Chapter 12
Barnes
After receiving a lecture from Alek about stealing dates, and promptly ignoring the bastard after he stole Zira’s first kiss before I could claim it for myself, I hurry out of the house dressed in a hoodie and jeans, my boots laced snugly and a ballcap on my head. It’s not the most glamorous get up, but that’s not what I’m aiming for, especially because I know Zira isn’t one for the ‘opulent, overspending date’ kind of girl. Instead, I have an idea I think she’ll love, the car packed already with everything we’ll need, and I’ve been waiting anxiously all week to finally have her to myself.
All week, I’ve stopped by the library, teasing Zira about our date and stealing small kisses while I can, not wanting to push my luck, and it hasn’t been enough. I need that woman like I need air to breathe at this rate, and I’m done playing it safe when it comes to her. She’s more than proven that she can handle us. If Alek hasn’t chased her away just yet, I think we’ll be just fine.
Climbing into the driver's side of my car, I wave at Laz and Alek as they watch me go from the porch and drive to Zira’s house with only ten minutes to spare. My thumbs are tapping away at my steering wheel as I come to a stop at a red light when a text comes through my cell, the screen lighting up with Zira’s name.
ZIRA: Fit check. Will this do?
A photo follows, a mirror selfie of Zira with her fiery hair piled in its usual messy bun when she isn’t at work, and her body encased in a pair of black leggings, a matching cropped shirt, and a pair of combat boots I would have thought Juno would own. Zira, in her small frame and shorter stature without the heels, wears a puffy cropped jacket that hangs off one shoulder and hits her waist, posing with a peace sign and pouty lips. Fuck me, she’s beautiful.
I save the photo before sending a reply.
BARNES: Where do you stand with me ripping the eyes out of any man that looks at you tonight?
Her reply comes instantly, making me laugh with a shake of my head.
ZIRA: Who are you and what have you done with the sweet, caring man I’m used to?
Checking the light is still red, I type out a response.
BARNES: Still here, Freckles. Just with an added sprinkle of possessiveness than before, now that I don’t think you might run away from me if I showed my true colors.
ZIRA: And what colors are they? Every shade of dark romance book boyfriend? Not that I’m not into it, but warn an omega first. I have to change my panties.
Holy fucking shit. I just know she’s giggling to herself with that text, because I’ve seen the way she lights up when she’s flirting and bantering with Alek like it’s a sport she wants to win, but I’ll be damned if my cock doesn’t twitch as I reread the words to make sure they don’t change.
They don’t, and I’m so distracted by the image of a wet and needy Zira that I startle when someone honks behind me.
Throwing my hand out of the window with an apology, I finally pull off from the green light, driving straight to Zira’s with that text still in my mind. By the time I pull up to the curb and jump out of the car, I’m about ready to haul the woman over my shoulder and finally take her in all the ways I’ve imagined over the weeks I’ve known her.
Knocking on the door opens it, and I curse when it swings open because Zira is far too trusting with her lock, I call, “Freckles?”
Just as I shut the door after myself, she steps out of the room I know her nest is located, attaching gold hoop earrings to her lobes before she stands fully and grins at me. “Hey. Excellent timing. I’m in fresh panties and ready to go.”
“Playing a dangerous game, Zira,” I warn her, only a note of playfulness in my voice, because my cock is already trying to thicken beneath my jeans, my knot throbbing at the simple image of her in nothing but those wet panties she’s apparently changed.
“You think I’m playing games? I’m an omega who hasn’t had sex in six years and just went through a heat that left me beyond unsatisfied and I’m being wooed by five gorgeous alphas, two of whom kiss like the devil. I wasn’t playing. Do you have any idea how slippery slick is? I’m not walking around with that on my thighs, thank you very much,” she sassily gripes, reaching for her cell and tucking it into the mesh side pockets of her leggings.
While she’s distracted, I’m storming over to her, gripping the back of her head the moment she raises it and slamming my mouth against hers in a savage kiss I never would have imagined giving her before she started coming out of her shell and proving she can handle whatever we have to give her. Hell, kissing Alek and me today was proof enough that the shy and bashful omega I thought I knew was only a front for the sassy, dirty-mouthed omega I’m obsessed with.
Laughing against my mouth but swinging her arms around my shoulder and kissing me back, she lets me have my way with her for a long moment before we part, and I growl at her, “Stop talking about slick and your panties if you actually want to go on a date tonight.”
She raises an eyebrow, and I groan as I drop my head back with wavering patience. It damn near snaps when she teases, “There’s always tomorrow.”
