Chapter 12
Claire
I grab Andie by the wrist as we stealthily slip out of the mixer and head to the pool deck. My heart is pumping in my chest and I do everything I can to make sure Megan doesn’t spot us.
“Where are we going?” Andie says, but she doesn’t resist at all as I lead us to the bar.
My stomach is upset, but not nauseous like the other nights. No, it’s in knots because the person I dislike most in the entire world is on this same fucking cruise.
What did I do in a past life for this to happen to me?
“Do you want a mimosa?” I ask Andie, and she nods happily. I order for the both of us and the bartender scans both of our bracelets before sliding the drinks to us.
“So, what was that about?”
“One of the Omegas at the mixer. I know her from back home. I don’t want her to know I’m here.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s had it out for me since we were thirteen. I know without a doubt if she knew I was here, she would do her absolute best to make me miserable.”
“Why would someone do that?” Andie asks me, her forehead crinkled in a frown.
I groan, tipping back the mimosa as old wounds from my youth bubble up.
I’m not sure how to explain Upper East Side bullshit drama to someone who’s never experienced it, and even thinking that has me feeling ridiculous.
But the fact was, that summer was the worst month of my life.
It was so bad I had my dad, River, come pick me up early when I called him sobbing.
It didn’t help that Megan also showed up the following year at the same high school as me and continued her rampage against me.
Her going after me then made me retaliate, and it’s been a never-ending cycle of us hating each other’s guts.
“Have you ever befriended someone who only got to know you so they could ruin your life?” I ask her.
“Uh. No.”
“That’s how it started. I thought we were going to be best friends, that she liked me.
” I sigh dramatically, not wanting to go into this decade long feud with a stranger, or admit that the things she said to me still hurt my feelings to this day.
“Either way, she made it her mission to humiliate me, and for a while, it worked. When I graduated, I thought I’d never see her again.
I guess I’m just not sure how to handle it. ”
“We hate her. Got it,” Andie says with a smile.
Talking to her is easy. She reminds me of Shiloh. Even though I just met her, there’s an immediate comfort.
Wanting to change the subject, I look over at her with a wild smile.
“So what kind of pack are you looking for anyway, Andie?”
“I really just want to be stable, you know? My parents struggled, my brother is still struggling. Is that bad? That the main thing I want is a pack that can give me a better life?” she asks, taking a heavy swig of her mimosa.
“No, there’s nothing wrong with that at all,” I tell her honestly.
“Obviously, that’s not all that matters.
I want to like them, build a friendship before becoming lovers.
But the idea of not worrying about the roof over my head?
I also really want to have children and it’s important that they have a comfortable life.
That’s the priority,” she says drifting off.
“But if we’re talking personality wise…I love a hot nerd. ”
That has both of us laughing.
“I’m happy I found you, Andie,” I say; maybe the mimosas are hitting too hard.
“Me too,” she says happily.
I’ve almost forgotten the wicked witch of Manhattan is on the ship as I hear her cackle again. I sigh, glancing over at the sound and when I see her hand on Wells’ forearm…
I see red.
I’m up out of my chair so fast and Andie is following me.
Wells is being polite, his smile not showing his teeth as he nods at what she’s saying.
“Claire? What are you doing?” Andie whispers behind me.
I don’t answer, because it might be murder, but something needs to be done with this bitch touching my Beta.
My plan of sticking under the radar and not letting her know I’m on board is completely out the fucking window.
“I can’t believe we have an Olympic Gold champion in our midst,” she says, and it has me wanting to choose violence. Of course, she zeroed in on him because he has a certain level of fame. I’m not even sure why she’s here. She fits in perfectly with all the sharks back home.
I could punch her in the throat, but that seems a little extreme.
Instead, I step in between the two of them, severing her touch from his and running my hands through his hair.
“There you are,” I say to him and the Beta grins back, his hand sliding down my side and gripping my waist.
“Hey beautiful,” he says, the other Omega completely forgotten as I lean down and give him a kiss.
Damn, maybe I’m just as bad as these pissing contest Alphas, but I don’t care.
A throat clears behind us, and because I’m clearly in my right mind, I shimmy myself onto Wells’ lap, taking a deep breath before looking Megan in the eyes.
“Claire S?renson…I’m shocked your family let you out of your ivory tower to slum it with us mere peasants for this fine heat cruise,” she says, her lips in a tight smile as she leans against the bar.
Wells’ grip tightens around my waist and his eyebrows are furrowed.
Fuck.
“Gotta say, you work fast. Already swiping up the good ones, I see,” Megan says, smiling at Wells.
“What can I say? I have expensive taste,” I reply, looking her up and down.
“Right. Well, I’ll see you around, I’m sure,” she says, giving me a shitty look, sauntering off with a swish in her step.
I’m afraid to look at Wells. I acted impulsively, and the worst part is I don’t think it’s because it was my teenage arch rival who was chatting with him. I’m pretty sure I’d have let my jealousy show if any Omega was chatting him up like that.
