Chapter 11
Zira
Lunch with Alek washes away all negative emotions as effectively as if I’d just stepped through the gates to Disneyworld, the remainder of the hour spent laughing and flirting and ribbing at one another. After I explained the Hunter situation, Alek texted Barnes and asked if there were any updates or info that he might have found on the new professor before distracting me the entire hour until Hunter was nothing more than a blip in my otherwise good day.
Walking hand in hand with the big, burly man as we leave the diner, somehow finding it completely natural to link my fingers with his, I tell him, “Thank you again. For coming to my rescue and for the carbs.”
“I’d do it again, little lady,” he assures, winking down at me with a beautiful grin on his spectacularly gorgeous face, only covered in a light layer of blond stubble that I want to scratch my nails through.
“Let’s hope another rescue isn’t on the cards,” I counter, shaking my head at that disaster. “But, if you want to have lunch again at some point, I’d be okay with that.”
“Oh yeah? You’d be okay with it?” he teases, and we stop just before we reach the green on campus, Alek tugging my hand until I lose my balance and almost collide into him for a second time today. When I look up questioningly at the man, he’s wearing a lethal smile that does a number of things to my body, and it only grows the instant I start perfuming and clenching my thighs together, regret for wearing a skirt today piercing the happy bubble Alek has put me in. If I wasn’t wearing a skirt, I’m sure it would be less noticeable how much that smile is affecting me, and I wouldn’t be blushing furiously at the realization that Alek can probably smell the arousal on me. “I think you’d be more than okay with it. In fact, I’d risk it all to say you’d enjoy my company for another lunch date.”
“Date, huh?” I counter, raising my eyebrow with a flirty challenge. I have no idea who this new Zira is, but I’m having a great time finding out.
“Little lady, you can’t be going around calling me ‘baby’ without considering going to lunch with me as anything but a date,” he declares, slowly sliding his hands up my back, over the white, sleeveless chiffon shirt I chose to wear today, and stopping until he cups my face. His thumbs brush over my jaw as he peers down at me with a look that makes me shiver in the best way possible, and he lowers his voice as he asks, “Are you calling anyone else ‘baby’ that I need to know of? I’m not above beating the shit out of someone to earn that term of endearment for myself and myself only.”
My grin is as instant as my blush, and I shake my head between his hands.
“Then I call dibs,” he declares, right before he leans in slowly, as though giving me the option to pull away.
I don’t, and I catch the briefest hint of a smile before Alek presses his lips to mine, kissing me right there in the open without a single care in the world. Hell, it seems I don’t have any either, because the moment his soft lips press against mine, framed with a trimmed beard that tickles, I’m pressing my hands against his shirt, clutching at the material, as I kiss him back harder.
Groaning against my mouth, it takes a split second before Alek takes control of the kiss. His tongue sweeps against my lower lip, seeking entrance, and I allow it all too willingly. His flavor bursts over my tongue instantly, neroli and basil flooding my senses, and I moan softly against his mouth as he devours me as though he’s been wanting to do just that for days.
By the time he pulls back, and then kisses me again, and pulls back a little more reluctantly, I’m breathlessly panting against his lips as my eyelids slowly flutter open. I’m pressed snugly against Alek’s body, his hands still framing my face, and I swallow hard before whispering, “That was bold.”
Alek flashes that sexy grin before whispering back, “Nah. I just know what I want.”
Smirking while I try to calm my freshly awoken libido, I push, “You want an omega you’ve only known a few short weeks?”
Alek snickers before stealing another kiss from my lips, pulling back only to confess, “I’ve wanted you since before I ever met you, Zira. Months I’ve been smelling your addictive scent on Barnes, and months I’ve been begging him to tell me who the hell it came from. So, yeah, I want you. I want you even more now that I’ve finally put the scent to the beautiful woman I carried to my home in nothing but a towel. I want you more now that I know who you are. Now, you should probably get back to work or else you’ll be late.”
Damn it my insides aren’t turning to liquid, my heart fluttering along with the butterflies that erupt in my belly at his words. It doesn’t even matter that I’m on the brink of being late, because I can’t very well hear Alek quietly confess that he wants me without doing something about it.
My hand is wrapped around his neck a moment later, and I’m yanking him into a harder kiss than the first we shared, and I trap the rumbling groan he releases between his lips as I kiss him with an explosion of need.
Banding his arms around me and kissing me back with equal amounts of desperation, Alek drinks me in like a man who’s been dying of thirst out in the desert, and I can’t get enough of it. My fingers tangle in the strands of his hair at the nape of his neck as I kiss him, breathing in his scent and committing it to memory as if it wasn’t already firmly planted there to stay.
