Chapter 24 Timber
Timber
We settle into another silence. It hums with awareness, and I want him to be as conscious of me as I am of him. Over an hour later, when the credits run, I’m a raging ball of arousal, and I need to move, or I’ll end up hitting on him and make everything ten times worse.
I jolt as pressure lands on my shoulder, and I almost jump off the couch, until I hear Luke’s light breaths.
Turning to ask him what’s wrong, I gape at the sight of Luke sleeping against me.
He mostly cooks all day, but I underestimated how much it takes out of him if he nods off so easily.
When was the last time I was so comfortable that I let someone lean against me like this? Even when Kane teases me, and I want to know how far he’d really go, I wouldn’t let him lie on me.
When I look at Kane, I also see the line of his cheekbones and the arch of his neck, and I want to kiss him the way I do with Luke. But it’s different here. Just the soft rise and fall of Luke’s chest is making me feel possessive.
I don’t want any other alphas to see him like this. What if he’s worn out during that omega’s heat and they get to see him sleeping, or what if they cuddle him, or ask him to join their pack?
What if he bonds with other alphas when I’m away?
Luke’s nose twitches in his sleep, his lips move like he’s whispering something, and I lean in so I can hear him.
And he purrs.
I freeze, and the world shatters as fear and nausea burst inside me.
Luke draws in a breath and purrs again.
My heart free-falls at a million miles an hour as the heat is sucked from my body.
Fury slams me as I sink into the couch and force myself to shut the fuck up so I don’t wake him.
I’m suddenly hurled into a spiral of confusion as Luke twists his head, rubbing his cheek against my shoulder, nuzzling into me. He pushes closer, molding against my arm, running his nose along my collarbone before he sighs, and he purrs again.
I’m going insane. I have to be. This isn’t right. It can’t be fucking right.
Out of everything, out of every single thing that could make my life even more fucked up, why did it have to be this?
Betrayal slashes through me like a dagger, and I bite my tongue to stop myself from snarling at him.
I fucking told him what happened. I told him about the security system; he knows about the omega who broke into my house and took photos of me. I haven’t even told him about my ex-wife. I said straight to his face I needed to escape from a stalker omega, and he barely reacted.
I suddenly choke on my own breath as I begin to shake, and he keeps purring.
I don’t want to admit how good it sounds when pain is ricocheting around my body.
Why the hell did he stick around and act like he actually cares if he knows what happened to me? What the fuck has he been doing behind my back? Did he plan this? Did he even fucking work as a nutritionist, or did he sneak into my house because he’s another crazy fan?
My heart is breaking and soaring as I sit, pinned to the couch.
The worst fucking thing is my alpha side is buzzing. As his hand rounds my forearm, sighing gently as he digs his black painted nails into hard muscle, I can feel he’s fucking mine.
I want to throw him off me and kick him out of the house. I promised myself after everything that happened with my ex-wife that if I ever felt this way about someone else in the future, I’d never go anywhere near them. But I let my feelings for Luke develop because I thought I was safe.
And now this.
It’s not like I’ve passed a stranger on the street and matched with them. Luke is snuggling in, and I’m not pushing him off. All my senses are responding, especially when he pulls his knees onto the couch, curling up, looking like he’s about to start nesting on my lap.
I knock my head back and try not to groan.
It would be so easy. I could wrap my arms around him and pretend to fall asleep and see what he does when he wakes up.
That would be the best way to find out his true motives.
Not because my alpha side is bristling with pride at how near he is and how comfortable he looks, and I want to pull him even closer.
He’s an omega. Omegas are always bad news. Nothing good can come from being involved with an omega.
Looking at it now, it’s obvious the sole reason I’m attracted to him is that he’s an omega.
I bet as soon as we leave for our away games and I get space from him, I’ll realize the feelings that have been slowly building for him are all fake.
I can’t trust omegas, and I can’t trust my alpha side, either.
Even though all the hurt that’s winding me up as Luke snuggles in, I want to see if I can taste the maple syrup again.
Because there’s no other answer for it, is there?
That fucking addictive taste, the maple syrup I’ve been craving, it’s one kiss away.
And his lips are so close as his breath scatters over my neck.
How did my oatmeal taste of maple syrup? What kind of fucked up thing had he done to drive me so wild?
If he really did put his slick in my oatmeal, then it instantly brands him as a psycho, and I have to get rid of him to protect myself.
I keep watching him, and his shallow breaths, and the way his lips twitch in his sleep. His eyes flutter, his back curves, and he rubs himself against me, fucking scent marking me on instinct.
I should be repulsed; I need to get away. But with each second that ticks by, my heart clenches, my body relaxes, and I let him move. Until he buries his nose in my neck, and I shudder as he draws a deep breath, taking in my scent, and he moans.
It’s so perfect that my cock responds instantly.
I only let him run his hand over my chest in his sleep because I’m trying to find out what his plan is because approval rumbles through me as his hip presses against mine.
