The people at the table behind Jax suddenly got to their feet to begin making their way to the door. One of them, a rather large woman, began putting on her coat, and as she jabbed her arm into the sleeve, her hand flew out the other end and hit Jax squarely in the back. He stumbled forward slightly and fell up against me.
My hands shot out to steady him, and again as soon as I touched him, overwhelming feelings of protection, desire and passion swept over me suddenly and absolutely. That sweet, cotton candy smell wrapped itself around me, and my face felt like it was on fire. He must have felt it strongly too this time, because he gasped out loud and made a little whimpering sound that went directly to my cock. He even fisted my lapels and pressed his face against my chest.
I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled his sweet body all the way in my lap. I looked down at him and saw his pupils were blown. He came to me willingly, nuzzling his nose in my throat now. I stroked his back as I held him close and called him little pet names, like "mon ange" and “mon chou,” and many other foolish things.
I wanted nothing more than to pick him up in my arms and take him somewhere to make love to him for several hours. I think I even began to get up to carry him toward the door, when he suddenly pushed his hands against my chest and surged back out of my arms and scrambled to his feet. We were both breathing hard, and he was looking at me through those beautiful wide, green eyes like he was in shock.
“Oh my God,” he said softly enough that I had to lean in to hear him.“You’re my mate.”His hand flew to cover his mouth before he turned, his face panic stricken, and he ran away from me through the crowd.
It took me a moment or two to come back to myself, and when I did, I was looking down into the startled face of the little green-haired human. She had returned to my table, holding my sandwich and a bottle of water.
“You’re mates?” she said incredulously. “Is that what he said? Oh shit, that’s kind of a big deal, isn’t it?”
“You might say that,” I replied, sinking back onto my chair. My legs felt too unsteady to hold me up, and my heart was still thumping away much too fast.
“Jax seemed almost frightened,” she said, looking after him.
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“I don’t know much about Dragons, but I know a few wolf shifters. They mate for life.”
“Yes, it’s the same for us. Wait—how do you know about any of this? You’re human.”
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few things. I’ve been around this town for a long time and a girl hears things. Even things humans aren’t supposed to know about. Besides, Jax tells me stuff too. He told me about mates.”
Her mouth made a perfect little “O” of surprise. “Wait! Jax doesn’t want a mate. He wants a career. He’d like to make this business a success, and he’d got his life all mapped out in front of him. He wants that first.”
I shrugged. “There are people in hell who want ice water. Unfortunately, if you must know, our natures don’t allow that much free will when it comes to mating.” I ran a hand over my face and sighed. “Could you please find him and make sure he’s all right? I have an important meeting in …” I glanced at my watch. “Ten minutes. I have to go, but I can’t leave if he’s in distress.”
“Sure. But let me wrap your food up for you and you can take it with you. It won’t take me a minute.”
She turned and took off, and I got to my feet, still feeling a little shaky. Jax and I needed to talk as soon as possible. Running away from this thing wouldn’t do either of us any good. Once a Dragon shifter found his mate, he had no choice but to be with that mate for life. Anything else was simply unthinkable. He had to know that.
The problem, of course, was that he had all these ideas about making his shop some big success. I had no real objection to it, actually, or to him holding a job of some kind, if that was what he wanted. But he was still an omega. Once he was mine, he’d no doubt soon be pregnant, and that would change everything.
Not because I declared it that way, but because it was the way of true mates. We would have a hard time keeping our hands off each other and from the way he smelled to me, I didn’t think my omega was taking any pheromones that would help suppress his heat cycle. It meant that he would likely get pregnant almost as soon we were together.
The pheromone situation was one I planned to remedy right away. In fact, I’d call Ashworth as soon as I left here and have him make Jax an immediate appointment with a doctor. I’d drag Jax there if I had to. As beautiful as he was, he was like a ticking time bomb walking around unprotected. Anyone who smelled him—even a human male—might be affected and be unable to stop themselves from violating him. The omega scent was a powerful thing.
What I’d been smelling so far was mostly the mate scent, it was true, but it was underlaid with omega slick. I had no idea why he’d allowed this situation to develop, but all of that would end today. I needed to keep a guard on him at all times for his own safety.
Gods, he was going to be so much trouble. He was stubborn, willful, probably a cheat and a liar, though I was willing to look into the lease situation with my uncle a bit further before I made any such rash judgement. Wasn’t that situation alone, and the fact that he’d tried to defraud my poor, old uncle enough, though, to make me run the other way?
Fuck no, it wasn’t!
That, in itself was a measure of how crazy this all made me. Those things barely even gave me pause. I had to have him—end of story. Now I had to figure out a way to make that clear to him. And I had to convince my Dragon to calm the fuck down while I did it.
Chapter Five
Jax
It was crazy of me to run out of the shop the way I did, but my adrenaline was pumping, and I was feeling so uncomfortable and overcome and frustrated that all my attempts to outrun this omega curse had all been for nothing. My body had betrayed me anyway. Well, that and fate itself, which had thrown my true mate right into my path.
My grandmother, who had also been an omega, had tried to warn me. She told me how she had struggled and how she’d witnessed my mother’s struggles, but I didn’t really get it until now. I thought if I just worked hard enough and tried hard enough, I could be like anybody else and not held hostage by my stupid body. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to find a mate one day, or even that I didn’t want a child. I looked forward to raising a family, in fact—someday, that is, in the fullness of time. Maybe ten years from now, after I’d established myself. But I never wanted anything to do with an Alpha.
I was actually hoping for a nice human husband. Someone who loved kids and animals, and whose idea of a good time was a quiet night by the fire, reading or listening to music, or watching old movies together. I wanted someone predictable and easy-going for a nice, safe, reliable future. I didn’t want some wild, addictive passion that would take over my entire life. I didn’t want to be with someone who controlled me, and I refused to be a slave to the passions of my body. Irefused!
This was all, of course, contingent on me being able to buy out my contract from my father and become completely emancipated from him. It would take a lot of money, but I thought he would be financially motivated enough to do it. He just had to be.