9. Gabe
Chapter 9
M y legs are about to give out, and I catch myself against the wall, dropping the coffee I brought along for Ms. Manning. I lean heavily against the brick beside her front door, my head swimming and my instincts going haywire. The hamster from last night, the one latched onto Leo, the one who’s car is currently sitting in my parking lot–she’s an omega. Fuck, but she smells good, like peppermint and chocolate. Wait, was that why Jacks kept sniffing us last night and muttering about cookies?
I shake myself hard, looking down at my coffee splattered jeans. What the hell is going on? How did I not realize last night? And why the fuck does she smell so good? I’ve met omegas before, they all smell good, but I’ve never smelled one that makes me question my sanity.
One and all, great questions, but for now, I think I just scared Ms. Manning, Candice…Candy–well, she smells like a treat that is for damned sure .
I wonder if she tastes as good as she smells. What would it feel like to have her pressed against me, all soft and delicate? My fist wrapped around that long dark hair, holding her head to the side so I can taste that fragile area right where her neck meets the shoulder.
Okay, full fucking stop. This is a customer who entrusted me with her car after someone vandalized it. For fucks sake, her cat just died. I need to get my mind under control before I try this again.
Reaching out, but not really expecting an answer, I ring her bell again, then raise my hand and knock for good measure. “Candice, Honey, can you come out here please?”
Fucking hell, where did all these manners come from, and why the fuck did I just call a virtual stranger Honey . I need to get this shit under control now .
I try again, “Ms. Manning, I need to talk to you about your car, please answer the door.” I hear the deadbolt click, and the main door slips open a few inches. Just enough that I can see her standing there, her fingers wrapped around the edge, knuckles white, and the fucking huge ass hairclip is still on her head. The scent is not as strong through the glass of the storm door, but even if she sprayed herself with de-scenter, her house would still be saturated with that perfume. Just the thought makes me take a step back, needing to adjust my aching cock. These jeans were snug before but ever since she opened that door the first time they could damned near be labeled as a torture device .
“Ms. Manning, can you please step outside for just a minute. I’m having a hard time concentrating over here, and maybe the clear air would help a bit.” I feel my teeth grinding, trying to stay polite, when every instinct I have is demanding that I snatch up this hamster woman and drag her back to our pack house. Biology’s a bitch, and I try to switch to mouth breathing, which really does make me look like a bear, but at this point appearances are the least of my worries.
The glass door opens with a loud screech, and Candice steps out onto the concrete walkway. I know I’m staring, I can’t seem to help it. Both her hands are full–at least she has good sense, since one of them appears to be a can of mace, and the other one is a bright pink cord–I mean, I am not as kinky as Xan, and I don’t think I will ever want to be tied up, but if she’s offering.
No, wait, brain, stop.
Looks like it is a braided cord, a leash…once again, not my kink–I really need to get my mind out of the gutter here. But it is attached to that–that is not a hair clip. There is a big lizard sitting on top of her head, with a pink leash. And damned if that isn’t strange enough to finally reset my fucking brain to at least some semblance of sense.
“Ms. Manning, I’m real sorry to show up unannounced this afternoon, but I need to talk to you about your car.” She is standing in front of the closed door, and honestly, I’m not sure how she thinks that’s going to work out.
If I was some kind of savage, she would have to step away to open it to escape. But I am not trying to make her feel worse, so I just keep my mouth shut. I was trying to look over her head, see if anyone else is in the house with her; an omega living alone is in danger. But every time I try to raise my eyes over her head that damned lizard catches me by surprise. I don’t know what the hell it is, Leo would. Hell, it’s probably one of Leo’s patients. But it is creepy as fuck just staring at me–shit, I made eye contact.
Wait, what is that little fucker trying to do now?
“Shit, Iggy, not now, what the hell!” is the only warning I get before the lizard is flying through the air, having leapt from her hair. I don’t know what kind of crazy this thing is, but damn there is no way in hell it can jump that far.
Before my mind can really process what my body’s doing, I reach out my arm to catch it. Little bastard made it farther than I thought it would anyway. It lands with a squishy thud against my shoulder and scrambles around the back of my neck, tiny claws digging into my skin, and rubbing the top of its scaly head against the underside of my jaw on the other side.
So, I am tied to Candice by a lizard and it’s bright pink leash–my arm still hanging uselessly between us–covered in coffee, and now my phone decides to ring.
Xan
I just finished up with a spark plug job, pulled the car back to the lot, and was leaving paperwork on the desk for Kelly to take care of in the morning when the pack bond from Gabe opens up and I am nearly knocked over with the shot of lust pouring through.
Did dude fall into a vat of pheromones or something, I mean, what the fuck even was that?
I lean against the desk, shifting uncomfortably, trying to figure out what the hell to do about the inappropriate work erection when Trey walks in, “‘Ey, boss, I’mma head on out ta lunch…” he trails off, not finding Gabe in the office, but taking in my red face, fast breathing and hands holding a grease stained rag over the erection straining my coveralls. He does a better about-face than I have seen in a long time, and leaves without another word. I’m going to have words with Gabe after this, just as soon as I make sure that fucker is ok.
I pick up the office phone to check up on him, but my attention is diverted by tires screeching into our driveway. What the ever-loving hell is Jacks doing driving, and why does he have Leo with him? They both know better.
I hang up the phone. Clearly, having to deal with my wayward pack mates takes precedence over whatever Gabe is getting himself into–or off with, if that surge earlier was any indication. Jacks slams on the brakes just outside the front door, and spills out of the driver's side door, dragging a handful of brown paper with him.
