Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ARBOR
My body aches in the best way, Glenn proving to be just as good an alpha as he was during the Heat Hunt. The way he takes me, the size of his dick. The way he holds me after, the way he says I smell wonderful and means it. Everything about him is fucking perfect.
Which is why I really shouldn’t be rummaging around in my briefcase for the stone that will knock him out. The one that Attie enchanted for me, and the same one I used on Glenn that first night.
“Don’t allow anyone to claim you, my strong boy. You may be an omega, but never allow them to make you weak.”
I need it so I can leave. So I’m not stuck with a man who will treat me like shit when he tires of my smells, of how odd I am, how different I am from everyone else in his life.
I don’t really fit in. Not in this town, even amid the big city. Part of me thinks I should travel to the Isles to find more fae, just like Glenn suggested, but I’m not sure I want to. I think it would only lead to more disappointment.
It’s why I keep to myself.
All I have is Attie.
I pull the stone out and stare at it. A Petoskey from Lake Michigan. The gray shine reflects the lights flickering above me as I turn it in my palm. Attie picked this one because of the ancient coral skeleton hidden inside it. He says it can hold natural magical properties better than other stones.
I glance back at the bedroom where Glenn is asleep.
He took me four more times before finally passing out. And now I’m going to make sure he doesn’t wake up for another several hours.
Guilt slithers through me, but I swallow it back. Relationships never end well. I tried it with Vince, and it was a shitshow. He grew tired of me, of who I am. I don’t know if I could handle another rejection like that. Especially with Glenn.
Because I like him. So really, ending this before it starts is a good idea.
A creak of the floorboard has me turning to see the man I’m thinking of standing in the doorway, his hair rumpled, a crease across his cheek.
“You okay?”
I nod, placing the stone behind my back, hiding it from view. I don’t want him to ask questions. He has so fucking many. Why the hell is he so curious about me? Why does he even care?
“Just stretching my legs.”
He cocks his head and then starts toward the kitchen. “All right. I’ll make you something to eat. You have to be famished.”
I watch him go, the rock sitting in my hand. All I need to do is run it across his temple, and the magic inside of it will put him right to sleep. He’ll fall to the floor, and I can make my escape, but I hesitate.
I clasp the small stone in the palm of my hand as I move toward him, watching as he pulls out a frying pan.
“You should be in bed, resting. There won’t be work again today. Too much rain. Gods, why the fuck is it raining so much? We never get this much.”
I roll my lips between my teeth. “No idea. Maybe it’s some kind of training storm.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“Like storm cells continuously moving into the same spot.”
Glenn eyes me. “You know a lot about the weather. Is that the fae part of you?”
“No. I just watched too much TV as a kid. Anyway, you know, I could make you breakfast. You don’t have to take care of me.”
“I enjoy taking care of you. It’s been too long since I’ve had someone to do this for.”
I step closer and press my forehead against his spine, letting my lips skirt over his skin. I could just reach up and touch his temple, could just press it right there and make him pass out, but I don’t. I just stand there, breathing him in as he heats the oil in the pan and pulls down some plates.
“You need me again?” he asks, turning slightly. I pull away and stare up at him.
“I’m good for now. My heats never last that long. It’s the fae in me.”
Even as I say that, my slick trickles down my thighs. I’m such a fucking liar.
In minutes, he’ll be able to smell my need, my desperation.
I should do it now. I should just put myself out of my self-made misery. But I don’t. I just slide my arms around him and hold on to him while he works, whipping me up an omelet, which is much more than I deserve.
He feeds me, and when I’m done, my stomach full, he takes me to the couch and holds me until I’m writhing with need.
The stone is still in my hand, warm with magic, but I don’t use it.
I just cradle it in my palm as he fucks into me slowly, his knot filling me minutes later, bringing with it a calming sensation.
It has never been like this with anyone else. This sense of peace and acceptance, where I don’t mind being the omega to my alpha.
His hands rub up and down my back as he holds me, scenting me by rubbing his face against my neck as I rest in his arms.
I should do it now that his knot is going down, but the thought of packing up and driving myself home to my cold, stale apartment makes something shrivel inside of me. I don’t want to leave this warm home and comforting man.
“You seem exhausted.”
