4. Jaxx
Jaxx
I had been seriously looking forward to going to bed.
There’s nothing I like more whenever I arrive in a new city than to get into one of those sweet, sweet hotel bathrobes, put on those slippers, fight with the devil-made bedsheets to untuck them from the mattress and dive in.
My goal is to get comfy and get some proper sleep to prepare for the practice sessions tomorrow.
Maddock has been in a mood since before he was born, and they lump us together all the time, for example, putting us right next to each other on the plane. They probably see it as a bonding experience rather than a test of sheer will. At least for Maddock.
But I needed a break from him, so I ran off to the restroom as soon as we got off the plane. Which was the best decision of my life.
Because now I'm wrapping my arms around the irresistible Harmony Grace and taking in her gorgeous scent as she rubs her cheek against my chest like a happy cat.
One hit of her fresh strawberries and cream nearly brings me to my knees. I’m basically drooling all over her as I look down at her with wide eyes.
She’s slotted herself against me perfectly, just the right height to press her ear over my heart and hear it storming if she wanted.
And it probably would be fine to keep holding her like this, if it wasn’t for the fact that she's literally Harmony Grace—and she's my scent match.
My alpha senses rev to max as heat bursts through me, and I suddenly need to taste her more than breathe.
Shock pounds in me, but my body knows the truth: I have to make her mine instantly.
Her head tilts back, and I’m swept away by the most stunning crystal green eyes I’ve ever seen. Ginger hair sets me on fire, along with the way her lips part as she pulls in a shuddering sigh.
It isn’t like some fanfare or a bomb going off or however they describe it nowadays.
It’s just this click, like this knowing, like she was always part of me and I need to be inside her to make sure it is really happening.
I haven’t even been holding her for a hot minute, but it’s just so right and natural.
I’m already bending down to kiss her as she flutters her pretty little lashes when a shout comes from behind her, “Harmony! Where are you?”
Her eyes widen, and she gasps as she jolts backward. Then it’s her turn to grab me. With a burst of strength I didn’t expect from someone so skinny, she drags me through the nearest door, and slams it behind us.
“Well, hello,” I hum, one eyebrow raised, already grinning. “Nice to meet you, too.”
I reach out my left hand and just so happen to find the light switch, clicking it on to reveal her glare.
It kind of reminds me of a certain someone whenever he jumps from his car in P2, though her cheeks are flushed in a lovely shade of red.
“Hide with me until they are gone,” she orders in a crisp English accent, exactly like her brother. And I’m here for it.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, leaning back against the door, making sure it is closed exactly how she wants.
Even though we’re trapped in a broom closet, I want my first proper meeting with my omega to go perfectly.
“Hey,” I purr, leaning down to murmur in her ear. “Don’t you think this would be more fun if we—”
I’m cut off as she slaps her palm against my mouth, hitting the exact spot Maddock got with his fists just last week. But the pain is nothing when she lifts a finger to her lips.
“Sssh! Don’t make a noise!”
She looks so damn cute that I can’t resist. Screw making it the perfect meeting, I want to taste her.
Ever so gently, I open my mouth, taking the smoothest part of her hand between my teeth and biting as softly as I can.
And the result is amazing.
The strong, the gorgeous, the courageous Harmony Grace shudders under me, letting out the smallest whimper as perfume flows from her, and my eyes roll.
I nearly buckle. She’s like a refreshing evening treat, so sweet that I'd be completely full for the night if she'd just let me have a bite.
And there is no way I can stop with just one lick. I need the whole dessert.
I try to talk under her hand, but all that comes out is muffled nonsense. She doesn’t let up for a second, and I want to laugh at how annoyed she looks.
I reach up, easing her hand away. She narrows her eyes like she doesn’t trust me as far as she can throw me. But that’s okay. I like a little suspicion in my woman.
“What happened here?” she asks as she lets me peel her fingers away.
“Hm, something like a love bite?” I say as I pat the bruise.