I’ll let it keep going. I’ll pretend I don’t know.
I need to discover his true motive for sneaking into my life, and see what’s happening here.
If I tell him I’ve discovered his secret, he could hide the evidence, and then I’ll never prove that he conned his way into my house to use me.
He’s the only person I’ve tasted since the accident, so he has to be doing something to me to fuck with me.
My head is spinning in time with Luke’s purrs and his gentle breaths.
I jump as his nose brushes under my ear, his purrs vibrating in my throat. If I don’t get him off, he’s going to climb on top of me, and I’ll give in.
Before my nose was broken, I was completely weak to scents. All an omega had to do was perfume, and I’d become captivated. When I met my ex-wife, it was a hundred times worse, and the same need I feel for her is pounding through me as I watch Luke sleep.
He’s an omega. I have to stop him.
It’s still a herculean task to move myself out from under him. My hand creaking against the cushion of the couch to stop him from tipping over. With my feet to the carpet, I twist so I’m bent in half as I lean over him.
Luke’s ear knocks against my wrist, and his nose scrunches up again.
He looks so comfortable, like he owns the place. I bet he’s bragging to all his friends about how he’s living with Timber Holtz. It’s probably a huge game to him, and he must think I’m an idiot to fall for it so easily. Even when omegas take suppressants, there are still ways to tell.
Now I’m looking at him, it’s so fucking obvious.
He’s too thin, too pretty, too small. When I first met him in Marilyn’s office in a pressed jacket and pants, I was so furious and couldn’t look at him.
But I bet if I saw him in a suit again, he’d look like a stereotypical omega.
Like the ones who smile happily while they plot ways to drag you into a pack and force you to be their alpha.
He joked with me all the time, and I thought he was just having fun. But it’s probably another way to screw with me as well.
I’m so fucking stupid.
I clasp his shoulder with my other hand, giving him a shake.
“Luke,” I say, my anger seeping into my voice. His head tilts forward, exposing the long line of his smooth neck that disappears under his T-shirt. It's the perfect place for a bite.
Red rage pulses through me at how my desires are drowning out my common sense. “Luke, wake up.”
I desperately want to kiss him, especially when he groans. He stretches out, his back arching, spreading his legs, his mouth opening in a wide O as he yawns, driving me fucking crazy. The things I could do to his mouth if he let me…
If I hadn’t heard him purr, how long would he have strung me along?
How long would it take for him to start asking me for clothes, cars, and money?
Would he push me until I hand him everything he wants on a plate?
Or would he keep pretending to be my employee and steal it behind my back?
Because my ex-wife got away with that for years.
I stand, transfixed by the way his lips move as he runs his tongue over them before his eyes widen as they meet mine.
“You know, if you wanted a ride, you could just ask,” Luke says with a teasing smile, and pain tears through me.
I can’t move. I stay clasped onto him because he’s playing with me. He really thinks he can walk into my life and flirt like it doesn’t mean anything?
“That sounds like you want to be crushed,” I say roughly.
He chuckles with another one of his smiles as he reaches up. I jolt as his fingers whisper over my neck cupping my ear.
Even the lightest brush sends pleasure dancing through me, and I hope he doesn’t look at my crotch. Because, even with the ache beating through me, my body still wants him.
Luke wiggles up the couch, edging closer, and his eyes sparkle. “What do you want to do, Timber? Because it’s pretty dangerous for a big, bad alpha like you to corner a poor little guy like me.” His voice dips, along with his eyes. “And it would be so easy for you to overpower me, wouldn’t it?”
A growl rumbles from me, and his grin deepens.
Is that how he’ll do it then? He’ll goad me into falling in love with him and use me that way?
I can’t tell what’s going on. Is he asking me to go for it? Is it really that easy? If I just lean in and kiss him, will he let me?
My heart picks up as my alpha side threatens to surge, until his hand falls along with his expression.
“Move back, Timber,” he sighs, his voice cold, and my whirlwind of desire is plunged into ice. I can’t understand why he suddenly looks hurt when he’s the one tricking me.
I instantly lean away, standing up straight, offering him my hand to help him stand.
When he takes it, I tug on him, and he flies up, hitting my chest. It takes everything in me not to wrap my arms around his back.
Because I want to pin him down and not let him go.
Or maybe I don’t want to let him get away with his lies.
My fucking alpha side is taking over as another possessive growl rises in me. I dip my chin so I can look at him and find him only an inch from my face.
Both of us draw shuddering breaths. But Luke shoots back, his hand falling from me, leaving tingles of awareness in its place.
“I think it’s bedtime. I need to clean myself up, you know?” he says, throwing me a wink, leaving me completely confused.
If he’s an omega, he should take advantage of me here. And it fucks me up that he doesn’t. Because I want to know exactly where Luke needs to clean.
He’s already spun around. As he heads for the stairs, all I can think is how cute his ass looks in his ripped jeans, and how I could make his hips sway even wider if he let me inside him.