Chapter 27
His mother didn’t look impressed when Michael returned to the ballroom. Her nostrils flaring, she shook her head.
Michael flushed, feeling like a schoolboy caught by his parents with a hand down a pretty omega’s pants. Except this time he was the omega with ruined pants.
“We need to leave before someone else notices,” she murmured with a pinched look before putting on a smile and taking his arm. “Let’s hope people will think I’m the one smelling like I’ve just had sex.”
Michael winced.
“Seriously, darling?” she said, her words laced with exasperation. “Did he at least confess his feelings properly this time?”
Michael laughed a little. “More like, he told me that I’m marrying him in two weeks.”
“You actually like it,” she said after a moment, blinking at him in astonishment. “You actually like his over-the-top alpha attitude. I thought you’d chafe against it more, since you were an alpha all your life. Even many born omegas can’t tolerate being treated like that.”
Michael thought about it as they walked to their helicopter. His mother was right: most omegas would find Anthony’s behavior offensive, or at least suffocating. A few would find it amusing, and even fewer would actually like it.
“I guess I just know what it feels like from the other side,” Michael said.
“I know how alpha instincts work.” He was in the unique position of being an omega who used to be an alpha.
He knew what made alphas tick, what made them angry, pleased, or aroused.
He knew what buttons to push to make Anthony’s instincts go crazy with the desire to scent-mark him.
And he’d done exactly that, hadn’t he? It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but he’d known exactly what he was doing when he’d ignored Anthony the entire day and let other alphas into his personal space.
He’d known it would drive Anthony crazy.
He’d known Ant wouldn’t be able to stay away.
He’d gone to that balcony, knowing perfectly well Anthony was going to feel him up there, to mark him somehow.
It was what he’d wanted. Hell, he would have let Anthony take him on that balcony if he’d insisted, the scandal notwithstanding.
He was a whore for him; there was no point in denying it.
If they carried on like that, they’d be caught sooner rather than later.
“I’m going to marry him him in two weeks,” Michael said, chuckling.
His mother wasn’t amused.
He spent the whole ride home listening to all the reasons it was a terrible idea.
If he married Anthony so soon after coming out as an omega, people would rightly suspect that Anthony had something to do with his transformation.
A long courting period would be far more appropriate, with a marriage in a year.
“I know, mother,” he said, looking out the window. “But trust me, we can’t wait.”
“Why not?” she said, sounding beyond exasperated. “It would be social suicide!”
Michael laughed humorlessly. “The real social suicide would have been if someone had stepped onto the balcony while we were there. Trust me, we really can’t wait.”
***
“Mother said two weeks was nowhere near enough to announce and prepare for the wedding,” Michael said as he lay in his bed half an hour later. “She says she needs two months at the very least.”
“No.” Anthony’s voice sounded so close Michael could almost imagine he was talking right into his ear. “I’m not waiting two months to put my mark on you.”
He shivered, pressing the phone closer to his ear, as if that would bring Anthony closer. Fuck, this was truly pathetic.
But he didn’t want to wait two months, either.
“One month, then,” he said.
“No,” Anthony said. “I want you now.”
Michael sighed, squeezing his thighs together. “I miss you already, too,” he said back, because it was essentially what Anthony was saying without actually saying it. They’d seen each other not even an hour ago.
“I could come to your place,” Anthony said, his voice dropping to a low, intimate murmur.
“Not a good idea. The paparazzi are still parked outside.”
“You’re worried about gossip now? You jerked me off on a public balcony.”
Michael groaned out a laugh. “Don’t remind me. You’re a terrible influence. I can’t believe we didn’t get caught.”
“If we got caught, there would have been no need to wait at all.”
Michael laughed. “Gods, you’re impossible! I can’t believe I love you.”
Silence fell over the line.
“You love me?” Anthony said in a strange tone of voice.
Michael squeezed his eyes shut. He hadn’t intended to say it, not like this.
