JUSTICE
Justice
I shoved a hundred-dollar bill at the kazoo player. “Get a drink. Now.” He scampered off, clutching his broken instrument, leaving blessed silence in his wake. I cracked my neck and took a deep breath. My agitation eased. The drunks and the regular music I could deal with. A kazoo was asking too much.
I turned back to the table. Theo was a still spot in the eye of a hurricane, sitting unbothered by the over-excited drunks around him.
Sitting.
Sit.
Sit. Don’t move.
Yes, Sir.
Oh god.
Horror crashed over me. Had I just used my bark on Theo?
Fuck.
Bile immediately rose in my throat. I wanted to throw up. My hands shook as I covered my mouth.
The lack of sleep was getting to me. Endlessly pacing my stateroom like a maniac watching the sun rise over the ocean, desperate for morning when I could wander the ship, hoping to run into Theo and Mackenzie. Every,time I closed my eyes, she fell into that ravine. Snatches of the angry flirting replayed over and over and over. Running didn’t help. I already knew that the rock wall was pointless.
But barking at Theo? Using my alpha aura on him? That was unforgivable. Zero excuses.
He didn’t even look up as I approached the table. Fuck. I carefully pulled our chairs closer together. Angling them to create an illusion of privacy in the restaurant’s chaos. His eyes went wide at the display of alpha strength. But he did not move. Fuck me.
“Theo, I’m sorry,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I shouldn’t have used my bark on you. It’s unforgivable. I’m frustrated and tired and…”
“It wasn’t a bark… Sir.”
Sir .
The word hit me like a physical blow, stealing my breath. Alpha/omega relationships were inherently unbalanced. Every omega submitted. At least in bed. Or heat. Well, maybe not a paragon. Just how it was. My money and status added to the propensity to do exactly what I wanted. No one wanted a pissed off alpha. Or a pissed off CEO. That beta starlet the girls mentioned on the bus? We had dated early in my career. She had enjoyed being on her knees and being told what to do. It hadn’t been an omega fetish, just plain kink. And I had liked it. Too much, maybe. There had been no alpha biology at play, no aura compelling her to obey. It had been choice. Her choice. When that had tried to escape the bedroom, she had put the brakes on. And Theo…
Sir .
Omegas didn’t call their alphas “Sir”.
“Theo, I want to be crystal clear…”
“I am crystal clear. It wasn’t a bark.” He tilted his head to drive the point home with a “Sir.”
“Theo…”
“Sir.”
“I need you to…”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I…”
“Sir.”
My breath was shallow and shaky. I leaned back in the chair, elbow on the armrest and pinched my bottom lip. He was still holding the sunglasses, perched on the edge of his chair. He hadn’t moved. At all.
I leaned forward, took the glasses from his hands and put them on the table. I rested my forearms on my knees. I let my head hang for a minute. This was courage. More courage than I had. He was daring me to step up to a line and pull him across it.
“Tell me what’s happening here.” A command, on purpose, because I didn’t have the space for deflection, hedging, or the charming, teasing banter that I couldn’t get enough of.
“I’m the Type A omega.” His affect was flat, but I knew his emotions were roiling under the surface. “With the spreadsheets and the planning. The strong, independent one. But it’s all a coping mechanism. I’m exhausted by it. And…” He broke eye contact, squeezed his eyes shut, and clenched his jaw.
“That, right here. What is that? You do that and Mackenzie whispers to herself.”
Theo exhaled loudly and licked his lips. “The first night we met I made some crack about being a male omega and you said, ‘I’d rather you not diminish yourself in front of me.’”
“And?” Fuck. Like writing code, sometimes you had to debug and unwrite it.
“I feel like I’m not allowed to be an omega. I have to be a male omega. And no one will tell me what that is. It is somehow too much and not enough at the same time. Since you said that, I haven’t been able to say one shitty thing about being a male omega. Not even when Rose and the mean girls are being… well mean. And not because it was a command, because it wasn’t, or a bark. You stated a preference. And I feel like,” Theo closed his eyes while he took a breath, “I feel like I’d rather die than disappoint you.” He gave a small laugh and shook his head. “You didn’t even know it was happening.”
My brain was doing gymnastics and quantum physics simultaneously. I needed a moment before I wrote more code I didn’t intend. The restaurant had calmed down around us as everyone got deeper into their meals.
