Chapter 10 #2
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and they hang there, heavy between us.
Her eyes flare again, and I can tell that if she could get away with it, she’d slap me. “Don’t be so ridiculous.” And then she says, almost to herself, “Why the hell did I even walk over here?”
Good question. One I don’t know the answer to.
After everything that happened in her past, it makes no sense, but here she is. Staring into my eyes. Standing with mere inches of space between us, like it’s her sole mission to drown me in her presence. It’s a beautiful torture I’d suffer over and over again, just to be close to my Omega.
Mine.
Even though she wanted Beck.
The tension between us is heavier than before, pulling me toward her with a force I can’t escape. I can see it in the way her chest rises and falls with every sharp breath she takes, her eyes burning with intense rage.
I want to look away. I should look away. But I can’t.
Her lips part just slightly, and for a moment, I think she’s about to say something sharp. But I don’t give her the chance.
The Alpha inside of me snaps. One second, she’s glaring at me with that fierce, untouchable look. A fire that is rarely, if ever, quenched. And in the next moment, my body moves. Stands. The space between us collapses in on itself.
And I feel her mouth on mine.
The kiss comes without warning. Without pretense or recompense.
It’s a collision, a force of nature that neither of us expected.
My lips crash into hers with a hunger I’ve held back all my life, and for a heartbeat, the world stops.
Her body freezes against mine, and I brace myself for her to shove me away.
For her to truly, properly slap me this time.
But then she shudders, as if my touch is a shock to her system.
I lave my tongue against her lips. If this is all I get of her, then I have to cement the memory. I have to give it to myself. My Alpha is selfish, and I’m tired of holding him at bay. So, if this is all I get, then so be it.
She’s stiff in my arms at first as they cage around her.
I feel her precious little feet on top of my steel-toed boots.
She’s braced, almost like she’s preparing to pull away.
But then I feel her body melt, the smallest, most helpless little whimper escapes her, and my Alpha surges with a pride that hardens my cock against the zipper of my pants.
My Omega, finally in my arms.
I pull her closer, my hands landing on her waist, gripping her close to me. Feeling the heat of her skin through her shirt. Her mouth parts for me, a joy I can’t describe, and our tongues collide for the very first time. Her hands are tentative, sliding up my arms as she grips my biceps.
Everything disappears. The bar. The smell of booze. Even the patrons. But then she does something I don’t expect.
She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me back.
A growl rumbles up the back of my throat.
Prideful, and happy. The kiss clatters our teeth together as my hands run down her body.
Palming her ass. Gripping the handfuls of excess she has there that jiggle against my skin.
Her lips press up against mine, her tongue lashing for control. It makes me grin. Always a fighter.
Her hands claw at my chest, and for a moment, I wait for her to push me away.
Her breath comes in uneven gasps down the back of my throat, and the tremble of her body tells me she’s still trying to hold back.
I feel the press of her hands before she wraps those little fingers of hers up in my shirt.
Tugging me closer.
Fighting her instincts.
Mine.
My pulse is pounding so loud it drowns everything else out. I’m sinking into the waters of bliss, and I can’t tell if it’s from the force of this kiss or the fact that she’s making me lose every inch of my composure.
A voice in the back of my head reminds me that we are in public. That this will be the talk of the town for weeks to come. But my Alpha quickly buries that shit into the dark recesses of my soul.
I’m not letting go until she’s ready.
Her hands move up to my neck, pulling me down toward her, like she’s trying to press herself into me. Like she’s trying to make herself a part of me. The heat between us is almost unbearable now, with sweat beading against my forehead, and I know we’ve crossed a line we can’t come back from.
Her body presses into mine, and I can feel the burning of her skin, the way her scent intensifies, mingling with mine in a way that makes it impossible to think straight.
It’s not just the anger or frustration anymore.
This… this is raw need, desire coiling tighter and tighter with every second, my Alpha instincts need to make this Omega mine.
I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.
I feel the pressure building, her mouth moving against mine in a way that makes every inch of my skin hum with need.
I don’t know where this is coming from or why it’s happening now, but I don’t care. I’m lost in it, in her, and I can’t find my way out.
But then, she pulls away. Just as quickly as her body melded to mine, she steps off of my feet, and the world snaps back into focus. She stands toe to toe with me now, my hands still gripping her waist. Her eyes lock with mine. Wide, dark, and filled with something dangerous.
A thing that could destroy us both.
Her breath is ragged, her lips swollen from the kiss, and she looks at me, trying to figure out if I’m an enemy or a disaster she can’t avoid.
“What the hell are you doing?” she breathes, shaking. I can see her pulse pounding at the crook of her neck.
My teeth sharpen. That’s where I want my mark. Right there, pounding with every heartbeat, so that this entire town can see who she belongs to. Who protects her. Who shields her from the cruelties of this world.
I can feel her trying to steady herself, trying to get a grip on whatever the hell just happened, but her words mean nothing. Her body is telling me everything I need to know. Her chest rises and falls too quickly, her hands twitch like they want to reach for me.
Her scent, sweet and tangled with something wild, cuts through the space between us, pulling at my instincts. I can smell the tremble in her scent, the mix of confusion, anger, and something deeper. Something that has my Alpha instincts roaring to respond.
Yet I don’t have an answer.
I open my mouth, but no words come out. It’s not that I don’t want to say something, it’s that I don’t know what to say. Nothing makes sense right now.
She’s the only thing that’s ever made sense.
She finally steps back out of my grasp, and as much as I want to pull her close and punish her for ever thinking she could step away from her Alpha, I let her go. She shakes her head and stares up at me, like she’s trying to convince herself this wasn’t real. That it didn’t happen.
“You… What the hell was that, Ford?”
I can see her, see how the anger has shifted, but there’s more there now. An intense rawness.
I try to catch my breath, but I can barely do it. I can’t let her walk away. Not like this.
“Lo,” I start, and my words sound rough, even to me. “I didn’t mean… I didn’t…”
She cuts me off with a sharp laugh, almost bitter. “No. No, you didn’t mean it. You never do. That’s the problem.”
It’s a slap in the face, but I don’t move, don’t pull away. Instead I stand there, watching her retreat, the burn of that kiss still lingering on my lips.
But she doesn’t turn around. Not yet. She’s still standing there, her back to me, her body rigid. My pulse is pounding in my ears, matching the throbbing between my legs, and every inch of me is screaming to close the space, to pull her into me, to make everything right.
To make everything the way it should be.
I want to reach out and press against her. I want to mark her as mine. I want to show her that I won’t let her break like this. That I won’t let her break ever again.
But I can’t. She’s walking away, retreating into herself, and my mind is a hurricane of confusion and frustration.
Everything between us—her, me, the pull, the years of distance and history, the secret scent match—feels like it’s about to crush me. I can’t let this happen, not like this. Not when she’s this close, with her taste on my lips and her scent and her energy tearing me apart from the inside out.
Every inch of me wants to bridge the gap. But I stay frozen, watching her, feeling the strain between us stretch thin, like a rope about to snap.
But this time, I don’t let it stop me.
I follow her outside when the jingle of the bell over the door snaps me out of my trance.
I can’t let her get away again.
My Alpha inside will never forgive me if I do.