Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Romeo Hall, Sanctum
S lowly, my eyes flutter open.
Fear makes my heart instantly speed up that I’ll find myself back in my cold, dark bedroom because last night on the stage hasn’t happened yet.
It was only a dream .
Except, no mattress in the academy would be this soft. No dancer would be allowed this many warm blankets. And these violet, satin pajamas are definitely new.
It’s Christmas morning, and I’m waking up in Romeo Hall.
This is real but it doesn’t feel like it yet.
Swan and I won the R his eyes burned, dangerously. “Little Snake, don’t tease. Your bedroom with your Chief Alpha .”
“Oh,” Vito drew out the word like it could ward off Swan’s advance. It couldn’t. Vito placed his hands against Swan’s chest, half placating and half because he appeared to simply enjoy touching Swan. “ That bedroom.”
What was he hiding?
“Yeah, that one.” Swan bared his teeth.
“Amby thought that you’d be tired out with your spinning and shit. Plus, he snores like a bear and he’s as grumpy as one in mornings. So, you can stay here by yourselves tonight, and we can talk about things tomorrow.”
I stared at Vito in surprise. “This whole room is ours .”
The room was huge .
It was at least four times as large as our one in the academy. It was also much more luxurious than my room at the Cinders ranch.
I’d never slept anywhere like this.
Surely, even if he was bonding with us, Ambrose couldn’t mean to house a Reject Omega and his Beta here.
Vito’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Isn’t it okay? I painted it myself ready for you. Amby chose some new clothes, which are in the closet. Sorry about his taste. The Alphahole refused to accept my suggestions of leather trousers and some epic Muse sweaters. Now, what are your favorite foods? I want to make them for your Christmas breakfast.”
“Favorite foods…?” Overwhelmed, I didn’t know how to answer.
Vito decorated a room just for us. Ambrose bought us new clothes.
No one had taken this much care of me since my parents died. No one had ever looked after Swan.
Swan was staring at Vito like he hung the moon.
“I don’t know.” Swan appeared as overwhelmed as I was. “In the academy, you ate what you were given or you starved.”
Vito’s expression hardened. “Fuck them. I want to make this special for you. Is there anything that you wished you could have?”
“Double chocolate ice cream,” I burst out, clapping my hands.
Swan’s eyes brightened. “She likes apples. And I’ve always wanted to try a chocolate cherry cake.”
“Pancakes.” I caught Swan’s eye, as he twisted to me. “Remember? We can eat pancakes with—"
“Syrup.” Swan looked like the thought of it, more than anything else that had happened to him, might finally break him.
“Pancakes with syrup and double chocolate ice cream with a side helping of apple it is then,” Vito said firmly. “I’ll bake a chocolate cherry cake soon. We can find out what foods you prefer together, huh?”
“I’d like that,” I replied.
Vito slipped off his leather gloves, gesturing with them at the bed.
His nails were painted neon blue. He had snake tattoos inked on the back of his hands.
The tattoos looked fucking gorgeous.
When Swan’s gaze landed on the tattoos, however, he paled. Then he backed away from Vito.
I frowned.
What on earth was that about?
Vito didn’t notice Swan’s reaction, but instead, gestured at the bed. “Get some rest, ready for the pancake feast. Bec made the nest. He donated his favorite purple blankets from the lounge. I added one of my leather jackets.”
Shocked, I stared at the bed.
It was giant and heaped in purple blankets. They’d been built up into walls, making the perfect nest.
I could see the leather jacket in the center.
Unable to resist, I dived for the bed, rolling around in the nest and the delicious scents of honey and vanilla espresso. I dragged the blankets around myself, warm and contented.
I’d stopped dreaming that this would be possible.
This is what it felt like to have a nest.
To be a proper Omega.
This is what it felt like to be loved.
Now, I take a deep breath of my nest, which smells deliciously of all my men.
My first ever nest!
And Benedict made sure that I had this in time for Christmas.
I couldn’t wish for a better Christmas gift.
Benedict is a good Omega for making this for me. He must be classed as the First Omega. In some Traditional packs, that makes him higher in the hierarchy and with the right to give me orders or keep me in line.
Some Omegas are jealous about others coming into their pack.
He shouldn’t be the one to do gestures like this or care for me.
Yet he is.
Benedict is my soul mate. He’s already declared that he wants me. And I want him.
Except, I understand that he may need more space than other people. I won’t rush him.