“Okay. This is what I would like to do. You can state your own preference, and then we can write a pros and cons list or some shit. Fair?”
“Yes, Sir.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. The word sent tingles through me, and I wasn’t quite ready to confront how much I liked it just yet.
“I want to put a pause on this conversation. I’d like us to enjoy lunch and then go on your walking tour. This is a lot to process.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
Theo slumped in his chair like he had had enough. “I’m starving. I kind of want to cry, but I don’t want to and I really just want to enjoy the day.”
“Let’s do that. But not the crying part.”
“No, because my face gets all puffy and I’ll get a headache and then Mackenzie will see and she’ll start crying and it will be a whole thing.”
I pulled the menu closer, a smile breaking across my face, and reached for the banter. “How bad are mozzarella sticks for you?”
“It’s deep fried cheese.”
“Did pirates eat mozzarella sticks?”
“Justice, you are in fact the smartest person I know and you don’t make the logical leap to boiling oil plus wooden boat equals bad?”
“Oh, yeah, that is bad. Let’s risk it.” I motioned for the server who had been hovering since I sat down.
Lunch might have been good. Might have been terrible. Food was currently ranking low on the things my brain wanted to waste processing power on. I was in my own personal tug of war, pulling my attention back to the present and not letting my thoughts spiral into implications.
I needed to obey my own orders and just enjoy the day.
The tour ended in Old Town in a tourist trap. One side of the street was lined with cute shops with colorful awnings to hold back the sun and the heat. The other side had vendor stalls and all the cheap things you pack your suitcase full of to bring back for pack mates and co-workers. We let the tour group get a little ahead of us. I, not we. I was dragging my feet, not wanting to get back on the bus.
“Well, it’s capitalism,” I said, watching a family haggle over a display of shell necklaces.
“Giving you way too many shopping options?” Theo shielded his eyes against the sun, taking in the rows of vendors.
“It’s more than that.” We sidestepped an older couple window shopping. “This is all a landing page. There’s the hero image that draws you in.” I gestured to the sparkling water beyond the stalls. “But to get there, you have to run the gauntlet of established shops and vendor booths.”
Theo turned back to me, sunlight catching in his hair. “Like a website?”
“Exactly. The permanent shops are your reliable navigation bar—consistent, trusted. But these vendor stalls?” I nodded toward a man arranging cheap trashy t-shirts. “That’s your dynamic content feed. Fresh, constantly updating, designed to catch your attention.”
“So they’re monetizing the view.” Theo stepped closer to avoid another shopper, his coconut scent mixing with the salt air.
“Every pixel of it.” I snorted. “Notice how the street narrows at both ends? Forces people to slow down, browse more. It’s basically a sales funnel from two hundred years ago.”
“Do you think Mackenzie would want a t-shirt?”
“Not one that says ‘Heat is hotter on the islands’.”
A small gift bag swung from Theo’s hand, full of the little items he’d been collecting for her. Sunglasses, a refrigerator magnet, a sea salt scrub and a tiny jar of honey.
“ That she would love,” he gasped and stepped off the curb. A moped zoomed by, close, far too close. He dropped the bag and danced back a step. Adrenaline flooded my system, sending my heart rate to the stratosphere. I yanked him back onto the sidewalk and scanned him from head to toe for damages.
“Why are my omegas trying to get themselves killed?” I blew out a shaky breath and stooped to pick up the shopping bag. More roughly than I should have, I grabbed Theo by the back of the neck and hauled him to the inside of the walk, taking the dangerous curb for myself. Instant relief flooded into me.
“Sorry, I should have looked.”
My heart rate jacked up again from a very different kind of danger. My hand was still on his neck. I couldn’t let go. I didn’t want to let go. I slid my hand across to his opposite shoulder and rested my wrist there, letting my hand dangle casually. Casual, my ass. There was nothing casual about this.
Our next few steps were stiff and awkward until I caught Theo trying to hide a smile and then lift his head high.
“Tell me what Mackenzie would love.” My voice had gravel in it, but I resisted the urge to clear my throat.
“Flowers for her hair,” he nodded toward a vendor across the street.
With subtle touches and tugs on his body, I guided him across the street. Of course, looking both ways. This vendor sold quality silk flowers, not the plastic crap, attached to pins and clasps and little claws. Theo picked out the entire rainbow of orchids, hibiscus, and other flowers I didn’t know the names of, but should. I paid, and took this bag from him too, all the while never removing my hand from his shoulder.