It takes some effort to pull away a second time, but I manage it with only two more brief pecks to tie me over for the rest of the day. I’m a little dazed when I finally drop my hands, sliding them over his impressive chest that I realize is rumbling with another purr, and I slowly grin before opening my eyes once more.
Our gazes collide, and my breath stalls in my lungs at the pure hunger painted over his strong, handsome face. I have to make the conscious decision not to steal more kisses, because I will undoubtedly be late then, and the big bastard slowly grins knowingly.
With a cheeky wink and one last squeeze of his arms around me, Alek finally pulls back and says, “Best get that pretty little ass of yours back to work before I decide to steal you away, little lady.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” I confess breathlessly, and I smile when he laughs loudly before groaning.
“As much as I want to, I shouldn’t get you into trouble. Barnes would try and kick my ass and I’d have to embarrass him and none of us want that. So, quit giving me those eyes and testing the limits of my restraint. You’re already too tempting, and I’m walking a tightrope,” he playfully grumbles, eyeing me for a long moment before he sighs and smiles. “Get the rest of your work day done, and then you can come over and I can kiss you stupid in front of the others to rub it in that I got to taste you first.”
My laugh bursts out of me, my blush warming my cheeks instantly, and I shove him away playfully. “Bold of you to assume I haven’t kissed any of the others.”
“Oh, baby. I’d know if you did, because they would brag, too,” he chuckles darkly, winking down at me as I shake my head in disbelief.
“Whatever. Enjoy the rest of your day and I might see you later,” I snicker, moving away from him one shaking step at a time.
Alek chuckles lowly, watching me go like a predator watching his prey. “Oh, playing hard to get now, are we?”
I shrug and his grin turns wicked as he watches me step further and further away from him until I’m forced to turn and start walking toward the library. Before I move too far, though, I call over my shoulder, “Bye, baby!”
Alek’s laughter follows after me as I rush back to my desk in the library, practically floating on cloud nine as I go.
That cloud is suctioned into a vacuum of dread when I spy Hunter already leaning against my desk, perking up the moment he sees me rushing into the library.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, forcing a smile onto my face that had been real only moments before. “Hey. Is everything okay?”
Hunter nods and I’m sure I catch his nostrils flare as he inhales before he narrows his eyes on me for a split second before doubling his efforts to smile big. “Everything is perfect. I only stopped by again because I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch some time. Maybe show me around campus. I’ve only been here a week, and you’re the only coworker I’ve had a decent conversation with thus far. Making friends isn’t my strong suit, but maybe we could strike up a friendship?”
Feeling trapped and not wanting to be outright rude after brushing him off before, I find myself nodding and feeling sick at the motion. “Uh, sure, maybe.”
As though he senses my reluctance, he holds his hands out and assures, “Just as friends, I promise.”
I’m opening my mouth to reluctantly agree when another one of my saviors strides through the door as though there really is a god looking down on me today. Barnes, dressed in his usual slacks and shirt, very similarly dressed to Alek, tucks his cell into his pocket with his eyes on Hunter before they dart to me.
There’s a fierce spark of something in those dark-sapphire pools as he watches me while he storms across the floor to my desk, and I swallow as a bubble of anticipation flares to life in my chest. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a little jealousy in those eyes, a tiny speck of anger, and a whole lot of intensity that comes from him in waves. It’s heady and addictive, and I almost forget Hunter is standing near my desk when I feel his clammy and hot hand press against my bicep. “Zira? Did you hear me?”
I startle, almost jumping away from the man and his overpowering stench, when Barnes finally reaches us. I’m moving before I even realize I’ve made the conscious decision to do so, my arm wrapping around Barne’s waist as I shuffle further away from Hunter, inhaling his bergamot and incense scent that soothes me in an instant.
Reaching up to the tips of my pumps, I press a brief kiss to his lips, hearing Barnes inhale sharply. I pull away and smile up at him as I say, “Two of my guys in one day. A girl could get used to this,” while my eyes roll in a gesture toward Hunter as I keeping my smile in place.
Instantly, Barnes tunes in to what I’m telling him without the words, and he sinks into his part as beautifully as Alek did. “Couldn’t stay away from you any longer, Freckles. I did text, but it seems you were busy with Alek.”
Fuck me if I’m not blushing furiously now, and Barnes narrows his eyes on me as though he’s telling me I’ve been caught doing something naughty. I don’t need that right now, because perfuming in front of Hunter makes me want to vomit, but I can’t help it. That look is setting my blood on fire, especially since I’m already riled up after Alek’s kisses.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “You did? Sorry, I haven’t checked my phone yet. Is everything okay?”
