He definitely smelled even better than I remembered, too, cold and spicy, like peppermint, with something I couldn't pinpoint on my tongue, but it reminded me of coming back home after a long sleigh ride and drinking an overflowing mug of hot cocoa.
I shook myself. What in the world was wrong with me?
Why was I even scenting this 25-year-old man who probably thought of me as an auntie figure? Damn. I needed to get on some suppressants, because my hormones were out of control.
I dipped a hasty curtsey, but it made the Duke start forward anxiously toward me.
“Please–never curtsey to me,” Alexei said in a choked voice. “I–I don’t want you to think I am on top of you. I mean above you. I mean–damn.”
And now his cheeks were pink, which made me evenmoreflustered.
“Oh–of course, if you wish it,” I stuttered, getting up.
Why were my ovaries twitching?
“Not–it’s not a royal order,” he hastened to correct me, and now we were both staring at each other in confusion.
What was even worse, was that my insides were starting to turn over at his Alpha voice.
Damn, was I too close to my monthly heats? It had been a long time since I’d been an unmated Omega, and I didn’t remember the way the scent of an Alpha made you ridiculouslyhorny,because all of a sudden my skin was flushed and heated at how close he was.
“How are you–finding your home?” I asked.
“I–beautiful, of course. As always. Can I convince you to come back upstairs and visit?” Alexei asked.
I opened my mouth to reply, but just then I noticed Theo, the other Alpha in the Duke’s Pack.
He looked out of breath, but trying to act casual, his arm draped across the doorway.
Theo was very tall and broad-shouldered, with wavy brown hair and a strong, square jaw and at the sight of a tendon flexing in his hand, I had to swallow down my lust because he was looking as sinfully delicious as always.
“You don’t have to worry about me–” I started.
“Not worried–just wouldn’t be the same visit without you,” Theo said. “Edgar and them–not the most scintillating conversationalists. All they care about is money. We like to hear you talk about what’s been happening and the art you’ve been working on.”
Wait, since when had the King’s stern, serious Packmate ever said this many words to me?
It was kind of true about Edgar, Penn, and Brand, though. The money from their own smaller estates. The money from Koval Manor. That was what they loved to talk about.
“I–I can’t,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a few more loads to finish.”
I could feel them wanting to look at each other, and suddenly I knew if they did I would burst into tears that they were awareof how far I’d fallen. After all, the last time they’d visited, I’d been at the right hand of the table in my fanciest dress, pouring them tea and talking about our favorite painters.
“Well, can we at least stay with you and help out?” Alexei asked, smiling at me. “I’m the Duke. I should know how my own Manor is run.”
“I–guess,” I said, while Mrs. Apel looked at me with eyes as big as saucers.
What kind of Alphas helped out with daily labor?
Theo took off his suit jacket and began to roll up his sleeves, then walked over right next to me and plunged his hands in the soapy water.
His body was only millimeters from my own, and I suppressed a foolish impulse to touch his strong forearm, see what those veins felt like under my fingers.
God, hormones sucked, because I was getting horny as hell from this normal human interaction with two much younger men who only wanted to help a rejected Omega not feel like a loser.
“Show us exactly how to do it,” Theo murmured in my ear, and I had to suppress a shiver.
Calm down, Jessabella, you’re fifteen years older than these men.