I smile, gripping the velvet bedding that’s wrapped around me. Warm morning sunlight washes over the bedroom.
I actually slept well last night for the first time in a long time. It feels incredible to wake up warm, rested, and comfortable.
It’s even more incredible to feel safe.
Swan’s still sleeping, with his arm possessively slung over my waist.
He’s dressed in the same satin pajamas as me but he hasn’t bothered to do up the shirt. The silky material frames his athletic chest.
I study Swan’s sleeping face as I have so many times before: his long lashes that fan onto his cheekbones.
I turn to kiss his eyelid, then his dark eyebrow, before tracing down his jaw.
“Happy Christmas,” I whisper.
Swan tightens his arm around me, as his eyes slowly open.
“Happy Christmas,” he replies, sleepily.
He sounds lazily contented in a way that he rarely does.
It must be later than five a.m., but no one’s screaming at us that we’re late. We’re not rushing to pull on our uniforms ready for an oatmeal breakfast followed by class.
Instead, we’re sprawled in bed under blankets that I never want to give up, waiting for pancakes with syrup.
Because it’s Christmas.
My heart feels like it’s overflowing.
Swan kisses me like he understands exactly what I’m thinking.
“We’re like ordinary people now.” Swan sounds so fucking happy. “Look at us lying around. How can I make this better for you? It already feels like a fairy tale.”
I scrunch up my nose. “I’ve missed not having a Christmas tree. They used to cut down the tallest and best fir tree at the Cinders ranch and put it up in the foyer. Everyone helped with decorating it, including the dancers. It was one of the happiest times for everybody.”
Swan shoves the blankets off us and sits up. “I’ll look around this mansion. I’m sure that there’s a tree somewhere that I can steal.”
Startled, I sit up as well, yanking Swan back down. He lands on top of me. Our noses are touching.
“Don’t steal shit from the Romeos,” I say, quickly. “Do you want Amby to think that you’re a thief?”
Swan shrugs. “I am a thief.”
“That’s not the point.”
“A good thief.”
“Shut up.”
“An excellent thief.”
“I said—”
“I bet that I could steal an entire decorated tree without him even—”
I steal a kiss to stop Swan speaking, which also feels fair.
I can be a kiss thief.
Swan smiles into the kiss like he’s been the one to steal it from me. Then he deepens the kiss, humping against me.
I shiver.
Breathless, Swan finally pulls back but only to ask, “Amby hasn’t given us any orders, right?”
I shake my head.
“I’d like to see him try.”
I huff. “So would I. It’d be hot.”
Swan’s gaze becomes half hooded, before he presses his body even closer against me.
His hard cock nudges against me through our clothes.
“If no one’s told us what we should be doing, then that means we get to choose, my Ash Queen.” Swan’s voice shakes with passion. “So, we have our first free time. My first since that I can remember having. Guess how I want to spend it?”
“Meditating?” I tease. “Tidying the bed? Checking for roaches?”
Swan growls, slamming his hands either side of my head. “It seems that I need to remind you yet again who’s in charge here.”
My stomach swoops in a way that thrills me. “And I need to remind you that will be the little Omega.”
Swan’s beautiful silver eyes twinkle with amusement.
He lowers his lips to my ear.
The feel of his hot breath against my skin makes tingles run down my spine. “I want to spend this Christmas morning giving you my gift. I wish that I could buy you diamonds like you deserve or even a tub of that double chocolate ice cream that you always tell me about. But I can’t. I can, however, give you me . All of me. My body, forever. My first time, or ours, together.”
He pulls back to study my expression, as if desperate to see how I’ve taken his offering.
And it is an offering to his Queen.
I know how precious this is. It will be both our first times.
I want this as much as he does.
I lean up to capture Swan’s lips. “Then I’d better unwrap this beautiful gift.”
Swan drops his forehead against mine in relief, before his mouth curls wickedly.
I reach up, loving the feel of his corded muscles under silky skin, as I slip his pajama top from his shoulders. Then I reach down and slowly, inch by inch, push down his pajama bottoms.
His breath catches. He’s holding himself still with difficulty.
He’s vibrating underneath my hand.
When Swan’s cock pops free of the material, it’s already hard with pearly precum beading on its tip.
And it’s fucking gorgeous.
My tongue darts out to wet my dry lips. “Thank you. Just what I wanted.”