“Zira,” I growl, her name coming out more demonic than I intended, but I only have so much self-control. I’m not built like Alek. I don’t have the patience. So, if she makes one more cheeky joke about ditching the date to do other things, I’m calling her bluff.
“What?” she protests with a laugh. “It’s you that asked me on a date. We could always not and say we did and move on to—”
I kiss her again before hauling her off her feet, her legs banding around my waist with a squeak of surprise that I swallow with my hungry mouth. Her arms are still wrapped around my shoulders, and I trap the one where it is when I cup the back of her head and pull her closer, needing to deepen the kiss. Needing to taste every inch of her. To fill my lungs with her banana-split-and-caramel scent that sweetens and thickens around us with a flood of arousal that has her perfuming deliciously for me.
Against my lips and between kisses, she informs, “This isn’t helping the slick situation from before.”
“Good,” I growl, kissing her harder as I carry her to the couch, turning our positions until I’m laying her down and climbing on top of her, still kissing her like her full lips are the source of life. When I pull back, I peer down at her and demand, “You have two choices. Either we put the brakes on this and I take you on the date I had planned, or we can—”
“Not and say we did?” she teases, raising a questioning eyebrow at me as her hands slowly begin to wander.
Gritting my teeth at the feel of her fingers trailing over my chest, lowering and lowering until they’re teasing the waistband of my jeans, I grit, “We either leave this apartment right now, or I’m gonna fuck you hard and fast on this couch, Zira. I’m hanging on by a thread.”
My pretty little omega gasps, and I watch with an enamored fascination as a blush stains her cheeks and her eyes turn glassy with the sudden gush of arousal that brings with it a stronger dose of her perfume. I can already feel the slick heat seeping between her leggings, which tells me she was probably telling the truth about needing to change her panties already, and I groan as her scent grows stronger and sweeter around me.
“It’s up to you, Freckles. Are you going to keep teasing me until I snap and give you what you clearly want, or are you going to be a good girl and go on a date with me?” I rasp, my voice rough with the soul-deep need I have for this omega.
For months now, this need has grown and grown until all I can think of is Zira Favero. Of her wild, copper hair that looks like a freshly lit fire in the sun, of her expressive, pale-green eyes and full lips that could send a man to his damned knees. She’s all I think about from the first moment I wake up, to when I finally shut my eyes at night, and every moment in between. She’s under my skin, in my veins, and wrapped around my heart so thoroughly already that there’s no doubt Zira is mine and I’m hers.
It’s no wonder my tether to my sanity has snapped after finally tasting her following months of trying to get to know her, of spending every lunch with her that I could, of keeping an eye on her in case she needed something, of obsessing so much over every damned inch of the woman that I can’t think straight when she’s near anymore.
Panting beneath me, those beautiful eyes growing glassy with a desire that matches my own, Zira stares up at me for only a few short seconds before she whispers, “How difficult would it be to reschedule this date?”
My cock has never turned harder faster, which is saying something, because the mere thought of Zira has me throbbing most days. But that aroused sparkle in her eye, the pointed nipples I spy through her shirt, and the unmistakable plume of her perfume has me rocking a hard-on from hell, and I can only do one thing about it.
“Fuck me,” I groan, right before I slam my mouth down against hers and kiss her for all I’m worth.
The moment I start, I can’t stop. I’m drinking her in deeply, licking, sucking, biting at her lips until Zira is moaning beneath me, her hips writhing and arms wrapping around my shoulders like she wants to keep me exactly where I am. I lose my hat at some point, finding I couldn’t care less, because all I can focus on is the taste of her on my tongue and the feel of her beneath me.
When my hands join in, mapping her curves like I’ve wanted to for weeks, Zira breaks her lips free and moans loudly, this sweet, sexy little sound that fucks any restraint left I might have had in my body.
“I need these clothes gone, as gorgeous as you look in them,” I rasp, eyeing the cropped shirt that reveals enough pale skin that my mouth waters with the need to taste.
“By all means, free me of them. Seems you’d like them better on the floor, anyway,” she breathlessly teases, and I flash her a devious grin before shuffling down her body to lean in and kiss the soft, creamy strip of skin beneath her breasts that are still woefully covered. Not for long.
As I drag my lips over her ribs, I hook my fingers into her leggings, looking up at her from beneath my eyelashes. She’s already watching me, a beautiful blush staining her freckled cheeks, though she doesn’t seem the least bit shy. In fact, that blush seems to be one more of need than anything, her emotions reflected to me in those pale eyes that beg me to give her what she wants, what she needs.
