Chapter 11
Anthony seemed determined to make his life a living hell.
At least that was the conclusion Michael had come to by the end of the week.
Avoidance might not have been the solution to his problem, but having Ant all over his personal space definitely wasn’t helping the situation.
All it did was make him increasingly agitated and shaky in his own skin.
The urge to bare his teeth and snarl at his best friend was still present—as was the urge to bare his neck for him.
And the less was said about his horniness and inability to come without putting something in his asshole, the better.
Michael tried to avoid Anthony at social functions—he didn’t trust his body to behave—but Ant was like a dog with a bone.
He unerringly found him every time, forcing Michael to endure meaningless small talk with barely a couple of inches between them.
All the while, his sharp blue eyes studied him with a mix of scientific curiosity and something else.
Something darker. Michael wasn’t sure what that emotion was, but it made Michael’s inner alpha bristle, desperate to prove that he wasn’t affected by this little experiment.
“Step away, Ant,” he hissed, glancing around the crowded room. “You’re practically on top of me.”
Anthony gave him a lazy smile. “Stop exaggerating. No one is looking at us. Besides, that’s the point. We need to rewire your brain, remember?”
Michael wished the wall behind him wasn’t there. There was nowhere left to retreat. “That’s your theory. I’m not convinced this is doing anything—other than irritating me.”
“It’s not just my theory,” Anthony said, laying a hand on the wall by Michael’s head. “I’ve talked to Hugh, and he said the same. He’s one of the best AO experts out there.”
Michael shot him an annoyed look. “You told your brother-in-law about me?”
“Not about you. I didn’t use any names. It was just a hypothetical question.”
Michael scoffed. “He’s not an idiot. I doubt he couldn’t put two and two together.”
Anthony shrugged, leaning even further into his personal space.
His scent was all Michael could breathe, and it was making his heart race, his hands clenching into balls.
He wanted to shove him away. He wanted to shove Anthony against the wall.
He wanted—something. A fight, a clash, anything.
Worst of all, his pulse throbbed traitorously between his legs, hot and needy.
“Are you turned on right now?” Anthony murmured in a very mild tone of voice, as if speaking about the weather.
Michael glowered at him, his face very warm. “Fuck off.”
Anthony raised his eyebrows. “Come on. There’s no need to be embarrassed.”
“I’m this close to punching you, mate,” Michael said with a strained smile. “You’re enjoying this a bit too much, don’t you think?”
“This?” Anthony said, holding his gaze.
“My suffering. My humiliation.”
“I’m hardly enjoying it.”
“You’re not not enjoying it.”
“That made no sense,” Anthony said, his eyes glinting. “Are the pheromones getting to your head?”
Michael bared his teeth at him. That had been a low blow. “Why are you being such an asshole?”
“Ahem.”
They flinched. Wrenching his eyes from Anthony’s, Michael turned his head.
Liam stood a few feet away, watching them with a puzzled little frown on his beautiful face. “What’s going on here?”
Michael straightened to his full height, suddenly realizing that he’d been slouching against the wall, uncomfortably close to baring his neck to another alpha in public. Fuck.
“Liam,” he said, picking up Liam’s slim hand and kissing the air above his knuckles.
His delicate scent calmed his agitation a little.
Mated omegas had that effect on all alphas, though it helped that he’d always liked this particular omega.
Liam was poised, beautiful, and well-mannered—everything Michael could want in an omega.
“Is everything all right?” Liam said quietly, his pretty eyes flicking between his eldest brother and Michael.
“Why wouldn’t it be all right?” Anthony said.
Liam raised a pale eyebrow. “You were staring at each other for a long time. It looked... odd. Intense.”
Michael rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the ballroom and catching more than a few puzzled looks.
Fuck.
He’d noticed that it had been happening a lot lately, with Anthony and him completely forgetting that they weren’t alone whenever they talked.
At least Michael tended to forget that, his body becoming hyper-focused on the other alpha.
But he wasn’t sure what Anthony’s excuse was.
He wasn’t the one whose body was fucked up after taking another alpha’s knot.
In any case, they needed to be more careful. Both being alphas was probably the only thing protecting them from scandal—most people simply couldn’t fathom an attraction between alphas, so they would overlook strange behavior like that. For the time being.
“You know your brother,” Michael said. “He was bored, so he was bothering me, as usual.”