“I’m not. Just thinking.”
“You were literally just snoring.”
I huff and then bite down on his neck, making him grunt in response.
“Careful. That’s how my brother ended up bonded with his mate. Bit each other a little too much.”
“Oh,” I breathe, feeling his knot swell slightly. “Were they okay with that?”
“No. They unbonded.”
That makes me rear back. “What happened?”
“They met a shaman who did this ritual and tore them apart. It was pretty bad. I saw it, and I never wanna go through that, you know?”
My heart thumps in my chest. “Yeah, that sounds…” My voice trails off, and I let out a long exhale. “…horrible.”
“It was. Nearly killed Skye. But anyway, they’re fine now. And it doesn’t matter. I’m not biting you and you’re not biting me, so we’re good.”
That makes me bristle. Why the hell would he not bite me? Am I not good enough?
He curls his arm around me and pulls me close. “Get whatever thoughts you have out of your head. Because chances are you’re wrong.”
I roll my eyes, and he pinches my ass.
“Don’t tell me what to think.”
“I will, when it’s whatever made you crease your eyebrows like that.” He runs a finger between them, and our eyes clash.
“Fine, you can tell me not to do that. That’s acceptable.”
“Good,” he replies and then kisses me softly. It’s tender, sweet even, and my body gives off the scent of a peach. He must smell it because he sighs happily, licking into my mouth. I can’t do anything but accept it.
When we finally part, his forehead hits mine, and he breathes me in.
“What do you have in your hand?” he asks. “You’ve held it this entire time.”
I don’t want to tell him, but I have to. A white lie never hurt anyone, right?
“Just a gift from an old friend. He gave it to me. It calms me.”
“Can I see it?”
I hold my palm open, and he stares down at it. “A Petoskey stone. Cool.”
“Yeah. It’s…special.”
“Thanks for showing it to me.”
“You’re welcome.” And then I kiss him, to keep him from asking any more questions, to keep me from lying to his face.
When his knot finally slips free of me, I slide off his lap and lounge on the couch. He makes me a hot cup of tea, and the rain is finally subsiding to a light drizzle.
“Do you ever think of that night?” I ask, and I hear a mug clatter.
“Of course I do.”
“Me too.” I pause, my mind moving to how good it felt that he singled me out, chased me, claimed me. I didn’t want to leave that night. I wanted to stay, but I knew I couldn’t. I can never stay.
I shake my head, forcing my mind off it. “You gonna do it again?”
I hear the kettle being filled and placed on the stove before he answers. “The Heat Hunt? Maybe. Although I didn’t get my money’s worth, seeing as you left.”
I lean up and meet his gaze over the couch. I can see the hurt in his eyes for a moment before his pupils dilate.
“Maybe I should make it up to you. Give you a better chase.”
My eyes slip to the door, and his nostrils flare.
“Don’t you fucking dare. There are Howlers out there.”
I sit up even further. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I fucking will.”
But I’m not listening. I’m running, my feet skittering across the floor as I fling the door open, the rock in my palm, my arms pumping as I rush down the stairs and into the adjoining woods.
Mud slaps against my bare legs, the sprinkling rain coating my skin. My heart is in my throat, adrenaline coursing through me. But more than that is anticipation. Of getting caught, getting taken right here on the Earth’s floor. Just like it used to be.
I hear him running behind me, leaves and twigs cracking under his feet. I want to look back, want to see that strong body chasing after me, but I don’t. Because it will slow me down, and this whole thing will be over.
I pivot, using my hand to swing myself around the trunk of a tree, my body propelled in a different direction. I hear him growl as distant howls meet my ears. He was right. There are Howlers out here, roaming, hunting.
It doesn’t stop me. It only spurs me on.
I feel him nearing, his grunts meeting my ears.
“Arbor,” he growls, and then I’m pulled back, my breath leaving my lungs as I crash against his chest. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I writhe in his grip, trying to get loose, but he doesn’t let go, only holds on tighter.
“I’m giving you your money’s worth.”
He jostles me slightly, and I feel his cock settle between my cheeks. The thought of his dick pushing inside of me makes my slick thicken. It drips down my balls to my thighs.
“Take it. Take me.”
His face moves to my neck, and he scents me, his pheromones driving me wild.
