Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
BECKETT
The elevator dings, and the doors slide apart. I cringe at the brightness. It’s a shock after the dim lights of the restaurant. I step out first, balancing the dessert plates with Ash’s coat folded over my arm, and incline my head to show her which way to go.
I stumble slightly as her scent wraps around me.
The air up here is filtered within an inch of its life, like staff comes through and scrubs it clean every half hour, but her peachy warmth cuts right through it.
I slow my pace like the cake is weighing me down, just to keep her at my side a few seconds longer.
She’s got the wine bottle tucked in one hand and that tiny little square of a purse that looks like it could barely hold a phone on her arm.
I catch her reflection in the glass of the framed prints lining the wall.
She’s composed again, almost guarded, like she reeled all that flirtation back into herself the moment we left the public eye.
At my door I pause, looking at the plates.
“Key card’s in my back pocket.”
I expect her to take the plates from me. Instead, she steps in close and slides her hand around my waist, fishing the card free. The touch is nothing. It’s also everything. She flushes just a little, and I wonder if it’s because she felt it too.
She taps the card and pushes the door open.
The suite is overkill for the prolonged temper tantrum I’ve been having.
There’s a king bed, a sleek desk, and city lights through floor-to-ceiling windows.
I set the cake on the desk and drape her coat over a chair.
She does a slow lap, taking it all in, and I get the sense she’s not used to places like this.
Maybe not used to being treated like she deserves it.
“I don’t want you to think…” I start, jamming my hands in my pockets. “I really did mean just dessert. Not you for dessert. I didn’t bring you up here to…”
She cocks a brow, a smirk twitching at her mouth. “Can’t an omega just want to hook up without it being complicated and weird?”
“I’m serious,” I say. “If we just eat cake, that’s fine. But I want to see you again. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” She glances at the clock. “Today’s not over, though.”
She crosses the room without another word, kicks off her shoes, and climbs onto the bed on her hands and knees.
No buildup, no asking, just presentation.
Her skirt rides up just enough to show the curve of her thigh.
She looks over her shoulder, inviting and challenging at once, like she’s daring me to do something about it.
Fuck the cake.
I can’t lie. Seeing an omega like that goes right to my dick. I cross the room and wrap my hands around her hips. She fits in my grip perfectly.
“Can I kiss you?”
She looks at me like she’s never been asked that before, but she nods and closes her eyes.
Her scent is everywhere. Her lips taste sweet like her scent, and as I part them with my tongue, she gasps.
That small sound does more to me than the sight of her on her knees ever could.
She melts into me and lets go just a little. That surrender is everything.
I guide her down onto her back, one hand firm at her hip, the other framing her jaw so she has to stay with me. I bend her head to the side and expose her neck to my tongue and lips and nipping little bites.
“Oh, god.”
“Like that.” I smile against her skin. “Give me more of that.”
Her hands find my arms, my shoulders, pulling me closer. I could spend a lifetime against her skin like this, feeling her shudder under me.
“Let me take off your pretty dress.”
I slide the fabric up her thighs, fumbling at the zipper, but she’s the one who rushes. She yanks it over her head before I can take my time. She goes to ball it up and toss it, but I pull it from her hands, stand, and drape it over the chair.
When I turn back, I have to stop.
She’s in the center of the bed in nothing but a black lace bra and deep red panties, the colors all wrong together and somehow perfect.
I don’t ever want to forget this.
I pull off my shirt and the forks clatter to the floor. I’d forgotten about those. I turn back to the bed and she’s already at the edge, reaching for my belt, going right for my cock. Her hands are soft, and I lose my train of thought for a second. I loosely catch her neck and tilt her head up.
“I’m not done with you yet.”
She laughs, a little breathless. “But alphas usually…”
“I said, I’m not done with you.” There’s a flicker of apprehension in her eyes. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what feels good.” I kiss and lick my way down her neck and her chest. She’s making small, frustrated noises, like she needs to moan but doesn’t want to give it up that easily.
“Ash,” I prod gently. “Here?” I flick my tongue into the hollow of her collarbone. “Words too hard? Moan for me, then.”
She adjusts her body slightly, and I take it as a hint, following where she leads.
I don’t think she’s doing it consciously.
I feel as though I’ve been let inside her private thoughts.
She can’t say what she wants, so she lets her body say it instead.
She curls a shoulder in and I gently bite it.
She tilts her head back, and I press soft kisses there. I swipe a thumb across her nipple.
“Oh, fuck.” She shifts, pressing her legs together. I move her bra strap off her shoulder.
“I could take this off.”
She hesitates. “Please.”
I toss the lace aside, press my lips to her shoulder, and take a nipple in my mouth. She collapses back onto the bed like it’s all too much for her. I kiss my way down her stomach, moving between her legs.
I adjust the waistband of her panties. I like that they don’t match the bra. They’re soaked, and that goes straight to my head. I tug at the elastic and look up at her.
“Ash?” I stroke the damp fabric, slow and deliberate. “I want you to take these off.”
Her cheeks go from pink to scarlet. She tries to look away, but I catch her chin gently. “Don’t do that. Don’t hide. Stay right here with me.”
She nods and shimmies them down her hips.
I ease them the rest of the way off and let them dangle from one finger before tossing them aside.
Her legs tense and relax, the urge to close them at war with the urge to open for me.
I settle between her knees and drag a finger through her slit just to watch the pleasure burst through her eyes, the way she sucks in a breath and holds it. I’d do anything to see that again.
I work my way down her body, letting kisses fall, teasing touches until her hips start to rock. Between her legs now, I dip my head and take one long, slow lick. She jerks up onto her elbows, eyes wide.
I pause, mouth inches from her. “All good?”
“It’s just…” She blinks, almost flustered. “You know, alphas don’t usually do that. They just knot.”
“This alpha does.” Who the hell wouldn’t want to go down on her? To be drowned in her and get completely lost in her peach scent?
“I want to taste you. I want your slick everywhere. I want to feel you come around my tongue.” I hold her gaze. “What do you want, Ash?”
She swallows. “Okay,” she says, voice trembling. “That. I want that.”
If she’s never had good oral, I’m going to ruin her for every other alpha.
The second my tongue tastes her, thought leaves me entirely. There’s just the heat, the slick, and the way her thighs clamp around my shoulders as she gasps my name.