Chapter Six #2
“With a great deal of reluctance. You’re not mine, and even if you were, you’d still deserve the freedom to make your own choices,” he said with a sigh.
“Even if they are the wrong ones. Once you fall in love with me, it would be great if you could just let me be the overprotective alpha I feel inclined to be with you.”
I laughed, my head falling backward as I stepped closer and pressed my hands against his chest. “Deal. In the meantime, will you scent mark me tonight?”
Bennett groaned and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. “That is a very forward invitation when I haven’t even had the pleasure of kissing you yet. Explain yourself.”
His nose was already at the scent gland on the left side of my neck, waiting for my response. “If I smell like you, and Ryder is out there, then he’ll know I belong to a different alpha now. It might be enough to get him to walk away.”
Bennett pressed his hips against me, his hard dick pushing against my groin and sending more blood rushing to my already-growing cock. “Are you saying you belong to me?”
“I’m saying it’s safer for me if he thinks I belong to you,” I said softly, burying my face in Bennett’s neck. “Besides, it’s only a matter of time, right?”
“Fuck,” he growled, gripping my hips tightly and pressing against me as he rubbed his nose against each of the scent glands on my neck, his piney scent surrounding us. My dick hardened and pressed against his hard length while I moaned at the sensation of being marked and owned by him.
Okay, I clearly did not think through how intimate this would be.
The desire to mark him back was overwhelming. “Can I?” I whispered, pressing against his scent gland with my nose.
“Fuck yes,” he groaned, grabbing my left wrist and bringing it to his nose, marking me while I rubbed against his neck. He gripped my hips again and walked me backward until my back hit the wall. He grinded himself against me hungrily as I finished marking him and pulled back, breathing heavily.
“That should probably do it,” I said.
He sniffed me one last time. “I’m going to jerk off so fucking hard thinking about you tonight, handsome.”
I chuckled. “Not even going to pretend to have a problem with that. You can tell me all about it when I text you.”
“Don’t tempt me or I might start stroking myself now.”
“Oh, I’d really enjoy watching you do that. Maybe I want to tempt you.” I pressed my hips against his and he groaned as he pulled his hips back.
“Okay, Felix, that’s enough.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I’m committed to taking you out on a proper date before I fuck you, and my control is starting to slip.”
I stuck out my lip in a pout. “What a boring alpha.”
He shook his head. “Nice try. Now let’s get you on your way before I change my mind.”
I completed the last of the closing checklist and frowned at Bennett as I cashed out his tab. “You tipped me nearly one hundred percent,” I said, shaking my head. “I was completely joking about that you know.”
He smiled with satisfaction as he spun his keys around his finger. “You had the chef make me a special meal. Anyone who doesn’t tip you one hundred percent for that is an asshole who is unworthy of your time.”
I preened again as he followed me to the break room so I could grab my things. “You know most people barely tip twenty percent, right?”
“Seriously? That’s the minimum standard,” he said.
“Perhaps, but in my experience, people round down. Or maybe I really am a terrible bartender.” I laughed as I closed my locker.
Bennett reached for my hand, and I let him take it as we walked together out the back door. “You’re a great bartender. I’d say I’ll distract you less, but that’s a promise I’m not willing to keep.”
I glanced at him, my heart racing as I took in his sharp features and the light stubble on his face.
I wanted to run my fingers over it and feel the prick against my mouth.
He opened my car door and gestured for me to climb in, resting one hand on the roof and bending down to make eye contact as he spoke, “You’ll text me when you get home or I’ll end up on your doorstep in less than an hour. ”
“This is your idea of freedom?” I laughed. “Damn, you’re lucky that you come off as sexily protective and not red-flag possessive or I’d be completely uninterested in you.”
“I’ll never try to possess you, Felix.” He cupped my face and rubbed my cheek gently with his thumb. “I don’t want to own you. I want to cherish you.”
“You can’t say shit like that before our first date or I’ll fall in love with you before it even starts.”
He smiled smugly at me. “Please, we’ve had tons of almost dates at the bar. What makes you think you haven’t already fallen for me?”
I snorted. “All right, alpha. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Felix,” he said before closing the door. He took a few steps back and waited until I’d almost left the parking lot before turning toward his truck.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex and let myself inside, immediately pulling out my phone to text Bennett, only to realize that I’d given him my number, but he’d never given me his. The smile instantly fell from my face.
