Chapter 7 #2
“I am fine,” he says, but his tone is off. Concerned. Panicked. His scent is off too. His stomach rumbles again, and I don’t think twice about offering him my basket.
“Fry? I mean chip?”
He looks at the basket before him, then at me, then back to my fries. Like he’s afraid, for some reason.
But why would an alpha like Luke be afraid of some fucking potatoes?
“Go on, I won’t bite,” I say, immediately regretting how cringe I sound. I meant to say it won’t bite.
Before I can retract and find a way out of this embarrassing bumble, Luke offers me a faint smile and grabs one small fry from the basket.
“Pity. Your bite is by far your best feature.” He taunts me.
“And here I thought it was my Emily Blue eyes.” I recount his words with familiar sarcasm, but the air between us is not as intense or offputting as it was. I watch as he plops the fry in his mouth, as he licks his fingers of the vinegar.
I grab a fry myself and shove it in my mouth if only to stifle the groan that wants to escape me. What the hell is wrong with me?
Luke chuckles as he reaches for another without question.
“Thank you,” he says, settling beside me as he leads us through the shadows.
“I mean, it’s the least I can do, considering your family’s putting me up for the month,” I say.
He lets out a heavy sigh.
“You don’t owe me anything, Emily. You know that, right?” he says carefully.
I look up at him. His green eyes stand out against his pale skin and dark hair, but it’s not his physical features that make my heart beat faster. It’s the sincerity in his voice. The sweetness in his scent.
The truth he wears on his sleeve.
He means what he says, and somehow that makes all the difference.
He’s not just some grumpy, dominant alpha. I mean, yes, he is those things, but…
He’s also the kind of man who would give you the literal shirt off his back.
That has to count for something, right?
Apparently my father’s dying wish was that Luke and I meet. I’m still not not sure how I feel about that. We’ve never discussed our predicament. Why I’m here. I know he knows as well as I do, but still.
“You mean I don’t have to pay for my room and board the old-fashioned way?” I taunt him, raising an eyebrow. I don’t miss the way his eyebrows shoot to his hairline or the faint blush in his cheeks, and I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re too easy to rile up, you know that?” I tease as I grab a fry and shove it in my mouth.
“I’m serious,” he says as he stops us just outside the other side of the underpass. Where we stand, we are half in shadow, half in sunlight.
One foot in the darkness, one foot out the door. I sigh, looking up at him. “You don’t have to… we don’t have to talk about this.”
“Perhaps we should,” he says, going for another fry. I don’t stop him.
“What is there to say?” I groan. “My mother sent me here because it was my father’s dying wish, and you’re my last resort.” I scoff. “Is that what you want to hear?”
Luke takes a step closer to me and grabs the basket of fries from my arms where I’ve been balancing them.
“You think I don’t know that?” he says bitterly as I reach for my fries.
“Those are mine,” I say petulantly.
He holds them back, holding my gaze. “I will return them when you are honest with me.”
Oh, for fuck’s sakes, I can’t with this man. One minute he’s hot, the next he’s cold…
The sunlight illuminates his one eye, making the jade tone stand out while the shadows bathe the other in darkness. Like this man is some shifter version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“Tell me the truth.”
I sigh in exasperation.
“What truth?”
“Tell me you don’t feel this—” He motions between us. “This thing between us. That I’ve imagined it this whole time.”
“Whole time? I’ve been here barely a week!” I shout, making some tourists turn to stare at us, but Luke doesn’t seem to care.
“Yes, and you've spent the brunt of your time with Simon Cunningham since you set foot on my estate. You’ve avoided me like the bloody plague, but every morning, afternoon, and night, I catch you staring at me like I’m a fresh slice of cake over the dinner table.”
Is he for real right now?
I cross my arms. “You want me to tell you I choose you, is that it?”
My omega preens at this sort of jealous attention, but my human brain is getting pissed off.
“Want me to tell you that you’re so much better?” I sarcastically drawl. “Better than Simon Cunningham, is that it?”
Luke lets out a growl, shoving my basket of fries on the ledge next to my water, which only fuels my fire.
“That you’re bigger and hotter and smell better…”
I lean towards him, taking a long pull of my water because suddenly I feel flush, and I know it’s not from the sunlight warming my sweater.
His sweater.
Luke takes a step closer, effectively pushing me back against the wall. It seems this is becoming a pattern with us.
Dark shadows. Walls. Undeniable heat.
“I am. Bigger. Hotter. And I certainly smell better than that walking beanpole that reeks of cigarettes.”
I shake my head, and just as I open my mouth to protest, I get the heaviest whiff of caramel and spice and sharp, crisp…
Apple. That’s the missing scent. Apple.
Luke smells like a damn apple pie on Thanksgiving.
