Chapter 23
Evron
My heart is pounding erratically beneath my chest and I can only pray to whatever Gods may or may not exist that Juno doesn’t hear it. If she does, she says nothing as she sits silently beside me as I drive us almost thirty minutes out of town for our date, still as amused as she was when she saw me carrying a picnic basket and two large blankets that smell like her and her pack. I’m pretty sure she already knows I stole them from her nest, but she’s happy enough to let me get away with it, her curiosity for our date guiding her with little resistance.
Our date that I’ve had planned since I read a few romance books as a kid and thought it would be something Juno would want, expect, and like. And now, here we are. Seated in the warmth of my car as I drive us to her surprise date. An actual, honest to gods date .
I’m both nervous and excited all at once, and I’m pretty sure I’m not fooling a damned soul. The way I keep fidgeting with the radio dials, checking the heating, and stinking the place up with my nervous and jittery energy that I’m sure is affecting my scent are probably all dead giveaways.
As confirmed when Juno starts laughing quietly under her breath before swatting my hand away from the volume dial once more before turning it back to the even number she had it on before .
“Sorry,” I grimace, reaching my hand for the warmth of Juno’s thigh while I take in heady hits of her sugary scent still tainted with the faintest underlining of stress and anxiety. She hides it well, but her scent can’t lie, no matter how much she tries to mask it with her sweet, tropical perfume.
“What has you more nervous? Spending time alone with me, or my bad attitude lately?” she questions with a teasing lilt to her words.
I grin, knowing she’s only asking in an attempt to relax me. It’s still surreal that she’s even here, sitting in my car with me while I take her on a date I’ve been wanting for years, so her trying to lighten the mood with her teasing has me relaxing more than anything ever could.
“I mean, you’re grumpy ass has been a handful lately,” I volley, grinning wider when she snorts and nods in agreement. Squeezing her thigh, I draw her attention back and tell her honestly, “I’m never nervous having you all to myself, Blue. I’d steal you away at every moment I could if I knew it wouldn’t get my ass beat.”
Juno wraps her hand around my arm with a laugh, the warmth of her hand seeping into my already heated body. I risk offering her a quick wink before focusing once more on the road ahead.
“So, what has you acting all jittery?” she wonders, releasing my arm to retrieve her camera. The loss of her touch distracts me for only a moment before I force myself to concentrate on steering us safely to our destination.
It’s as I’m taking a bend slowly that I hear the shutter of a picture being taken, and I can’t help but smile, because there are only a few things in this world that I love more than a focused Juno doing what she loves.
I hear the shutter go off again, and I laugh as I straighten the wheel before risking a glance in her direction, only to find the camera lens pointed at me. Another photo is taken, and I spy a beautiful grin hidden behind the large camera’s frame as Juno snaps another photo.
Recklessly, it’s only when she lowers the camera and grins down at the screen that I blink out of the spell she weaves around me. I switch between watching the road and her, enraptured as he bites her full lower lip as she fiddles with the dials and buttons on the fancy-looking device held delicately in her small hands, and it takes her looking over with an eyebrow raise to remind me that she asked a question.
“I’m nervous because I’ve been wanting to take you on this date since I learned about them. I’m nervous because I want this to go well. And I’m nervous because guys taking their girls on a first date is usually something to be nervous about,” I tell her, words rushed enough that they almost form one, long, winding sentence.
Silence answers me, and I cringe, only wondering briefly if I word-vomited a little too much until I hear the camera shutter once more. Rolling my eyes with a renewed grin, I shake my head and relax some more when Juno takes another photo and chuckles softly under her breath.
“You’re adorable, you know that?” she murmurs softly, right before I feel the smooth, gentle touch of her finger against my jawline. My entire body erupts with goosebumps, and I’m harshly hit with a heavy dose of Juniper’s scent that has my mouth watering and hands tightening around the steering wheel. “You have no reason to be nervous. I’m just happy to be spending time with you, Ev. To finally see that smile of yours, to joke and laugh again. No matter what we do, I’ll love it, because I’m with you, okay?”
My heart starts pounding for a whole new set of reasons, and I nod slowly as I take her hand with mine, pressing three kisses to the back of it before clutching it to my lower stomach. “Well, then, that’s that.”