He nods slowly, tugging me closer to his body and further away from Hunter. “Sure is now. Just wanted to know if you were staying with us tonight or if you were going to see your mom after work?”
Before I can answer, Hunter interrupts, reminding me of his presence once more with a cough that sounds as false as the smiles I’ve been giving him. “Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met. You are?”
Barnes and I turn to face Hunter, and I see that tightly wrangled anger flash before it’s gone again. I’m sure Barnes sees it, too. Or maybe he hears it in Hunter’s voice. Whatever it is, Barnes wraps his arm around my back before acting shocked to find another person nearby. “My apologies. I have blinders on when it comes to my Zira. She has that effect on her whole pack, it seems. Name’s Barnes Champion. I’m the art professor here at North U, and this one’s alpha. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
Hunter, to his credit, doesn’t shy away from the intensity that radiates from the six foot three inches of alpha that cuddles me close, Barnes’s hold is unrelenting and secure and exactly what I need. Who knew I’d need saving twice in one day?
“I’m the new biology professor. Hunter Gary Johnson the second,” Hunter introduces himself, and I wince. The second. Not the third. Oops.
“Huh. Welcome to North Five, Professor Johnson,” Barnes blandly welcomes, and my nostrils flare and my lips twitch as I try to bite back my amusement at his obvious attempt to brush off the man I can’t seem to shake today. When it doesn’t work, Hunter remaining where he’s standing, Barnes drops his arm from around me and snags my hand boldly before addressing Hunter, “You’ll have to forgive me for being rude, but Miss Favero and I are needed at the moment. I came to retrieve my rogue omega. Great meeting you, Howard.”
Anger flashes across Hunter’s face before he grits, “It’s Hunter.”
“Right. Sorry,” Barnes mutters distractedly, waving at the biology professor while he tugs my hand in an indication that he’d like me to follow.
I do, sending Hunter another falsely apologetic glance, before following Barnes through the library and passing several tall shelves stacked with books upon books. I’m racing across the floor, Barnes’s speed is a little quick for my five-foot-five frame boosted by four-inch heels, but the alpha doesn't slow down in the slightest. Not until we’re walking through the office door that goes mostly unoccupied unless a student needs a quiet place to study. Since the library is usually quiet as a church mouse, the room is barely used.
I’m a little breathless by the time he shuts the door, locking us inside and the rest of the world out. Resting my hands on my hips, I stare wide-eyed at the alpha before blurting, “Why are we in such a hurry? I can’t walk as fast as you, with your long legs and lack of heels.”
Barnes doesn’t answer, not when he locks the door, not when he turns to stare at me with wild, intense eyes that makes my breath stall in my chest and my heart palpitate before beating at a pace much more rapid than normal, and not when he marches over to me in two long strides, backing me up against the lone table that resides in this room.
“Barnes?” I whisper, breathless with anticipation as I peer into his sapphire eyes filled with a myriad of emotions, mainly heat, hunger, and a furious need that damn near turns the blood in my veins to lava.
Shaking his head, Barnes leans into me, pressing his hands into the table on either side of my hips, his nose almost brushing mine as his breaths cascade over my lips. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, only the sounds of our breathing filling the air along with our combined scents, mine sweeter and stronger with the need thrumming through every atom of my body.
Finally, just when I think I'm about to go crazy in the silence, Barnes speaks. “I had a very enlightening conversation with a smug Viking bastard before I finally found you. I don’t suppose you know what he might have told me?”
My eyes widen and I slap a hand over the slow grin that starts to grow, giggling into my palm. Humor enters those intense, dark-blue eyes of his, and he shakes his head, his nose bumping into mine as he does.
“For five minutes, Freckles, I had to listen to that bastard gloat about how he tasted you first, how he made you moan against his mouth, and how good you felt pressed against him while he devoured you. And what do I get? A quick peck to the lips and a smile,” he continues, gaze boring into mine, need and amusement, and a whole lot of sexy emotions filtering through them like a movie reel.
Giggling behind my hand, I mumble, “In my defense, Alek kissed me first, and it wasn’t in front of the creep I can’t get rid of today.”
Barnes pauses at that before nodding slowly, narrowing his eyes on me in a playful move I wouldn’t have expected from my usually serious alpha. His smiles are rare, as well as his laughter, but this side of him I’ve only seen once, and that was when he first started visiting the library in my first week at North U. I love it as much as every other aspect of his personality, and I’m biting my lip when he playfully growls, “So, you’re saying I need to make a move first to get the kiss I really want?”
