by Kathryn Moon
Now I just hoped that this skeezy fucker could be caught, but not before Lola realized she belonged exactly where she landed. With us.
I made it back to the house in easy time, and I went ahead and jogged up to the family floors, the scent of dinner teasing me on the way up. It smelled like Leo had been doing a little stress cooking.
But it was the entire pack I found when I made it to the kitchen, all together, working on dinner and laying down plates in the adjoined dining room. The entire pack plus—
“Wes,” Lola said, setting down a bowl of steamed dumplings on the corner of the table.
I froze as she crossed to me, suddenly unsure of what to do with myself. Why did it feel like I should’ve been dodging to the side? She wasn’t a bullet. Still, there was an impact in my chest as Lola’s arms circled my waist in a tight hug. I wrapped my free arm around her back, and the shock settled into ease. Last night it had been easy too. I’d acted on instinct when I arrived at Lola’s place, scooping her up and holding onto her for as long as she’d needed.
Instinct was probably the way to go now. I bent slightly—Lola was petite—and nuzzled my cheek on the top of her head. Her hair was damp, freshly washed, but she smelled mostly like Matthieu. I glanced back to the kitchen and found him watching us as he uncorked a bottle of wine, but he was smiling at me. Not resentful, just unable to do anything but watch Lola.
I could relate to that.
“Thank you again for last night,” she murmured into my chest.
“Don’t mention it. How’re you doing?”
“Better,” she said, nodding and stepping back. Her face was tilted up to me like a perfectly designed invitation, lips swollen with kisses and begging for more.
I swallowed hard and stood straighter. “Good.”
“Glad you’re home,” she added, backing away. “I was afraid you’d try and overwork yourself.”
Leo arched an eyebrow at me and I felt pretty transparent. He knew my habits. Knew I was probably about to ask for a plate and head to my office to continue to work. I set my laptop case down in the doorway to the living room and took off my jacket, leaving it there.
“Who me?” I asked, feigning innocence as the rest of my pack snickered to themselves.
Caleb and Lola passed one another on trips to and from the kitchen and Caleb caught Lola’s hand, bringing it to his lips for a brief press to her palm. I couldn’t see Lola’s face, but I saw the blush on the side of her cheek and the way her steps stumbled. Rake came from the other side of the island, bringing me my second hug of the night, this one equally perplexing.
“Hey, sexy,” he teased in a phony feminine tone, and then winked at me.
“Shut up,” I said, punching his shoulder lightly. But I gave him a bear hug for good measure. This was a nice way to come home in the evening, even if he was being a little asshole.
Music drummed in the gym as I ran on the treadmill. I was dead tired, but I knew what would happen if I got into bed right now. My head would go spinning back into work, and then somewhere in the mess of wondering where to find Indy, I’d get back to thinking about Lola. About her pressed to my chest, arms around my waist as she stared up at me with worry in her eyes. Or the picture of her as she gazed back at Leo during dinner, love in her eyes and an easy smile on her lips.
I frowned at myself in the mirror as my cock twitched with interest, its favorite subject back on my mind. My head conjured a little fantasy, one of its favorites lately, of Lola spread out beneath me on a beach towel, skin pink with sun and little flecks of sand sticking to her from a dip in the ocean. Her sex on the beach comment had been a wicked temptation, and if it weren’t for what had immediately followed with Carolyn’s teasing, I might’ve found it in me to flirt back.
But Lola needed my help, not my body.
And I needed to get some sleep tonight, so it was time to burn off my last remaining dregs of energy. I hit the button on the treadmill to pick up speed and resistance, nearly stumbling as the door to the gym opened and in walked the only woman who refused to leave my thoughts in the past six years or more.
She waved to me in the mirror, dressed in black leggings and a loose t-shirt that was just a little too short. I wanted to lick that little sliver of skin I was seeing, and I tore my gaze away to focus on turning the treadmill down before I wiped out and made an ass of myself.
