So that’s a no, then.
“You are,” I say carefully. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
Something in her gaze shifts, and she crosses her arms. “Well, I’m not trying to…to…signal anything.”
I nod. “Noted. I’ll just, uh…This is awkward, so I’m going to go.”
Though I want to turn around, I can’t. I feel frozen under her gaze, her spicy scent filling my lungs. The need to touch myself is prevalent, but I won’t do it in front of her. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea. All I’ve done thus far is give her the wrong idea, and I’d like to actually walk away with my sanity and my neck intact for once.
“If, uh…if you need anything, I’ll be—”
“Wait,” she says, huffing out in annoyance. I stop just before my foot is out the door.
“What? Is there something you need or—”
I watch her expression shift, her lips twisting as if she wants to say something, but thinks better of it. Instead, she sighs.
“What—” She crosses her arms, not bothering to look at me. “What do I smell like?”
It’s the strangest question, and I can’t tell if it’s a trap, or if she really has no clue.
How could she be an omega and not know?
I slide my hands in my pants if only to nonchalantly shift my stupid cock, so she doesn’t notice.
“Um…well,” I push off the door and carefully step foot inside but keep my distance. I don’t want her to feel threatened. I want her to feel safe. That’s my job as an alpha, after all.
To make sure my omega is safe, cared for.
The thought stops me in the center of her room. I have to remind myself she’s not my omega. She’s a target. A job.
But Gage’s words reverberate in my head as I look at her. All five foot three of her, swimming in boxy clothes with that dark hair falling around her shoulders and those big eyes, those perfectly plump lips.
She’s more than that.
I think I’ve known that since I saw her in the cave. She’s more than she appears to be, and part of me is agitated by that because if she’s different…
I don’t know how to control her. Not that I make a habit of controlling women, but when it comes to rescues and jobs, I have to be in control of the situation. We all do, unless we want to end up six feet under. Our clients pay us a lot of money to fetch their omegas, and utilizing my alpha instincts to make them listen is part of the gig.
But Auryn doesn’t respond to my alpha like a typical omega, and that also intrigues the fuck out of me.
I’ve slept with enough omegas in my thirty-two years of life that I know how omegas aresupposedto respond, and the fact Auryn just…says and does what she wants and has no fear of me, it’s…
Well, it’s fucking hotter than it should be. Because she should be afraid of me.
But as I stand in front of her, gazing down at her defiant expression, I am not altogether certain she won’t choke me out right here, and the thought makes my cock twitch. Again.
I suck in a deep breath and breathe her in. That spicy, mouthwatering scent is layered with something else.
Cinnamon. No lemons or sunshine. Only cinnamon and peppercorn.
“You smell like hot cinnamon and spicy peppercorn,” I say. “It’s a weird combination, not going to lie, but—”
She huffs out a grunt and tightens her arms.
“It’s not sweet,” she says with disdain. “Omegas are supposed to be sweet.”
The way she says the words makes me feel like she isn’t talking to me, but rather remembering the words of someone else.
