Guess I didn’t stop glaring. And I probably do it some more when she parks her butt on the farthest stool in the kitchen.
The one closest to the door.
“For fuck’s sake,” I hiss, dragging her seat to the other side of where I had mine.
My outburst comes like a clap of thunder, and no one misses it. I check on the others. Ronin, of course, is on the verge of laughing. His smirk is as obvious as her peachy scent mixed with his deep chocolate one. He currently looks even cockier than usual. Admittedly, he’s sitting in only his towel, and both our Omegas keep throwing glances like they’re ready to crawl up on his lap.
Tynan is silent. His blank expression gives nothing away about how he’s feeling. Except his tell is as loud as a megaphone—his fists keep clenching and unclenching, regular like clockwork. At least he’s as wound up as I am, something that makes me relax, actually. Well, not relax. Maybe dial back is more apt.
I look at Rafferty, and out of all of us, he’s obviously the most uncomfortable. Like his twin, he’s shifting and twisting his hands, confirming his anxiety. And he’s keening for comfort from one of his Alphas, but without asking, I know his biggest issue is Tally. He’s not his normal self, and neither is his scent.Usually, his sage and crushed sugar scent is vibrant and full of joy, but right now, like him, it is hollow and flat.
Without knowing Tally the way you know a person after years and years of time spent together, I’m also already attuned to her. It’s been like this since the second I met her. Right now, her emotions whip around her like a wild storm, full of conflict and rage, packing a punch and fueling my protective urges. Throw in the fact Ronin’s rich dark chocolate is all over her like a fine mist, enhancing her peachy scent, making her smell like pack and I’m having trouble keeping my head in the game as opposed to locking her away in my room. To keep her safe. And bend her over.
She clears her throat, dragging me out of my psychoanalyzing of every fucking detail. Her eyes are locked on my face, but her gaze only flitters on mine like she’s afraid I’m going to rip her free will from her.
“And thatfuck’s sakewas because you realized what a dick move it was locking us all together?” Her voice is dipped low, like she’s been fucked long and hard all night and her voice ruined by the sensual passion she’s been lost in.
I shake my head, trying to clear her sultry voice from my thoughts. The attempt is futile. I’m a sucker for anything I can get from her. Though her anger, not so much. For a woman her size, she’s got a presence more commanding than Ronin, who was born a fucking Alpha.
“Earth to…”
Standing up and crowding in close, I hold my hand out. “Keegan. And don’t act like you don’t know me, because we know that ain’t true. I got well and truly acquainted with every inch of your body in Italy.”
I thought she’d recoil, but her hand comes out for mine. Her touch is like a live wire on my skin, but the wee minx ain’tfinished reminding me of her hold over me. The devil woman reaches forward, waiting for me to kiss her cheeks.
I do.
I get lost in the way she brings my senses alive with her peachy perfume as she talks quietly against the shell of my ear. “Tally, but you already know that. Want to introduce me to the rest of the pack, then, Keegan?”
She purrs my name, and under my breath I whisper, “for fuck’s sake” again. No one misses it for the second time, either. I want to press her body to mine, drop my arm over her shoulders, and breathe her in, but instead, I sit back down, getting encouraging looks from everyone.
She’s snake charming me, and I should bark at her to stop, but Ronin didn’t, so I’m not about to miss out on her attention. I point out everyone as I go around the room. “Ronin, our pack Alpha. Tynan, our Beta. And Rafferty, our Omega.”
She hums in agreement, like it brings her pleasure as I do the introductions. Before she leans around so I can’t ignore looking her in the eye, making those green eyes of hers the only thing I can see.
“So how about, Keegan,” she purrs my name, “you explain to me why, when you’ve already got an Omega who wears scars on his throat like a diamond necklace, you need to keep me locked in here.” She takes a pause, her mouth pouting a bit, before she goes on. “Or you could explain the reason you broke into the first Airbnb I had.”
“Didn’t break in,” Ronin adds like a right langer.
She ignores him, staring intently at me. “I told you, or whoever it was, I didn’t feel great about that, yet it happened again last night. So, you’ve been corralling me here for a reason, but, sunshine, you forgot to share that reason with me.”
“We’re married.” Ronin again adds himself to our semi-private conversation. There’s no mistaking the cheer in his voice, and I seriously consider if I should send him out of the room.
She doesn’t stop staring at me, even as her eyes squint at his words. “If you’re talking about what happened on St. Patrick’s Day, we’re all well aware of the reason I said I was your wife. It was ridiculous two Alphas couldn’t be stand-up men and let those two itty-bitty women know you weren’t interested.” She mocks the both of us with her words and her tone.
“You had a ring on your finger, and we consummated our marriage more than a few times over,” Ronin says, his humor falling away. “But if that moment wasn’t real enough, then how about you think a little further back, darling wife.”
“To when?” she smarts back, her lips pulling tight.
“Eleven years ago, give or take.”
Interestingly, her eye twitches like she remembers some of that time, but she turns to him for more of an explanation.
“You showed up at my family’s house, just appeared from nowhere. A little girl basically pounced on you.”
“Noinin,” she answers, her face draining of color. “Daisy’s aunt.”
“My baby sister. I’d, nowe’d, all promised her we’d be a part of whatever she wanted to do that day. She dressed up for the occasion, she’d gathered everything she needed from her treasure trove, and you walked in with an older boy.”
