Chapter 22 Bonnie
Bonnie
Rory waits until the sun sets before he makes his attempt. I’ve been waiting for it all day, and I’m not surprised it’s him. He slinks into the dark and vanishes silently. But this is my world, and he’s not as good as he thinks.
I slide through the trees, watching as he s Rojer, who has crept out to use the toilet. Rory stops behind a tree, hidden in the dark. I sneak up behind him and wait for him to make a move.
Rojer walks past us, and I watch this pain in the ass alpha for the slightest movement. He turns slowly, keeping Rojer in his sights. I see the garrote in his hand and lunge, shoving him hard in the back. He slams into a tree, shoves off it, and kicks back.
I spin out of the way, knocking his foot back.
He pauses when he sees it’s me, but when he sees my stance, he cocks his head to the side and jabs at me.
I knock it aside. The garrote is gone, but now he’s got this smile, one that makes me apprehensive and sends a spike of excitement.
“Have you had training?” he asks in delight.
“My dad didn’t want me to be defenseless around alphas.”
“Smart dad,” he murmurs, but he attacks again.
He’s good, but I’m better. I let him drive me back and then attack again, using all the skills I’ve mastered. I get him on the ground and get him in a chokehold, holding him still.
“What are you doing out here, Rory?”
“Taking a piss.”
I lean in close. “Liar.”
He flips us, breaking out of my hold and pinning me to the ground on my front.
“But suddenly, the desire to go has deserted me. I’ve got far more interesting things to do.”
He runs a hand down my back, and before I know it, my bra’s undone.
“The fact that you are so good at that is disturbing,” I say, trying to hide how flustered I am.
“Mmm, disturbing, I can totally smell that. Looks like you’re the liar now.”
I hiss, and then I’m rolled. Without thought, I lash out at him and hit him in the side, causing him to jerk away, growling. I try to roll to my feet, but he grabs the back of my pants and yanks me onto my back.
I wheeze, but he spins me and pulls me between his legs, slamming one hand to the ground beside my head.
“Got you.”
I stare up at him. He has, but he hasn’t. Because I could easily escape from this, I just don’t want to.
He lowers himself so he’s sitting on my pelvis, holding me still. Rory leans in and brushes his lips over my cheek.
I’m not giving up this easily.
I thrust up, sending him forward on his hands and knees. He barks a laugh while I grip his arm, lock my leg around his, and roll, sending him to his side and off me. I’m on him in seconds, locking his arms behind him.
“God, this is hot.”
I lean down and bite his ear hard.
He exhales roughly and lets out a moan, completely derailing me. I meant to do it as punishment, but it sounds anything but. The smell of the rich earth is all around us, and we’re both covered in leaves and bits of grass. Neither of us care. This could so easily become a different game.
If I let it.
The desire to lean down and lick him, mark him as mine, cover him in my scent, turns my mind blank. I pant, and he groans as my scent gets thicker.
“You want to bite me, Bon? I will let you do it anywhere.”
“Anywhere?” I growl. “Are you sure about that?”
“You know the fascinating thing about pleasure? It can feel even better if it comes with a side of pain.”
He rears up, and I’m thrown off him. I scramble to get up, but he flattens himself on me, pinning my hands above my head. His hand slides up under my T-shirt and palms my naked breast.
I arch backwards, pressing my chest up into his hand. It feels so good.
I squeeze my hand between us and grab his balls, squeezing hard enough to be a warning. This unhinged, crazy alpha thrusts into my hand harder.
“Yeah, just like that,” he whispers, his eyes rolling.
I turn my head to the side, panting, wishing he wasn’t so tempting. My stomach swoops, and I have an urge to just throw caution to the wind.
“What is this?” Vale asks, amused, as he pauses on his walk.
“Foreplay,” Rory says.
Vale chuckles as he keeps walking.
“It is not,” I hiss.
“It could be if you let it,” Rory whispers. “It could be so damn good.”
