Sable
Do I still have a stupid smile on my face days after spending the night cuddled up to Colter and Rhian? Yes. Yes, I do. If I could have my way, we would have stayed in that bed all week, but once Rhian was awake and feeling better, I didn’t have a reason to stay.
I pouted on the drive back to the shop, even though Colter gave me a ride, making life easier.
I was slow to get the ball rolling, but managed to open the shop on time, despite my reluctance to return to the real world.
But the memory has made the days pass quickly.
Candles are selling out, and I already have to restock the front, so I grab a box from my storage, and head to the front.
The scent hits me first. Crisp Autumn leaves…oh no. I jerk to a stop when I see him.
Taron is in my shop… Fuck.
Why is Taron in my shop? Double fuuuck…
“You had to leave, go to college, start a whole new life, just to realize you wanted to be a candle maker?” he snarks, obviously aware that I’m staring at the back of his head.
I nearly drop the box of candles I’m holding when he turns and looks at me over his shoulder.
It’s ten in the morning. I do not have the energy for this.
“No, I went to college for business management. Good thing too, considering.” I tilt my head to one side before looking around the shop I inherited.
“Prepared me for taking over this place.” I lift my chin and place the box on the floor next to the display case for the candles.
Taron watches me too closely as I pass him.
One of my favorite things about working in this shop is that I can wear whatever I want. Today I went with a long flowing white off-the-shoulder long-sleeve dress that looks more like festival attire than work clothes, but here we are.
I wasn’t feeling self-conscious about the choice until this moment, as Taron looks me up and down. Do I look like I think I’m a forest fairy? Yes. I wasn’t expecting the town's sexiest bad-boy alpha to walk in here when I got ready this morning.
I watch as he swallows, his scent spiking until all I’m breathing is him.
He smells so good. There’s a reason another one of my bestsellers is Haunted Pines. Frosted pine, bourbon, and wet autumn leaves. All Taron.
“Did you come in here just to judge my life choices, or are you going to buy something?” I prop my hand on my hip and lift my chin, meeting his stare head-on. Stupid sexy lip ring. Stupid slutty neck tattoos.
“Just looking around.” He shrugs, finally breaking eye contact and releasing me from his damn spell. I grumble with annoyance, his behavior bringing me back to the first time I met him, as he annoyed me in study hall.
“Do you often wear your hair in pigtails? Or did you do those just for me?” Taron, the school's bad boy alpha, asks.
“I just think they’re cute,” I huff. My hair was in pigtails the night Colter kissed me. He’s gone, graduated last year, but I think of him every time I wear my hair like this.
“Nah, I think you wanted to look cute for me, Sable.” He leans in after taking the seat behind me, and I shiver as he whispers in my ear, “your reputation is almost as bad as mine. Are you as naughty as everyone says?”
“Right,” I huff, shaking off the memory of young Taron, bending forward and grabbing two candles at a time to place on the display.
“Fucking evil,” he groans quietly.
“What?!” I snap my head up at him, thinking he’s insulting something in my shop, until I realize he’s looking right at me. Right at my ass as I bend over in front of him. When did he get so close?
“That dress is fucking see-through,” he groans, staring me down with a heated look in his eyes.
“How many of the town's alphas saw your nipples this morning, Sable? Or am I the lucky one?” His growl catches me off guard just as much as his words do, and without thinking clearly, I drop the candles, shattering the glass around me as I cover my apparently exposed breasts.
This does not bode well for the harlot accusations.
“Shit,” I murmur, glancing at the glass-covered floor. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Fuck, Sable!” Taron reaches me in two strides, scooping me off my feet and into his arms, bridal style. I yelp, instinctively steadying myself with my arms around his neck.
“I have shoes on,” I argue, even though he can clearly see my feet in this position. I was only wearing white slip-ons. Not very thick. Not exactly protective.
“You’re fucking bleeding, Sable,” he growls, but this time his voice is so deep that it sends shivers down my spine.
Oh, my…the alpha is mad. That shouldn’t be hot.
Is it because he’s worried about me? Is that why I’m turned on all of a sudden, because it means he cares?
I should talk to Plum about my questionable thoughts.
