Chapter 3 #3
“Yeah, Boss. I got it.”
“You ever hear of sleeping with a cryptid?”
“Those creepy fuckers that hide in the woods in the South? No,” Fisher says with a laugh. “Why?”
My jaw clicks. Was Arbor just fucking with me or something? I don’t know. My brain is too muddled to think straight.
“You ever see shit in these woods?”
“Like literal shit?”
“No, like…anyone lurking?”
“Just the odd protestor or two, but nothing since Declan left.”
I scrub at my tired face. “Yeah.”
“You okay, Boss?”
“Been better.”
“Mr. Barrett!” I hear Arbor shout, and all eyes turn toward the door of the trailer.
“Shit, you’re in trouble. I bet he was spying on you, Boss. You aren’t operating on all cylinders right now,” Tyler, another worker, says.
“Fuck off,” I reply as I pull my hard hat off and swipe a hand through my hair.
“Hey. Hey. You find out why he smells different? The guys have been asking,” Fisher says, and I nudge him roughly.
“None of our business. He’s getting the job done. That’s all that matters.”
I force my feet forward, and the closer I get to the trailer, the more I think Tyler is right. Maybe I am in trouble. My performance today isn’t the best, and my men have noticed.
Might have almost nailed my foot to a beam earlier.
Not that I told anyone that.
When I pull the door to the trailer open, Arbor is standing there, a cup of water in his hand.
“Hello, Mr. Barrett. Glad to see you’re still standing and haven’t killed yourself yet.” He thrusts the cup at me and demands, “Drink this.”
I stare down at it and then do as I’m told, feeling a little better after hydrating.
As I crumple the cup up, I hear the click of the lock, and I turn to arch an eyebrow at him.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. It’s nothing like that. Just—” He grabs the crumpled cup from me and tosses it away.
“I may be able to help you.”
“How so?”
“I’m just concerned about you getting yourself killed. Don’t think I didn’t see you wielding the nail gun a little too close to your foot.”
“You spying on me?”
“No. I’m monitoring my employees. Now,” he clears his throat. “I learned something from…”—he pauses a moment before adding—“…from a family member, and I think it could help you. But it involves touching.”
My eyebrows rise at that.
“If you permit me, I can try this on you and see if it works. Just don’t get any creepy alpha ideas.”
“I’m not creepy,” I reply.
“No, you’re not. You’re…” He wets his lips, and his gaze lands on my chest. “Do you want me to try this?”
“Sure. Why the fuck not?”
He hesitates a moment, and then he reaches down and pulls my shirt up.
My nipples pebble, and I feel alive for the first time since putting that joint to my lips. Like I’m doing something forbidden, something so fucking right.
And as I inhale, I smell that cinnamon scent again, mixed with an undertone of vanilla.
“Not a fucking word about this to anyone.”
His body grows closer, his chest nearly pressed against mine. I inhale through my mouth.
“There are pressure points you can use to help with all sorts of things…” Two of his fingers slide down to my right hip, sliding across the bone and pressing on a muscle. “One is right here.” As he presses down, his right hand slides around my hip, making goosebumps break out on my skin.
“The other is right here.” He touches a spot just below my spine. His fingers massage the small pressure points, each one growing harder than the last.
“And what would a little help be without a little magic?”
He whispers something, and I swear I see his eyes glow when suddenly something zips through my body. It’s painful and euphoric, making my back arch, and I grit my teeth to keep my groan inside.
Fuck, my entire body is lit up, my cock instantly growing hard, my pupils dilating as everything comes into focus. I no longer feel like shit. No, it’s quite the opposite. Right now, I feel alive.
My hands move to Arbor’s hips—my omega—and tighten, digging into his flesh, holding on to him tightly. I can smell the faint scent of his slick. It’s making everything inside me tighten, ready to snap.
“Oh shit,” he murmurs when he hears my ragged breathing. “Oh gods. I’m gonna kill him.”
“What the fuck did you do to me?” I growl when I feel my cock throbbing against the zipper of my jeans. Whatever nerve he pushed, he pushed the wrong one. Because it feels almost like going into rut. And he’s not even in heat. How the fuck is that possible?