Stifling another giggle, I shrug. “Only one way to find out, wouldn’t you say?”
Heat flares in his eyes and he drops his gaze to my hand before reaching for it, tugging it away with a gentleness that contradicts the look on his beautiful face. As soon as my lips are free of their prison, Barnes swallows hard and shakes his head slightly before quietly declaring, “I’ve wanted to do this since the first moment I saw you sitting behind that desk, with your pretty hair pinned in a bun at the nape of your neck, your burnt-orange shirt revealing the creamy skin of your chest, and those heels that ruin me every time I see you in them.”
Before I can open my mouth to say absolutely anything, Barnes is cupping the back of my head with one hand while the other yanks me to him, his arm banding snugly around my back as his lips fall to mine with an explosion of passion, need, and a desire so deep that I feel it all the way to my toes.
Hands dropping to his waist, my fingers clenching tightly against the material of his shirt, I moan against his mouth as he completely devours me just as thoroughly as Alek did not ten minutes ago. I drag him closer, as close as he can possibly get, feeling every hard ridge of his body. And I mean every. Hard. Inch.
Growling against my mouth, shocking me enough with the sound that I gasp and perfume, my banana-split-and-caramel scent thickening around us with the sudden burst of arousal that floods my system, Barnes tilts my head back further. His fingers tangle with the loose waves of my hair as he licks, bites, and sucks at my lips, kissing me like a man starved.
It’s fiery passion.
It’s pent-up, bone-deep need.
It's breathtaking longing coming out in hard, earth-shattering kisses.
It’s absolutely everything, and a needy whimper slips free of my lips, trapped between our ravaging kisses as Barnes destroys me second by second with lips made of sin.
I have no idea how long we stay in the small, empty office, devouring one another until we’re breathless and the room is filled with the scent of my undeniable need and his intoxicating scent. What I do know is that my mind grows lightheaded the longer we taste one another, my hands ache from how tightly I cling to Barnes’s shirt, and there isn’t an ounce of me that wants it to end.
Sadly, work calls, and Barnes eventually slows our wild, frantic kisses to something more sensual, slow, and sipping. With one last kiss, he pulls back, just as breathless as I am. With his eyes closed, a slow grin breaks out over his gorgeous face, and one of my own stretches my lips in a mirror image I have no control over.
“That was everything I was expecting and more,” he whispers, pressing a more chaste kiss to my lips before he moves his head back and opens his eyes to look down at me. I love what I see in his eyes the moment his gaze connects with mine, a matching happiness and excitement that melds with the need that courses through both of our bodies, and my smile widens at the sight. Chuckling, Barnes rubs the tip of his nose against mine, before quietly muttering, “As much as I’d love to draw more of those sounds out of you and keep you in here to myself, we should probably finish the workday like we’re being paid to do.”
“Party pooper,” I whisper, biting my lip when his chuckle turns into a proper laugh, that turns into a groan before he uses his thumb to remove my lip from between my teeth.
“You shouldn’t do that, Freckles,” he rumbles, his chest vibrating with his words as he traces my lower lip with his thumb. “You’re dangerous for a man’s self-control.”
I hum, licking my lower lip, stealing the lingering traces of his taste. He watches every move, his eyes darkening until they resemble pools of midnight, and I swallow hard before whispering, “We should probably get back to work.”
“Probably,” he agrees, nodding as another slow smile breaks out over his face, stealing my breath and heart all at once. “Agree to a date with me this weekend and I might let you leave this room.”
“That’s not incentive for me to agree, Barnes. What makes you think I want to leave this room?” I tease, grinning wildly as he groans and drops his forehead to my shoulder, his shoulders shaking as he laughs.
“For months I took you for being shy and timid. I almost feel like an idiot for getting you so wrong,” he grumbles, kissing my shoulder before finally pulling back with a deep breath. “Since we do have to leave this room, I’m going to assume your answer to a date is yes.”
I grin.
He nods.
“I’ll pick you up at six on Saturday. Wear—”
“Comfy clothes?” I finish, laughing when he leans in to bite my lower lip before pulling back with amusement etched into his face.
“Comfy clothes,” he agrees, before finally letting me up.
After a couple of minutes of fixing our clothes and hair, and Barnes waiting for a certain appendage to calm the hell down—his words, not mine—we leave the small office and part at my desk with a lingering look. I’m relieved to find Hunter missing, and so I go right back to work with a pep in my step and excitement bubbling in my chest for my date with Barnes.
Oh, Alek will not be happy about that.