“And you’re my rescuer? How romantic,” I hiss, trying to dissolve some of the tension, but those were the wrong words to use. It only seems to anger him more, and I bite my bottom lip as he storms up the back stairs toward my living area.
Oh, hell… not up there…
Memories of being a stupid teenager flood my head as I breathe in his scent. The feeling of his body against mine only messes with my mind further. I took him up here once, which is how he knows where the bathroom is.
Hopefully, his alpha instinct to protect me is so powerful right now that he isn’t thinking about that night…
The blanket we laid out on the floor, or the pillows we used to build a small nest. Or the way he laid me down, and kissed me so fucking sweetly. How many times had I kissed Taron before that night? But somehow that felt like the first time he really kissed me.
“Control your thoughts, Sable. Your scent is begging me to fuck you. Fill you with my knot. Who was your first knot, by the way?” Taron asks, as he pushes one door after another open, before setting me on the bathroom sink.
Fucking hell, this man and his dirty words.
He’s the one that got us into this mess, talking like that.
He’s laser-focused on his task as he lifts my leg and inspects my wounds. Most of them are superficial, but a few have blood welling up under the glitter of shattered glass. The sight of the blood makes me whimper, stealing away all thoughts of his knot.
I am such a huge wimp when it comes to pain, and his gaze snaps up, meeting mine. His eyes are so filled with so much concern for me that it halts my breath, almost making me forget the pain that's setting in.
“That's a lot of blood,” I murmur, still staring into his beautiful hazel eyes.
“Come on, Sable, who was your first knot? Or did you forget the promises you made the first time you brought me up here?” Taron asks as he gently lowers my leg and starts digging out supplies.
“Never taken a knot, Taron,” I hiss, squeezing my eyes shut. I’m feeling woozy, but I bite my tongue to distract myself. I will not pass out like a big baby who can’t handle a little cut. He doesn’t say anything about my admission though.
“I’m going to have to dig the glass out, Sable. You need to breathe,” he says more gently than I expected from him. “Would it help if I took my shirt off?” he teases, and I open my eyes long enough to shoot him a glare as he wiggles his brows at me.
“I hate you,” I grunt.
“Not what you said six years ago, baby. Or did you already forget? Because I never did.” He softly grabs my calf, lifting my leg, careful to keep my dress off the ruined skin. I wince because I am seriously such a wimp, and stare up at the ceiling.
“I remember what I said, Taron. I was eighteen and stupid,” I growl through gritted teeth as he pours alcohol over the wounds, after slipping my shoe off. “Oh, fuck me!”
“Okay, if you insist,” he says, and I risk looking down to shoot him another glare. “Just let me fix you up first, then my cock is all yours–”
“I will stab you, Taron. I swear I will.” It’s an empty threat, and based on the shit eating grin he sends me, we both know it. My scent gives me away, as his words sink into my chest and grip my lungs tight. Fuck. My cock is all yours… who says that?
“Whatever makes you happy, Little Ghost.” He turns his attention back to my leg, and I watch, unable to look away this time, as he uses a pair of tweezers to pull out a shard of glass from my ankle.
“It would make me happy if you stopped talking,” I grunt, gripping the edge of the sink as I try to breathe through the pain.
“Lie. You love the way my voice sounds. Especially when I’m saying your name as I cum.” He’s focused on cleaning my wounds, but his tone is so fucking confident that I want to bite him.
“You infuriate me…” I hiss as he tugs another shard free.
“Love and hate share the same line, baby. I bet you’re just one knot away from marking me with those omega fangs,” Taron taunts, reminding me of the temporary omega bond I gave him, a desperate attempt to keep him in my life.
One I still regret to this day. It made everything so much worse.
Made our pain so much more intense. I swallow thickly, thankful the thorny neck tattoos hide any scars I might have left behind.
At least one of us had enough self-control not to complete the bond.
“You’re the one who cut me off after I moved, Taron. Are you going to punish me for leaving forever?” I ask, my voice cracking from the pain, and maybe a little bit from frustration.
“No, Sable. I was never punishing you, I was just heartbroken that the only girl I’ve ever loved didn’t want me anymore.
” His tone is soft and serious, but his hands are firm and sure as he pulls out another piece of glass before looking up and meeting my eyes.
He catches the way I stare at his neck and smirks.