“Last chance before I get you naked and bury my face between these thighs like I’ve wanted to for months, Zira,” I warn, my voice resembling how I imagine it would sound if I swallowed grit.
“How can I make it easier for you?” she breathes, right before the little minx lifts her hips and tugs her leggings down without my aid, keeping her eyes locked on mine as though she’s showing me how serious she is about this.
It’s all I need before I’m tearing her clothes away, her boots flying somewhere behind me and her leggings discarded on the floor beside us, right before I hook her legs over my shoulder and I’m delving between her legs with a fierce growl.
Zira cries out in desire-filled shock at the first long swipe of my tongue through her wettened folds, her flavor busting over my tastebuds in a flood of banana, cream, and caramel. I fucking love it, inhaling so deeply I drown in her scent. I’d die a happy alpha if it were to kill me.
The first lick has a domino effect on my self-control, the thread snapping so thoroughly that I’m not surprised when one lick turns into another, and another, until I’m practically devouring my omega like a man starved.
Zira’s cries of pleasure and beautiful moans only fuel my effort, my cock hardening to the point of painful when she starts rolling her hips, grinding with a wordless demand for more. She’s breathless and needy and suddenly all omega right now, sweet mewls slipping free with every lick of her folds and suck of her sensitive clit I inflict on her.
Knowing how flexible my girl is, I lift her legs from my shoulders, pushing them higher until her knees are practically touching her shoulders and delve back in with more vigor.
“Oh my god, Barnes. I’m going to come. Oh, shit,” she chants, her moans growing in volume until it’s all I can hear over the rush of blood that soars straight to my cock.
I don’t stop ravishing her, fucking her with my tongue so thoroughly that I’m never going to get the taste of her from my mouth. It only takes a few more licks and a gentle suckle of her clit before she’s crying out with a wild buck of her hips as she breaks, her climax crashing over her so beautifully that I can’t help but watch as I devour her through her release.
Legs trembling, pussy fluttering, and slick and cum dripping from her entrance now, Zira turns absolutely languid as she shakes through her aftershocks, and I take one last lick of her before pulling back and crawling over her body.
Pressing into her, my still-covered cock finding the place it wants to be most, I grin down at Zira when she gasps, wrapping her still trembling legs around my waist. I wait for her glassy eyes to flutter open before rumbling, “Still want to go on that date, or you want more?”
Zira laughs breathlessly. “I’m considering this as our date. We’re just getting to the good parts first. Like eating dessert before dinner. I’m not done with dessert yet.”
Fuck me, but she couldn’t be anymore perfect.
So, without further dialogue between us, I lean in and kiss her languidly, sharing her taste and relishing in the moan that fills the space between us. With her lips on mine, I manhandle her until she’s sitting in my lap, her bare pussy now seated perfectly on the bulge of my length. I can feel the slick heat of her seeping through my jeans, and I don’t have it in me to give a shit when Zira rolls her hips and kisses me harder, sending a shockwave of muted pleasure through my body.
“Get these off,” the bossy, little omega demands, sliding her hands to the waistband of my jeans and tugging before she reclaims the kiss she’s broken to ask for what she wants.
I don’t hesitate, kicking my shoes and socks off before undoing my pants and shuffling out of them while still drinking in Zira’s kisses, swallowing her soft moans and gasps when I finally free myself and my rock-hard cock drags across her slick and swollen folds. My knot is already swollen and desperate for her, my balls aching something fierce to release everything I have into her body, the thought of filling her with my cum bringing out a fierce growl from my chest.
With nothing between us now, Zira shucks her coat while she continues to kiss and nip at my lower lip. My hands, which had been resting on her waist, begin to travel. One sinks into the hair at the nape of her neck, keeping her mouth trapped against mine, while the other finds purchase on her hip. I use the hold I have on her to manhandle her some more, adjusting her body until my cock is notched at her entrance, her slick coating the tip of my shaft and mingling with the precum pooled there.
Just as I pull my mouth away from hers, only enough to speak, Zira shakes her head and cuts me off before a single word escapes. “If you need me to write it on my forehead that I need you to fuck me hard, fast, and thoroughly, Barnes, I’ll do it. But for the love of everything, please take my word for it that if you’re not knot deep inside me in the next five seconds, I might turn feral.”
Fuck it. That’s all I need for whatever lingering doubts that I might be going too fast for her to dissipate.