Thank fuck Leo is slightly more with it, reaching over and turning off the engine, and bringing the key with him as he takes a few shaky steps out of the car. I’m unsure if his wobbly legs are from Jacks’ driving, or the same predicament my own boxers are losing the battle with, but Jacks scrambles through the front door making the bell jangle loudly and throwing what turns out to be a brown paper bag on the desk behind me before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and starting to suck on my neck.
Oh, he made us lunch. Well, that was sweet of him.
“Where is Gabe?” Leo grinds out as he shuffles in. Yup, definitely a shared predicament. Turns out scrubs hold in an erection even less than my work coveralls. Poor man looks like he is about to bust a fucking seam. Jacks is incredibly distracting, with his hand wrapped around my ponytail, gently biting up the column of my throat, and rubbing his hard cock against my hip. I grab his face and pull him away.
“Love, I know, believe me, I know. But this is not the time or the place ok?” I kiss him briefly on the mouth, nipping at his lower lip so he understands this is not a rejection, just a delay. He pulls back and wanders over to the waiting area, rocking back and forth and muttering something about chocolate mint cookies again. I don’t know where his brain goes sometimes, but he doesn’t seem as agitated as Leo right now, so let's just deal with one emergency at a time,
“He took off for lunch early, said he needed to go talk to the owner of that little rust box out front. I don't know why he didn’t just call.” I shrug my shoulders. I don’t know what our pack leader had planned. He didn’t tell me in advance, but that’s nothing new. I’ll fully admit to some confusion and curiosity on my part, but I always assumed that if there was anything important, he would let me know. Leo’s looking out into the parking lot, scoping out the car that I mentioned before. “That car belongs to Ms. Manning; she was in the clinic yesterday. Someone slashed her tires while her cat was being put down.” I flinch back–what in the actual fuck.
First of all, dick move at any time–but fuck me, no wonder Gabe wanted to be extra nice. I know for a fact that the car needed more work than it had done. Maybe he wanted to talk to her about it in person so she wouldn’t feel as overwhelmed.
“Get her address, we’re going over there,” demands Leo, nearly in a panic–though I am at a loss to see why.
“Now, just hold your horses,” I tell him, “let's try calling him first. If he answers, then we can just ask him what is going on.” There, simple, practical, makes total sense–which is probably why Leo is gaping at me like a landed fish.
“Oh, yes, but I’m concerned. You see, the woman who this car belongs to…well, I wasn’t reacting normally. I kept feeling the need to comfort her, and I fear what that may mean about her designation.”
I blink slowly .
“Fuck man, just say omega like a normal guy–Oh Shit!” I snatch the phone from its cradle, hitting the speed dial for Gabe’s phone, and barely registering Jacks’ giggles getting louder from the other room.
The call goes to voicemail after four rings. So I try again and it goes straight to voicemail this time. I quickly pull up the customer information in our files, and her address is a few miles from here, not too far away.
Leo grabs Jacks and throws me keys out of his hands. Leo bundles him into the back of the Jeep while I get behind the wheel. I’ve already started backing up while Leo is still trying to close his door. A hard turn out of the driveway has him cussing at me as he’s slammed into the door hard enough for it to jar open again.
“Dammit, put on your seatbelt!” Jacks is still giggling from the backseat, and while that in itself is disconcerting, I can only handle one emergency at a time.
We barrel down the street breaking most of the speed limits in town, before sliding to a stop behind Gabe's truck in a little cul-de-sac. I’ve just managed to get the gear into park, when Jacks tumbles out the back door laughing hysterically. I can't even blame him when I see what has him gasping and sprawled in the street.
Gabe, lying on the ground tangled in a pink leash with an iguana perched on his shoulder, rubbing its face against his beard stubble. There’s a short woman straddling his back, pulling on the leash. Leo lets out a loud snort as Gabe begins thrashing around, unseating both lizard and human passenger. The woman lets out a small pained whine as she tips over and hits the ground. That sound brings everything else to an abrupt halt.
The iguana strains to get to its owner, slipping free from the harness, and darting over to her side. It turns towards us and starts hissing and clicking–clearly defensive of its person, despite using Gabe as a perch earlier.
Gabe is finally on his back, his wrist, still wrapped in a leash, is stuffed in his pocket. Apparently he was trying to retrieve his phone when he went down. He’s covered in bits of grass and yard debris, and is using his non-leashed hand to brush it off his hair and face as he sits up, groaning.
Leo is focused on the Iguana, or its owner, I am not entirely sure. He is watching the situation unfold from beside me, and I can practically see the cogs in his mind turning. Unfortunately, that means we’ve forgotten about Jacks. Panic floods me as I realize his laughter has stopped too, and I spin quickly, trying to locate him, but he’s gone. Ice fills my veins at the thought of Jacks loose in suburbia. He’s not a bad person, but he’s not always safe for himself or those around him.
Before I can rally help, Leo lets out a strangled sound behind me. I turn again, feeling like I am on a fucking carousel, and see Jacks. He must have circled the Jeep while we were focused on the spectacle in front of us. He has scooped up the girl and her lizard and is now striding purposefully towards her front door, bleeding slightly from the torn elbows of his shirt .
He’s carrying her like a fucking princess, the iguana sitting on his shoulder, and a brown paper bag swinging from one hand. I have no fucking idea what’s going on until I hear Gabe’s voice, raised to carry across the yard, “Jacks, put the omega down. Do not go into that house.”