Chapter 5 #4
When I lift my hand to cup his face, he responds by raising his hand to the back of one of my thighs, caressing the skin under my skirt. Arousal begins to seep into his sage scent, making him grip my thighs harder.
The toffee perfume strengthens. It seems like her scent only gets sweeter when she’s displeased. I’m not so immature to do this just to make her jealous.
My omega instincts simply find it hard to see Liam cozied up and defensive of her so fast. The bond’s been sending pangs of ache through my body all of dinner.
I just want to remind him I’m still here too, make sure he doesn’t forget about me.
When we finally break apart, gasping for air, he looks at me as if he’s starved. He pulls me onto his lap, pulling my skirt up to press his hardness right against my clothed mound. Our lips connect again, and I let my mouth fall open to give him access.
His tongue takes the invitation once more, circling around mine. My hands find their way to his hair, tugging the ash brown locks. I’ve almost forgotten we’re not the only ones here until I faintly hear a whimper.
I pull back from him, unable to locate where it came from at first. Across the table, there’s only Cole, who sits watching. Another rings out directly next to me, longer and drawn out.
When I turn my head, I’m stunned. A bucket of cold water seems to flood over me. At some point, while he’s had me on his lap and his lips against mine, Amy’s made her way over to us. Her face is flushed as her hand holds one of his up her shirt.
I scramble off his legs as if burned, making him take his hand off her and look up at me.
“I have to do the dishes.” I walk into the kitchen robotically, each step stiff, like my legs are rusty parts that need to be oiled.
Behind me, I can hear Liam calling out goodnight. Should I be thankful I can hear his footsteps retreating? As he leaves, I realize I didn’t say it back. I don’t think I want to. At least they didn’t decide to go at each other in the dining room.
It’s hard to be happy about that when I have a strong suspicion about what they’ll be doing in the bedroom. What I got him in the mood for, trying to what, remind him I exist? Look how well that served me. I’m such an idiot.
My pack’s gotten on my nerves before. After ten years together, isn’t that natural? I’ve never felt disgusted by them before though. This repulsion in my gut is unsettling, at odds with the bond humming above it.
The scent of apples enters the kitchen as I scrub at a fork like it’s personally offended me. The clear amusement laced in his scent makes me turn around, glaring at the alpha.
“Well, should we get going too?” Cole adjusts his pants, running his eyes over where I stand in front of the sink. The fact that he’s so cheerful makes my mood turn more sour. Of course he enjoyed that show.
“The dishes are my responsibility.” I echo Ian’s words, tossing the fork into the dishwasher aggressively.
My temper doesn’t seem to offend him, considering the brightness of his scent doesn’t dim as he settles onto a seat at the kitchen island. I try to turn my attention back to the remaining cutlery, but now that it’s just us, I can’t hold myself back.
“Don’t you think that was messed up?” Cole gets me. If there’s one person in this house I can vent to, it’s him.
“Well, what did you think would happen?” Cole doesn’t get me. He’s smiling, looking between me and his phone.
“Not that!” I gesture with my hands wildly, making him laugh.
He puts his phone down, folding his hands on the marble countertop. “It’s Liam we’re talking about, Ariana. Which part of it do you find surprising?”
I know Liam’s handsy. I’m not a prude, but even as his omega I can find it a bit much at times. I chalked it up to being because he couldn’t keep his hands off of me. Not because he was prone to thinking with something besides his head.
And that Amy too! Ian lectured me earlier about not putting my claim on the pack, but what was that display earlier? She wasn’t subtle about rubbing her scent on Cole. And then walking over for Liam to touch her on top of that? Ian would have thrown a fit if he saw it.
We fall into silence, wrapped in our own thoughts until I close the dishwasher. Cole stands, pressing himself into me and wrapping me in a hug from behind. This feels right. He’s so big against me, his warmth sinking into my back.
“All done?” He asks.
“All done.” I smile at him tightly, turning around to return the embrace. It was wrong to let my temper flare with Cole. He’s the only one patient enough to let me be angry, though. At least without being offended.
He pushes his lips against mine, lifting me onto the counter. I wrap both arms around his neck, until it hits me. There’s a trace of that signature toffee and caramel under his apple scent, making me jerk my head back.
He closes the distance between us, brushing his lips on mine again. When I don’t return the kiss, he pulls his head away.
“What’s wrong?” He presses his head against the cabinet, caging me onto the counter. He pants as he asks, the breath hot against my neck.
I smile at him weakly in response. The mix of their perfumes makes my heart ache.
A caramel apple, what a natural combination. I remember one of my dads buying me one at a fall farmer’s market in town when I was a child. The caramel was too hard to bite through.
That hadn’t stopped me from trying. I’d kept sinking my teeth into it, even as my jaw had started aching. I’d tried biting from different angles, turning and twirling the apple. For all my attempts, I never managed to get through the hardened sugar.
Instead, the vigor of my repeated efforts to turn the apple had made it slip out of my hands. I’d stood and watched as ants crawled over it, rendering it inedible. My dad had been too busy to notice, and they were too expensive for me to ask for another one. I was soured on them after that day.
I don’t recount that to Cole. “How about a shower first?” I offer instead, with another tight smile.
The water is hot when his thrusts push me into its stream, but the idea of Amy doing something similar with my alphas in the other room fills me with a chill that doesn’t go away.
At least Cole’s with me tonight. I study him once he falls asleep. The caramel and toffee on him’s grown fainter, replaced by the smell of lavender soap. She may have rubbed herself onto his neck, but my mating mark’s still the only one on it.
I’m still the only formally bonded omega in this pack. That has to mean something, right?
Whatever that is, it’s not reassuring enough to help me fall asleep.