Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Oh my God! Tell me everything! I’ve missed you so much.” Marlie’s voice reverberates around the small room.
“I only have ten minutes, so you’ll have to settle for the top line.”
“Spill, spill, spill.”
I press my feet against the wall and slip a little down the chair into a reclining position. “Well, Sax is real, but he’s three people. And he’s an Alpha.”
“Oh, no, I can’t believe it.” Her words are a little strangled, which is an odd change from the exuberance she possessed just a moment ago.
“Yeah. Imagine my shock. Add in the fact that he’s my scent match…”
Her horrified gasp is a little validating, honestly. “I need you to know that I am so sorry for signing you up for this show, Ariana. This was your worst fear, and I’m responsible for making it happen.”
“I appreciate the apology, and I’ll figure out a way to get you back one day, but I’ve had to admit to myself that I wouldn’t have held out much longer without meeting Sax. At least you helped me do it in a controlled environment where I was forced to hear them out.”
I would’ve run in any other situation.
“Then tell me all about them.”
“Grant is a Beta, scent matched to Derrick, who’s the one from the pictures. He’s gorgeous, Marlie. Like, an actual model. And he’s also scent matched to Ivan, another Alpha who is so hot. Pure masculine perfection, I swear. And they’re all my scent matches.”
She makes a clicking noise with her mouth that almost sounds like she’s grimacing. “What are you going to do?”
That’s the question of the week, isn’t it? What am I going to do? It’s easy, in the vacuum of the Expected house, to say I’m going to give them a chance and get to know them. What is going to happen when we’re out of here, and everything is long-distance again?
“I’m getting to know the guys.” I have to make sure that I don’t mention Derrick leaving the house.
Even though she signed a non-disclosure agreement and they’ll edit out a slip, they want to make extra sure that doesn’t leak before the episode airs.
“I’m learning which parts of Sax each of them is.
And honestly, talking to them feels like talking to Sax.
It’s like I know them, their souls, even if all the facts aren’t there. ”
“So you love them?”
“Possibly. The foundation is poured, and the frame is up, but we’re not a house yet.”
“Uh.” Marlie pauses, as if she has no idea what to say. “I don’t watch those home makeover shows as much as you do, but aren’t there a lot of steps after framing the house?”
If I close my eyes, I can almost see us stretched out on my couch together. I didn’t know I needed this so much. “Yeah. The roofing and rough-in and the rest of it are forgiveness and falling in love.”
“Weird analogy just to say that.”
“Bonding is giving them the keys.” I think I can hear her eyes roll, which makes me laugh. “I didn’t realize how much I miss you. I needed this.”
“I miss you, too.”
“What have you been up to?” It’s only been a week since I left home, but I’m still two or three days out getting home, and it feels like so much has happened.
“Oh, nothing much. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. But let’s talk about you! Tell me more about this pack…”
I feel lighter than ever after my conversation with Marlie, even if it was way too short. I could’ve spent another half hour describing the way Grant’s silvery lavender hair reflects in the light, or how comfortable I was when Ivan held me in his lap in the pack tub.
But I can’t think about that. Not after everything we talked about today. I feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff, a step away from falling.
And it didn’t help that after dinner we all cuddled up on the couch and watched more Unexplainable and Bizarre.
Not that it’s a particularly arousing show, but having my feet in Ivan’s lap while he rubbed them, and Grant holding me against his side, meant I was having trouble paying attention to the show.
The heat of their bodies and Ivan’s pumpkin bread and Grant’s orchid scents combined into something unexpected and delicious.
I was grateful for a little space to clear my head when I got the notification from Bradley that Derrick was ready for our call at eleven on the dot.
“How are you today, honey?”
Has Derrick’s voice always had that low purr in it?
“I’m okay. It’s been a long day, but not in a bad way. Well, the pie-eating thing wasn’t great.”
“Pie eating?”
“Didn’t the guys tell you when they called you? We earned the privilege by eating pies with our hands behind our backs.”
“That is ridiculous. Why would the network want you to do that?”
I’m so used to having conversations with him on the phone that I don’t pay attention to my mannerisms. I fall back into our old pattern, folding my legs under me in the chair and chewing on the ends of my hair.
“It’s a long story that ends with Ivan saying if we didn’t stop talking about that, they’d make it our challenge.”
“How does that even come up in conversation?”
“Well…” Do I tell him about our sexually charged conversation?
It’s not like I’ve never talked about this stuff with Derrick before, even if we always pretended it didn’t happen afterward.
“It started with me telling them my fantasy.” My voice gets quieter as I speak, but it’s nothing compared to the silence coming out of the speaker.
When Derrick finally responds, the purr in his voice is richer, his tone deeper. “The one about how you want to be treated like you’re in heat and free to use?”