He already felt vulnerable enough. Confessing feelings first was daunting when he wasn’t even sure what Anthony felt for him.
It made him feel naked while Anthony was still fully clothed.
It wasn’t a bad feeling, per se. Just...
“Never mind,” he said dismissively. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to your brothers—”
“No, say it again,” Anthony asked—demanded.
Michael licked his lips. “Why?”
Anthony didn’t answer immediately.
“I want you to.”
“You want me to say it?”
“I want you to love me.” Anthony’s voice was a little stiff and slow, as if he was realizing it just then.
Michael’s heart started pounding. “Why?”
Anthony went quiet again.
“You know I’m not good at saying things,” he said at last. “Jules calls me an emotionally-stunted jerk for a reason.”
Michael frowned. He wouldn’t have phrased it that way, but there was some truth in it.
Anthony wasn’t good at opening up. Some people called him cold and emotionally unavailable, and Michael had always thought it was bullshit.
It was understandable that Ant was somewhat guarded, after leaving home as a teenager, spending his formative years in the army, and only reconnecting with his family much later.
“Don’t say that,” he chided.
Anthony sighed. “It’s not untrue. You know I don’t make friends easily.
I’ve always been aloof. Jon was my only friend for a long time, and he became that largely because our survival depended on us trusting each other in enemy territory.
We became friends because we had to make it work.
But you—you’ve always been different. I’ve never connected to another person so fast, and you were an alpha, which should have made me dislike being around you, but it wasn’t the case. ”
“Yeah?” Michael encouraged him softly. He’d never known this.
He’d obviously noticed that Anthony was nowhere near as aloof with him as he was with other alphas, and he had been surprised when Anthony kept seeking him out, instead of just maintaining the distant, cordial relationship that passed for friendship among society’s alphas.
“You’ve always been... so warm.” Anthony’s voice was low, like a caress.
“Light. Genuinely good and kind. While you were courting Li, I liked the thought of having you in the family, and I never just like people. When Li dropped you for Jon, I thought of you immediately. I thought you didn’t deserve the public humiliation.
I wanted—I guess I wanted you to be okay.
” He gave a harsh chuckle. “It definitely isn’t normal for me, especially when it comes to other alphas. ”
Michael moistened his dry lips with his tongue. “Are you saying you had, like, feelings for me before Belith?” It sounded too good to be true.
“No—I don’t know.” Anthony cleared his throat a little.
“I’m saying there always was something there.
I’ve always been... drawn to you in a way I wasn’t to anyone else.
I wanted to be around you, but your alpha pheromones rubbed me the wrong way, preventing it from becoming anything. But now the conflict is gone.”
“And?” Michael encouraged him softly.
“I know I want you to be mine,” Anthony said, his voice clipped.
“I want you to be mine always. I want you to look at me the way my brothers look at their mates. I want you to be all soft with me and shit.” Anthony laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Apparently I need you to tell me how much you love me, too.”
Michael found himself grinning helplessly.
It might not be the love confession he’d wanted, but in a way, it was even better.
Anthony was making himself vulnerable too.
Confessing feelings first had been terrifying, but by admitting that he needed his love, Anthony had placed the power back in his hands.
It made him feel powerful and needed. Not just wanted. Needed.
“I love you,” Michael said.
Anthony’s breath hitched audibly.
Michael smiled wider. “I love you, Ant,” he said in a low, intimate voice.
Anthony groaned. “Shut up, don’t do this to me when I can’t even kiss you.”
Laughing, Michael murmured, “I love you, baby.” When Anthony didn’t say anything, Michael grinned. “Too much?”
“No, actually,” Anthony said hoarsely.
Michael couldn’t stop smiling. “Aww, who would have thought Anthony Blake actually had a thing for endearments?”
“We’re getting married next week,” Anthony said. “I refuse to wait any longer.” He hung up.
Michael fell asleep still grinning.