Dragging her mouth back to mine and smiling against her mouth as she squeaks in surprise, I surge my hips upward the same time I tug her down on my length, impaling her with one hard thrust. Her gasp is lost among the pleasure that explodes in my body, my heart pounding harshly beneath my ribcage, and my hand on her hip tightens until I’m sure she’ll be sporting finger-like bruises there tomorrow.
“Fuuuck,” I groan against her mouth, my balls tightening as much as her walls wrapped around me allow, her wet heat suffocating my cock in the best damned way possible. “So tight, Freckles. Shit.”
Zira moans loudly, her walls fluttering as she adjusts to the intrusion, her tight body shivering with need as she cries, “You’re so big.”
“You fit me perfectly, baby. Absolutely perfect,” I grit through clenched teeth, giving her a moment to adjust before she starts rolling her hips. She goes slow at first, testing the waters and driving me out of my damned mind, before she grows the confidence to start dragging that incredible pussy up and down my length. A slow, steady rumble builds in my chest as I roam my eyes all over her, watching her face as she glides her body along my shaft, drinking in the pleasure sketched all over her face. I run my eyes over her body, only encased in a cropped shirt that I instantly remove, and I’m groaning all over again when I realize she’s bare beneath it. “Dirty girl. Where’s your bra?”
“I have small boobs. I can get away without one,” she moans, dropping her body down hard on my cock and shutting the the fuck up of all words. Instead, I’m full of growls, grunts, and groans as she starts fucking me, riding my shaft with an increasing speed that is stealing every ounce of my sanity along with her cries and mewls and sexy moans.
It doesn't take long before I feel her walls ripple with another impending release, her cries growing louder and breathier. When her movements falter, I take over, thrusting into her body while I fuck her at a faster speed, hitting a spot deeper inside her that sends Zira spiraling over the edge with an almost scream that I’ll be replaying in my mind for years to come. “Give it to me, Freckles. Every last drop. Good fucking girl.”
She pulses around me as she comes, slick pooling between us as I continue to pump in and out of her, dragging out her orgasm. She’s gripping at my hoodie, hands clenched in the material at my shoulders as she loses herself to her pleasure, and I can do nothing but watch like I’m seeing my favorite movie for the first time ever.
When she starts relaxing, walls still fluttering, I manage to sink deeper and deeper until my knot teases her entrance. At the fist brush, we both moan, and I clench my jaw against the pleasure that races through me like a galloping herd of wild horses.
“Can you take my knot, Zira? Do you want it?” I grit, grinding against her, teasing her omega body with an alpha knot she’s almost taking.
“Everything,” she breathes, gasping as I sink deeper. “I want it all.”
And I’ll be damned if I don’t have it in me not to give it to her.
So, with one precise thrust of my hips and tug of her hips, I pull Zira down on top of me until my knot slots inside her greedy pussy and her body locks down on me tight.
“Ah, fuck. Shit,” I growl, hugging her to my body as I fight the urge to spill into her straight away, the pleasure so strong that it would take only one roll of her hips before I lose it.
A roll she makes as she cries out with a sudden release that steals her breath and takes me right over the edge with her. Before I know it, I’m coming hard, spilling my own release deep inside her body as she shakes and trembles with her own orgasm. My cock spurts jets of cum over and over until her pussy is overflowing, our combined juices leaking between us and making a mess which I find sexy enough that my cock twitches inside her.
Zira moans and she falls against my chest, panting for air as she continues to shake life a leaf, rocking us both with her aftershocks. She only stays there for a moment before she pulls back, frowns at my hoodie, and wrangles me out of it and my shirt. Only when I’m as bare as she is does she return, draping herself over me with a satisfied sigh that has me smiling dopily as I bundle her closer, groaning when her body jerks my knot latched snugly inside her.
Without a word, I adjust our positions until I’m lying along the length of Zira’s couch, her hot body sprawled over me as she comes down from the high of her climax. Using the blanket on the back of the couch, I drape it over us both as I lie down and adjust Zira until she’s comfy on top of me. We’re both still breathing hard, covered in slick and cum and a light sheen of sweat, but neither of us care, content to lie here together for however long it takes to come back from the pleasure-induced nirvana we were just sent to.
I don’t mean to fall asleep, locked inside Zira’s tight, warm body, but feeling her breathing on top of me, her breath tickling my chest as she draws patterns on my skin with the tips of her fingers, sends me into such a state of relaxation that there’s no hope in keeping my eyes open. So, with a gritty rumble in my chest that I recognize as my purr, I lull Zira to sleep with me, both of us passing out on her couch, bare and entwined, my heart blissfully full and happy as my mind.