And quite frankly, apple pie has always been my favorite dessert.
“You are an ass,” I say, but even I can hear the shake in my voice. The desire.
“And you are a brat, Emily Marie. You taunt me because you know I am right. Just as Elizabeth taunted Mr. Darcy.”
He leans closer to me. Close enough I can smell the vinegar on his breath, close enough that I can’t resist dipping my gaze to those plump, perfect lips.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I respond, but my voice is barely a whisper.
“If you feel nothing for me, walk away. Right now. I won’t stop you.”
My heart beats so loud in my chest I think it’s echoing off the walls. My omega pushes against me, and the need to shift and run is prevalent.
She wants to run headfirst into those big arms and never look back, and I think that is the most dangerous thing of all.
Luke leans in, grazing his lips over mine as a deep growl escapes him.
“That’s what I thought,” he whispers, his gaze flashing to mine. It’s then I note how they glow; like bioluminescent algae.
That glow is unmistakable. This thing between us. I’ve never felt anything like it before.
“What are you waiting for?” I taunt. “Christmas?”
His lips pull back into a grin as his tongue flecks out to lick those sharp canines once more.
“Your consent, Emily.” He says my name so poignantly, with that ridiculously hot accent and yet his voice is dark and smooth. Like caramel.
“You have been forced enough into this… situation.” His lips hover inches away from mine and I am acutely aware that I could silence him with just one movement. “As have I.”
“What about you?” I ask, swallowing harshly.
“What about me?” he whispers, his gaze settling on my mouth.
“Do I have your consent?” I ask, taunting him as much as asking permission. I get the feeling that Luke needs someone who can meet him on his level. He doesn’t need a submissive omega to buckle under his pressure.
He needs a woman who can spar with him and put him in his place.
“I beg your finest pardon?” he utters, his voice shaky. His body presses closer to mine, and I settle my hand on his hip. Even beneath the fabric of his shirt, I can feel the muscles. The hard edges beneath soft skin.
“Do I have your consent?” I ask again.
Luke’s hand beside my head on the wall drops. The silence between us is as thick as his strong apple pie scent.
“Yes,” he says, though his voice is barely a whisper at this point, and something about that one word is like a severed thread.
I don’t think twice about closing the gap between us, coveting Luke’s perfect mouth with my own.
He doesn’t startle like I expect. Instead, he parts his warm, soft lips and presses his palm to my neck, his fingers finding my hair.
The wolf in me awakens, pushing forth as I slide my tongue into his mouth, pulling him on top of me with my free hand.
He groans, his mouth moving against mine slowly.
He tastes like vinegar and fried food, but also there is a hint of sweetness there.
Like cinnamon and apples underneath the spicy tang.
It’s not what I expect his kiss to be like. My entire body loosens as his free hand holds me still, his large hand heating me like a brand where he holds me. His tongue caresses mine, and he lets out a deep growl that goes straight to my groin, heating my insides like a flame. And then I feel it.
His cock pressing against me. I let out a whimper without thinking.
No one has ever kissed me like this. No alpha or beta.
I know without a doubt as the clock chimes above us, it’s because no one’s ever been Lucas Pembrooke.
My hand on his hip travels down his body, feeling the hard edges of muscle before my palm lands right over his cock. My insides twist as I feel the thickness, the outline of his knot.
Desire culminates inside of me, and he lets out a growl that is low and deep as he thrusts himself against my palm. Heat ransacks my body as I squeeze without thinking.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know what I’m doing. Kissing him. Touching him. I know where this leads.
I need to feel this man, this alpha in every way I can. I need his scent, his hardness, his bittersweetness.
I need it like I need air to breathe.
My orgasm starts to swirl as he caresses my tongue, letting his free hand on my hip roam over my jean-clad groin. His fingers slide against my heated mound, gently parting my legs and another whimper escapes me.
I open them wider, partly to ground myself, but also because I need more. I need to feel his hands all over my body, inside and out.
When the clock strikes four, the spell is broken, and he breaks away in surprise. His gaze holds mine for a moment and then I hear Simon and Sarah’s laughter, hear Charlie muttering on about something. I drop my hand from his cock, realizing all at once the reality of the situation.
Fuck! This was not part of the plan!
“Emily, I—”
I push Luke away.
“Don’t,” I say, clearing my throat. “Do not apologize right now, I can’t… I need—”
I don’t miss the faint look of rejection in his eyes. I grab my fries and head towards our friends.
We should head to the boutique.” My entire body vibrates from the reality of what I’d just done.
Sarah looks between me and Luke, a knowing glimmer in her gaze. But she doesn’t say anything.
Luke growls and storms off ahead of us, seemingly leading the way, but I can’t help but feel more lost than ever.