26. River
River
Saylor is shy as I stay and watch while she eats her cheeseburger. I guess I just wanted to ensure she got it all down.
Lord knows I had to pull a few strings just to get her that greasy thing.
But I will be leaving soon so that my brothers can finish what they started.
She devours her burger, taking huge bites with her teeth. But when her blue eyes look my way, her cheeks burn bright red, and then she peers away in shame.
When I brought her the cheeseburger, she smiled. Not at me, though.
But at the bloody cheeseburger...
And yet somehow, that knowledge hurts way more than an outright rejection from her ever could. Because I’ve spent the last ten years convincing myself that I don’t deserve her sweet smiles.
Now, I’m hardly brave enough to earn them back.
It’s probably best I leave. She can’t even eat her cheeseburger without feeling embarrassed in my presence.
Just as I open the door, though, Trent stops me, grabbing my shoulder. “Wait.”
He peers back at Saylor to ensure she isn’t listening. Zale wipes her mouth and hands with a wet wipe, and the Omega closes her eyes in pure bliss, enjoying every second he takes care of her.
I can’t stand the sight.
There is no way she would ever act that way around me. She’s afraid of me. She hardly feels comfortable enough eating a cheeseburger around me.
So, sex is definitely out of the question.
“Zale and I think you should stay. Not just for Saylor’s sake. But… for yours, too. We see how you look at her.”
He’s not wrong. I often do find myself gazing at the Omega with such longing. Sometimes, in my quiet moments, I sketch her. Usually when she smiles or laughs.
It looks as if she has become my new muse.
I haven’t longed for anything quite like I have longed for her. I didn’t even miss Emma that much after she passed. God rest her soul.
Nothing felt missing after she passed away. In fact, all I felt was guilt because I wasn’t inconsolable with grief.
However, when Saylor walked out of that building that day just after our last exam, I felt true, genuine grief for the first time in my life.
And that was around the time the void opened up inside my chest.
“At least think about it,” Trent adds, moving back to the bed.
Now he grabs a hairbrush from the bedside table, combing it through Saylor’s perfect silken strands. Again, she closes her eyes in content, letting my brother weave his fingers through her hair, and I want to feel that hair between my own fingers.
I’ve felt that way about her hair ever since we were back at Silver Grove. I couldn’t help but wonder if it felt like real silk between the pads of my fingers.
She’s soon finished with her cheeseburger. Zale takes the box away, putting it in the trash on the other side of the bed.
Meanwhile, Trent wipes her mouth clean and her little fingers, too.
At least I could make her stomach full. With food. Not my knot.
Just as I open the door to leave, it creaks, and then her eyes shoot up to mine. Now Saylor pleads with me, her big ocean blues brewing with a distant storm.
It’s her Omega begging. Not her… But I still can’t move from my spot.
I’m not sure what comes over me. I fist the doorknob, almost snapping it off the wood.
Meanwhile, my Alpha is whimpering, thrashing around in his chains as he just wants to go to his Omega.
No. Not his Omega.
Saylor is not ours…
Yet he can sense that the Omega is in need, and I close my eyes, taking several deep breaths. And then slowly but surely… I approach the bed.
Both Zale and Trent look around at me, surprised.
Now I just stand there for a while, unsure of what to say, trying to find the right words.
But Saylor doesn’t need me to speak. She just crawls toward the edge of the bed, staring up at me with those innocent bright blues.
And then she reaches a tentative hand out.
I stare at her shaking, outstretched fingers for a while, gasping for air. Meanwhile, my Alpha yearns to yank a hold of that hand immediately.
My fists ball, and I want to run.
Run as far away as I can.
But my arm shoots out of its own accord as I finally grab onto that hand.
Her fingers tremble inside of mine. Or maybe mine are the ones shaking; I can’t even tell anymore.
Time seems to grind to a halt.
Just one step closer.
One breath. One heartbeat…
Now the only thing standing between us is ten years of regret.
But then she takes me by surprise. She smiles at me… And that tiny smile alone is enough to shatter every wall that I've spent the last decade building around myself.
Now, I let my Alpha take the reins, giving myself over to the Omega completely as I claim her mouth with a kiss.
Mine…my Alpha growls as I wrap my lips around hers, getting my first ever taste of her.
The universe shifts in that moment. Galaxies and entire star systems align as I brush my fingers through Saylor’s black hair, losing myself in that perfect storm inside her eyes.
She stares at me just as transfixed, and when she reaches up, brushing her fingers through my own hair, I close my eyes.
Her touch is like a healing balm.
I rise to my knees, removing my hoodie. Then I unzip my pants, baring all of myself for her to see.
Saylor casts reverent eyes all over my body, biting her plump bottom lip, and I don’t think in that moment. I just steal another kiss from her sweet lips, getting my second taste of her.
She groans beneath me as she thrusts her hips against mine.
So, I nestle her back gently onto the pillows, taking her for the very first time. At first, I go slow, drawing out her pleasure just so I can watch the expressions that take over her face.
Her brows crumple, and then her nose crinkles, and when I find the right spot, her mouth opens with a silent groan.
So, I go harder, making sure I continue in that exact spot. And then she closes her eyes, arches her head back, and shakes all over. Her skin flushes bright pink as she comes for me, and then she wraps her arms and legs around me now, holding me close.
Now our chests are flush as our hearts pound in rhythm.
I’m going to make the most of this.
“Get ready, sunshine,” I whisper, my voice ending on a purr.
I haven’t called her that since high school.