But the dream dissolved just like ash. I stretched and yawned, luxuriating in the softness of the blankets beneath me, the cushion to my right, and the warm, firm body that lay on my left.
Body.A warm, very male, very hard, and growing harder by the second, body.
“Oh, shit.” I sat up. “Kellin, ah… Hello. You’re alive.” I still had my shirt on, though the rest of my clothing was at the bottom of the bed by my feet. That didn’t surprise me; when I fell asleep clothed, I often took something off. I suppose I was lucky I’d only shucked off my trousers.
Or unlucky. Kellin had on his trousers, but his shirt was off, and the expanse of gleaming, light brown skin made my mouth water and my nipples perk up, wondering how it would feel to press them against that smooth skin. My eyes slid lower to where the very solid jut of an interested part of his anatomy was visible though his trousers, the darker-hued head peeking out the waistband in a decidedly friendly manner. I licked my lips and squeezed my thighs together, my perfume already filling the room and mingling with his.
Shit.This was definitely not a sibling blood bond.
“Mate?”
I hated being right all the time. “Um, yeah. My name is…”
“Ratter?”
I blinked. I didn’t need to be Ratter anymore. The one I’d been hiding my name from all these years had already found me. “Call me Rada.”
His lips curled up in a warm smile. “Rada suits you.”
I snapped my eyes to his face. His cheeks were ruddier than they had been, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled. His eyes were black, with a hint of purple in them, and I chewed at my lip for a moment. “Sorry about the smell,” I lied. “So I may have accidentally poisoned you. Ah, lethally.”
The smile faded. “You were trying topoisonmy brother?”
“Not intentionally,” I explained as he pushed himself up on his arms, making all the muscles on his abs stand out like ripples on the surface of a… Oh my Goddess, so many ripples. Why had my mouth gone completely dry? I licked my lips again.
“Ripples?” His voice was quieter, but there was a thread of humor in the word.
I’d spoken out loud? How annoying.
I wasn’t ashamed of being attracted to this much abdominal goodness, but this wasn’t the time to ogle him. I had to wait atleast, what? A day? Twelve hours, minimum. Then I could lust openly.
“Yeah, no. I mean, I was completely in the wrong to poison your brother. But accidents happen. Let’s let bygones be… By the Goddess, did you just unveil another line of abs? Where were you hiding them all?”
“Accidents happen?” Speaking made the rippling faster.
To the hells with the timeline. I couldn’t have removed my eyes from his hypnotically muscular, perfect form with a steel pry bar. That his cock was still winking out his waistband at me was just another benefit, with a tiny droplet of moisture at the tip that had me licking my lips again.
But I was growing slick, too, and that was a dangerous move to make before we’d talked about the whole possible blood mating. And my inconvenient vow of Alpha-celibacy. So I shifted, discreetly moving a fur blanket between my bare legs and pressing it into my core, relieving some of the tension with pressure.
“That’s ah, that’s my, ah…” he stammered. “That’s my…” He was going an even deeper shade of brown, as if all the blood had rushed to his head. Well, what wasn’t already thickening the solid head at his waistline.
I forced myself to smile and stare into his panicked eyes. “I need to explain. I didn’t mean to try to kill your brother. It’s a long story, but I more or less went the Omega version of feral when I saw him rubbing on my mate.”
His voice was a rasp when he asked, “Mate? You mean Goran?”
Another fucking slip of the tongue. “Fine, husband. Ex-husband! When Goran told me he lived with an Omega, I assumed a female. I was ready for a woman, I swear. I would never attack an Omega. I’ve spent my life protecting Omegas.”
“But youdidattack him,” he said, disappointment in his tone. I hated that more than anger. Fuck, I’d rather he punched me.
“I didn’t kill him,” I argued weakly.
“You tried to. It was your first instinct.” He slid out of the bed, wobbling on his feet. “Why didn’t you ask who he was, or what their relationship was? He would have told you, Rada.”
I swallowed hard, tasting the familiar cocktail of guilt and shame that surged up with a hint of bile at his words. “I have a habit of—” The door opened, though no one had knocked.
The Omega finished my sentence. “Stabbing first and asking questions later?”
I smiled weakly. “Ah, hey there, Omega.”