I reach up to wind my arms around Swan’s neck. I play with the thick, inky black hair that curls at the base of his neck.
He humps against me a couple of times. My eyes flutter at the sensation.
“I hope that it fits.” He lowers his head to my neck, licking down my scent gland, until I whimper. He looks up at me with glittering eyes. “Because you’re not returning it, if it doesn’t.”
“Bragger.” I can’t keep the smile out of my voice.
“We’ll see who’s bragging.” Swan licks and kisses up and down my throat, until I’m a puddle of desire.
I knew that being with him would be like this, equal parts playful and passionate.
Then Swan daringly nips at my neck, playing at biting me and breaking the taboo of giving me a bonding bite, before my Alphas do.
I wish that he could.
I thread my fingers into the back of Swan’s hair and yank his head to the side. Then I even more daringly nip him back.
“Y-y-yes.” Swan’s eyes become dazed looking. “Bite me harder.”
I can’t.
It’s too dangerous.
Instead, I slip my hand down between us and wrap it around Swan’s cock like I’ve been fantasizing about doing for years.
Cocks do feel sort of like velvet.
Benedict was right.
I take my time exploring Swan’s cock, loving how he’s fighting falling apart under the touch of my small hand. He hisses and arches his back, while I run my hand up and down his shaft, before thumbing over the head.
When I circle the spot just beneath the glans, he whines.
So, he’s sensitive there. Something to remember.
I’d love to run my tongue over that spot again and again, until Swan comes from that alone. I can’t wait to hold his balls in my hand as well, before sucking them into my mouth one at a time.
They won’t both fit at once.
“I’m simply having fun playing with my gift,” I murmur.
Swan takes a shuddering breath. “But you haven’t discovered all its functions yet. If you press here…” He encourages me to slip my finger over the slit of his cock. He grits his teeth, then pushes my top up, exposing my breasts. “…this happens.”
Immediately, he’s teasing my breasts, as mercilessly as I’ve been teasing him.
He lowers his head to lick over one and then the other, flicking his tongue over my nipples, until they peak.
I writhe in ecstasy.
“When we’d rehearse in the abandoned practice room,” Swan whispers, nibbling my peaked nub and making me gasp, “I’d imagine that as we danced, you’d whisper my name, before confessing how much you’d always loved me. Then I’d cradle you in my strong arms, tear open your leotard and tights, and fuck you as we danced like you were begging me to.”
I moan in delight at the image. “I did confess that I loved you.”
I raise my arms to his shoulders.
“I know. But you didn’t beg me to fuck you.” He raises his head to kiss my lips. “Beg me now.”
“Why don’t you beg me to let you fuck me?”
I expect him to snarl, but he doesn’t.
Instead, Swan’s expression softens. “Can’t you tell that I’ve been begging you with every look? Touch of my hand? Every time that I’ve held you as we’ve danced? I want you so fucking much, my Queen. I always have.”
I meet his tender gaze. “Show me.”
With a growl, Swan shoves down my pajama bottoms, before sliding one hand to rub my pussy.
I’m breathing hard. My pulse is roaring. I feel like I’m about to fall off a cliff.
But that’s exhilarating because no matter how high it is, I know that Swan will be at the bottom to catch me.
“I love how wet you always are for me.” Swan raises his fingers to his mouth and licks the slick off them. “I can’t wait to taste you — all of you.”
I flush, shivering. “I need you.”
“I’ve got you.” When Swan’s cock nudges against my pussy a couple of times, I widen my legs.
“Okay?” He checks in.
I nod. “Please, my Swan…”
“I knew that you’d beg me.”
He growls, low and desperate.
Then he rocks forward, unsure at first. He watches my face, carefully.
I gasp with pleasure.
I’ve never felt so connected to someone. It’s intimate in an entirely different way. I’m full and stretched; it’s new and overwhelming.
But in the best fucking way.
I scratch at Swan’s shoulders.
I need more of this.
More of Swan.
Forever to be close to him like this.
Swan’s pupils are as wide with awe as mine are.
“JuJu,” he whispers, “we’re…”
And I know what he means.
My throat is tight.
I don’t know how to put this ballooning, euphoric feeling of rightness into words. So instead, I desperately kiss Swan, as he begins to rock faster and faster.
It’s more than perfect.
It’s everything that I dreamed this would be.
The sensation builds, as Swan snaps his hips with the strength and rhythm of a dancer.