“Music down to fifteen percent,” I said, stepping down and grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from my face and neck, trying not to notice the way Lola licked her lips. The drumming and crooning over the speakers softened to background noise around us, and Lola took slow steps closer. “Thought you’d be in—asleep by now.” I couldn't even say the word 'bed' when it came to Lola. It immediately brought to mind visions of her doing anything but sleeping.
“I’m all messed up with the time shifts and then just kind of napping all day,” Lola said with a shrug. “I know I need to get back on track, but I wanted to talk to you first.”
My eyebrows ticked up and Lola was less than a foot away. Why was my brain debating between lunging and catching her up in my arms or running away? Since when were those the only two options?
“Do you know self-defense?” Lola asked in a rush, teeth digging into that precious bottom lip of hers. She blushed and shook her head. “I mean. Obviously you do, but do you like, know how to teach it?”
I swallowed hard, and Lola bounced nervously on the balls of her feet, those pretty gray eyes batting alluring lashes at me.
“I just…I trust you, and I honestly wouldn’t know how to get myself out of a head lock, let alone…” She trailed off, and the light in her eyes dimmed a little, making my chest hurt.
I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to know how to defend herself, none of us would ever let anything happen to her. It was a vow I intended to keep. But I knew what it would mean to her to feel prepared, and that was worth setting my pride aside.
“Sure, we can start with some good basics,” I said, nodding.
Lola beamed at me, and it was like a sucker punch to the gut. She was back to bouncing, and I made sure to keep my gaze on her face.
“Okay awesome. What do I do? Can I wear this?”
I blinked at her and shook some of the cobwebs out of my head. “Ah. You want…right now?”
“Oh. Right. You’re probably exhausted,” Lola said, stepping back with pink cheeks. “Sorr—”
“Nah, I’m fine. Come on over to the mats,” I said.
I’d rather lie awake all night thinking of Lola than disappoint her.
On second thought, I probably should’ve disappointed her. The strikes were easy once I got Lola used to the idea that she wasn’t gonna hurt me. Or if she did, I could take it. But strikes were only good when an attack was facing you.
Moving onto breaking out of holds had been my real mistake.
Having a trembling and terrified Lola in my arms the night before had been a little bit of a head trip. I’d felt powerful, protective, my hindbrain roaring with satisfaction. But this?
This was hell.
Lola’s back was to my chest, her breaths panting from an hour of exertion, body wiggling as she examined my hold and looked for her correct maneuvers. She smelled like a fucking popsicle, and her heartbeat pounding against my forearms was skipping. She rose to her toes, and the top of her ass nudged my groin, my hips immediately pulling back to try and keep her from feeling my arousal.
Fucking inappropriate.
I wasn’t fast enough.
Lola gasped a little, and I loosened my hold so she could slip free, but instead she stumbled back into me, not stiff with shock but almost resting against me.
“Bend,” I grunted, trying to hold myself in control and remind Lola where we were. If her own sweet beta scent was strong, mine was probably all but drowning her, and she was there in my arms, sucking down great gulps of the pheromones.
She bent, but she rose to her toes again, ass cozy against my groin, and I growled softly at t
he sensation, my hands practically shaking with the urge to push her down to her knees.
“Elbows,” I snapped, and Lola jumped into action, twisting in either direction, elbows connecting lightly with my cheeks before she twisted out of my arms to attack from behind.
Her strikes against my back and legs were soft brushes, she was following the motions but without the strength, and irritation stirred through my veins. Was she tired, or playing with me? I spun to face her, a glower tight on my face, and then stilled as I caught a look at her.
She was swaying toward me, lids heavy over her eyes and lips parted on a steady pant.
Fuck. This was my fault. I knew she had a thing for my scent, and I hadn’t been able to keep a lid on my own arousal. Not with so much physical contact.
“Wes,” she murmured, tiptoeing closer until her chest was against mine.
“You’re tired,” I said, trying to bite down around my growl. At least it should’ve been a growl. I was gonna make things a lot fuckin’ worse for her if I started purring right in her ear.
