28. Rickon
Chapter twenty-eight
Rickon
I didn’t really understand the saying about sweaty palms before sitting in the waiting room of Director Yun’s office. It takes a couple of swipes on my pinstripe pants to clear the dampness, but my hands still feel greasy. My reputation in this industry hangs on the unknown abilities of the omega who just landed in my life.
If Red looks nervous, she doesn’t show it as she sits beside me, one long leg crossed elegantly over the other. The trip we made to a clothing store paid off in the dividends she’s wearing now with a high-waisted, one-piece body suit featuring a bold silver belt buckle, sequin-patterned bodice, and flared legs.
Courtesy of Callisto’s credit card, which she remembered the number for despite me washing it off, we also bought a hair straightener, silver watch, and flashy earrings with concentric rings that twist with each head movement as she scans the Entertainment OK magazine.
She leans closer, tilting the page my way. “Looks like maroon’s in this season. Not really my color.” Her candied-nut scent floods through me and for a moment I forget where I am, dazed by my omega’s presence.
“We’ll pair it with lots of cream on top for you,” I murmur, running my index finger down her silky bare upper arm. “Set this skin on fire.” I twitch as I realize what I’m doing in public, but she simply flashes me a darling smile.
“All right, if you think so.”
Think? I’m already dressing her up in my head with all possible color combinations. Maybe I’ll make a matching corset for her.
The director’s door opens and a scriptwriter I’ve seen a few times before comes out, hugging a laptop case. He nods at me, and then takes a second look at Red. Who can blame him? The outfit hugs her willowy curves and glitters with each breath she draws.
The administrative assistant at the desk looks up. “Mr Jones? The director will see you now.”
Show time. I jump to my feet and offer Red my hand. “Ready?”
“Always,” she murmurs, and my heart races for an entirely different reason than nerves.
Valencio Yun beckons me with two crooks of his fingers when I open the door and stick my head in. “Rickon. I was surprised to get your call. What can I do for you?”
I sidle through the door and open it wider to admit Red. Even though I’ve prepared myself to follow this through to the end, it still feels like I shouldn’t be here.
“Director Yun, I want to introduce my new client to you. Meet Red.” I swallow hard as his gaze zeroes in on my omega. “I know this isn’t the usual process, but I believe she’s perfect for the jockey movie, if you’re still casting the lead actress.” With no experience, she’d never get a second look going through the regular lineup, so this is my only hope.
The director lets out a heavy breath. “This won’t win you any brownie points, Rickon. You know the industry better than that.” His criticism cuts, but not as much as I thought. It’s like my axis has shifted overnight and now Red’s opinion matters most.
His chin juts forward. “Your omega?”
I nod. It’s not enough of a claim, so I quickly add, “Yes.” She’s mine and I’m hers.
Ever the professional, Director Yun switches his attention to Red and holds out his slim hand. “Valencio Yun. Nice to meet you, Red.”
“Likewise. Thank you for seeing us on short notice.”
He assesses her up and down and one side of his mouth dimples in, which usually only happens when he’s satisfied with a film take. “So, you think you’re good enough to star in our next box office hit?” He gestures us to take a seat. “Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of you before, so what’ve you done so far that makes you worthy?”
I feel myself shrinking a little inside. Director Yun never pulls his punches, and he hates wasted time.
But Red simply smiles and leans her arms on his desk. “Let’s not get stuck in the past, Director Yun, and focus instead on what I can do for you. I can learn lines fast, I’m adaptable, and I’ve got a memorable face.”
He laces his fingers together, not giving an inch. “That applies to a hundred other actresses out there.”
She holds his gaze. “Read me a few lines. Let’s see if I sound like them all.”
Director Yun’s nostrils blow out. As he rises to his feet, his gaze slides my way. “I’ve got an entire casting team to take care of this for me.”
Red’s fearless presence must be giving me courage, because I quip back, “And how are they doing with finding a female lead?”
He points one finger at me in warning and I drop my head in apology, watching from the corner of my eye as he pulls a bound manuscript from the side shelves and flips it open while he walks back to his seat.
“Okay, here’s a scene following the lead getting cut off by the other jockeys with foul play during a qualifying race.” He looks at Red to see if she’s paying attention. “Ashana hands the horse over to a stable hand for cooldown and then storms into the tack room.”
Red cocks her head as he reads out a page’s worth of dialogue. I grip the armrests on the chair tightly as I notice most of the scene’s prompts are missing. He plans to make her interpret, and he wants to test her memory. I clench my fists. Who on earth could remember a page of lines just by hearing them once?
Director Yun finishes and eyes Red up and down. “Still confident?”
Instead of answering, my omega jumps to her feet and stretches her arms overhead. I stiffen as she leaves the room but a second later she flings herself through the door, face reddened and breath harsh enough to hear across the room. She slaps her palm against the wall behind the door, side on to us, making us both jump at the sharp crack.
“I had it! So close!” Her body tenses roughly with anger as she groans, fingers curling against the wall. Her head swings limply toward us and my heart prickles as a single tear trickles down her cheek. “I had it, but those bastards couldn’t bear to let an omega win.”