She lets her guard down too easily, and I swoop in close. “You can feel this too, can’t you, sweetheart?” I ask. Because from the way she keeps taking deep breaths and how her shoulders hunch and lift her beautiful breasts under her tight black dress, there is no way she doesn’t.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she whispers through tight lips.
I bring her palm back to my mouth, kissing it ever so gently while never breaking my stare.
Her eyes widen, and she sucks in a breath. Which ends up with more shuddering, more perfume, and a waft of something else that makes me groan.
She’s slicking. The perfect Harmony Grace is slicking for me, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled.
I want a hit of her pure strawberry and cream, and I’m already itching to pull up her dress and see if there’s anything underneath that would stop me digging in.
“You do. You know exactly what I mean,” I hum, leaning into her. And she doesn’t even try to fight me. “I can smell how much you know what I’m talking about.”
I’ve been searching for my scent match for years, and I always wondered if it would happen suddenly like this.
My gaze dances over her, admiring the line of her neck, sweeping over her collarbones, down the curve of her breasts before meeting her pretty eyes with a smirk.
Man, I want to spend a lifetime making her blush, because it’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. No wonder she drives some people mad the first time they meet her. Because I feel like I’m caught under her spell.
There are always stories about people losing it and claiming they are her scent matches, but I really feel it. I swear it’s happening for us, that we really have matched.
“I can’t do this right now,” she murmurs, and the pain in her voice nearly breaks my poor heart. I realize that the look in her eyes isn’t just annoyance. There’s panic in there, and some kind of fear.
And it might be because of me.
I like to mess around, and it’s easy to do when you’re one of the top F1 drivers in the world.
Omegas throw themselves at me left, right, and center.
But I always said that if I met my scent match, if I found my omega, then my mate would get everything from me.
And I’d do whatever it took to make them happy.
“You can’t do what? Be my scent match?” I ask, raising a brow.
“I can’t be anything right now,” she whispers with such honestly that it blows me away.
Out of all the types of people in my life who were actually honest with me, I never thought it would be an actress.
But I believe her.
And that’s why I take her hand and press it to my heart, hoping she can feel how loudly it beats for her.
I cup her chin with my other, stroking her bottom lip, loving how she softens for me instantly.
“You don’t have to be anything for me,” I say as quietly as I can. “Just let me hold you.”
I can see the fight playing out through her, so I release my pheromones, spreading them over her.
And I nearly groan as her shoulders relax and her back arches for me.
Alpha pheromones are different from our scents. My omega needs pheromones to stay grounded when she’s stressed or in heat. And it is also a way to show her omega that her alpha is here to protect her.
I’ll keep her safe from whatever she is running from. I’ll make sure no one can hurt her. I already know she’s my omega. I just have to find a way for her to accept that I’m her alpha, too.
Which obviously means leaning forward, my lips hovering over hers, our gazes locked, our bodies tight, the air filling with both of our scents.
“What do you say to that, Harmony Grace?” I murmur, all my desire pouring through my voice.
I can only hold myself there for ten seconds max. We’re trained to resist five times our own body weight in G-force for races, but I can’t resist her. I’m a hair’s breadth from her lips, waiting for her to say yes.
“Just for now,” she finally whispers, releasing all the tension that built up inside me.
“Just for now,” I agree. “You don’t need to be Harmony, I don’t need to be Jaxx Sands.” I wink at her. Because she knows who I am, I don’t need to tell her.
Even if she’s separated from her daddy, I’m still a Grace racer.
“I don’t need to know where you’ve come from or why you’re here,” I say to her. "All I need to know is that, ‘just for now’, you’re mine.”
We’re so close I can feel her breath on my tongue, traveling through my mouth to tickle the back of my throat. I swallow, my throat bobbing, my alpha senses yelling at me to claim her.
She looks so hungry, but that doesn’t mean she will say yes.
Until she sucks in a breath, her hands shooting to my collar, she yanks me downward, and pulls me into a kiss.