“I should make you wait,” he says softly, right against my hammering pulse.
I grind against his hard cock and whine. “Please, Alpha. Please.”
He reaches between my legs and tugs, making me arch up onto my tiptoes, seeking more.
“I should punish you.”
“Oh, gods,” I moan as I grind against him.
And he doesn’t give it to me, just holds me there, right in the middle of the forest, his hand stroking my cock, my ass desperately trying to get him inside me.
It doesn’t work. He just keeps me there, suspended in time, my heat growing more desperate, my slick dripping from my ass.
“Glenn,” I moan as I turn my head and try to kiss him.
He bites my bottom lip, and I cry out.
“Reckless, but I know you need this,” he murmurs and then pushes me forward.
I stumble to my knees, and he follows, his body right behind mine.
I arch my ass up to him, presenting myself to my alpha.
His hands clasp my cheeks, and he spreads them.
I feel his tongue lapping up my thighs, devouring my slick until he enters me. First a finger, then two.
My moans echo around the trees surrounding us, my hands curling into the wet leaves beneath me. My cock pulses, and my first release covers the ground beneath me. He doesn’t stop. Not even when it rains again. He just pushes his tongue further into me.
Licking, pulsing, making my eyes roll into the back of my head, my cheek pressed into the wet dirt beneath me.
He finally pulls away, and I hear him shift behind me.
Then his hips slap forward, and I’m impaled on him. A scream leaves me, and he reaches forward and covers my mouth with his hand.
“Quiet, Omega.”
I nod, swallowing back my moans, but it’s fucking impossible. It feels too good, being stretched open, fucked so hard my knees are bruising, my nails clawing at the earth.
I come unexpectedly once more, my entire body arching up as I try to keep quiet.
It’s hard to contain it. I bite my bottom lip so hard it bleeds, and then I fall back to the ground as he continues to ram into me.
“So fucking filthy,” he mutters, his hips slapping against my ass, his cock painfully deep.
But he doesn’t stop, just continues to use my hole until I come again. This time, tears leak from my eyes, blending in with the rain soaking my skin.
It’s that clench around his cock that unravels him. His hands tighten on my hips, his movements stuttering, and then he roars. Loud and unhinged. His knot expands, and he falls forward, scenting my neck, my shoulders, even my back. Everywhere he can, he marks me.
I revel in it, knowing the rain will soon wash it away.
But, fuck, I love it.
Right now, I don’t have any responsibilities bearing down on me. I have nothing to prove. I’m just an omega getting knotted by an alpha.
It’s simple, primal.
At times, it’s who I think I want to be.
We stay like that for several minutes, Glenn panting against my skin, me trying to regain my senses. It seems he fucked them right out of me.
“We need to get back inside. You’re shivering, and fuck, I think the Howlers are closer. I can smell them.”
“Mmm,” is all I hum, happy to just stay outside like this, completely full, in his arms.
But I know I can’t stay after this. I need to leave. I need to get back to my life.
I can’t miss work. I really can’t. I have to prove myself to everyone who thinks an omega can’t do this, to all the people who realize I’m a fae and quietly think I don’t belong.
His lips touch my skin, dragging across my cheek to my lips. I lean up and we kiss deeply, tongue and teeth, until he finally pulls away.
“Fuck, Arbor.”
I sigh, the sound of my name on his lips.
“So good. So fucking good.”
His knot deflates slightly, and I pull myself off him with an audible pop. He grunts at the sensation, but I know I need to do it now. I need to be free. If I stay any longer, I won’t leave at all.
“Let’s go back and get ourselves cleaned up,” he says, his gaze tracking over my naked, muddy form.
“Yeah,” I say, letting him help me stand. In the distance, I see figures in the trees, moving across the horizon. My heart rate picks up, and I find myself short of breath.
Fuck, I’m going to have to go. I’m going to leave.
I can’t ever stay.
The figures turn, and I know I need to do this quickly. It’s better if he finds out who I am now. I’m not worthy of him anyway.
I reach up and link my arms around his shoulders before leaning in to kiss him. Our lips connect, and I send an apology out into the universe, letting the stone tap gently against his temple.
He pulls back, his brows meeting, and then I see his eyes close as he collapses onto the ground.