I try to silence an aroused whine, but I don’t think I manage. “That’s the one.”
“I bet they loved that. I know I have spent years imagining taking advantage of it.”
Slick gathers between my thighs, and I drop my feet to the floor to squeeze them together. “You have?”
“Oh hell yes. Taking my Omega whenever I want, and punishing you for being desperate for me? God, the possibilities. I could fuck you all day and never let you come.”
Yeah, how am I supposed to think about anything other than that ever again? My whole body is hot just listening to him.
“Ivan would take care of me.” I don’t know why I bring it up, and I worry Derrick is going to be upset that I brought his packmate into it.
His laugh is throaty and so sexy I feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust. “He won’t have a chance if I keep you stuck on my knot all day.”
Oh, fuck.
Derrick has a knot.
Not one of those knot sleeves I’ve fantasized about him wearing when I thought he was a Beta, but an actual fucking knot.
What would that feel like? The toys are great, but I doubt they hold a candle to the real thing.
“Imagine it. I wake you up with my cock, and when you try to come, I pull out, ruining your orgasm, because you’re a selfish Omega who thinks if she asks for it, she should get a knot whenever she wants.
And you’re so needy all day, begging for me, but I push you away before you can come every single time.
Maybe Ivan will be there trying to get you off, but I think my bark could convince him to leave you alone.
At least until I’m done with you. When I’ve decided you earned it, I’ll turn him loose on you, and you’ll regret asking for us because he’ll give you every single orgasm I stole from you and then some. ”
Oh fuck fuck.
I am throbbing between my thighs, slick soaking through my leggings, and my flesh is so heated that I feel like I need to do a polar plunge.
“Maybe I’ll let you watch me fuck Grant, but have Ivan hold your arms so you can’t touch yourself like you did in the tub. Oh, I could edge you while Ivan gives Grant so many orgasms he’s begging to stop, and you have to watch, helplessly, knowing you won’t be allowed even one.”
“Derrick. Please.” At this point, it doesn’t matter that there is a camera in here. I don’t care that others will see or hear this. I need him, or I am going to lose my mind.
“Please, what, Omega?”
Holy shit.
He’s never called me Omega before, and I’m realizing why. There is no way to deny he is an Alpha when his words rumble like that.
“Help. I’m so… I…”
“Oh, did I get you worked up, honey?”
“Yes!”
“If I was a mean Alpha, I’d leave you hanging. But I’m not mean, am I? I’m a good Alpha. Aren’t I?”
“You are a good Alpha.” My mind may be foggy with a heat spike and arousal, but I know the words are true. After ruminating on the conversation last night about how he’s always been my Alpha, there is no denying he has been in everything but title all of this time.
“Go ahead and slip your hand into your panties, Ariana.” I follow his command without protest, groaning as my fingers slip through the slick. “Good. One finger. That’s all you’re allowed right now. One finger on your perfect little clit.”
The moment I touch my clit, my body jerks. I’m so worked up that it won’t take much for me to come. I rub slow circles with the pad of my index finger, and I don’t try to stifle the pathetic whimper that slips from my lips.
“It sounds like you’re getting ahead of me, Omega. You wouldn’t do that, would you? You’re going to listen to your Alpha, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” I groan and have to force myself to stop my finger from massaging my clit. He never told me I could move it.
“Good girl. I can tell you’re worked up, so I won’t torture you too much. You can use two fingers and rub yourself, but I want you to stop before you come.”
I waste no time moving a second finger to my clit and making circles on it. “Why do I have to stop?” God, my voice doesn’t sound like my own. It’s wanton, pleading. I don’t typically get like this outside of my heats.
“Because you need to ask permission, honey. That’s the rule.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve had phone sex, but it is the first time outside of heat and that we’ve incorporated either of our kinks into it. I am so into it, I can’t see straight.
It’s only a few moments before I can feel the tidal wave of my orgasm growing. “I’m going to- I need to-”
“Oh, already? Desperate, needy thing, aren’t you? As long as you say my name, you can come.”
As soon as the permission is granted, my legs shake, and tension coils in my lower belly. “Oh, fuck, Derrick,” I moan, thrusting my hips into the air. “Holy shit. Derrick, I’m coming, I-”
“Come for me, Ariana. Come for your Alpha.”
And I do. The orgasm pulses through my body, leaving me weak but satiated when it’s done. “Alpha.” My voice is barely more than a sigh, but I know he can hear me.
“Such a good little Omega.”
Maybe tomorrow, when I wake up, realize I had phone sex in front of a camera and that it is highly likely America is going to see footage of me masturbating, I’ll regret what happened.
But I can’t bring myself to right now. Right now, I feel satisfied in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever been before.
Because that orgasm didn’t come from me. It came from my Alpha.
And I never realized how much I needed that.