I heard a rustle, then a slap of skin on skin, and when he spoke next, Haze’s voice had that hard, desperate edge of man getting himself off.
“I shoulda written something poetic, something sweet, but I’m not the man for that. There’s no hearts and flowers in me. Just hard cocks, knots your cunt is gonna struggle to take, and my teeth in your throat as I fucking finally take what’s mine.”
I didn’t know what to do or say, my fingers sliding on instinct to my neck, feeling that small point of soreness there before I replied sharply.
“Stop jerking off, Haze. That was a dream, a fantasy. People don’t enter each other’s sexual fantasies.”
“You gonna edge me, baby? Make me wait? You have no idea just what I’m prepared to do for you, especially since you chose me last night. You knew I’d be good for you, didn’t you? Knew I’d want to lick that pussy like an ice cream cone, getting you wet and wetter still.”
“Haze,” I snapped, my voice cool, even as I found myself squirming in my seat. “Focus. How the fuck do you know what I was fantasising about?” I flushed when I remembered what he’d said about my teenage fantasies. I’d gotten myself off countless times to vague dreams of them.
“We know everything about you, because you’re our mate,” he replied in a dark, serious voice.
“That’s not—”
“Let me take you out for lunch today,” he said. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, be a good fucking boy, even though I’ll be sucking deep breaths down to capture your scent. You come out with me, and I’ll tell you about the dreams.”
Near silence came down the line as I considered his offer, but the quiet allowed me the opportunity to hear the snake-like rasp of skin brushing over skin. It was a slow, almost inaudible sound, but enough to paint a picture for me—that big strong hand, tattoos ending at the wrist, gripping his cock before giving it a slow, almost surreptitious tug as he waited me out.
Was he really fucking hard, trying to prolong things, even as his cock got that rigid feel as the last rush of blood to his length heralded a glorious cascade of bodily reactions? Pleasure would build, in his prostate and in his cock, growing and growing, held off by his slow strokes, but not for long. He’d be conscious of just how close he was, his heart pumping frantically as he tried to hold it off, but resistance was futile. His nuts would tighten, his dick flex as every muscle in his groin clenched hard to expel his load.
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Yes, Riley!” The words were torn through him, and I was treated to the sound of his rapid pants in my ear, even as my own cunt pulsed in sympathy. My body wanted to do the same, be sprawled out on my bed, naked, teasing myself to the sound of his voice, working out just how he had visited me in the night.
But I had work to do.
“I’ll be there at midday on the dot,” he said finally, a kind of breathy incredulity in his voice. “Don’t be late, baby. You do not want this wolf chasing you.”
I hung up without saying a word, turning to my computer and bringing up some of the medical journal databases we had, starting a search going. I tried ‘omega + dream,’ ‘omega + fantasy,’ then ‘omega + psychic,’ but I didn’t get much. I tapped my pencil on my lip before getting to my feet, walking out of our business unit, and taking the lift down to the library the whole building shared.
Gideon Crowe, the owner of the institute I worked for, had assembled a medical library that was the envy of most others in the country, and Helen, the chief librarian, was someone I’d decided to befriend as soon as I was employed here. My Google fu was pretty damn awesome, but sometimes, the padawan just needed to go to the master.
“Hey,” I said, knocking on the doorframe of her office. She looked up and smiled, her brown eyes warming as soon as she saw me. “Do you have time to chat?”
“For the most promising young researcher in the building?” That was pure hyperbole, but I flushed anyway. “Of course, come in. What’ve they got you chasing now?”
“Psychic bonds between alphas and omegas,” I replied. “Do we have anything on this? Specifically…dream walking?”
Helen looked slightly befuddled at that, which made my heart sink, but she shook her head.
“Let’s take a look.”
Chapter 12
“The difficulty is the dearth of omega interviews on record,” Helen said, flicking through her multiple screens with a rapidity that made my head spin. She was able to skim read an abstract and accept or dismiss a paper based on that in seconds. “Omega psychology is a study still in its infancy, due to the fact they rarely access services. Few experience mental health issues, so we can’t even use second-hand reports from psychologists. What happens when an alpha pack takes an omega?” She shrugged. “We’re still working that out.”
She downloaded a paltry few papers and then put them in an email before turning to me.
“Hopefully, you’ll be able to shed more light on the process? Candy said you had an entire alpha pack volunteer for a comprehensive study?”
“Ah yeah…” I replied, feeling torn.
On the one hand, I didn’t want the Vanguards anywhere near me. On the other…? Helen was right—the science was patchy at best due to sheer lack of data. The whole process of becoming an omega or alpha, and then mating, was more of a magic than a science with our current knowledge, and I… I swallowed hard, then looked at her screen, imagining my name there as the primary contributor to a paper that revolutionised our understanding of the dynamics.
I was caught in a familiar dilemma between emotions and hard science. The need to understand the bond was clear. All those images and videos of people struggling with the genetic issues I’d seen at uni had made a clear case for that, but… Being near the Vanguards hurt me physically, my hand going to my sternum, rubbing there absently as the ache started again, and… What Haze had said, what he’d indicated was happening… Every time I got close to them, it was like my body and my mind were not my own.
And imagine how that must feel at eighteen, I told myself. Not all omegas went into a mating happy with the process. The ones in my town had been raised to think they were special, treasured the minute they revealed at about twelve or thirteen, but others? There were records of betas revealing as omegas the minute an alpha pack went through the first shift, their previous existences ripped away from them as alien instincts forced them into a situation they hadn’t chosen.