“That’s that,” Juno echoes, and I catch her smiling before she turns away and faces out front, a sweet little smile on my prickly little omega .
The remainder of the drive goes by in peaceful silence, and I’m battling a grin by the time I pull into a parking lot that is only a short walk to the beach, because Juniper has been so busy meddling with her camera that she has no idea where we are yet. The sun is still sitting lazily in the sky, though it’s dropping enough to tell me we have a couple of hours left until it sets for the night, just in time for Juno to get some crazy photos that I know she’s going to love.
It’s only as I turn off the car that Juno finally lifts her head from the screen of her camera, and I’m grinning wildly as she blurts, “Oh shit, the beach?”
Laughing at the pure excitement and awe now painted beautifully over every feature of her face, I nod, “The beach, baby.”
My girl doesn’t even wait for me to explain what we’re even doing here before she’s clambering out of the car, camera in hand and a wild look of glee I’ve only seen on her face a handful of times before.
Feeling pretty proud of myself for putting that look on her face, I climb out of the car after her and rush to the trunk, collecting the basket of food and drinks I packed before leaving, hauling the blankets from the car before tucking them beneath my arm, and slinging two camping chairs onto my shoulder.
Locking the car, I head towards Juno, watching her the whole time as she stands as still as stone as she peers out at the water as it washes over the sand before retreating again. As soon as I’m near, I ask,“You ready to get your date on, sweetheart?”
Juniper damn near slays me when she turns to face me, a watery smile in place and gorgeous, pale-blue eyes filled with tears. I’m about to panic that I did something tragically wrong by bringing her here when she rasps, “This was the best date idea. Thank you.”
I disguise my breath of relief with a softened smile, my heart warming at the mushy emotion Juno rarely displays, and offer gently, “Never thank me for doing something that puts that look on your face, Blue. It was done selfishly, and I’d do it over and over again if it made you happy. ”
With no warning at all, Juno surges up to press her mouth against mine, the cool press of her soft lips short circuiting my mind for all of five seconds. It’s enough that the chairs over my shoulder almost slip and fall, the basket damn near suffers a fatal collision with the ground, and the blankets almost float away when the wind hits us with a chilled caress.
The kiss ends much too soon for my liking, and I find myself chasing after another when Juno pulls back, laughing against my mouth when I capture her lips against mine once more, tightening my hold on everything while I take heady sips of her taste from her kisses and deep lungful’s of her scent mingled with the fresh, salty air of the ocean.
Only when I’ve had my fill do I release the happy omega, grinning down at her as her nose and cheeks turn pink from the cold, pale eyes no longer filled with tears but glittering with a happiness I want nothing more than to give her until the end of time.
“Come on then, sweetheart. Let’s make today a good day, huh?” I suggest, body heating more than usual when Juno bites that damned lip once more and nods. My blood heads south for winter, my cock swelling slightly beneath my jeans like a damned amateur, and I have to battle with myself in order to stop myself from dropping everything and hauling Juno back to the car to get to the after-party section of the evening.
Thankfully Juno takes pity on me, steals the blankets from under my arm, and hooks her camera bag higher on her shoulder before taking off towards the sandy shores. I’m content to follow behind her, watching as her purple hair billows around her pretty head with every gust of wind and her hips sway enticingly with every step she takes.
When she finally finds a spot, she turns with raised eyebrows in question, and I wink with a cheeky grin. “Secluded. I like it.”
Juno’s laugh is like the sunshine breaking through storm clouds, and I don’t know how my heart manages to double in size at the sound of it, but it sure does. Everything feels better, bigger, and brighter when Juniper is near, and it hits me all over again that she’s here. She’s finally here, with me, with our pack. She’s right where she belongs after years of missing her, of hoping she’d find her way back to us. To me.
Giving in to my emotions and feelings, I lower the chairs and basket gently onto the sand before I stride toward my girl. I’m yanking her toward me the moment I’m close enough, practically mauling her with a kiss that contains everything I’ve felt over the past eight years she’s been gone. My tongue swipes against her lower lip as my hands tug her closer, one hand banding around her back in order to pin her to me, while the other cups the back of her head in order to find a better angle to devour her.