“I’m fine,” Lola said, lips curling up as she arched into me.
My eyes slipped to her throat, stretched for my perusal and pulse visibly pounding under her delicate creamy skin. I wanted to sink my teeth in. The thought was jarring and sent a tremor through me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and hauled her roughly against my chest, one arm sliding down to fasten her hips to mine.
Lola moaned and went nearly limp in my arms, head tossed back as I shared the full extent of my interest with her. I wanted to walk her up to that mirrored wall, strip her bare, and fuck her until she couldn’t stand. She was all but high on my scent, and I knew perfectly well there’d be no resistance. I could take that bite, tie her up in me, and she’d never so much as whimper and ask me to stop.
I’d be exactly the kind of alpha she was terrified of.
I sighed, trembling as my head lowered, and I pressed my lips over her pulse, taking deep breaths until she was all I could taste. Her own breathing mirrored mine, her racing heart slowing, and her head turned, nose in my hair.
“Wes?” Her hands on my shoulders smoothed in slow circles, and even now as her head cleared, she wasn’t trying to get away.
Which made my mind up.
“Time to tap the brakes, sweetheart,” I said, words thick and gritty.
She hummed, and her scent sweetened as I nuzzled her throat. My mouth was fucking salivating for a taste of her, and all I had to do was lick my own lips and she was there, citrus and flowers and sugar.
“Fuck.” I tugged Lola off of me and set her down on her feet at arms length.
She was chewing on her lip again, and it took everything in me to keep from lunging and sucking it between my own teeth. “Sorry,” she said, wincing and curling in on herself.
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”
Except that wasn’t doing the trick. Lola was practically wilting in front of me. Where’d you fuck it up, shithead? Fix it. Fix it.
I tugged her back with my hand around her wrist, meeting her in the middle and chucking her chin with my fingers, tilting her face up to mine.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart,” I said, bending. I rested my forehead to hers, watched her eyes fall shut with a weak sigh, and hoped I wasn’t making a mistake. I tilted my head and found her mouth, soaked up the way she bloomed under me, leaning into the kiss. I shared my groan of satisfaction with her and this time when I pulled away, Lola was smiling. “Just wasn’t the right time or place.”
Lola nodded, eyes growing drowsy and her feet twisting against the mats. “You’re right.”
Fuck it, I thought, diving in for one more kiss, cupping her cheeks as I dragged one sweet whimper from her mouth after another until she was stumbling to my chest, hands clutching my collar. All the bruised mood was gone when I pulled away again, candied Lola on my tongue, and she grinned at me, cheeks pink and eyes glittering.
“Now, I think it’s time for me to walk you to your door,” I said. Leo and Rake were probably anxious to get their hands on her again. Last night had stressed the whole pack out, and the cure was having Lola safe and close.
“You’re kinda traditional aren’t you?” Lola asked as I guided her out of the gym.
“I am, I guess,” I said, arching an eyebrow. She looked pleased by the declaration, and her hand slipped into mine, my knuckles grazing against her hip as we walked to the elevator.
I took her up to Caleb’s room where the pack seemed to decide she would be staying, and dropped her off at the entrance of her rooms, ignoring Rake’s waggling eyebrows from inside.
“Goodnight, Wes,” Lola said, rising to her toes and circling my neck with her arms. She pressed a kiss to the corner of my jaw that made me want to push her up against the doorway and start rutting, regardless of how innocent the gesture was.
“‘Night, sweetheart,” I murmured, letting my hands pass over the soft swell of her ass. Traditional, but not a saint.
“You know you can cuddle with us, Wes,” Rake called to me.
I nodded and waved, but turned to leave. I was pretty sure Matthieu didn’t want me cuddled up to his ass with a stiffie for the rest of the night. And there was no way this was gonna go away on its own after I’d nearly had Lola underneath me in the gym.
But a girl that sweet deserved flowers and dates and excuses to get dressed up and a fuck of a lot of kisses before I took her to bed. And definitely before I begged to bite her and make her mine.
