“You’re all okay?” he asks.
I put my hands on top of his. “Yes, we’re all fine. Liv is going to go sleep at her house.”
“Sorry, River,” Smith says. Though he doesn’t sound completely apologetic, he sounds annoyed and, dare I say, a little scared?
“I’m just glad you were doing your job. Come on, angel. I missed you,” River says, grabbing Liv under his arm. He kisses her head and smells her hair.
Liv spins in her Beta’s arm and smiles at me. “I’ll make French toast in the morning. Text me when you’re awake. Sorry again about the alarm, Smith.” She smirks at him and gives me a knowing smile. My new best friend is clearly a menace.
“Okay, night, Liv.”
“Goodnight,” she says and they leave the apartment.
Smith locks the door behind them and resets the alarm.
“How did Kelsey sleep through that?” he asks.
“I think she had the most margaritas.”
“My heart is fucking racing. I thought something had happened to one of you,” he says. I can see his chest rising and falling. And it’s a really nice chest. He’s built like a goddamn warrior and I want to lick the little ridges of muscle.
“I know things have been weird, but do you think you could hold me for a little while?” I ask, afraid he is going to reject me.
“Yes, but out here on the couch,” he says. Smith seems just as relieved as me to have some closeness. I’m worrying about how much I depend on him. I’ve never been that girl. One that pines after a man, or felt that they needed one to be happy. Smith is different. He makes me feel a sense of security I haven’t felt in a long time and it doesn’t hurt that he is absolutely gorgeous.
We’re on the side of the sectional, opposite Kelsey. Smith lies down first and I lie down in his arms—one behind my head and the other over my waist.
My thumb mindlessly traces his veins on his forearms. “You make me feel safe, Smith.” I whisper, even though Kelsey is dead to the world.
“I like keeping you safe,” he replies.
“Am I different from your other clients?”
“If you’re asking if I’ve jerked off in front of my other clients? That would be a no.”
“Would you want to be more than my bodyguard?” I ask, and I hold my breath. I still trace his veins and play with the tendons on his hands.
“Cami,” he breathes.
“What?”
“You make me want things I shouldn’t want,” he says.
“What if I want them too?”
I feel his forehead lean against the back of my head. “Do you want a pack, Cami?”
“I don’t know,” I reply, because I really don’t know. I like the idea of one partner, but what about my heats? How could I ask someone to involve other Alphas during that time? Would it be enough?
“Until you know that answer, we can’t. I can’t.”
“Can we talk about it?”
“Maybe more after your heat, when both our heads are a little clearer,” he says.
“That’s fair, but I don’t think it’s your pheromones that make me want you, Smith.”
He groans and pulls me closer to his body.
