Chapter 12
Arabella
“Suki, for the love!” I grumble when she woofs at my phone for the tenth time in an hour. “You’re giving me a complex here.”
You’d think no one ever messages me with the way she’s reacting. As if she’s never heard my phone vibrate before.
“People talk to me all the time,” I huff defensively.
She’s been doing this since Reid started texting me to arrange the date I’m currently getting ready for.
“Okay, maybe they don’t, but you don’t need to be so obvious about it,” I add as I press my thumb to my phone screen.
I can’t contain my smile when I see it’s another text from Reid.
Not that it would be anyone else, as Suki keeps reminding me.
Reid: I think Toast knows I’m going to see you, and he’s jealous.
Arabella: Well, I guess we’ll just have to go somewhere dog-friendly next time.
Reid: I’ve officially told Toast, so no take-backs. It would crush him.
“Eeep!” I’m practically kicking my feet as I grin like a mad woman at my phone.
Nathan and Alec made me feel things I never even knew were possible.
They fundamentally changed everything for me, but over the last few days, flirting with Reid has done something to me too.
I’m giddy. Hopeful. I’m excited by the idea that Reid finds me attractive, that he wants to spend time with me.
Hell, I’m excited that he wants to talk to me!
“Oh my god, I sound desperate…” I gasp, turning my wide eyes to Suki, who stares back vacantly with her tongue hanging out.
No thoughts, just vibes from my sweet girl.
“Should’ve named you jellyfish,” I tell her in a sugary-sweet tone. Her ears perk up and she tilts her head, melting my heart. “Does it still count as desperate if I have self-respect, standards, and boundaries?”
Suki’s only response is to wag her tail. Very helpful.
I don’t have any friends I can talk to about this; my ex made sure of that.
He ruined more than just my self-worth and the way I view sex.
He also drove a wedge between me and every friend I’d ever had.
Now all I have is a ten-kilogram fluffball that doesn’t speak a lick of English, despite my best efforts to reassure her that I’d never reveal her secret if she could speak human.
Tonight Reid is taking me out for dinner, and I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for something. It’s certainly the first time I’ve been excited about spending time with an alpha.
I can’t believe there was a time when I let a man convince me I didn’t deserve to be treated well. Four years of suppressing who I am and all the instincts that make me an omega, all because my ex couldn’t give me what I needed, when I needed him the most.
My phone suddenly rings, dragging me out of my thoughts.
“Hi?” I say as soon as I answer the call. I sound as unsure as I feel, raising a brow as Reid’s handsome face fills my phone screen. Is he about to cancel? Our date isn’t for a little while yet, but I already showered, not wanting to rush about getting ready.
A trickle of water slips down the back of my neck, and I realise I’m still sitting on my bed in nothing but my bathrobe, with a towel wrapped around my wet hair.
Great. I’m not exactly in my most attractive state, and I just had to go and answer the video call without thinking.
The urge to turn my camera off is strong, but I resist. If he doesn’t like the way I look freshly showered, then there’s no hope for us anyway.
I’m not a ten-layers-of-makeup sort of girl, even when I’m dressed up.
“Hey! So I was thinking about our date, and…” His voice trails off as he takes in the sight of the towel on my head. “Oh. You’re—”
—Oh my fuck, he really is going to cancel, isn’t he?
I swallow a whine as Reid is drowned out by my panicked thoughts.
All the intense omega instincts that I’ve been burying for years rush to the surface with a vengeance, as rejection seeps deep into my bones.
My scent fills the space around me, with the honey and jasmine notes intensifying alongside a sharp orange blossom that signals my embarrassment.
I feel foolish for being so excited. I shouldn’t have fooled myself into thinking one good experience meant things could be different.
There’s a buzzing in my ears, or maybe it’s coming from my head?
I can feel myself slipping, zoning fully out, the sound of my ex’s voice crawling up from the depths of my memories just to tell me how disgusting I am.
No sane alpha could ever settle for bonding an omega like you.
You were so pathetic.
“Arabella?”
An animal in heat is more—
“Omega!” Even though his dominance can’t reach me through the phone, the effect of his alpha bark is instant. My spine snaps straight, and goosebumps pebble across my skin as I shiver. My eyes refocus, and I pick my phone back up from my bed so we can see each other again.
I hadn’t even realised I’d dropped it.
