He had dark curly hair and a jaw sharp enough to cut the low light in half. Those brown eyes seemed to catch every flash from the overhead speakers when he lifted his glass. He was wearing all black, everything fitted close to his body in a way that was either intentional or the result of owning exactly one outfit and wearing it everywhere. His collar sat high on his neck, tugged up past where a shirt should sit, and the fabric shifted every few minutes when his hand drifted up to adjust it. The motion looked involuntary but it just added to the mysteriousness of him.
He was beautiful and everything about him told me to keep my distance, which is exactly why Lorenzo told me to stay put. Lorenzo has watched me bring home three stray cats in a single semester and propose to a Beta my family swore would ruin me, which was Lorenzo by the way. He knows what happens when I lock onto someone across a room.
The man flagged down our waitress for his second drink and I watched his hands wrap around the glass when it arrived. His fingers were long, his grip tight enough to whiten the knuckles, and a slight tremor ran through his left hand that he masked by squeezing harder. His scent was faint from where I stood behind the bar, most of it swallowed by the room, but what reached me was dark and bitter. Coffee, maybe. Something richer underneath that I couldn't place from this far away.
The moment, my Beta, Lorenzo got pulled into a conversation with one of our distributors near the back office, I made a break for it.
My legs started moving on their own, carrying me through the crowd, dodging elbows and sidestepping a group of drunk Alphas who smelled like they'd bathed in cedar. By the time I slid into the booth across from the mysterious Beta, my heart was hammering so hard I could hear it over the music.
"Hi."
He glanced up and I almost lost my nerve. Those brown eyes hit different up close, the muscles in his jaw tightening when he saw me, his shoulders pulling taut like he was calibrating whether I was a threat. Someone had trained him to assess every new face for danger, and that is not a thing people learn in a kind life.
"Can I help you?"
And, I was a goner.
"Unless you're not alone? Fuck, I'm trying to proposition you." Horror bleeds into my expression as I pull back a little, wondering if I’ve completely fucked up. The Beta’s mouth opens and closes like a floundering fish, which only makes things worse. I’m torn between laughing and crawling across the table to smooth the confusion off his face with my thumbs.
Lorenzo's scent arrives before his voice does, cutting through the club's stale heat. "Sweetheart." My Beta’s hand finds the back of my neck, and I nearly purr at the contact, his fingers settling into the spot he'd claimed years ago. "I told you that you were going to scare him."
The man across from me looks up at Lorenzo and then picks up his glass and tips it back in one swallow. Lorenzo's laugh rollsthrough the booth, deep enough that I feel it vibrate through his fingers on my neck. I watch the man's throat work as he swallows nothing, his eyes flicking between Lorenzo's face and Lorenzo's hand on my neck. His gaze lingers there, on the casual press of Lorenzo's thumb against the side of my throat, hunger flickering across his expression before he can smother it.
"I apologize for the intrusion." Lorenzo's voice drops into the lower register he uses when he's decided something about someone and wants them to know it. "Sometimes, my Omega gets these ideas and doesn't think before he acts."
His thumb strokes along the side of my neck, my scent responding before I can help it, sweetening and flooding the booth with warmth that has the man across from us shifting in his seat. I track the movement as he adjusts himself under the table, his jaw clenching as the color in his cheeks darkens.
"So, you're not trying to proposition me?" His voice comes out rougher than before, a scrape across the lower register that makes my thighs press together under the table. Heat is climbing up his neck as he tugs at his collar again, that same automatic gesture from before, pulling the fabric tighter against whatever he's covering.
Lorenzo's grin widens. "We absolutely are. But baby steps. I'm not sure you're ready for the way we want to take you apart."
The man freezes, his hand hovering between the table and his lap. A groan catches in his throat, his pulse jumping at the base of his jaw. He looks between us like he's trying to decide if we're real or if the whiskey has finally caught up with him.
The distance between us shrinks when I lean forward, elbows on the table, close enough to feel the heat coming off his skin. "There's no bullshit, okay? Just a night of some fun. Maybe more if we all want that, or we go our separate ways in the morning. No pressure, really."
Lorenzo's fingers tighten on my neck, enough to make my eyes roll back, my lips parting on a moan that I absolutely should not be letting loose in a public space. My scent surges further, filling the booth like someone has opened an oven. Lorenzo’s doing it on purpose, forcing the Beta across from us to react.
When my eyes refocus, the man is gripping the edge of the table. His pupils are blown wide, the Beta glancing down at his crotch as horror crosses his face. That shouldn’t be so fucking hot.
"You like my scent, don't you?" My voice comes out breathless, still vibrating from the pressure on my neck.
He swallows. "No strings or anything?" The roughness in his voice has thickened into something that scrapes against the inside of my chest, need burning me up from the inside out. "I can't do anything right now. Commitment-wise."
My grin spreads until my cheeks ache. "That's music to my ears." Lorenzo and I aren’t here for commitment. We’re here for fun. Anything more than that and we have to start worrying about whether or not the person is here for us, our club, or some other asinine reason we’ve stumbled upon across the years.
I glance up at my Beta, ecstatic when I feel the same enthusiasm I’m showing creeping through the bond. He wants the man across from us too. He’s not stopping me, just guiding me so I don’t scare the guy off.
"You lead," Lorenzo purrs, his voice softening at the edges.
The man's expression shifts, several emotions passing through his expression, though I can’t pinpoint any of them. His scent fluctuates from hard to almost mute before righting itself again. "I don't want to take control right now." His voice is so quiet I almost don't hear it over the bass.
Lorenzo's hand stills on my neck before his fingers press down a fraction harder, a thrill spreading through the bond. "Oh,"Lorenzo murmurs, his voice dropping into a register that makes my spine melt. "You're going to be perfect."
The Beta across the table tenses up a little more before relaxing, loosening the shape of him in the booth just enough that I can see the difference between the man who was sitting here a minute ago and the one sitting here now.
Lorenzo's thumb traces a slow circle on the back of my neck but my gaze stays fixed on the man across from us. His dark eyes meet mine and I hold them, letting him see whatever he needs to see. I’ve wanted him since the moment he looked up from his whiskey with those ruined, gorgeous eyes and fuck, I’m going to have him.
I don't even know his name yet.
