I swallowed the liquid down with a wince, inwardly cursing myself for picking such a heady tasting liquor. Then, before she could say anything else I brought her fingers to my chest so she could feel my thudding heartbeat.
‘I like you,’I signed, knowing she could feel my heartbeat ramp up with my nerves. Before, in my nest, I’d never explicitly told her how I felt. I was opening myself up to getting my heart broken, I knew that. But even if time was counting down to when she would go home, I wanted her to know how I felt before it was too late.
Juneau’s eyes softened as she fully comprehended what I was telling her. She opened her mouth, to say what I didn’t know, because I stood up from the table before she could speak.
My legs were shaking from the alcohol and I forced myself to stay upright as I glanced over at my alphas who were all too busy to pay attention to us.‘Come with me.’I pulled her to her feet, steadying her undoubtedly wobbly legs before pulling her toward the back hallway of the bar.
Rex’s office door was locked, so I went to the next best place: the storage room at the end of the hallway, shutting the door firmly behind us.
It was a long room with shelves packed full of boxes lining the walls. In the corner was the gold mirror that had brought Juneau to us and the clock that Rex had also bought from the estate sale.
“That’s the clock that used to sit at the top of the stairs,” Juneau gasped, leaving me behind to get a closer look at it. The wood was still dusty as we’d just shoved both items into the room and forgotten about them completely. She reached out to touch it and a sudden panic filled me. What if she touched the clock and it somehow took her back to her own time?
I quickly grabbed her hand and whirled her to face me again.
‘Focus on me, Juneau,’I said, feeling more aggressive than I’d ever been before. I was usually a pretty submissive partner when it came to Rex, Storm, and Doc, but with Juneau I found myself wanting to push her and see how she bent.
I pulled her away from the clock and over to where a dilapidated gray couch sat in the corner. It had seen better days, but it would be comfortable enough for what I had in mind.
I was glad that I had enough forethought to bring my cell phone into the room with me. I didn’t have time to teach Juneau the entire slew of naughty things I was about to say to her.
Juneau rested her chin on my shoulder, reading as I typed. ‘ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT KNOTS?’
I felt the muscles in her throat move as she swallowed. “Aren’t most omegas?”
She had me there. ‘ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT THE GUY’S KNOTS?’ I asked, being more specific this time.
Another swallow. Her lemon pound cake scent bloomed between us and I sucked it in greedily. “Does that bother you?” she asked quietly.
I turned so that I could see her face. She was worrying at her lower lip with her teeth.
I shook my head. ‘DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT I’M WITH THEM?’
It was Juneau’s turn to shake her head. “No, not at all, actually…” She trailed off.
I tapped the top of her thigh, letting her know to finish her thought.
Juneau sighed and ran a hand over her face. “I actually think about it a lot. Sometimes I have dreams about it, which is bad, I know. In my time there are no packs with multiple omegas, so it’s a bit of a doozy to even consider it.”
It was clear that it was going to take Juneau a while to come to terms with modern pack dynamics. I would have to work on that later, though, because I had more selfish intentions tonight that had nothing to do with the rest of the guys.
My fingers flew across the touch-screen keyboard as I typed my next question.
‘ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT ME?’ I asked, not looking up at her face for fear of seeing rejection etched into her pretty features. We hadn’t kissed each other since that day in my nest and it had been driving me insane. Especially when I was awoken after the storm to the scent of Juneau’s arousal being stoked by Bat of all people.
The same territorial jealousy that I always seemed to feel when it came to her reared its ugly head. Then I realized that it was just another attachment tethering Juneau to the future. That it was a good thing that she liked Bat so much.
“If you’re asking me if I like you too, Podcast, I would think that the answer is very obvious,” Juneau whispered, her lips cherry-red from her nervous chewing.
‘SPELL IT OUT FOR ME,’ I wrote, needing her to tell me in plain language how she felt.
Juneau moved away so that I could clearly see her hands.‘I like you,’she signed before repeating the words out loud.
I dropped my phone and yanked her by the front of her shirt until our lips collided. Now that she had two kisses under her belt she was more prepared for me this time.
Her mouth moved hungrily against mine and her arms went up around my head, pulling my headphones from around my neck so that she could run her fingers along the sensitive skin of my throat.
She surprised me by grazing her teeth along my lips, sending pleasure skittering down my spine. Apparently, Bat had also taught her how to bite.