And this is a dance, sinuous and fluid.
I lose myself in it as I do every time that I’m caught in Swan’s arms.
I could lose myself for the rest of my life in these sensations. Except, I unexpectedly tumble over that cliff in an intense burst of extreme pleasure, pulling Swan after me.
We both come together but we don’t stop kissing.
We kiss through the aftershocks as well, clinging to each other.
Finally, panting hard, we pull apart.
Swan’s hair tumbles over my face. “That was amazing. Was it…? Are you okay? Did I…?”
I stroke his hair. I’m not used to this vulnerable side to Swan. I’d have expected him to be boasting about his sexual prowess by now.
“It was mind-blowing.” I smile, still dazed.
Swan throws himself off me to the side. “Of course it was. I am a sex god, after all.”
And the Swan I know is back.
I smile fondly. Swan turns to face me, slinging his arm around my waist.
“And how soon can the sex god go again?” I ask, casually.
How do ordinary people get anything done if they can do that any time that they want?
Is free time just a euphemism for rutting?
Swan preens, before glancing down at his limp cock. “Give me half an hour, and the batteries on this gift will be fully charged.”
“Efficient.”
When there’s a loud knock on the door, I jump.
Swan scowls, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over me to cover me. I scowl back at him, grabbing another one to also cover him.
I can be possessive too.
Why is someone knocking?
Ambrose, Vito, and Benedict are already bonded. This is their home. They can walk into any room that they like, right?
“What do we do?” Swan asks, bewildered.
He has even less experience of living outside the academy than I do.
I clear my throat. “Who is it?”
“Just me,” Vito’s voice calls through the door. “Merry Christmas!”
I grin. “Merry Christmas!”
To my surprise, Swan remains silent.
I shoot him a glare, but he merely ducks his head.
“Don’t worry, I won’t come in if you’re not dressed or are having fun, sexy times,” Vito continues. I blush. “I just wanted to tell you that your Christmas breakfast is nearly ready. Why don’t you get dressed and come down for your first treat? I want to make sure that today is special for you, okay?”
“Okay.” I pull the blanket more tightly around myself.
Then I narrow my eyes at Swan. “Spill.”
“What?” When Swan tries to avoid my eyes again, I tug the blanket away from him. “If you keep secrets, I’ll claim nesting rights and become territorial.” I start to worm the blanket between us. “You stay on that side…”
Laughing, Swan catches my hand. “I don’t dare provoke an Omega in their own nest.”
“So, tell me.” I unwind the blanket and gently lay it over him again.
Swan nestles closer to me, as if to make sure of his place in the nest and to be certain that I can’t shove him onto his side of it again.
“I saw tattoos on the back of Vito’s hands last night,” Swan admits. “It made me remember some things that I thought I’d forgotten.”
I comfortingly lay my arm around him. “Like what?”
“My pack was ancient but poor. We believed in traditions that aren’t often written down in books but are passed on by word of mouth like fated mates, which others call myths. We thought that the wealthy pack who took us in were saving us, but in fact, they were forcing us into becoming their servants…and selling some of us off like they did me.”
My expression hardens. “Assholes.”
“My memory from before the academy is hidden, as if behind frosted glass, apart from my brother, Link. Then I saw that tattoo and… Do you think that an Alpha kid would remember a Beta servant? I bet that he doesn’t know who I am. Fucking funny how he doesn’t look dangerous, when—”
“Slow down.” I furrow my brow. “I don’t understand.”
“Snakes,” Swan hisses with more rage than I’ve heard him speak before. Even when Remington betrayed their friendship, humiliating Swan and breaking his heart, Swan didn’t sound like this. “Vito didn’t try to hide it. He called himself Viper. I could hurl because I even devoured one of those cakes with fucking snake decorations.”
He gags.
I’m frozen.
Numb.
“Vito is…? He’s from the pack who…?” I don’t want to believe it. Even if it’s true, is it any of our fault the pack we’re born into? I’ve been hated for the last four years because I’m a Cinders, after all. “Is he the young Alpha who the triplet sisters were cruel to?”
“He’s the right age to be.” Swan’s eyes gleam. “Promise me that until we know the truth about Vito, you’ll be careful, JuJu. The Romeos took your mom and you captive. It’s the Snakes who sold me. All members are marked with that distinctive tattoo. And more than that? The Snakes are the most infamous mafia family in the state.”