“You don’t have to say it back. I wouldn’t if I were in your shoes,” I said with a nervous laugh. “I made your life more difficult, and I’ll do anything I can to make it easier going forward. Whether that’s a life with me or not, you won’t have to worry about money ever again.”
She slid closer, tucking her head beneath my chin and locking her arms around me. My arms moved automatically to hold her.
“You’renotmad at me?” I asked uncertainly.
A beautiful laugh escaped Clover. “Why would I be mad at you? I swear it’s like you’ve turned into an entirely different person in the last few weeks, and you’ve saved my dads so much stress.”
I shrugged again, my face heating. “Have I turned into abetterperson?”
Clover fell silent, and time hung in a delicate balance where all I could do was wait. Nervous energy swelled up in my chest. I had no idea what was running through her head right now.
“Feelslike better.” She stepped back and cupped my face. “I’m definitely falling for the new version of Parker you’ve shown me. We do well together when you’re not a dumbass.”
“You’re falling for me?”
“Hard not to when you’re being a reasonable human.” She laughed. “The real Parker—the one who has a little faith—is generous, sweet, and thoughtful. I’m going to trust you to trust me, okay? I believe we can have a good life together if you let us, and I can see that you’re trying. For that, I love you.”
My heart skipped a beat, then started pounding furiously as her words truly hit me. Shelovedme? How in the hell had I managed that? After everything I’d done wrong, I was beginning to think that I’d be lucky if she tolerated me, and then that would only be because she was in love with the others. Still, I wanted to believe her more than anything.
I forced myself to look into her beautiful blue eyes. I wanted nothing more than to pull her closer, but for some reason, I hesitated.
Clover slammed forward, her arms locking around me like bands of steel. She filled my arms as nothing else could, and when she smiled up at me, I wanted to give her the whole damn world just to see her do that every day.
Her gaze dropped to my neck. I cocked a brow, unsure what she was studying on me, and then my beautiful, maddening omega snatched my forearm with both hands and sank her teeth into it.
“Clover!” I yelled, astounded. She hadbittenme.
My shock didn’t last long. Every drop of blood in my body rushed south. It felt too good, too powerful, and everything inside me was telling me to claim Clover in return.
Right thefucknow.
Yanking her back against me, I surrendered to what she offered. Our lips crashed together as I hoisted her up to plant her ass on my desk. She tasted otherworldly good—my wild omega—and she could always throw me for a loop. I threaded my fingersthrough her golden hair. My tongue swept over the seam of her lips, and she let me in.
She took fistfuls of my shirt, her nails scraping over my skin, my omega humming against my mouth. The sound went straight to my cock. My brain continued short-circuiting, and I pulled down the straps of her dress.
“So you’re just going to strip me in your office? What if I’m not in the mood?” Clover asked, her tone full of sass.
“I can smell how much of a lie that is, trouble.” I dropped my nose to her shoulder, breathing in that heady sugared peony scent of hers and enjoying how thick with arousal it was.
I flipped her over so her knees were on the desk, showing off the roundness of her ass while leaving room for her belly. Clover peeked back at me, sitting up to bring her back to my chest.
The need to respond to her claim, to bite her in return, pulsed in my blood.
“You started this. I want you to keep that in your pretty head, knowing thatyoupoked the bear when you bit me.”
Clover’s scent flared again, and my cock throbbed as she let her head fall back, finally allowing those lids to shut. “The bear should get a move on.”
“Parker…” Clover’s words were breathy, her eyelids fluttering as she fought to keep them open.
I let my hands wander over her lush curves. Slick covered my sweet omega’s thighs, her rounded belly carrying the pack’s child. She was utterly perfect, and I needed her like a man possessed. Hunger drilled through me, the lingering sting of her bite on my forearm launching me to the heights of arousal.
She lifted one knee, then the other when I tugged down her panties, helping me remove them easily.
My cock was hard as a diamond as I freed it, precum leaking from the tip.
“My, oh my. You’re being rather forward.” Clover wiggled her hips, encouraging me closer until my erection brushed over her slippery folds. “Keep that up, and I might think you like me or something.”
Every instinct screamed at me to bite her. To claim her. I’d almost lost her to my own obstinance, and I desperately wanted to keep her.