“What kind of fucking magic did you use on me?”
“It’s just a silly little saying and some pressure points. It’s supposed to help relieve pain.” He lets out a distressed grunt. “I’m gonna fix this,” he murmurs, trying to pull away from me, but I don’t let go. My hands don’t want to release him.
“You have to let me go, Mr. Barrett. I have to make a call,” he hisses, trying to twist out of my grip.
“You made the wolf come out, Arbor.”
“It’s Mr. Wren to you.”
I manage, by a feat of the gods, to let him go.
He stumbles over his feet to get to his desk, fumbling with his phone. My fingers clutch the doorframe behind me, trying to keep myself under control.
But it’s so fucking hard when he smells this good.
“You smell like vanilla pudding.”
“Fuck off,” he tells me, and then glowers at the receiver of his phone, murmuring that the person better answer.
When a voice appears on the other end of the line, he jumps slightly.
“What the hell did you make me do?” he asks angrily. A laugh and some murmured words from the other end. I can’t hear it clearly because my ears are buzzing and my entire focus is on the way Arbor looks, the way he smells.
“You know what I’m asking. Don’t play dumb,” he says in response. “You told me about those damn pressure points and the saying. I used them, and now this alpha is losing his fucking mind.”
I hear another laugh, but Arbor doesn’t share the sentiment.
“Stop it. Stop laughing and tell me how I make him stop being all horny? It’s like he’s going into rut or something. And I’m not in heat.”
Arbor’s cheeks turn red, and his eyes meet mine.
The wood creaks beneath my hands, my cock twitching and angry that it’s not inside the omega standing before me. I want him. I want to bury myself inside my omega.
“I’m not gonna bend over for him. It’s the middle of a workday. I already don’t have their respect…”
Another bout of laughter, and Arbor hangs up, slamming his phone onto the desk and running a hand through his hair.
“You hear that?” he asks softly.
“Mhm.”
“I’m not bending over for you.”
“Don’t need you to,” I grunt, even though the scents he’s giving off are making me fucking feral.
He huffs and then takes a step toward me.
“I know what I smell like to you, and he said the only way to end this is to be your omega. You need me to get you off right now.”
He stops in front of me, and a disgusting sound leaves my throat. Desperation.
I want him.
“If you don’t leave now, I’m gonna take you,” I warn, and I see Arbor’s mouth part slightly.
“I’m not leaving. I’m fixing my mistake. Turn around and let me take care of this.”
“Turn around? What the fuck for?” I grind out.
“To get you off. And you can report me if you want. But this is my fault. Now turn around.”
I hesitate, wanting to look at him. Not wanting any of my senses dulled by turning away.
“No.”
He bristles at that, smelling faintly of peppercorn. “You don’t want me touching you?”
It’s not that. It’s not fucking that.
My hands hold on to the door frame tighter.
“No,” I grind out.
“I fucking knew it. My scent only appeals for a short time, and then it’s over, and you lose interest. You alphas are all the same. Well, fine. You leave then. Go figure it out yourself—”
I cut him off, his body crushed against mine, my breathing labored as I take him in. Blown out pupils, flushed cheeks. The peppercorn scent is snuffed out by the scent of vanilla and honey.
“I told you to leave,” I growl.
“And I told you to turn around.”
“I don’t want to fucking turn around.” I drag his body up against mine, feeling the way his groin presses against my stiff cock.
I can feel he’s hard, too. Can feel he needs this just as much as I do.
A whimper leaves him when I do it again.
“I won’t turn around because I want to see you when I come.”
His mouth parts, and he gasps. I reach behind him and cup his ass, grinding him against me.
“Look at me,” I say. “Look. At. Me.”
His eyes meet mine, and his fingers curl against my shoulders.
Those different-colored irises positively glow, and I lean my head down, tucking my face into his neck. It’s potent—something I forgot I needed until now. No wonder I lost it in the woods during the Heat Hunt. His scent makes me feral.
I inhale the sweetness, listening to the moans he makes, the way his heart thrums against my lips.
“Whoever told you they were tired of your scent is a fucking idiot. You smell amazing,” I pant, my body rocking against his. “I could live inside of it.”