I feel the blankets fall to the sand, the soft material floating to our feet seconds before Juno’s hands sinks into the hair at the nape of my neck as she kisses me back with the same amount of force, desperation, and a bone-deep need to be near. It’s almost like we’re both reassuring one another that we’re here, together, and there’s nothing that will separate us ever again.
Time escapes me as I kiss, suck, and nip at my sweet omega, sucking in her scent like a starved alpha, my hands taking on a mind of their own as they roam over every inch they can reach. Juno’s soft sounds of pleasure and contentment fuel my movements, rocking my world as my cock stiffens until it aches. I don’t stop despite the discomfort, kissing her only until we’re forced apart with the need to breathe.
We’re both panting and breathless, cold noses brushing against one another as we each watch the other with enough emotion floating in our eyes that it’s a miracle I manage to stop myself from delving in for a repeat performance. Juno is only saved by the barking of a nearby dog that speeds past us as he chases an excellently executed throw of a lime-green tennis ball that sails over our heads not seconds before the ball of fluff follows after .
Our grins grow at the same time, and I lean in for one more peck of her lips, keeping the kiss chaste and gentle before whispering, “Tonight, you’re mine, Blue. All night, until the sun comes up in the morning.”
“I’m good with that, so long as you feed me,” she quips with a saucy look that does nothing to quell the ache my balls are suffering, my cock literally throbbing with a need to sink deep inside of her. I’m cursing myself for the accidental game of edging I’ve inflicted on myself, but I nip at her lower lip anyway and tell her, “Then I best get to it.”
With a parting kiss that has me wanting more, I pull away and hurry to erect the camping chairs before digging through the picnic bag and producing the makings for a tiny beach bonfire.
Gesturing Juno to one seat, enjoying the smile she throws in my direction as she sinks into the hunter-green chair, I pick the blankets off the loose sand and shake them both out before offering her one and taking my own seat that I’ve placed as close as I could possibly get it without it being in her lap. Once situated, I go about pulling out several Tupperware filled with snacks I knew Juno would like, from cake pops to ready salted chips. I even managed to sneak in some ready-made pancakes in there, even though I know she prefers it when I cook them fresh.
All the while, I feel Juno’s eyes on me, and I flash her a grin as soon as I’m done placing tubs on her lap and sneaking my hand into hers.
“You really went all out,” she quips, a hint of surprise in her voice.
“For you? Always,” I assure, squeezing her fingers and gesturing to the food compiled on her thighs. “Tuck in, sweetheart. Once you’re full, we’ll go exploring or something. Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it. Just keep an eye on the sun.”
“What for?” she wonders, opening a tub with one hand like she doesn’t want to let mine go, before tucking into the chocolate strawberries and oranges I made for her last night .
“The view,” I answer vaguely, before helping myself to another peck on the lips when I can’t fight temptation as she bites into a strawberry.
Once I can taste strawberry and sugar on my tongue, I sit back and enjoy spending time with my little omega, listening as she talks, making her laugh, and catching up on all of the time we missed growing up. We talk and talk as the sun goes down, bundled up in blankets, picnic eaten quickly until we’re both too full to move.
Eventually the chatter dies down and despite my chair sitting close enough to Juno’s that I can feel her arm brush against mine, it’s simply not enough. So, while the sun only just hits the horizon and the wind grows a little colder, I reach over and drag Juno into my lap. She comes easily with only a squeak of surprise before settling against me with a laugh, bringing with her delicious scent and body heat.
“Didn’t like me having my own seat, huh?” she snorts, sinking into my embrace as she peers out at the ocean, snatching one of my hands and hugging it to her stomach.
“Why have your own when you can have the best seat at the seaside?” I volley, kissing her jaw, grinning against her when she laughs while I bundle us both back up and wrap my free arm around her. I rest my chin on Juno’s shoulder, nuzzle her neck, and my lips brush against her skin as I whisper, “Just wanted you close when you finally see why I brought you here.”
“It wasn’t for the picnic and conversation?” she wonders, genuinely curious.
