“No, but the whole possessive alpha schtick isn’t attractiveat all.”Dash pushed him away. “And no one said anything about moving forward.”
“Oh, we are,” Emerson said.
You’re mine.
Emerson inhaled slowly. Protectiveandpossessive? Dash was right to check him.
“And… while we mightwantmore than one night, we both know it’s not safe for us to continue,” Dash said. “We might’ve gotten lucky tonight, but as I said, luck eventually runs out.”
“Dash…”
“Maybe one day, reasonable people will realize we’re no threat and change that old, antiquated law. Considering there aren’t enough omegas to go around, you’d think they’d be happy we exist. We thin the alpha herd and create less competition.”
“Thin the alpha herd?”Emerson asked, chuckling.
“Well, we are all big, dumb animals.”
“That we are,” Emerson said, grinning.
“Youbeing one of the biggest,” Dash murmured. “Thankfully, you don’t appear to be the dumbest.”
“Oh, just you wait. I have dumb ideas all the time.”
Dash chuckled, and Emerson was pleased to hear it. He wasn’t sure the guy was capable of laughter as uptight as he could be. Although, he’d already proven Dash wasn’tthatuptight—not when it mattered.
Emerson cleared his throat. “Us continuing to see one another isn’t one of those dumb ideas. I know you felt somethingwhen we first met. You keep avoiding the conversation, butI know.”
Dash stiffened against him.
“Why can’t we talk about what that was?”
“Because it was nothing,” Dash countered.
Emerson searched Dash’s face, sensing the man was hiding something from him. “You know what it was, don’t you?”
“No,” Dash spat. From the look on his face, Emerson wasn’t sure if it was a lie or not. It seemed to land somewhere in between.
“Maybe notknow… but you’ve got a hunch, I suspect.”
“Stop,”Dash said, pushing Emerson away.
The panic returned to Dash’s eyes, same as it was when they’d first arrived on the boat and he’d been prowling for an escape. Dash crossed his arms over his chest, almost curling into himself.
From Dash’s reaction, Emerson sensed he knew what was going on. If nothing else, he had a guess to what it was. Why was he hiding it when it had affected them both? He wanted to press an answer out of Dash but feared pushing him away even more. The walls had already come up, not that they’d come down far in the first place.
The second Dash’s breathing grew tighter and he started backing away, Emerson was almost positive the guy was going into a panic attack. He frowned, searching for more signs. Dash’s hands curled into fists, and he swallowed like he had a lump in his throat. Sweat beaded on his brow.
Dash’s face grew redder and redder. He wasn’t breathing.
Emerson marched closer. Dash shuffled backwards—until his bottom hit the kitchen counter. Emerson closed the gap and pressed his palm in the middle of Dash’s chest. His heart was thundering inside his chest.
On instinct alone, Emerson grasped both sides of Dash’s face and tried to capture the man’s gaze. He blinked rapidly, his wide eyes roaming.
“Look at me,” Emerson said.
Dash ignored him.
“Look at me,”Emerson growled.