Four
Lola
I stared out Wes’ passenger seat window up at the Stanmore. It’d been three days away from work, and my entire world seemed to have rearranged itself in that tiny amount of time.
“You thinking about playing hooky? I can always pawn my work off on one of the guys if you need another day,” Wes said.
His thumb was turning circles over the back of my hand, just as it had been for the entire drive when he wasn’t shifting gears. Wes was another thing that had shifted as recently as last night. I kept waiting for that voice in my head to rise up and throw accusations. That I was an alpha hungry slut. That I was an idiot. That I was falling into a trap.
Except each ugly thought felt…tired. Like even the hateful part of myself couldn’t work up the energy to bother. So I let them go.
Wes was tender and affectionate, but also respectful. I’d teased him about being traditional the night before, and he’d only shrugged. I wondered what he’d think of how Matthieu and I had fallen in together in the backseat of a limo, or Caleb and I dry humping like sleepy teenagers.
Shit. How thirsty was I?
When Wes was near, I was parched.
“No, I’m just kind of reconciling Friday to today,” I said, turning to face him. He was leaning in my direction and I took advantage, tipping to him and catching him in a surprise kiss on the lips.
In for a penny, in for a…a pack?
Wes gripped my chin, firm and gentle all at once, and his tongue stroked the seam of my lips, sliding in to caress my own. I moaned and tried to slide closer, but Wes’ hand moved to my collarbone, holding me back.
“Careful, Lola girl,” Wes said, growl rattling in his words. “You’ve got work, and I can’t get us arrested for public indecency in a car in front of the Stanmore.”
“See when you say it like that, it just sounds even more fun,” I said, making Wes laugh in a bark and lean safely back against his driver’s side door.
“Go on. I’ll be back when you’re done for the day, and tonight we can all fight over who gets to hold you while we watch a movie.”
I blushed. So Wes had caught on to me making an almost full circuit of the pack. Of course he had, it wasn’t like I was very good at hiding it.
“See you later,” I called, pushing out of the car and hurrying into the building. Who knew how much time I’d wasted over-thinking while sitting in Wes’ car, and I’d already been cutting it close this morning after bickering with Rake over t
he sudden wardrobe I’d acquired.
It was one thing for Matthieu to slip a pretty hair clip onto the bathroom counter, that was just one little item. But waking up to the delivery of what amassed to a closet of designer clothing was an entirely different matter. At least, most of it seemed to be designer. Which somehow made it harder to try and look Rake in the eye and ask him to return it.
Apparently, I was pretty shallow and easily bought when it came to designer clothing. I obviously hadn’t put up a good enough fight either, because I was walking into the Stanmore in one of Rake’s picks, a brightly patterned long-sleeved cling dress. It was just so pretty.
I’d tried to dim it down with one of Caleb’s giant knitted cardigans, but I’d ended up just looking bohemian and…and kind of like the old Lola, which was a nice change.
It wasn’t until I was stepping into the Designate offices that I realized my mistake. Fuck. I smelled like alpha. And omega. I smelled like Caleb’s cardigan and Rake’s breakfast nuzzles and Wes’ kisses. Hell, I probably still smelled like Matthieu after the double whammy before dinner yesterday.
Oh my god. Did I smell like an orgy? It would explain the stares I was getting. Not from everyone, but definitely from Daze and a few other faces in departments I passed, puzzled frowns staring through glass walls. They couldn’t smell me through walls, right?
Was it the dress? It was from a lesser known designer. I was trying to fly under the radar, not make heads turn. I did a discreet self-sniff, and yeah there were traces of the pack on me, but someone would’ve either needed an extremely sensitive nose or very intimate knowledge of my—the pack. Everyone’s notes were all muddled together in a comforting blend.
“Morning, Lola,” Corey said, waving at me from her desk. Anna grinned at me too, eyes scanning me over, but neither of the other girls looked at me the way some of the staff had on my way in.