Shit.
I paced my living room. “What the fuck do I do?” I asked my cat, Marley, as she hoped onto the coffee table and rubbed against my thigh. I reached down to pet her orange fur. “I’m in trouble.”
She meowed and jumped down, headed for her food bowl.
I followed her. “How can you think about food at a time like this? I have a genuinely perfect alpha interested in me and I’m going to piss him off right after agreeing to date him.
Do you know how amazing he is, Marley? He’s kind and confident, hot and funny, and just the perfect amount of obsessed with me—”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I jumped, quickly grabbing it as fear that it was Ryder flooded me.
Unknown Number: Do I need to come over there and make sure you’re tucked in, handsome?
I chuckled to myself and breathed a sharp sigh of relief as I added the number to my list of contacts.
Me: I gave you my phone number, but I didn’t realize that I never texted myself from your phone until I got home.
Bennett: So you made me a promise you were incapable of keeping?
Me: It would appear that way, yes. I’m sorry.
Bennett: No need to be sorry. I realized it after you drove away. Are you home safe?
Me: I am. My cat, Marley, is the only one here. We’re all locked in, and she’ll snuggle me all night to keep me warm in bed.
Bennett: Well, I never envisioned myself being jealous of a cat, but here we are.
Me: No need to be jealous, considering I still smell like you. She’s looking at me like she’s not certain I’m her human.
Bennett: How long have you had her?
Me: Since I got out of rehab. I thought it would be good to become responsible for another life. For a long time she gave me a reason to go home sober every day. Couldn’t very well care for her if I was high as a kite somewhere.
Bennett: I’m glad you have her. I’ll let you go for the night. Get some rest and please call me if you need anything.
Me: I will. Goodnight, Bennett.
I set the phone down and Marley meowed at my feet. “Yes, I get it, you’re hungry. Let’s go,” I said, walking to the kitchen as she padded along in front of me.
She stopped in front of one of the windows and hissed.
“Marley,” I scolded, “leave the squirrels alone.”
“Come on,” I said, pressing the start button on the car again, my foot pressed all the way down on the break. I sighed and gripped the steering wheel as I let my forehead drop against it. “You’re a brand-new car,” I groaned, banging on the steering wheel. “You’re supposed to fucking work!”
I pulled out my phone and pressed the button to call my sister. “Are you almost here?” Clara asked excitedly.
“I’m going to have to cancel breakfast,” I said. “My car won’t start.”
“What? It’s brand new. I should know, since I helped pay for it.”
“Yes, I did try telling it that. So far, it’s made no difference.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Call a mechanic, I suppose,” I said, dropping my forehead to the steering wheel again. “This is not how I intended to spend my day. I had errands to run after breakfast.”
“Isn’t your hunky alpha a mechanic?” Clara said with glee.
“There are several parts of that sentence that are incorrect, but the mechanic part is not one of them,” I said with a sigh.
Clara repeated the sentence again slowly. “No, it all seems right.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sorry about breakfast, but I need to call the alpha—not mine—mechanic who is drop dead fucking gorgeous—not that you would know and hunky’s a terrible word—so that he can come save my ass.
Again. Could I be a more stereotypical omega?
Please, alpha, I’m stranded and I need a ride,” I said in a high-pitched voice.
I lowered my voice. “I’ll give you a ride, omega, on my big hard cock.”
I kicked my voice up again. “Oh, yes, alpha, please take me where I need to go.”
“Are you finished?” Clara asked.
“I could probably keep it going,” I said. “It’s a pretty standard porn scene.”
“Just call the hot mechanic and ask him to come fix your car,” she said with exasperation.
“We can reschedule breakfast. Better yet, go to breakfast with the hot mechanic and forget me all together. I’m too tired to go out anyway.
Being pregnant with twins should be the kind of thing that gets you waited on hand and foot. ”
“Michael waits on you more than enough, Clara.” I scoffed. “I’m sure Bennett has a job to do anyway. He’ll probably send one of his employees.”
Clara cracked up as if I’d told a hilarious joke.
“I’m hanging up.”
“Good,” she yelled between gasps for air.
I clicked on Bennett’s contact info and tentatively held the phone to my ear.
“Felix?” he asked, sounding alarmed. “Is everything okay?”
“We’ve known each other for a month and I’ve somehow managed to give you the impression that I’d only call you because something’s wrong? Maybe I’m calling to move up our date.”