Here," I grabbed it off the shelf before Connor could stop me and handed it to Burt. "We'll take this one."
"Good choice. Black tourmaline is a stone of protection."
"Wish it would have protected you from Shen's grabby hands," I whispered.
"Now it will!" He perked up again, shaking Burt's hand across the counter. "This is great!"
"Do you have a toy store in town?" I asked.
"Not here, but you might find something at the bus station. I can drive you whenever you're ready."
"That's so sweet," Connor said. "We'll be sure to give you a good review."
Burt's eyes sparkled at that. "Thank you. That would be wonderful."
I wouldn't be writing them a rave review, not with the price gouging in the middle of the night during a snowstorm.
"You write hotel reviews?" I asked Connor.
"Yes! They're fun!"
"Fun?"
"It's mostly for my own benefit. I travel a lot, so it's nice to remember which hotel had the bedbugs and which one gave complimentary chocolates on their pillows."
"Oh, my goddess!" Burt fanned his face. "I forgot to give you your gift basket last night! I'm so sorry!"
"See?" Connor whispered when Burt returned with a basket filled with wine, cured meats, cheese spread, and crackers.
Then, he offered to make us omelets for our complimentary breakfast. I couldn't argue. It was one of the lightest, fluffiest omelets I'd ever eaten.
"You knew he would do that?" I asked when we were safely tucked inside the bus station, waving to Burt as he drove away.
"I didn't know, but that happens sometimes."
"This was not complementary with the room." I pointed to the card and read aloud, "To Don from Doug. Happy Anniversary."
"Maybe they couldn't make it because of the weather."
He had a point. We had gotten free breakfast and lunch out of the deal, so I couldn't be too upset.
"I think I can sell the wine and get some cash to pay you back," Connor said. He grabbed my shoulder and turned me toward yet another souvenir shop. "I'll join you in a minute."
Sure, I probably should have questioned his confidence when swindling people out of their hard-earned cash, but I was more interested in the toy sitting on the top shelf in the display case. I couldn't see anything through the cracked cellophane window. It was too high up.
Inside the store, it was obvious the box was badly damaged and probably empty. Still, I had to try. "Is that a Wonderdog 3000?" I asked the clerk.
"It's the store display." Even though I was the only one in the small store, she rolled her eyes like this was the fifth time she'd been asked about the Wonderdog today. "Not for sale."
"Do you have other toys?"
She pointed toward the far-left corner furthest from the counter, and I wandered that direction, past Utah license plates with people's names on them and postcards of various mountain and National Park destinations.
I frowned at the generic toy selection. They had a few stuffed animals, but nothing as nice as Wolfy. They had a handful of travel board games, but not much else. The games, and everything else in the shop, had jacked-up prices, even higher than Burt's. I saw the same carved rock turtles for fifteen dollars more than I'd paid for Connor's.
Disappointed, I headed back to the station proper. I almost ran right into Connor, who was coming to find me.
"Hey! I can pay you back for the suitcase, and I think I have enough for two tickets to Vegas."
"All for a bottle of wine?" I asked.
"I sold both bottles and that little container of caviar." He Frowned at me. "You didn't want it, did you? I can repay you for that, too."
"You don't need to pay me back," I said. "We're in this together."
He flashed another of his bright smiles before it dimmed again. "You don't mean that because we're mates."
"I mean that because we crash-landed here on a dragon, and now we need to get home. Well. My home."
He turned away with a sigh. Seeing him with his bag reminded me of mine. The one I didn't have with me.
"Fuck! Where did I leave my bag?"
"It's right here." He pointed beneath the bench he'd sat on. "I've got you." He hesitated like he wanted to say more, omega maybe, or mate, but stopped short.
From what I could tell, Connor was a happy-go-lucky guy. I hated being the reason he second-guessed himself. When he swaggered and smiled, I liked him best.
I liked him. There was no denying it. He was skilled with his tongue, whether he was rimming me or selling wine and caviar to tourists, but it was more than that. I'd never felt this at ease around another person, let alone an alpha. If this was what it meant to be fated mates, I needed to know everything.
Connor left the bags with me while he bought our bus tickets. I pulled out my phone for a search. After a few duds and one dating site, I finally stumbled on a shifter site camouflaged as monster trivia. "Which type of monster fucker are you?" the headline read.
I blinked a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me after so little sleep. Image after image of animals popped up, along with some of legend. Five different kinds of dragon. The Loch Ness Monster. A unicorn. I tapped the image of a wolf, and the screen filled with a wall of text broken up only by different images. One was the spitting image of Connor.
"The Moonlight Pack have traditional views about alpha/omega pairings. They do not believe in fated mates, instead bonding the strongest alphas with the most docile omegas to continue their bloodlines."
Well, fuck that. I was not a docile omega, and I was beginning to see why Connor left his pack.
I touched the back button to see if other wolf packs operated differently. The Broadleaf pack were mostly gray with some brown mixed in. They almost looked like coyotes to me. A link at the bottom caught my eye. "See Fated Mates ."
Okay, I was game. I clicked the link.
"Fated mates are destined to be together. Often, one or both feel a pull toward their mate and away from other partners long before they meet."
Huh. I'd never really wanted to be with an alpha before Connor, but that didn't mean … I kept reading. "Shifters and other monsters often recognize their mate from their scent. Humans take more time to develop the mate bond, but often these pairings are between humans and non-humans to ensure biological diversity."
Ew. Biology was the last thing I wanted to think about. I was just getting used to the fact I liked Connor. I did not plan on making babies with him anytime soon.
Still, this website existed, and the iffy title "MonsterLovers.com" didn't detract from the valuable information I'd gained. Now, I had to decide if I trusted fate, and Connor, or if fate was just another way for life to screw me over.