“What’s wrong?” Reid demands, appearing worried as his gaze darts all over me, like he’s looking for some obvious visible cause for what just happened. “Tell me, Arabella. Are you okay? Do I need to—what’s your address?”
He’s shooting off too many questions all at once, but the ringing in my ears is fading, and the protective way he growls is sending my instincts into overdrive. My cheeks prickle with heat as I realise how weird that must have looked.
Fuck. I need an excuse, something that doesn’t make me seem entirely pathetic…
“Sorry,” I manage to mumble, quickly swallowing the lump in my throat as I struggle for what to say. “Uh, I’m fine. That was…I was just dizzy for a second. Happens sometimes.”
Well, at least it’s only partially a lie. The panic attacks do tend to make me a little dizzy.
His green eyes, full of concern, stay locked on me. Well, locked onto his phone screen. If he catches the lie, he lets it slide, and after a moment of silence, he nods once.
“If you’re sure you’re okay?”
“I am.” I offer a smile, hoping he doesn’t see right through me. “So, what were you saying before?”
“Before I got distracted, making myself look like I can’t keep my thoughts straight, all because I realised you were probably naked under that bathrobe?” Reid chuckles, shaking his head as his cheeks tint pink. “Great, Toast. Now she’s going to think I’m easy.”
When Toast’s face abruptly fills the screen, my smile is genuine, and my mood instantly lifts. What a cute furry baby. He’s the perfect distraction from the situation I would very much like to pretend never happened.
“He wanted to say hi and has asked me to tell you that his owner isn’t usually this uncool.”
“Hi Toast! Aw, you’re such a good boy, aren’t you? Yes, you’re just the best boy,” I purr, and off-camera, I hear what sounds like Reid coughing. The image shakes for a moment before the handsome alpha comes into view once again.
“That’s unexpected.” He’s blushing bright red now, his hand reaching up to grip the back of his neck, flashing me all that yummy forearm porn.
I focus on him, trying really hard not to let my thoughts drift back down their darker path.
Reid hasn’t officially cancelled yet. I haven’t been rejected. Yet.
“What’s unexpected?” I ask, staying in this moment. I’m determined to enjoy my current view and not think about anything else. Not the past, or what’s coming next. I can’t slip again, or maybe he really will want to cancel our date.
“Uhh…” Reid hesitates and then grins, his expression going from a sort of self-deprecating humour to flirtation.
“Just how sexy it is when you say, ‘good boy.' I think I might’ve unlocked a new kink.” His smirk is suddenly so hot, it could melt an iceberg.
“Or maybe you just have that effect on me,” he adds with a wink.
Fuck. Now I’m the one melting.
“Good boy, huh? I thought praise kinks were an omega thing?” I tilt my head, feeling playful. Maybe even a little powerful, knowing just a few words from my lips affected him like that.
This whole call really has been an emotional rollercoaster for me.
“I’m not sure,” he replies, his voice teasing as he matches my energy, the look in his eyes intensifying. “You tell me, omega. Tell me how it makes you feel…” He pauses for only a moment before saying, “Good girl, Arabella.”
Damn. Did his voice get huskier?
I swear I hear a hint of his purr, too.
I’m shaking, pressing my knees together as my breathing picks up. I’m grateful he’s not here to scent me, although the way my cheeks flush and my lips part as I try to catch my breath likely already gives me away.
“Yeah, that’ll do it.” I swallow hard, shaking off the buzzing need I now feel. As best I can anyway.
“Good to know,” he replies, sounding entirely too smug for a man who just blushed like a nun at me praising his dog.
If I wasn’t still riding the waves of desire after my heat and the incredible orgasms two wonderful alphas gave me, I might be more concerned about my response to Reid’s words.
It’s probably bad enough that one look at the man made me suddenly become a squirrel with an alpha-shaped tree that my instincts demand I climb expeditiously.
Now, he knows how to turn me on with two words.
It’s not just the words, though. I suppose. It’s the man delivering them, with his husky voice and beautiful green eyes. I like his attention. I like knowing that he’s thinking of me and that my words, even when they weren’t directed his way, affected him too.
“See, I’m easy. Easily distracted by you and your voice…” Reid teases, and it seems like he’s trying to break some of the thick sexual tension until he adds, “Easily turned on by you.”
Alphas are often forward, especially when they’re trying to woo a potential mate. It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time going out of my way to avoid, and it’s always made me uncomfortable in the past.
But right now? Coming from him? Hot as hell.