Liam chuckled. He clearly hadn’t bought the explanation, but he was too well-mannered to call him a liar. “Between you and me, Ant just needs a mate to bully around.”
“Ant is right here,” Anthony said dryly. “Run along, Li. I need to talk to Michael. Alone.”
“So rude,” Liam said, shaking his head. “No manners at all.” He eyed the space between Anthony and Michael for a moment. “Don’t quarrel at a ball, brother,” he murmured, lowering his voice. “Our family doesn’t exactly need another scandal.”
“We weren’t quarreling,” Michael said stiffly.
Truth be told, he wasn’t sure whether they had been quarreling or not.
Lately, all his interactions with Anthony had this strange edge to them, as if they were building toward a big, nasty fight.
If he didn’t know better, he’d think Anthony was goading him on purpose, trying to make him snap.
But he did know better. For all his infuriating ways, Anthony was a good friend.
He was trying to help. It only came across as aggressive and challenging because neither of them could help themselves.
They were alphas. Instincts were hard to control, the urge to take charge and fix the situation messing everything up.
“It didn’t look like that,” Liam said with a nice smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was undoubtedly aware of the attention on them and wanted to quash any gossip before it could spread.
“We weren’t,” Anthony said, laying a heavy hand on Michael’s shoulder. “And even if we were, it’s none of your business, Li. Run along.”
Shooting his brother a strange look, Liam left.
“He’s right,” Michael murmured, taking a step away from Anthony—trying to subtly remove Anthony’s hand from his body.
Except Anthony moved with him. His hand remained where it was, heavy and hot.
Michael forced a strained smile. “Stop touching me,” he muttered under his breath.
“Hugh said I’d need to get you accustomed to my touch without associating it with what happened.”
Michael ground his teeth. “In the hypothetical situation you described to him.”
“Yep,” Anthony said, following him out of the ballroom as Michael slipped through a door.
“There’s no way he thought it was hypothetical if he gave you advice on how to handle it.”
“Even if he does suspect something, it’s not a problem. He’s my brother-in-law. He won’t tell anyone.”
Throwing him an annoyed look, Michael lengthened his strides, shrugging Anthony’s hand off and marching toward his helicopter. But Anthony caught up to him and followed him into it.
Michael took a deep breath—and instantly regretted it as he inhaled a lungful of Anthony’s scent. “I didn’t invite you to join me,” he said evenly, turning to the window.
“You’re angry with me.”
Michael balled his fingers into fists. “Home,” he told the pilot curtly before closing the partition between them and the pilot. “Whatever gave you that impression?”
“Look at me, Michael.”
He clenched his jaw and continued staring out the window as the helicopter took off.
“Look at me.”
The hairs on Michael’s nape stood up. He dug his nails into his thighs, trying to resist the Voice. But it was futile. The command hooked into his belly and tugged.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled, whipping his head around and glaring at his friend.
Anthony didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. “Hugh said it might be a good idea to build up your resistance to my commands through innocuous orders that are easy to resist.”
“Fuck Hugh,” Michael bit off. “I didn’t give you permission to order me around like—like I’m some omega!”
“Don’t be sexist,” Anthony said mildly, his lips twisting. “It works on betas and pups too.”
Michael shoved him hard against the seat, pressing his forearm against Anthony’s throat. “Shut up,” he gritted out. “Why are you acting like this?”
Anthony grabbed his arm and wrenched it away from his throat, pinning it against the seat.
“Like what?” he said, seemingly calm. But the thickening of his scent betrayed that he wasn’t as calm as he appeared.
Then again, no alpha would be entirely calm when another alpha had an arm on their throat. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Bullshit,” Michael said, baring his teeth and shoving Anthony harder against the seat. Fuck, he wanted to hurt him. He wanted to punch him, make him bleed. He felt nearly dizzy with that want. “You’re obsessed with provoking unnatural reactions from me. Part of you likes it. I can tell, Anthony.”
Anthony’s jaw tightened. “I’m hardly obsessed,” he said evenly. “I’m not the one in another alpha’s lap.”
Growling, Michael pushed the other alpha harder against the seat, pinning him there with his weight. “I’m not in your lap. You’re under me.”
Anthony’s scent flared, choking the narrow space between them with alpha pheromones. He grabbed Michael’s nape and shoved him against the seat, flipping their positions.