There’s this air of pure innocence around her. She stared up at those clouds in the sky like it was her first time seeing fucking clouds. And then she looked at me with those bright eyes and that fucking smile… It takes my breath away every time.
She’s stunningly beautiful, too.
And now, she’s naked, less than one paper-thin wall away, with water dripping down?—
Fucking hell, I need to get my head out of the gutter. She’s been through hell. She’s going to continue going through hell here, considering my brother’s plans for her.
I pace back and forth in the small kitchen, opening my fridgedoor for the fourth time to see if there’s anything other than beer, eggs, and milk. Nope. Still pitifully empty.
I never have guests here, so my diet of microwave frozen dinners and the occasional takeout order is fine. But I have anomegain my space right now.
Sure, an omega who seems to have been bought from an insane facility of some sort, but still an omega. The last thing I want to do is make those big, sparkling emerald green eyes dull with disappointment. Or worse, disgust.
I should ask her what she’d like to eat when she’s done with the shower. I’m sure she’d like to choose.
The water shuts off, sending a shudder through the walls as the old pipes announce that she’s all done with her shower.
I continue pacing back and forth, because waiting outside the door would be weirdo fucking behavior.
Act cool, Rowan.
It doesn’t matter that she’s the most gorgeous omega I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t matter that she’sinsidemy trailer. It doesn’t matter that she’s going to step out wearingmyclothes.
“God fucking dammit,” I mutter under my breath. “Of course, the one girl I’ve spoken to in fucking years is a girl my family fucking kidnaps to use as bait for the fighting dogs.”
My palms dig into my closed eyes so hard I see stars. I’m so fucked. This situation is so fucking fucked.
“Rowan?” Her soft, almost melodic voice calls from behind me. “Are you alright?”
God, I love the sound of my name on her lips. I want to hear her say it over and over again in all the ways possible.
“Sorry.” I straighten and turn, freezing like a deer in headlights when I catch sight of her.
She’s drying her auburn hair with the towel. It looks darker now that it’s wet. And she’s standing in front of me in nothing butmyboxers and an old t-shirt.
The t-shirt is thin, showcasing the thin outline of thosestrawberry pink nipples I know lie below. Fuck my brother and his sadistic tendencies. I wish I were strong enough to not have looked, when Mirabelle was crawling over to me earlier, but I’m a weak man.
With her arms lifted to dry her hair, I see the hint of my boxers stretched across her hips.
Fuck, she looks good in my clothes.
“Are you okay?” She repeats softly, offering me one of her smiles.
“Oh, yeah, am I okay...” I trail off, trying to come up with an answer. “Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking a lot. This whole situation is pretty crazy.”
“I’m sorry if my presence is causing you any trouble.” She eyes me, and I catch a glimpse of her mind working to catalogue all my reactions to her words. Almost like she’s trying to gauge how much she’s allowed to talk with me.
“Youaren’t causing me any trouble,” I insist, before gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch along the wall. The dining chair scrapes on the floor as I drag it to sit across from her, giving her a little space. “I just hate the situation you’re in. You don’t deserve this bullshit.”
I pick at the frayed hems of my black jeans as she perches herself on the couch.
“I—I know you agreed to do something you didn’t seem like you wanted to do to save me from your brother,” she whispers.
“Ah, yeah, that. Training the new dog,” I huff, scrubbing a hand down my face. No clue what I was thinking, suggesting that. Most of the trainers we have here are alphas for a reason. It’s a risky business, dealing with drugged-up trained killers and getting them to do shit they probably don’t want to do.
“What exactly does that mean?”
“The dogs are feral alpha fighters. They’re kept here at my dad’s stable: The Mercer Family Farm.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Though I wouldn’t call us much of a fucking family and all the farming we do is just a front.”