Wells’ hand drifts up my spine, lightly squeezing my neck, and I squirm on his lap, finally facing him. He’s still giving me a warm smile.
“So, what should we talk about first, the fact that you’re an heiress, or how ridiculously turned on I am by the way you just claimed me right now?”
I lick my lips, hating that he knows who I am now and wondering if it’s going to change things.
“Maybe the second part?” I say.
“So, I’m going to go back to the bar now,” Andie says from the side and my cheeks heat and I give her a small smile.
“You’re so sexy when you’re possessive of me,” Wells says as he leans forward, kissing my cheek and moving his way to my ear. His one hand is still wrapped around the back of my neck as the other grabs on to my bare thigh, his thumb rubbing where the hem of my dress meets my thigh.
“I woke up with your scent all over me and stroked my cock at the thought of you. Now you’ve got me all worked up from marking your territory. What am I going to do with you?”
I sigh with relief and turn to face him. His eyes are heavily lidded, and his thumb keeps doing that tantalizing little pattern on my thigh.
Maybe it’s the mimosas, or how worked up Forrest got me earlier with no release. Or maybe it’s this Beta’s hushed words whispered in my ear. All I know is I want him to touch me.
I want to cover him in my scent so every Omega on board knows he’s spoken for, and the thought of that alone has me perfuming and squirming on his lap.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know that,” I reply and he laughs against my mouth, his hand inching further up my dress.
I can’t take it anymore. It’s been so long since I’ve been intimate with anyone. He isn’t in some pheromone driven haze that makes him want to be with me. He’s attracted to me and likes me, and that’s the only reason I need to pop off of his lap and grab him by the wrist.
I quickly peek a glance at Andie, who’s talking to a handsome Alpha at the bar. She gives me a thumbs up and I drag Wells toward the elevators.
He doesn’t even question me; he just follows me as the elevator doors open and I push him against the wall and tug on his hair for him to lean down and kiss me.
Wells moans into my mouth and the sound sends a jolt of arousal right through me. He kisses me like he’ll never get enough, and the feeling is mutual.
My heart is racing, my skin feels tingly and warm, and I just want to be wrapped up in this kiss for however long it will last.
Somehow his hands palm my ass and I wrap my legs around his waist as he lifts me and presses my back against the elevator wall, which some part of me realizes is glass, but I don’t give a shit.
Wells kisses down my throat as my head falls back and clinks against the glass.
God, I needed this so bad.
Wells’ lips clash again with mine. We’re so lost in one another, so ravenous it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
A bell chimes, and I barely register it, until a throat clears.
“What floor are you two headed to?” the voice asks.
Wells still has me pressed against the glass as I look over his shoulder.
“Eight,” Wells says, not letting me wiggle out of his arms.
He doesn’t kiss me again, but he does give me a wink.
“You taste like champagne,” he says before pressing a kiss on the corner of my mouth.
I can scent the Alpha in the elevator with us, and I wrinkle my nose. As polite as the man is, I don’t want to be scenting him at all right now.
When the elevator doors slide open, Wells puts me down and grabs my wrist, leading me down the hallway to their suite. The moment the door mechanism whirls, we’re nearly falling inside of the room. His hands grip my waist as he kisses me reverently.
The room still smells like Forrest, which has me even more turned on.
“Fuck, Claire. What do you need?” he asks as he peppers kisses down my throat and his hand slides down, gripping and kneading the flesh of my ass. “Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
I’m stumbling backward into the room until my calves hit the sofa.
I grab his shirt, bringing him down with me as I lie on the furniture.
He hovers over me, kissing every inch of bare skin, and it has me on fire.
I lick my lips as I slide a hand between us, tugging down the top of my dress and bra, exposing my chest to him.
Wells stares at my breasts for a long moment, before I grip his hair into a fist and direct his mouth to my peaking nipples.
He doesn’t disappoint, his tongue lashing out and swiping around the hard bud before sucking me into his mouth. My perfume is pouring out of me and I need more.
“More,” I tell him as I arch my hips up, begging for friction.
It’s been too long since I’ve had sex. Hook ups never meant anything to me, just a way to scratch an itch.
But now that I’m looking for a pack, being intimate means a great deal to me. I can tell he takes this as seriously as I do with the way he’s touching me.
Wells’ dark blue eyes are filled not only with desire, but with longing as he slips a hand between us, cupping me underneath my dress.
“Fuck,” he hisses out, sliding a fingertip under my panties, feeling how wet I am. “Can I taste you, Claire?”
I don’t need to be asked twice, spreading my legs wider and pressing him down by his shoulder. He smiles up at me as he bunches my dress at my waist and pulls my panties to the side.
“Just as fucking pretty as I thought. Do you know how much you already own me, little Omega?” he says, not even giving me a moment to answer as he lowers his face, his tongue swiping out and flicking against my clit.
My nails dig into the back of the couch as I whimper in ecstacy. This was exactly what I needed.