Chapter Nineteen
Ford
In the mood he was in, he wasn’t ready to go home alone. Unable to shake the need burning through his veins, Ford went to Barry’s bar and sulked in a booth by the back door. Grabbing his mobile, he pressed dial on a number he shouldn’t be calling.
After three rings a wary voice answered. “What’s wrong?”
Ford tapped out a cigarette, grateful he was allowed to smoke inside. “I need a drink, but I ain’t meant to drink alone.”
Chase heaved a harried sigh. “Where are you?”
He hung up and texted the address, hoping Chase would be smart enough to get a taxi. Ford would happily leave his car in the parking lot overnight and walk back in the morning, since he only lived two streets away, but this wasn’t a neighbourhood Chase should be caught in at night.
He was halfway through a pint of beer and a plate of chips when Chase walked through the front door.
He looked delicious, like the Chauncey Walker from the society pages—swanky in a suit, the jacket draped over his arm, no tie and the top few shirt buttons undone.
No one stopped themselves from looking as he clocked Ford in the dark corner.
He walked with confidence, like the dive bar was his regular haunt, a slight swagger that made Ford curious.
He was fucking sexy tonight.
Chase laid the jacket on the back of a chair and sat across from Ford, raising an eyebrow at the beer on the table.
“You started without me.” He flagged a passing waitress who was twice his age, but when Chase smiled, she melted like a fucking omega in heat.
“Hi. Can I have three shots of whiskey, a large scotch and two beers? Whatever you have on tap. Thanks.” He ordered with a quiet confidence that the waitress responded to instinctively.
If Ford hadn’t been salivating over the suit, that show would have sealed the deal. “That’s a lotta drinking.”
Chase sank into his seat. “I was on my way to a political dinner for my father when you gave me an excuse to ditch.”
“Something to do with your folks?”
“Yup.”
Ford sat back and dared to risk a smack.
He slid a socked foot over Chase’s ankle, earning an instant frown of confusion that faded when he planted his foot in Chase’s crotch.
The angle was awkward and his knee was hitting the underneath of the table, but Chase raised an eyebrow and his knees dropped open.
“You said you weren’t supposed to drink alone.”
He scrunched his toes and Chase licked his lips. Ford stopped and leaned over the table, his feet bracketing the work boots he’d taken off half an hour ago. “That’s all I’ve had since dinner,” he explained, tipping his head to the half-drunk beer on the table.
Chase laid his forearms on the table. “Are you high?”
“Just horny.”
Chase swallowed, his eyes darted away, then returned with a steely determination. The waitress arrived with his tray of drinks and Chase instantly downed two of the shots. Gritting his teeth, he slid the scotch towards Ford and split the two beers.
“To not drinking alone,” Chase toasted, lifting the last shot. He waited for Ford to clink his scotch off the tiny shot glass, then downed the drink in one gulp.
* * * *
For the next hour, Chase barely broke eye contact as they talked about Lucky and his worries about his family.
Ford discovered a lot about Chase in that hour.
He didn’t shy away from asking questions, growing more open and confident with a few beers.
He ranted at the injustice of Ford’s work mates fucking up his case and gushed adoringly over Lucky, barely beyond tipsy thanks to his Override.
All night, only one thought pushed beyond all the others. Chase had never been sexier.
When Chase called a taxi to get him home, Ford walked him outside and hissed at the sting of a chill wind. A stream of light fell on Chase from a street lamp like a golden halo, his shirt was barely ruffled, suit jacket slipped on to fight the cold, and Ford couldn’t resist.
Ford grabbed Chase by his suit jacket and kissed him.
The reckless alpha melted into his arms, kissing back with a desperate need that matched whatever was burning through Ford’s veins.
He pushed Chase against the wall to ground himself, and rolled his eyes when his hair was held in a tight, punishing grip.
Fuck, Chase could kiss. He licked decadently at the tongue invading his mouth and got a handful of Chase’s backside before headlights flashed in the street. He broke away just as Chase’s hand grazed his hard cock, trapped behind his jeans.
Chase made eye contact, his blue eyes scrunched with worry. “You’ve gotta stay with us, okay? We need you.”
Ford wasn’t sure what that meant, why he sounded scared, or why he was bringing that up now.
“I’m fine. I’ve been cleared from therapy and I’m getting back into the case.
I’ll get it resolved soon.” He could see Chase wasn’t convinced, but he was fine.