The hint of a growl in his words has slick gathering and my arousal, which I’d been fighting to ignore, igniting and obliterating every thought. It would take one touch in the right spot, and I would come so hard, so easily.
I wrap my legs around his, thrust up, and roll us until I’m on top. This is not better, this is worse. So much worse.
His hands find my hips, urging me into a movement that will undo us both.
“Enough,” I snarl.
He stops immediately, to my complete shock, his hands falling to his sides.
“I’ve stopped.”
I hesitate a long moment, then shove up. “Don’t stay out here long going to the toilet; we need everyone in bed early for the bad weather that’s coming. We’re going to need to find shelter.”
He looks at me, but he’s not smiling.
“Do you hate me for saying no?” I snarl, irritated with him. That would just be so like them. I want them, no, I need them to be the bad guys.
Surprise washes across his face. “Of course not. Did you think I would need to force you? Want to force you? When you fuck me, you’re going to do it because not doing it would be worse than death.”
His utter confidence is completely disarming, and I have a feeling he’s right. Because I do want to fuck him, almost more than my next breath. Resisting them is becoming the fight of my life.
I sit back, and he sits up so we’re face-to-face. “No, I-” I cut off, biting my lip and looking away.
“I am an asshole,” he touches my chin, and when I look at him, he smiles, “to everyone else on this planet, but not to you. Never to you.”
This is too much; he’s too much. I stand up, putting several much-needed feet between us.
He follows slowly, his arms up as if to show he’s harmless.
What a joke, he’s lethal just breathing.
If I could fuck them and not get emotionally ruined by them, it would solve everything, but just being near them is destroying everything I’ve built.
I take a step back, holding a hand up when he tries to follow. Dark has fallen, and though I know the way back, I feel lost. I don’t even know why I feel like this. I don’t have a reason, just feelings of panic.
“I would never hurt you, Bonnie. Well, not again.”
I nod in acknowledgment. “I know that.” And I did know that. I trust him out here.
I remember what Cyn told me about his parents, and my chest aches. I glance back towards the camp, then dart towards him. He doesn’t expect it, and so, when I collide with him, he lets out a surprised oof. I wrap my arms around his middle and lay my head on his chest.
His heart beats loud in my ear, and his scent stirs up this desire to just throw caution to the wind.
“I’m not scared of you. But I’m not the same omega that I was.” It’s a strangled half admission that I am embarrassed comes out, but I don’t take it back.
Rory strokes a hand down my back. There is nothing sexual about it, only comfort and a gentleness that I doubt many see from this alpha.
But his scent stirs in the air around us, softer, and I get the impression that I’ve done something that has completely challenged the way he expected me to act or behave.
“Hug me back, Rory.”
He lifts his arms and hugs me, squeezing tight. We stay like that until the air gets chilly. When I pull away, he lets me go, but I can almost sense his confusion.
“You are so much more than I expected,” he murmurs.
“What did you expect?”
“When we first met you. A girl who liked reading, sewing, and artistic stuff. When we saw you at the camp, I expected you to be intimidated or scared.”
I snort a laugh. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“I’m not disappointed at all.” And I believe him.
I glance at him and then keep walking. He keeps up with me easily. Everyone is in their sleeping bags or tents, asleep. I sit by the fire, and to my surprise, he joins me. Sitting so close our thighs are touching. The fire crackles, and the smell of burning wood fills my lungs.
I’ve had dreams about a moment like this. A lover out here with me, someone to watch the fire with.
“I’m not disappointed either,” I finally say.
“What were you expecting?”
I laugh softly. “Nothing nice. Four rich, stuck-up alphas who would hate everything about being out here.”
“Ah, stereotyping us.” He bumps my shoulder playfully.
“No, I just went by what I’d already seen,” I protest.
Rory sits quietly, and then he slouches. “We like getting out, away from it all. Exploring, challenging ourselves. Going out in nature.”
“I’m surprised.”
“Why?”
“Because you look like the kind of alphas to stand on a balcony floor, nursing hard liquor in thousand-dollar glasses, while you watch all the beautiful people dance on the floor below you like kings surveying your subjects.”
