Chapter 27
Nico
It’s eerie seeing a woman retreat into herself.
More unsettling is that this isn’t the first time Ariana’s done it. She slips into it so easily. I can’t tell if it’s a form of coping or defense mechanism or some mixture of both.
Whatever it is, it tugs us to her side. I can’t bear to watch her become the lifeless woman standing in front of her building. Not again.
I cradle her against my chest, stroking her long hair. I’m not the only one. Evan wraps his arms around her from behind. Sebastian and Jason join, surrounding her in our touch and scents.
“I’m sorry,” Ariana repeats, muffled into my chest. I’m tired of hearing her apologize when she has no reason to.
“Don’t be.” Sebastian closes his eyes, resting his forehead against her temple. “What’s there to be sorry about?”
“If you need to cry, then cry.” Jason urges her. “Anyone would be upset after what you went through.”
It hasn’t even been twenty four hours since she was left in the rain alone. My heart aches, thinking of her like an abandoned cat, out in the storm waiting for the owners that threw her there. It makes my chest throb, and it didn’t even happen to me. I can’t begin to imagine the pain it causes her.
My lips press to the top of her head. With her face against my chest, I wonder if she can feel my heart rate speeding up despite only kissing her hair. Squeezing her tighter, I don’t move my lips away as the rumble comes from my chest, purring.
From under me, her response makes us still. Heat spreads through my body, coursing through my veins and making me feel alive. Ariana whined.
It’s pitched high and torn from her throat needily. I’ve imagined the omega’s whine a million times over, late at night when I’m alone. The fantasies can’t compare to the real thing.
Like the way the chamomile candles we light can’t compete with her scent, especially in its current state. It’s sweeter than I’ve ever smelled it, tinged with the essence of her need. My purr’s left Ariana aroused. It’s a struggle to stop the corners of my mouth from lifting at the thought.
“I’m mortified. I’m so sorry,” she repeats for the umpteenth time.
Jason’s voice comes out of his throat strangely thick. “It’s okay. It’s natural.”
“It’s just been so long,” the omega speaks quickly, “I haven’t been hugged like this in so long and your scents are so thick and the purr just feels so nice against my chest and-”
She breathes in sharply as Sebastian cuts her off with another purr. Her hands fist in my shirt, clenching the fabric as she whines again. The air turns heavy with her arousal and I inhale it in hungrily like a man starved.
I can feel myself stiffening. Every alpha instinct in me wants to tear her clothes off and take her on this kitchen island right now. Especially when she looks up at me with her pink lips slightly parted and cheeks flushed.
My hand cups her face and she surprises me by taking the pad of my thumb into her mouth. Ariana runs her tongue against the pad with small licks, then sucks on it lightly. The room is so silent you could hear a pin drop. Each of our eyes trace her every moment.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath. With great difficulty, I gently pull the digit out of her mouth and return to stroking her hair.
Pouting, she looks up at me with those big brown eyes that make her look like a doe. “You don’t want to?”
Ariana has no idea how hard she’s making it to be sensible. “It’s not right. You’re too vulnerable.”
Any omega that’s been wrapped in the pheromones from being in close proximity to heat is going to be eager for touch. She’s just been dealt a great shock recently too. It would be wrong to come onto her when she might not be thinking straight.
I don’t think that’s how Ariana takes it. “Damn,” she looks crestfallen, releasing her hold on my shirt and laughing sadly. “You’re rejecting me too then…I’m sorry.”
“No, Ariana, listen,” she’s already slid out of my hold before I can explain myself. We rise to follow after her, but Sebastian holds an arm out.
“Give her space.” Sebastian looks calm, but his voice is strained, his eyes following her down the hallway.
Evan runs his hands through his hair, stressing. “Was that the right thing to do?”
“It was,” Jason affirms solemnly, one of his lenses partially fogged over. “She was around the pheromones from a heat, of course she’s going to feel riled up. We wouldn’t want to hurt her further by doing something she’d regret.”
I take a seat at the table and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees to bury my face into my hands. I still feel warm where she touched me.