I draw in a breath to steady myself, but it’s a mistake. Her scent pours down the back of my throat, and the Alpha inside of me almost wins. Almost, anyway. I’m not going to act on anything. Not here, not now.
But damn it, her proximity, her scent, that peaches and sunlight smell that’s been burned into me since the first time I laid eyes on her, it’s making it hard to breathe.
“I can’t believe you,” she hisses at me. “You’ve got some nerve, Ford. After what you did to me earlier, dropping that damn toolbox on me?”
My breath catches. The memory of that moment, the way the toolbox slipped from my hands hits me like a punch to the gut.
It wasn’t just the accident. It was everything that came after.
Her pain. The look on her face.
I had hurt her.
My Omega.
“I told you, it was an accident,” I growl, but even to my own ears, the words sound weak.
Her eyes burn into me, daring me to say something else. “An accident?” she repeats, her voice rising. “Yeah, right. You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t know when someone’s doing it on purpose? You hate me, right? This whole town does.”
“You think Iwantedto hurt you?” I snap, my jaw clenched so tight it hurts. My Alpha pride is wounded. I would never. “You think I was just sitting there, waiting for you to walk in so I could mess things up for you? Lo, you don’t get it. I didn’t?—”
“No,” she cuts me off, sharp as a knife, our faces mere inches apart. “Youcan’tget it. You never could, and you never will.”
I feel my chest ache. The truth of her words stings more than I want to admit. “What do you want me to do, Lo? You want me to fix everything? To fix you?”
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and they hang there, heavy between us.
Her eyes flare again, and I can tell that if she could get away with it, she’d slap me. “Don’t be so ridiculous.” And then she says, almost to herself, “Why the hell did I even walk over here?”
Good question. One I don’t know the answer to.
After everything that happened in her past, it makes no sense, but here she is. Staring into my eyes. Standing with mere inches of space between us, like it’s her sole mission to drown me in her presence. It’s a beautiful torture I’d suffer over and over again, just to be close to my Omega.
Mine.
Even though she wanted Beck.
The tension between us is heavier than before, pulling me toward her with a force I can’t escape. I can see it in the way her chest rises and falls with every sharp breath she takes, her eyes burning with intense rage.
I want to look away. I should look away. But I can’t.
Her lips part just slightly, and for a moment, I think she’s about to say something sharp. But I don’t give her the chance.
The Alpha inside of me snaps. One second, she’s glaring at me with that fierce, untouchable look. A fire that is rarely, if ever, quenched. And in the next moment, my body moves. Stands. The space between us collapses in on itself.
And I feel her mouth on mine.
The kiss comes without warning. Without pretense or recompense. It’s a collision, a force of nature that neither of us expected. My lips crash into hers with a hunger I’ve held back allmy life, and for a heartbeat, the world stops. Her body freezes against mine, and I brace myself for her to shove me away. For her to truly, properly slap me this time.
But then she shudders, as if my touch is a shock to her system.
I lave my tongue against her lips. If this is all I get of her, then I have to cement the memory. I have to give it to myself. My Alpha is selfish, and I’m tired of holding him at bay. So, if this is all I get, then so be it.
She’s stiff in my arms at first as they cage around her. I feel her precious little feet on top of my steel-toed boots. She’s braced, almost like she’s preparing to pull away. But then I feel her body melt, the smallest, most helpless little whimper escapes her, and my Alpha surges with a pride that hardens my cock against the zipper of my pants.
My Omega, finally in my arms.
I pull her closer, my hands landing on her waist, gripping her close to me. Feeling the heat of her skin through her shirt. Her mouth parts for me, a joy I can’t describe, and our tongues collide for the very first time. Her hands are tentative, sliding up my arms as she grips my biceps.
