Chapter 5 #2
Though her jab, cross, jab combo was as sharp as ever, Daniel thought Bianca’s face softened a little. “They should be impressed with how well you’ve done for yourself, considering your humble beginnings.”
Daniel shrugged. “I think they are, in their way. They were good parents, all things considered. I had a great childhood. I never wanted for anything. The farm is actually pretty lucrative and only growing more profitable by the year. I’m where I am because my folks taught me the value of hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit.
I know they love me, and they always will. Not everyone can say that.”
Bianca clenched her jaw, pain etched across her pretty features.
Daniel had suspected she might not feel loved, but it was still heartbreaking to have it confirmed.
It was no wonder the woman had such thick walls up.
If she couldn’t even trust her parents to love her, how could she trust anyone else?
She didn’t seem to have any close friends or relatives.
Daniel thought Bianca Bonnycastle must be incredibly lonely.
“Wipe that look off of your face or I’ll toss you out on your muscular ass,” Bianca snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. “I don’t need your pity.”
Daniel winced internally. He’d been doing so well in the “don’t piss off Bianca” Olympics.
He needed to salvage the moment before he got himself banned from her workouts.
He couldn’t allow that. This had become the best part of his day.
This omega was a puzzle box, and he was enjoying the challenge of unlocking her mysteries.
He grinned widely. “So, you’ve been checking out my ass?
” Daniel was relieved when Bianca rolled her eyes.
He continued a little more seriously, holding her gaze so that she could see the sincerity beneath his teasing.
“Neither of my packmates had easy childhoods or caring parents like I did. Dante’s mama was a wild child, from what little we know about her.
She partied her way to Puerto Rico when she was fifteen or sixteen.
Revealed as an omega while she was there.
Her family had no idea about it until she came back to Smyrna City even wilder and pregnanter. ”
“That’s not a word,” Bianca corrected him with another eye roll. “What of his sire?”
Daniel shrugged. “Never found out who it was. Her family members only referred to them as ‘the Puerto Rican’ and that’s when they were being nice.
His mom disappeared again as soon as he was born and the relatives he bounced between for a while weren’t keen on taking care of a kid that didn’t look much like his white mother.
He was in foster care before long, which is how he met King. ”
“And his parents?” Bianca asked, seemingly mollified for the moment, and no longer contemplating Daniel’s exile from her gym. He exhaled a sigh of relief.
“King’s grandmother raised him after his parents died in an accident.
Unfortunately, grandma wasn’t in the best health.
When she passed there was no one else to take him.
Foster care. Group home. Met Dante.” Daniel paused, giving the omega a stern look.
This show of vulnerability was a peace offering but he couldn’t have her looking down on his pack any more than she already tried to convince herself she did.
“They don’t want your pity either. They fought through hell to get here, to build something real.
We all did. It doesn’t matter who failed us or who doesn’t see our worth.
All that matters is the family we’ve built, our pack.
We’re making a life and filling it with all the love we never got, and it’s a damn good life. ”
For a second, Daniel thought Bianca was going to say something cutting and mean. He was sure she considered it. Instead, she just gave him a sexy little smirk.
“You’re a sentimental fool,” she said, though her eyes said something else entirely. Bianca licked her lips and Daniel found it suddenly hard to breathe, the air between them thick with electricity. “You’re also a hard ass. My arms feel like Jello. It’s time to cool down.”
Bianca tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, before shooting him another smirk and striding off toward the mats. As Daniel watched her go, he had to agree with her wholeheartedly.
He definitely needed to cool down.
Unfortunately, stretching with Bianca didn’t help.
The cool down area was next to the terrarium where the omega kept her strangely befitting pet python.
When Daniel joined her on the mats, she was already sitting with her legs spread wide, staring up at the snake while leaning forward so far that her chest nearly touched the floor.
It was a very ballerina stretch and Daniel was struck by the juxtaposition of her tough exterior and delicate grace.
If he was being honest, he was even more struck by how incredible her tits looked spilling over the top of her sports bra.
He struggled to push away thoughts of the positions he could put her into given her impressive flexibility.
“Are you going to stretch or just stand there gawking at my breasts?” Bianca asked mockingly, not bothering to look at him as she shifted her torso to fold over her left leg.
Daniel guffawed heartily, only a little embarrassed at being caught out. “You started it, BB. You’ve been checking out my ass, remember? Anyway, you should really stretch out your pecs and delts. Here, let me help.”
Daniel settled himself on the mat behind the omega so that they sat back-to-back.
He felt her stiffen and inhale a sharp breath at his touch.
Her skin was warm against his, her scent almost overwhelming.
Daniel tried to think unsexy thoughts, but his dick was having none of it.
He was glad he’d chosen a position that kept his crotch out of her line of sight.
She gasped again when he intertwined their arms and hands, then spread them wide. The places where their skin touched seemed to burn. It made Daniel ache for more points of contact.
Gently, he bent forward, forcing Bianca’s back to arch and deepening the stretch. She let out a little moan that went straight to his cock.
“Okay?” he asked softly, afraid of bursting the tenuous bubble of the moment.
“Fine,” Bianca breathed shakily. Daniel realized she was trembling.
He gave the stretch another thirty seconds then released her and immediately missed the feel of her skin against his.
Before she could overthink, or he could lose his nerve, Daniel moved into another assist. He turned and settled her back not quite against his front (since he still hadn’t gotten his erection under control), placing his legs on either side of hers.
Even through her leggings, the contact felt electric.
There was something about this omega that just begged to be touched.
Daniel guided her to lift her arm and bend her elbow behind her head in a triceps stretch.
Though he could see Bianca was taking shallow breaths, he breathed deeply, intoxicated by the poison apple aroma coiling around them.
He stretched her other arm, trying not to be a total creep by staring over her shoulder at her phenomenal breasts.
His gaze fell to her neck instead, tracing over the graceful curve of it. Her skin was flushed, her creamy complexion rosy and inviting. Daniel could imagine sinking his teeth into it.
As if his mind had conjured it, Daniel noticed the faintest blemish on Bianca’s perfect neck—an oblong crescent of lighter skin he never would’ve seen under normal circumstances.
An identical mark opposite it was fainter still.
Under the lights of the terrarium and at such close proximity, her smooth skin was ever so slightly marred.
They were old scars, expertly healed and concealed, but the shape could only be one thing.
A claim mark.
Daniel couldn’t help his surprised exhale as he released her arm. Bianca jumped as though she’d been startled from a trance. She scrambled to her feet, putting distance between them and leaving him cold.
“We’ve got an event this evening and you smell like a billy goat. Please disinfect yourself before you’re back on the clock.” Bianca didn’t give him a chance to respond before she’d spun on her heel and stalked from the room.
Daniel sat alone for a while, thinking and breathing in the lingering scent of oleander and apples. He stared up at the snake, watching its beautiful yellow scales slide along the glass as it stretched toward the securely locked lid of the tank.
So beautiful. So cold. So tightly locked away.
A fitting pet for Bianca Bonnycastle, indeed.