9. Pizza Buddies
Pizza Buddies
I followed Archer as he ran for the kitchen.
River was swearing nonstop and as we entered the room, he looked up at us from where he was sitting on the floor. The oven door stood open and three frozen pizzas lay scattered around him. The oven rack was at his feet.
"What . . . happened?" Archer asked curiously.
"Fucking mouse in the fucking oven is what happened!" River looked completely undone, his cheeks red, his eyes wide. For the first time, I realized his eyes were blue, a very dark blue, but blue.
"What's going on?" Orion and Kade appeared right behind us.
"Apparently, our formerly fearless leader found a mouse in the oven," Archer chortled.
"It was a big mouse." River scrambled to his feet. "This house is infested."
He stormed out of the room, bumping hard into Orion as he squeezed past us.
"He's scared of mice?" I whispered to Archer.
"He had bad experiences with mice when he was a kid."
Frowning, I looked around the kitchen. There was nothing I could see to indicate a mouse was living there and when I peered into the oven, I didn't see any droppings. "Are we sure there's a mouse?"
"I can hear you talking about me!" River yelled from the other room.
Kade sighed, went to the fridge and pulled out a salad. It looked exactly the same as the salad he'd eaten for lunch. He carried it to the dining table, sat down and opened it, carefully adding his dressing.
"Should I put the pizzas back in?" I asked no one in particular.
"THEY'RE INFECTED!" River hollered.
"The heat will kill anything that got on them," I called back, feeling braver now that I knew the big bad alpha had a weakness. Not one I could easily exploit, but a weakness.
"Nah, let's toss them. I'll find a pan and we can put new ones on. Can you preheat the oven?" Archer grabbed the pizzas off the floor and tossed them in the trash.
"That's just going to bring in more mice," I pointed out quietly.
"Well, can you blame them? It's cold outside," Orion muttered before disappearing into the living room.
I dug out more pizzas while Archer found baking sheets and set the rack back in place. We laid the fresh pizzas out and popped them in the oven when it was done preheating, then he set a timer on his phone and we moved back into the living room.
When I went to take the armchair again, Archer quickly intercepted me and plopped me in between himself and Orion once more. They were both nice and warm, though Orion sat very stiffly beside me. It wasn't as terrifying as the first time since I felt like I knew Archer a little better.
Orion flipped the television to a horror channel where It was playing and River groaned.
"Not this stupid movie again."
"It's a classic for a reason," Orion growled.
The timer dinged and Orion went with Archer to get the pizzas. I shifted into Archer's spot while he was gone, just as Kade came in, looked around the room and sank down in the armchair I'd been in earlier.
The pizzas smelled heavenly and even though I'd recently gobbled down three Rice Krispy bars like a maniac, my stomach rumbled with hunger. I'd never been this hungry in my life.
When the guys returned, they put the pizzas on the coffee table.
"There's enough for everyone, we tossed a few more in the oven," Archer said, looking over at me.
Orion sat down in his usual spot and Archer, instead of taking the spot next to him, scooped me up and sat, dropping me onto his lap.
"Hey!" I jabbed him playfully in the ribs with my elbow and he just laughed.
His strong arm banded around my middle and he leaned forward, snagging a piece of pizza and handing it to me. Then he grabbed a piece for himself.
"You can let me go," I told him, gingerly holding the piping hot pizza.
Orion silently handed me a napkin and I dropped the pizza onto it, shaking out my heated hand.
"You're the one who wanted to sit here." Archer took a big bite of his pizza, not seeming to care how hot it was.
"Fine." I wiggled my butt to get into a more comfortable position, but froze when I realized my mistake. Something hard and long was suddenly pressing against my ass cheeks.
Not daring to move forward, I leaned back against his chest and pretended not to notice his hard-on. Instead, I nibbled at the pizza, careful not to burn my tongue and focused on the sink gushing blood on the TV screen.
Archer kept eating, too, but he flexed his hips slightly, digging harder into my backside. Then he let out a whoosh of air and relaxed, a light hum in his chest that I felt, rather than heard. He was purring, but just barely.
The effect was immediate, whether or not he was properly purring.
My body relaxed completely and I sagged against him.
There was a gush of slick in the gym pants I wore and it was all I could do not to squirm on his lap.