Ford kissed him and broke off with a breathy, “Fuck,” as the bond intensified.
Every time the bond strengthened, it felt like relief, like he could finally breathe after an interminable time underwater.
Chase released a shaky breath and grasped his arm.
“I’m scared,” he whispered into his throat, a brave admission for an alpha.
“I’m scared every time Lucky’s on his own, even though Lincoln isn’t out there, wandering around.
I’m scared of a lot of shit lately, so you have to be okay, because I can’t do this alone.
I can’t be Lucky’s only alpha. I’m not strong enough. ”
Stunned by the brutal honesty, Ford pulled Chase closer. He’d watched alphas suffer the same misconceptions, unable to express how they felt about their work with the ORT until a failed case or gentle omega cracked their protective barriers.
Jesi had been the key to unlock him, and he was proud to be that for Chase.
Chase rested against his shoulder. He didn’t speak, but accepted what little comfort Ford could give.
“Alpha or omega, that shit don’t mean anything unless you let it.
” He refused to let Chase be caged by expected behaviours.
Wanting to be needed, cared for, to be held, didn’t make him weak.
“Admitting how you feel for me, and accepting how I feel, don’t make you any less an alpha.
Makes you fucking strong to know yoursel’, to accept who you are.
” Ford closed his eyes to engrave the scent of Chase onto his lungs. “I’m fucking proud to call you mine.”
Chase briefly nuzzled at his neck. “Get home safe.” He stepped back, waved to the taxi that waited at the end of the narrow alley at the back of Barry’s, and walked away.
“Sweet dreams, meda.”
Chase waved and disappeared into the darkness towards his taxi.
* * * *
Chase
It was after eleven when he got home, sinking onto the sofa with relief. Popping the nearby lamp on, he went through his usual routine of cleaning up, doing the dishes and checking what he’d need to throw out from the fridge. The calm, familiar monotony of the tasks gave him a chance to sober up.
By the time he stepped out of the shower, Chase reached for a towel to dry off, intending to go straight to bed.
A knock at the front door surprised him, because he always locked the front entrance at night.
He wrapped the towel around his waist and used another to scrub at his hair, leaving the bedroom to walk through the living room to the front door.
He was surprised to find Ford outside, leaning against the wall opposite his door, phone in hand and Lucky’s laughter spilling from it.
“You ain’t gonna be angry at me, are you?”
Leaning against the door frame, Chase wrapped the spare towel around his neck and folded his arms over his chest, listening to Lucky’s welcome voice through the phone.
“You’ve had a hard day. You deal with things however you want, as long as you’re safe,” Lucky encouraged him, a trusting omega who had no idea of the trouble lurking in Ford’s eyes.
Despite what they’d been drinking, Ford’s eyes were clear, full of admiration. “You gonna be pissed I’m outside Chase’s flat?”
“Should I be?” Lucky shot back, genuinely curious.
“Depends.” Ford pushed off the wall and leaned in for a kiss that never came. “I’m horny and he’s fucking sexy, all dripping wet and only wearing a towel. There ain’t any rules about resisting our baby alpha, is there?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
Ford hummed and bit his bottom lip, leaning in so close Chase could smell the alcohol on his breath. “I’m thinking of blowing our alpha. Whatcha gotta say ’bout that?” He pushed a hand into the door frame to crowd Chase.
Lucky’s voice was quiet, slightly husky. “Like you say, he’s our alpha. Do whatever you want. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he said, clearly fighting laughter before he abruptly hung up.
Ford stared at his phone. “Flower?”
Chase grabbed the phone to shove into Ford’s coat pocket.
He looked good in black jeans, a white T-shirt under a navy shirt, and a black bomber jacket, all sexy and powerful.
Chase had been fighting the instinct to snog him all night.
“He’s trying not to laugh at you, a grown alpha, asking his permission,” he explained, in case Ford didn’t realise why Lucky had rushed off the phone.
Taking a half step closer, he looked Ford in the eye.
“When it comes to what Lucky wouldn’t do…
I can’t imagine where that line is. If he was here, he’d be on his knees in a heartbeat, seeing you this sexy. ”
Ford opened his mouth to speak, but Chase was done talking. Grabbing Ford by his jacket, he stepped back and dragged him inside the apartment, then kicked the door shut and pushed Ford against it.
“You were supposed to get home safe. Tell me you didn’t drive here,” he demanded, hating that he sounded like a possessive crush.
“I called a taxi.”