I moved him back to the shade of the awning lined street. The bus and a bunch of taxies loomed a block away, with tourists and cruisers milling about, ready for their next destinations.
I pushed Theo into an alleyway, a break between the buildings, and put his back against the wall. I put my hands to either side of his head, caging him in with oceans of space between our bodies. I could practically hear his heart thunder. His scent had me in a choke hold.
“Do you want me to kiss you, Theo?” I leaned in, an inch between our lips.
“Yes, Sir,” he said with hardly any breath.
I grazed my lips against his, barely touching. He reached for me to pull me closer.
“Hands behind your back.”
He obeyed instantly with another delicious “Yes, Sir.”
“What are you doing to me, Theo?” I whispered, letting the movement of my lips tease his.
I parted his lips with my tongue. He opened for me with a shuddering moan. I lost myself in his taste, his feel, the sounds he gave me. I wanted to linger here, live here, but this was just one kiss. I pulled back enough to see his face. Flecks of gold burned in his eyes.
“Shit.”
I wasn’t entirely sure he meant to say that aloud. I raised an eyebrow.
“Are you ready to return to that conversation?” I asked.
“No.”
I put even more space between us and searched his face.
“I’m not ready to walk . Thinking is a stretch.”
“Fair.” We lingered like this for seconds, years. Who knew? The ocean breeze blew a lock of hair in front of his eye. It got caught in his lashes when he blinked.
“Justice!”
I freed the curl and pushed it off his face. Each day, it turned more golden with individual strands that sparkled.
“Justice!”
I trailed my fingertip down his cheek and across his bottom lip.
“There you are! We need you to talk to Aria!” Rose yanked my arm so forcefully, I staggered a dozen feet into the street before I caught myself. “You must tell her Auction Night should be more traditional. Male alphas and female omegas only.”
She was practically running and dragged me a few feet more. I planted my feet. She jerked to a stop. She looked annoyed but immediately rearranged her face into doe-eyed sweetness. I looked down at where she had a grip on my wrist and then glared back at her. She dropped her hand. Fear flickered across her face, but just as fast, it was replaced with a calculated coy shoulder shrug.
“Well, you know…” she babbled.
I took one step toward her. Rose took two back.
“… auctions were traditionally for female omegas only, and…”
I pushed my aura out and gritted my teeth, holding back a bark. I grabbed her by the upper arm and marched her to the line of taxis.
“Your casual bigotry is boring me, Rose.”
I nodded at a female beta leaning against her cab, smoking, and only giving our little show passing interest. “Take her back to the port. Epsilon of the Seas. She arrives safely.” I peeled more than enough bills off my money clip for the task. The driver’s smile widened.
“Of course,” she drawled and popped open the passenger door with a flourish of her hand.
“But Justice…” Rose whined.
“Get in the car.” I spat the words out.
“This bus is…”
“Get in the car or I will make you and you will not like it.”
Her lip trembled, but she ducked her head and crawled in. I stepped back to let the car pull out. It made a wide, gentle turn in the plaza. Rose had her head in her hands, obviously crying.
Theo stepped next to me as I desperately grasped for my aura to get control of it. It couldn’t be comfortable for him to be so close to my energy field.
“Well, that was a choice.” He sighed. I couldn’t tell if that was disapproval in his voice. He tilted his head toward me. “Does it make me a bad person if I really, really enjoyed that?”
I snorted and then took a cleansing breath. My aura still felt hot and prickly. I took a half step away from Theo to shield him from it, but he just matched my movement.
“Mackenzie is going to die when I tell her.” He reached for the shopping bags I was still inexplicably holding. “She’d been making snide comments about Mackenzie’s weight since the beginning.”
I slid my arm back over his shoulder like it belonged there. His aura poured into me, smoothing out all the sharp edges. It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up.
“What do you mean, ‘her weight’?” I said as we started for the bus.
“The fashion at the pool is very cutthroat.”
“Yeah, but what do you mean? Mackenzie is perfect.”
“Exactly.”
As I climbed the steps of the bus, it finally dawned on me that they were picking on her for her appearance.
“Those bitches.” It came out a touch too loudly as I was met with rows of Rose’s entourage, looking concerned and nervous. I rolled my eyes at them and slid into a seat next to Theo.