“Oh gods, Glenn,” he moans, and the sound of my name on his lips pushes me over the edge.
I come hard. My hips jerk as I groan loudly against his skin, my body trembling.
His breathing is shaky as I slowly let him go, feeling my release dripping down my thighs. Everything is hazy, my vision slowly coming back to normal as I suck in air.
I rutted against my boss.
I took him and used him. The exact thing he doesn’t want, doesn’t like.
“Knotting hell,” I murmur, backing up a step.
His scent still lingers, heady and thick. I scrub a hand down my face to collect myself. Thank fuck he wasn’t actually in heat or we’d be in trouble. The men walking in to see me knotting him would not go over well. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Just a misuse of pressure points, it seems.
We stare at each other, and I watch as Arbor’s chest heaves up and down.
“I can’t believe that happened at work. If Jericho finds out…”
I swallow, my throat suddenly dry. “He won’t. This stays between us. No one needs to know.”
His nostrils flare. “Well, that’s easy for you to say. You don’t have slick to contend with.”
He’s almost hysterical now, clearly not seeing that he started this in the first place. If he hadn’t tried to fix me earlier, we wouldn’t be here. Not that I tell him that. No, I don’t think he’d appreciate that at all.
“Yeah, well, I have a load of my cum in my pants, so maybe that will overpower your scent.”
He runs his hands through his hair in frustration. “No, Glenn. Your cum won’t overpower my slick because all the men out there are alphas. They will clock what I’m feeling because I’m an omega, and you horny fuckers can’t help yourselves!”
He’s getting desperate now, mean even, so I cut him off. I step forward, grabbing his wrist and pulling him toward the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing this.”
“How? How the fuck do you fix this?”
“Better than whatever you tried. We’ll clean ourselves up and then open some windows and air the place out. The purifiers will do the rest.”
“Easy for you to say,” he grumbles, but he lets me pull him into the bathroom and close the door. Here, his scent is almost overwhelming, making my already spent dick rally. Whoever said they didn’t like how he smelled is missing the fuck out.
I grab a handful of paper towels and hand him some.
He stares at them and then sighs.
“What I really need is a shower and a new change of underwear. And honestly, I didn’t think to bring one because I never fraternize at work. Never. And yet, here you are. The alpha who knotted me three months ago, working on my job site.”
I wet my lips and unzip my pants. As I do, I feel the mess I made and decide the best thing to do would be to take off my boxers entirely.
I kick off my shoes, Arbor watching me with wide eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Taking off my underwear,” I tell him. “I can’t work like this.”
In seconds, I shuck my pants and strip off my boxers, tossing them aside. They land in a heap on the floor, and I remind myself to grab them before I leave.
Because right now, my focus is on Arbor, my boss, the same one who is panting, unable to pull his eyes away from me. The scent of his slick is heady. If the men can’t smell it now, they will as soon as the windows open.
I see Arbor’s hands clutched in front of him, dragging up and down the bulge in his pants.
My dick likes the attention, fully hard by the time I’m done cleaning myself up.
But I don’t give in to any of it, as much as I want to. I just tuck it back in my jeans, refusing to come off like the alpha he expects me to be at this moment. I already went into a minor rut earlier. I don’t need to prove him right.
As soon as I shove my feet back in my shoes, I see Arbor leaning against the wall, his knuckles white as he clutches the paper towels in his fist.
“You gonna get cleaned up?”
He swallows and bobs his head.
“Don’t tell me what to do. I’m your boss.” But his words are weak and needy. Rail thin.
I roll my lips between my teeth and watch him. “You are. Just checking in because you haven’t moved since we got in here.”
“I was…” he swallows. “…supervising you.”
That makes me laugh softly. “Yeah, supervising my dick, as my brother, River, would say.”
Arbor glowers and then nods toward the door.
“You can leave.”
“You really want me to go?”
“Yes, or I’ll write you up for…insubordination.”
I sigh, inhaling deeply once more, taking the scent of him with me in my lungs. Right, well, he’s not interested in my staying, so I won’t fight it. And with that, I walk out.