And boom, the communication between these Alphas moves from verbal to designation driven. The air thickens, and it feels more imposing and threatening as they glare at each other. The mood shifts again too, it’s like holding a match over a fuel-soaked pile of fireworks and being an Omega. I feel it like they’re screaming their anger at each other, but not one word is spoken.
Unintentionally I make a noise that makes Kairo respond. Like flicking a switch, all his aggression and posturing vanishes, and with it the Alpha push against me halves immediately.
Kairo turns back to me, he locks those dazzling familiar green eyes on my face and makes a point of completely ignoring the tension rolling off my security team. With a small smile on his face, he holds out his grey sweats waiting for me to climb into them.
Only once I’m in them and completely covered up does he turn me around and finishes unzipping me, letting my tailor-made dress drop to my feet. Kairo scoops it off the ground and throws the expensive garment in the back of his car before spinning around and crouching down in front of me so I can climb on his back.
“Sorry about that, pretty girl. I’m not into bullshit so I figured it was better to sort that out with them now instead of down on the beach.”
“You don’t need to apologise.” I stretch around to watch his expressions as they happen. I can hear his sincerity but want to see it too.
He spins, pressing a small kiss under my jaw. “I do need to apologise. I won’t be stupid with your welfare for the sake of my ego. Or theirs. I get being Heidi Holmes comes with a whole lot of complexity and issues, but at the same time I’m not going to shut you away from the world. If they say you’re in real danger, I won’t question it. But there’s no danger here.”
His hands grab mine and once again our fingers interlink. He stretches his arms out in front of us, taking away the small space we had between us.
“Are you going to take all my firsts, Kairo?” I ask after a few steps.
“Hey?” he asks, his voice soft.
“Well, first the car, and now a piggyback.” I sigh happily as we step up to the menu board.
He makes no move to let me down but keeps asking me what I want before he orders.
By the way he talks to the people running the truck, it’s obvious he’s been here plenty of times. He orders way too much food, and when he pulls out his wallet, I snag my card from where it sits and hand it over to the cashier.
He hisses at me. “I asked you out, which means I pay.”
“You chose everything we’re eating.” I laugh. “Come on, Kairo, we do not need to waste time arguing about money.” But to save time I pull out a couple of twenties from his wallet and pass it over to the cashier as well. “Now, they can work out who’s money they take, and we can go find somewhere to sit.”
“I pay for our next date,” he grumbles, but it’s in good spirit not full of the usual BS Alphas are renowned for, like what just occurred in the carpark.
I squeeze my thighs around his hips, making him laugh before I answer. “Fine, but that means I get to order the food then.”
“We can work with that.”
As strange as it sounds, there’s a sense of relief as he lets it go that quickly and easily. Because some Alphas have a lot of issues with letting go.
“About ten minutes. We’ll ring the bell when ready, love birds!” the food truck man yells as we walk off.
“We forgot about our food.” Kairo laughs before half turning us back to the van. “Thanks!”
There’s no lights on the beach past the food trucks table area, and since it’s right on the edge of the dunes, once we step onto the sand we’re guided by moonlight only. Kairo barely makes a sound as he carries me all the way to the water’s edge and then he lets my legs go and I drop to my feet.
The waves are crashing in smooth sets but behind them you can see how calm the ocean is. But it’s cold, and I squeak like a mouse when one covers my feet.
“Are you cold?” he asks. Standing behind me, he snakes his arms over my shoulders to hold me against his chest as we stand and watch the waves.
“Are you kidding? It’s like a sauna in your clothes.”
“I think you should only wear my clothes. Never seen a hotter sight than you in them, although I’m pretty sure you’d look even better spread out under me.”
It feels good standing in his arms, and I guess we lose track of time because it feels like a second later and a bell rings in the distance.
“You find us somewhere to sit and I’ll be right back.”
He jogs away. I turn to find us somewhere good to sit. I mean, it’s the beach and it’s completely empty so there’s plenty of good spots, but still I take a while to figure out where. I obviously take a wrong step because in the next moment Ayden and Bradley are making their way towards me. And not in a casual way.
“What?”