Heat seemed to emanate from between my legs.
This was not happening. I didn't get turned on by alphas, especially not ones that kidnapped me and were determined to return me to the hell that was the Omega Reassignment Center.
"Tone it down, little one, if you don't want everyone smelling you," Archer whispered in my ear.
I felt my cheeks heat. Of course, the room full of alphas would be able to smell my pheromones.
It was enough for me to clamp my legs shut, feeling the slick on my thighs and wishing desperately I had some panties.
In the too-big gym pants, there wasn't a lot I could do to hide the smell.
It was sickly sweet to my own nose with a sour note as my embarrassment rose.
"What the hell are you doing over there, Archer?" Kade asked, sniffing the air.
I resisted the urge to bury my face in Archer's armpit. His amber scent surrounded me, stronger than it had been a minute ago.
"She's trying to send us into a rut," River groused. "Take it upstairs if you're going to start perfuming like that. It's disgusting. We don't do omegas."
"I'm not trying to do anything!" I pulled Archer's arm free and slid into the free space beside him, making Orion stiffen.
His nostrils flared and Orion's dark eyes turned to me. "You smell like food."
"I'm eating pizza," I pointed out helpfully.
He rolled his eyes. "Apples. Honey. Spices. It's delicious." Suddenly, Orion leaned into my space and licked up the side of my face.
I jerked away, "Ew! Get off me!"
"Okay, that's enough, omega. We're going up." River jumped up and strode over to me, grabbing my arm roughly and dragging me upright.
"I didn't finish eating!"
"Too bad. Should have thought of that before you decided to seduce us."
Despite my protests that I wasn't trying to seduce them, River ignored me, continuing to drag me up the stairs. I didn't struggle, but it was hard to keep up with his longer legs and he kept jerking me along with him until I stumbled and hit my knees on the edge of the stairs.
I cried out and instantly snapped me mouth shut, pained tears welling up. When the betas zapped us, they always kept going if we yelped or whimpered.
River just ignored that I was in pain, yanking hard on my arm to pull me upright and then grabbing me and swinging me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
I let a couple of tears fall since he couldn't see me, then quickly wiped them away. Looking around, I saw that we were in a different room than Archer's. This one was decorated all in yellows and grays.
Before I had a chance to really look around from my upside down position, River flipped me off his shoulder and tossed me down on a fluffy bed. I bounced once and then lay there in a cloud of soft comfort, staring up at the pale yellow ceiling.
"Get into bed. You're going to sleep," River snapped.
"I'm not tired." Even to my ears, it sounded like a petulant child's resistence.
River just looked at me, his navy blue eyes hard. "I don't care. You've cost me a lot of time and energy and I'm exhausted, so you'll go to bed now and if you're not tired, you can damn well stay awake."
He shut the bedroom door, locked it and crossed to check the window. "You need to pee?"
"What?"
"Do. You. Need. To. Pee?"
"Yes." I decided I'd take the opportunity, since he might not let me up again all night.
"Then go." He gestured to the bathroom.
When I went in and started to shut the door, he put a hand out to stop the door from closing. "Just go."
"There's not even a window in here!"
"Piss or get into the bed." He sounded exhausted and angry.
"Fine." I quickly peed and washed my hands before leaving the bathroom.
He went in after me and I heard him use the toilet too, before he stalked out of the room and threw back the covers beside me. To my shock, he stripped out of his clothes until he was wearing nothing but black boxer briefs that clearly outlined his cock, heavy and soft against his leg.
"I wasn't trying to seduce anyone!" I stared at him in horror. "Please, don't do this."
"You think I want you?" He threw his head back and laughed. "Please, omega. I already told you, we don't fuck omegas. Go to sleep."
I didn't lie down as he crawled under the blankets. The room was cold and the blankets were the only way to really stay warm. Finally, scooting to the edge of the bed, I snuggled down, pulling the blankets up to my chin.
As I laid my arm over the covers, River rolled to face me and snapped something around my wrist. Cold metal bit into my skin. He'd handcuffed me.
When I sat up to look, I realized he'd cuffed me to himself.
"You're not going anywhere, no matter how hard I sleep," he said with a self-satisfied grin. "Now lie down. And don't even think about wiggling around all night."