“Good food and company was always a given, sweetheart. Now sit back and watch the view. Oh, and make sure you have your camera ready,” I instruct, reaching for the abandoned camera bag and plopping it in her lap.
As expected, it takes only a few short minutes before the sun begins to dip behind the horizon that the most magical view I’ve ever seen happens. Well, other than Juno finally coming home to us. But this is a close second .
Where there had only been a few scattered clouds floating in a blue sky now displays a sea of pinks, oranges, and yellows. The sunset spills warmth of color over the sky, mirrored beautifully by the water, making the sunset seemingly endless.
“Holy shit,” Juno breathes, clutching at my hand that little bit tighter as her awe-filled gaze takes in every inch of the prettiest sunset I’ve seen in years. I’m not even going to pretend it’s only the prettiest because I have Juno here with me to witness it, every other time before paling in comparison to right now. “This is stunning.”
Acting like every cliché in the book, I keep my eyes on my omega as I whisper, “Damn straight.”
Juno smiles without even looking at me, already aware that I’m watching her, and that simply won’t do. I want her eyes on me, if only for a brief moment, and then she can continue to marvel over nature’s beauty while I marvel in hers.
Gently, I turn her head to face me and I roam my eyes all over her, beautiful features washed in the warm tones of the sunset. She’s relaxed for the first time in a week, her scent strong and sweet and everything it should be, if not sweeter as she watches me take her in. The high cheekbones, the freckles over her nose, her pert nose that scrunches when she’s irritated. That smart and sassy mouth smiling at me. The row of pearly white teeth as they bite into her abused lower lip.
Fuck me, she’s gorgeous. And here. And mine.
Heart beating hard enough to thunder right out of my chest, a funny warmth filling my body from head to toe as it finally sinks in that I have my dream girl back in my life and she’s here willingly, that she actually wants a life with us, I cup Juno’s jaw gently and confess, “I love you, Juniper Baines. With my whole fucking heart.”
The soft smile she’d been wearing only seconds before slips away, her whole face slackening with shock before an intense happiness practically radiates from her. Glittering tears fill her eyes, and a shocked little giggle slips from her mouth, right before she leans in and brushes her cold nose against mine before she harshly whispers, “You have no idea how much I love you, Evron Gatlin. This date has been perfect. You’re fucking perfect.”
I couldn’t stop the unhinged grin on my face even if I tried, my heart full to bursting, the words I’ve been desperate for filling me so thoroughly that I could easily strip her bare and take her right here on the beach, public be damned. I couldn’t even stop the purr that rattles through my chest, the vibration damn near rattling my bones.
“See, even that crazy look in your eyes is perfect to me,” she kids, fully giggling when I lean in and nip at her chin.
“You’re pretty damned perfect to me, too, sweetheart,” I admit, kissing where I bit her, right before pressing a sequence of kisses along her jaw and neck, loving the way her whole body shivers under my touch. I love the way she moans at the back of her throat when I hit a particularly sensitive spot of her neck with my lips, her scent thickening with sugar as it mingles with the scent of the beach.
Sadly, mother nature takes that as her moment to step in before I get ahead of myself, a gust of wind forcing me away from Juno’s skin and bringing some semblance of clarity with it.
With a sigh, I pull back and teasingly demand, “You might want to get those photos done now before I haul you back to the car, drive us all the way home, and make that after-party happen. I’ve needed you since long before I hit puberty, Juno, but I really fucking need you right now. So, make magic with the camera so I can get you beneath me.”
Juno shivers once more, and it has nothing to do with the chill in the air, her pale eyes darkening with a flood of arousal that has her scent growing even sweeter and sugary, the pina colada scent filling my mouth with saliva.
It takes a Herculean kind of strength to let her go, but when I finally unlatch myself from her, I sit back in my seat and simply watch the woman I’m going to make a pack with and spend the rest of my life with as she snaps picture after picture, long after the sun has gone down and the last embers of the small bonfire die out .
It’s only when the stars speckle the sky and the chill in the air grows too sharp to stay out any longer that I finally drag Juniper back to the car, driving like a careful bat out of hell all the way home with a singular goal in mind.
I’m making Juniper Baines mine tonight.