Rory throws his head back and laughs. “We have done that a few times, but it's what’s expected. We actually prefer roughing it up without an audience.”
“Roughing it?”
“Fucking, fighting, playing, more fucking.”
I flush as he leans in.
“What kind of playing?” I whisper, staring at the firelight reflected in his eyes. The chirp of insects is a familiar symphony, but I feel like I’m in a dream right now.
“Learning martial arts, climbing cliffs, wrestling,” he murmurs, our lips are but a hand span apart, all it would take is just to lean…
No, I can’t. I pull back, and he does, too. I scan the camp because, for a moment, I’d forgotten where we were.
“We like the adventure activities.”
I turn to him, surprised, forgetting that he’s right there.
He doesn’t let me think, just seals our lips together.
I turn into him, opening my mouth, and he takes the opportunity and presses his tongue in.
He tastes like mint and that creek scent that has become so intoxicating.
But he kisses like he’s got hours, and he’s just getting started.
I find myself arching into him, kissing him back, my hand on his shoulder, holding him close. I’m lost in him, and I don’t want to come up for air. It’s not if I succumb to them…it’s when.
He’s the one who pulls back. “We should go to bed.”
I look at the sleeping bags outside the tent and hesitate. I don’t like them sleeping out in the elements.
Rory touches my chin. “Don’t you worry about us. We’ve slept in much worse; this is practically the penthouse.”
I open my mouth, but he ducks back down, kissing me with such gentleness that I wouldn’t have thought it was possible from him.
“Go to sleep, Bonnie. Nothing will happen tonight.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I’m reassured. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him to stay with me. It’s been so long since anyone held me.
I don’t want to go into the tent alone to lie there thinking about them for hours. I want to stay in his arms and have him kiss me like that until I’m so lulled that I fall asleep in the warmth of his embrace.
That’s the magic of camping. When everyone is asleep, and it’s just you in the dark with the person you like, it feels like you're the only people awake in the whole world. It feels like magic could happen, like those wrong choices are suddenly not so wrong.
“Rory.”
He bites his bottom lip and leans in so his lips are near my ear.
“Don’t tempt me. I might just steal you away into the forest and finish what we started.”
I reach out, and our fingers tangle.
He looks down at our hands and then up at me. “Playing with fire tonight, Bon.”
I shake my head, wordlessly protesting. I can’t explain what’s wrong with me.
He kisses my forehead and pulls himself free.
“I don’t want this to end,” I whisper before I can think better of it.
He smiles like I’ve given him the greatest gift. “I never want any moment with you to end.”
He walks me backward and then reaches past me, peeling the zipper down.
“Go to bed, Bon. You need to rest.”
I step into him, lifting my face. He lowers his and touches his lips to mine.
“Goodnight, Rory.”
“Night.”
I turn and slip into the tent. Rory closes it behind me. I hear him moving outside the tent, shifting back and forth, and then he goes quiet.
I crawl into my sleeping bag and bury my face in it, smelling the alphas all over it. A tiny little purr slips out of my lips.
I clap a hand to my mouth, listening to the world around me. One of my alphas lets out a warning growl, and the camp’s deadly stillness gets less deadly.
My fingers stroke my lips that still tingle, and when I lick them, I can taste him on me. This whole other side of Rory is unnerving, and only because it’s so powerful. I could fall for them if they continue to trip me up with their different versions of themselves.
And yet.
He was out there with a garrote.
And I want to hate it, but when I saw it, that’s not the emotion I had. I roll onto my other side and pull the sleeping bag up over my nose, trapping me in with the scent of them. No, the moment I’d seen that garrote, I’d been excited, thrilled, and almost happy.
That’s not omega behaviour.
Not at all.
But then I was never a traditional omega. And it turns out that I’ve underestimated these alphas, almost as much as they have underestimated me.
I need to find out more about them. I want to while I have the chance because when this trip ends…we all go back to the real world.