She growls with more anger than I would’ve thought suited an omega role, but it makes sense. The character hasn’t been an omega all her life, so why would her mannerisms suddenly soften? Did Red remember that just from what I told her about the role?
I jump up and snatch the script off the Director’s desk, tracking my finger down the page. “Talking to yourself again, Ash?” I read, coming up behind Red.
She whirls away from the wall, still panting.
“That was a good ride,” my character offers.
“Better than good, James, and you know it,” she mutters through clenched teeth, somehow still projecting her voice.
I’m a bit slow getting the next line out because it’s hard to look away from her. Red huffs at me while she waits, impatient and frustrated, tears making her eyes glimmer.
“Sure, but I warned you this is a hard industry.”
“I don’t mind hard work but that was illegal, and everyone knows it.” She flings her arm toward the door, chest heaving and eyes flashing with anger. “If I were still a beta, there’d already be calls to the commissioner.” She balls her fists up. “They think they can force me out because I’m an omega now? Nothing’s changed about the way I ride!”
I cock my head, wondering what part of her past fuels this palpable, radiating anger. I sigh, my heart breaking for her. “What are you going to do?”
She steps into my space, forcing me back. “I’m going to make them pay! I’ve been a jockey for five years, and I’ll be one for the next five, omega or not.” Her anger gives me chills.
I reach out and tuck a strand of loose crimson hair behind her ear. “If anyone can beat them, it’s you, Red.”
Director Yu clears his voice, jolting me out of the trance that took me off script. I glance down, looking for the correct line, but we’re at the end of the page he read out to Red.
My glorious omega and I both turn toward him, breathless.
His lips purse and he taps a pen idly against the desk while he assesses us. “That’s an interesting direction you took with the interpretation.” He tilts his head. “Don’t you think it’s too aggressive for an omega?”
Red smirk and pop one fist on her hip. “Not at all. It’s a hot-blooded industry and she’s no dummy. She was a beta for years before this surprise switch. Now she has heats and a stronger scent, but she’s still the same person. Only now a lot more confused.” Red shrugs. “And hasn’t your omega ever gotten angry? We don’t back down easily once triggered.” Her gaze slides toward me. “We omegas fight relentlessly for what we want.”
Does she mean me? My cheeks warm.
He hums under his breath. “You make a good point.” His shoulders slump and he leans back in the chair, teasing a labored creak out of the mechanisms. “But I can’t give you the role based on one interesting interpretation.” He waves us back to the desk and turns to look out his window.
The silence stretches until finally he turns back and frowns, brows nearly touching in the center of his face. “Seduce me.”
Red smirks. “That’s a dangerous pathway to take, Director Yun. You see—” She circles his desk and rests part of her ass on his desk, not quite touching his leg. “Anyone can take your body, but that’s not where I’ll go.”
My breath catches in my chest, and I think his does too.
My omega leans over and traces a finger across his temple. His nostrils dilate as her rich, honeyed scent gets in his space. “I want what’s in here, what makes you the best film director this country has, and when I’ve discovered that, and decided to make you mine, I’ll do so slowly.”
She lifts her hands to indicate the room. “Not here, but one by one with your pack, finding each and every one of their loves and hates, those who like it soft—” She cups his chin, forcing their gazes to meet. “—and those who like it rough.” Without warning, she spins his chair so he’s caught between her legs.
Director Yun gasps, the sound loud through the quiet room.
Heat flushes through my body, zeroing in on my cock. I want her hands on me instead of him. It’s like she holds all the power in this room, and that’s saying something where Valencio Yun is concerned. I can’t see her face, but it seems her expression affects the director enough to make him flush.
He clears his throat. “Enough. You can stop now.”
“Stop what?” Red asks, her voice silky with innocence. “Following orders? But I think you like that most, when people jump to obey you. I’ll jump, Director Yun.” She leans both hands on his armrests, trapping him, and he leans forward a fraction, chest puffing and shoulders straightening with alpha posturing.
He groans and throws a helpless look at me over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rickon.” He shifts in the seat, looking uncomfortable.
Fuck, I’m hard too, and I can only see her back. I always wondered how packs felt sharing their members with the big screen, through sex scenes and all that. Now I know. Jealousy, yes, but also a fierce pride that this untamable delight comes home to me of her own choosing. Or she will, once she lands the role.
Red leans in until her cheek almost slides across his, whisker-close. “Yes, you’re hard, and so’s my alpha. And the same thing will happen to every man in the audience who watches that film screening, and you know what else?” She pulls back enough to look him in the eye. “They’ll go home and rub those thick chubbies through their omegas’ dripping pussies while thinking continuously about your movie, and the actress you discovered. Does that sound good to you, sir?”
A smoky cigar alpha scent floods the room as a red flush creeps up his neck. He rolls his chair back from her and flings his arm toward the door. “Get out!”
Red winks at him as she stands. “All right, boss. Hope your omega’s on speed dial.”
I jump to my feet, my hard-on forgotten as I race to obey. Red’s heels click loudly on the floor as she follows me out, but when I check on her over my shoulder, she flashes an amused smile.
Not sure why she’s smiling, though. That was our one chance, but Mr Yun just threw us out of his office.