“Twice?”she wails in that delicious way that makes everything clench in abject need.“What else did I do?I know I wasn’t supposed to come here, but…” She trails off and stares at the bed as her fingers move about in a silent urge to fix the already perfect setup.
“These clothes?You either didn’t show up wearing what you took home with you, which would be disobeying.Or, thesearethe clothes you chose, which would also be disobedience.So tell me, little omega.Which is it?I want to make sure I’m punishing you for the right crime.”
“They were comfortable,” she cries out as she scratches her arms.“You don’t understand.Yes, they were practical, but there were nicer than anything I owned.To me, thesewereluxurious.”
My heart goes out to her as I hear the pain in her voice.So similar to the rage that echoed through my heart when I had to settle for less or nothing.But she still defied me.
‘You knew the rules,” I grind out.“The receptionist told you my expectations, yes?”
Again, she hangs her head.“Yes, Master.”
“And you still chose comfort over opulence?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Then that warrants a punishment.No?”
“If you insist, Master.”This time, her tone is distant, far away, as if disassociating herself from the situation.
This won’t do.I want her excited about what I have planned.Not dreading it.
Before I can indulge, however, I need to know the truth about her heat.It’s the one thing that will change everything.I certainly can’t leave it up to chance.Not when my body is already screaming to enter the rut and take her.
“And your heat?Was that planned too?”
Her head whips up as her eyes widen in shock.She could be faking.She could be putting on the world’s greatest act.But deep down, I don’t think she is.It’s as if the very words I’ve spoken shock her.
“W- what are you talking about?What heat?I- I can’t be.I’m on pills.”Her voice rises as hysteria takes over.Every inch of her delicate frame quavers like a leaf in the breeze as she goes ashen white.“I take them daily.I don’t miss.I don’t skip.I work with enough Alphas that it would be dangerous.What do you mean, my heat?”
“Shhhhhh,” I soothe as I stride over to her with large steps that bring me to her side swiftly.“I need you to look at me.”
Tears fill her lovely eyes as every inch of her screams for me to take over, to make it stop.“Please,” she whispers.“I can’t.I-”
“I can.”I murmur from deep in my very soul.
Just those two little words make my heart skip a beat.I can.I truly can.Nothing about a life with Noelle seems abhorrent or scary.In fact, it’s quite the opposite.The very notion of spending my life with her, tending to her, feeding her innate submissive desires—all of it makes my very soul sing.
I don’t have to be lonely anymore.I don’t have to just get by.For once, I can finally have everything.I can have her.
“Listen to me, omega.”I lower my tone, lacing it with a growl she won’t be able to ignore or turn away from.“If we do this, if I see you through your heat, there is no going back.I will fuck you.I will knot you.I will claim you.Do you understand?Think carefully, little Noelle.Tell me to leave, and you’ll never see me again.Tell me to stay, and you’re mine forever.”
I brace, barely breathing, barely thinking, barely hoping.What will she say?What will she do?
For the first time since leaving my small town, I find myself at a crossroads.Only, this time, the stakes feel far more dire.I never imagined the possibility of actually having an omega for the holidays, but now, I want that more than ever.
All she has to do is choose me.
All she has to do is decide to spend her life with me.
All she has to do is simply be mine.
Heart, body, and fucking soul.
Chapter14
Noelle
Everything stops.
