He snorts with derision. “You got your story and I’ve got mine. I don’t care what your reasons are, but I have to write you a ticket for illegal camping and ask you to pack up immediately.”
“In the dark?” I ask.
His teeth gleam in the shadows. “Wasn’t dark at all when I first told your fine friend here about the problem.” The officer hooks his thumb toward Josef.
Rickon bristles, the vibration in his body shivering through my arm. “Well, it’s not like we can teleport back, is it? Seems you’d have better things to do than sit in your car and wait for us. Laversham must be overflowing with taxpayers’ money.”
“It’s fine,” I tell the officer, wrapping an arm around my agitated lover’s waist to keep him in place. “We’ll pack up.”
“I’ll need to see some ID,” the officer says, glaring at Rickon. “For the ticket.”
“I’m the only one who slept here,” he snaps back, reaching for his wallet.
The second officer scoffs. “That’s not what the news has been saying.”
I snatch Rickon’s wallet and give him a shove. “Josef, can you and Rickon pack up the extra stuff inside?”
That vanilla scent’s turning awfully bitter, and an ominous rumble vibrates through his lithe body. I know Ricky’s on edge, but he seems about to lose his sanity completely. Is it the effect of the bond bringing his dominance to the foreground?
I smile sweetly at the officer and pass him Rickon’s driver’s license along with my Omega Center-issued ID card. “Let’s not have any trouble.”
“At least someone has sense,” the officer mutters, taking the cards back to enter details into his computer.
I chuckle knowing I’m the least sensible person here. While he runs our details, I lean my ass on the car hood and stare up at the sturdy prison walls. Can’t help wishing I could don an OCB uniform and slip inside once more to rescue my alpha, but I know that’s a fool’s mission. It’s only a few hundred yards, so why does it feel like an eternity of distance between me and my pack alpha?
Most likely because I know how much danger surrounds him.
The officer returns and hands our cards back, but instead of moving on, he says they’ll wait to make sure we pack up. A devious idea springs to life in my head, and I slip inside the tent.
“Hey, Josef, could you give us a few minutes?” I ask.
The agent eyes me up and down and practically throws himself out through the door flap.
Rickon seethes, stuffing a rolled sleeping bag inside its case with all the aggression of a gym junkie hitting the big weights.
“Babe?” I croon, kneeling down beside him.
He huffs out a breath. “I’m sorry. I do want to take you home, but I hate having my hand forced. And I feel weak for not being able to protect you properly.”
I push the bag out of his hands and turn him to face me. “Listen here, alpha,” I say firmly. “You’re enough, just the way you are, okay? You’re busting your gut to keep this ship afloat. It’s time.”
I skim my hands up and down his arms, and he sucks in a jagged breath. Kneeling up, I lock my hands around his neck and lean down to kiss him. Rickon jerks me closer, burned-butter scent thickening with desire. He deepens the kiss, licking and sucking on my lips before sweeping his tongue inside. I moan and dive my fingers into his hair.
“Red,” he gasps as he pulls back. “If you get me worked up now, I won’t be able to contain myself.”
I grin down at him, devilish amusement spiraling through me. “That was kind of the plan.”
His eyes widen.
“Those officers said they aren’t leaving until we’ve packed up, so I figure a little punishment is in order. Plus—” I wink at him. “Remember Zack’s request? We can’t leave without a little farewell offering.”
“Fuck, Red!” Rickon buries his face in my neck. “I love the way you think.”
He tips me back onto the mattress, and I laugh as I sprawl. My laughter turns into a gasp as he seals his mouth to my bond mark. It’s not as sensitive as when Zack kisses it, but my soul still responds, understanding my alpha’s intentions.
“Why is it—” Rickon hunts down the buttons on my blouse, voice rasping with need. “—that I can have you every single night but still can’t get enough of you?”
I slip my fingers under his shirt and tug, sliding the material up his lean torso. “Because we have so much lost time to make up for,” I whisper.
