“I was not.” The indignation in my voice doesn’t quite hide my embarrassment.
“It’s okay, princess.” His eyes meet mine through the dark. “Nothing wrong with taking care of yourself. Just don’t expect me to control myself if you do it right here.” He swings back up to the top bunk. “Keep it to the shower like I do. Deal?”
“Deal,” I whisper, heart pounding.
Like I do, echoes in my mind, loud in the silence. What does he think about when he touches himself? Does he ever think of me?
Ugh, of course not. I’m Rigid Raven. All skin and bones. Cold as ice. Nothing soft and sexy about me. That’swhat everyone always said in high school. Guys don’t dream about me. Even if I am an omega, I’ve never had men interested in me in that way.
“Sweet dreams,principessa,” Foster whispers.
I don’t reply. I simply curl on my side and stare at the wall until the sun finally rises, and it’s time to get up for another grueling day.
10
FOSTER
This assignment is a lot harder than I thought it’d be. Raven is a temptation I never saw coming. There’s something about the little omega that calls to my alpha and makes me want to take care of her.
Just trying to keep things professional would be hard enough, but the job is also more grueling than I anticipated. Raven’s publicist insists she goes to all the skating competitions to show her support for the other skaters. That, combined with her practices, means she’s at the arena for hours every day. It’s always crowded. Half the people think she’s an inspiration and want her autograph. The other half think she shouldn’t be here at all. Then, there’s the small subset who actively want to prevent omegas from ever coming back. I constantly have to be looking out for that last group.
Not to mention all the damn people who check her out constantly.
It would be a lot, even with just that, but Raven’s team also insists on taking her to every historic sight in Milanand capitalizing on every public appearance possible. The woman rarely has a minute alone and falls into bed exhausted.
She needs a night off. Or a good massage. I can practically see the muscles in her shoulders growing tenser each day. When she couldn’t sleep last night, my resolve almost broke. I wanted to bury my face between those muscular thighs and really make her pant. A good orgasm or three would have knocked her right out.
Flexing my hands to keep from rubbing her shoulders, I offer her a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. The least I can do is make sure she’s eating enough.
It’s become a routine for us to have a quick breakfast together each morning before her coach inevitably rushes in with the revised schedule for the day. It’s always revised. There’s always something added. A new interview. A lunch date with a potential sponsor. A tour of the cathedral.Something.
“Thanks,” Raven says, fighting back a yawn that leaves me once again thinking about how she couldn’t sleep last night.
Our conversation plays in my head on a loop. The memory of her soft little pants has my cock half-hard again. I don’t think she realized she was so loud, and there’s something extra fucking hot about her not being able to control herself like that. I wish I knew exactly what she was thinking about.
“You should go back to bed.” I tighten my fist on my coffee mug.
Raven’s laugh is soft and without humor. “Yeah, ‘cause that would go over real well.”
“Your practice time isn’t until this afternoon. Cancelwhatever they’ve got scheduled this morning and get some rest. You need it.”
She shakes her head and focuses on her eggs. “Did you know farmers in the US produce, like, 100 billion eggs each year?” she blurts out before I can lodge another protest.
I blink, unsure of where that came from, and now focused on the part where she said100 billion. I realize she’s trying to change the subject—and I’ll let her—but not without a little teasing, first.
“Well, I’m sure the chickens lay the eggs, not the farmers.” I smirk.
The little omega gives me a blank stare for a moment before releasing an inelegant snort and bursting into laughter. I can’t help but laugh along with her. Shit, how long has it been since I’ve laughed like this? Something loosens in my chest.
When Raven can breathe normally again, she wipes tears from the corners of her eyes. I cross my arms and give her an assessing stare. “Where did you even learn that? Or did you just make it up?”
“Ahh, well, before coming to Milan they had me touring the US. For some reason, one of those stops was at a Future Farmers of America gathering. It was sort of random, but I go where they tell me. Annnddd I also tend to remember random facts. I mean, 100 billion is an astronomical number! It kinda stuck in my head.”
Raven blushes, her cheeks turning a pretty pink as she looks at her plate and sets her fork down. The color is almost vibrant on her alabaster skin, and I want to see if she blushes like that everywhere. Want to see how pink her skin can get.
We fall into a more comfortable silence than we hadbefore her silly outburst, but I still can’t get my thoughts under control. My cock twitches as I think about all the ways I could mark up Raven’s flawless complexion. The little bruises I’d leave on her inner thighs from spreading her wide for me. Red indents from my rope. I’d like to tie her up in a pretty pattern and ravish her until her brain shut off, until she relaxed and?—
“Are you ready?” Ana says, bursting into the apartment without so much as knocking. She looks Raven over while still holding the door open. “Good. Let’s go.”
