“Well, Marcus, I have to say, the décor has certainly improved in here.” An alpha female, who had the look of a younger, hotter Morticia Adams, with long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail, looked me over with an assessing glance. “Though it was my impression that this kind of pretty was wasted on the four of you.”
I felt Rhys stiffen beneath me and assumed the other guys were doing the same, Brendan strolling in at that minute, sniffing the air and then sitting down beside Marcus.
“Is she on the table as well?” she asked.
I jerked my eyes up, using all of Kai’s training to meet her dark ones, feeling like I was dropping deeper and deeper into them the longer I stared, but that just made her chuckle. Resistance from me? That was just foreplay for alphas like her, but this? I hoped this was going to be all right, but if I was going to be a fake girlfriend, I may as well try and be the best fake girlfriend I could be.
When I turned to him, when I slid my hand along Rhys’ jaw, I tried as much as humanly possible to ask if this was OK before moving. He just stared, those pale blue eyes swallowing me, dragging me down into their icy depths. But there was something warm there, something bright and intense, and when I dipped closer, they dropped to inspect my lips all too thoroughly. Lips that were about to press against his. I was all furtive omega, feeling his breath fan over my skin, not daring to close the gap as my heart raced, until I did.
His hand sunk into my hair, dragging me in but waiting for me to make the final connection. I brushed my lips against his, feeling the glancing sensation of satin, tasting that with the tip of my tongue, and then that was it. His grip tightened almost to the point of pain, my hair pulled back tight and held fast as his mouth devoured mine.
Nipping, biting, hungry kisses, no doubt all that passion he’d had to hold back while he watched his lovers fuck, it was all dumped on me. And being an omega, I didn’t fucking care, since my physiology couldn’t discern a fake kiss from a real one. I just felt the ravages of an alpha teasing my lips open and plundering what he found inside, little mewls escaping my chest.
When he pulled back, I was panting like I’d run a mile in a minute, and so was he, all that reserve gone. Rhys was off the chain, cataloguing the way my mouth was bruised, my chest was heaving, and looking like he just wanted more.
“Well, well, you found someone who’s willing to accept your debauched little setup,” the woman said. “And who’s she? Some academy omega, still too wet behind the ears to know what she’s throwing away?”
“That’s Miranda Rhodes’ daughter,” one of the men in the suits said. “And if I wanted to talk about relationships and hear omegas whine, I’d be at home with my wife and bloody daughters,” he snapped.
“Does your mother know what you’ve gotten yourself into?” one of the older men asked, cocking an eyebrow but looking me over with interest.
“She will by the morning, I’m sure,” I shot back.
A hand grabbed mine, not Rhys’ but Marcus’, and when I looked down, he rubbed his thumb across my knuckles and faced down the table.
“This is precisely why omegas should not be allowed to evening events outside of the prescribed calendar,” the older man blustered. “Cynthia comes from a respectable family. She could do much better than you four.”
“My father doesn’t seem to think so,” Orion replied icily. “Would you care to share your views about a possible alliance between the Rhodes and the Ratcliffe families with him?”
“Your father has never sanctioned your union with these three and you know it. He bankrolled this place thinking you’d sow your wild oats, get this…” —a sidelong look at the boys— “out of your system. And now look where you are.”
“And look where you are—playing cards in my club, at my table, drinking my fucking Scotch,” Marcus shot back.
His grip on my hand tightened, pulling me into his lap, despite Rhys’ silent protest, and curling me against him, I felt like a little girl who’d somehow stumbled onto the adult’s table, thinking she was all grown up, but had been shown thoroughly how untrue that was. Marcus looked down at me, eyes still blazing, his lips set in a cruel line as he stared at mine. And then he kissed me, a sharp, hard, biting thing, and fuck me if I didn’t crave more. The warning lights inside me were flashing, some facsimile of the creepy robot from Lost in Space flailing his arms around. Danger, danger, danger. But his focus went back to the table quickly enough, letting me know he did not experience this the way I did.
“Criticising
my omega.”
“She’s unmarked,” the woman snapped back.
His nose nudged at my jaw, forcing my neck to arch for him.
“For now. If you can seduce her away from us, make her a better offer, then you’ll do so in a respectful and honest way. As you pointed out, she does come from a good family. That shouldn’t make any difference, but somehow, I know the very real threat Miranda’s legal team poses to anyone who dallies with her daughter will stop the worst of your excesses. Now, as Christian said, we’re here to play cards. I’m assuming you’re all in?”
“Hello, am I too late to join the table?”
I looked up to see George strolling in through the door, his black suit lapels just that little bit sharper than anyone else around him.
“Get the man a chair and deal him in,” Marcus said.
I knew a fair amount about omega physiology. For a while there, that’s what Mum focussed on, educating herself and then me about everything there was to know about us. She told me about the spikes of arousal that came from our flighty amygdala kicking into gear way too fast, followed by a rapid decrease in fight-or-flight hormones once the danger or desire faded. I felt like I was an awkward lump, sitting across Marcus’ lap, but any subtle shift in movement on my part was soon quelled.
“Stay,” he growled into my ear, low enough only I would have caught it, and with that, my body went limp. I was trapped, curled against his chest, feeling my body move with his with every breath, his grip on his cards awkwardly one-handed. But I couldn’t bring myself to get off his lap, feeling a lassitude so soft and sweet, I ended up tucking my head into his chest and closing my eyes.
Just for a minute, I told myself. Just for a minute.
“Man, she doesn’t even snore. Not like you fucks.”