My eyes immediately go to her chest, and I know I look like a fool staring at her with a dreamy expression on my face. “They’re just so perfect.”
I’m desperate for her. It was delicious torture being stuck in that chair, watching my friends have all the fun, but fuck, did I love watching every twitch of her body, listening to every moan she made. It was downright erotic watching Alric spread her open so Zachary could consume her.
It might’ve actually unleashed a new kink in me. I never really thought of myself as a voyeur, but there’s something about having a front row seat to your partner’s pleasure at someone else’s hands.
“Did you bring your camera?” I ask.
“I did, I was hoping to get some shots of the island, but I think I need to accept that won’t be happening.”
“Have you always loved photography?”
“Yeah, I got one of those pastel-colored cameras thatinstantly prints out photos for Christmas one year. I was obsessed. I went through so many sheets in a month that one of my dads bought me a real one.” She lets out a little laugh.
“You were raised in a pack?”
Any joy from the memory dissolves, her lips pursing together. “Yeah, I was.”
Fuck, I struck a nerve.
Here I thought that she didn’t know how amazing pack life could be. The community, friendship, the sense of safety, and the love that can be found there. But if she knows exactly what pack life looks like, then something a lot deeper is going on. I hold back, but I want to tell her whatever her family looked like, if she doesn’t think back on it with happiness, then it’s nothing like ours would be.
She starts to disappear into herself and I can’t stand the pain that her eyes hold. Hoping to keep her engaged, I ask another question. “Did you study photography in college?”
Sophie shakes her head. “My dads hadn’t spoken to me in years when I finally was desperate enough to ask for college tuition. They would only pay for it if I went to their choice and majored in what they wanted me to study. My mom would have wanted me to study anything that made me happy, but she couldn’t have helped me pay for it even if she was still alive.”
The wheels turned in my head. Why wouldn’t her mother have been able to help? Wouldn’t she have had financial access to the pack accounts? Or her own accounts the alphas funded?
She continues. “All my income kind of collapsed at once when she died just before I turned eighteen, but I hadn’t presented as an omega yet, so I didn’t have a lot of financial options.”
That only gave me more questions. Whyhadn’t they talked to their own child for years? Her dads weren’t giving her any financial support at all? That was deeply fucked. Kids didn’t stop being your kids the second they turned eighteen. I thought back to her panicked outburst when she discovered we were scent matches, asking if we had kids she didn’t know about. Fucking hell. Had her dads had a secret family or something?
“What happened after that?” I ask, already knowing I’ll hate her response.
“I didn’t need a degree to shoot weddings or do pregnancy portraits, so I learned everything I could about photography on my own. After high school, I legally changed my last name and moved on with my life. I only worked as a photographer for a year. Once I became an omega, the money came easily. No need to spend hours editing photos when I could make the same amount on a single date with an alpha desperate for my attention.”
What types of fuckers don’t support their own daughter enough to let her choose her own path in life? I need to know who this pack is so I can ruin their lives, but that does nothing for her now. Digging deeper seems like dangerous territory, so I stick to safer topics.
“Your work is beautiful. I love opening my phone and seeing that you’ve posted another photo. It’s a gift to experience the way you see the world through your lens.”
That brings out a half smile. “Thanks, Hunt.”
She’s probably heard that so many times from alphas, but I hope she knows it's the truth.
“I mean it. Remember when we went on a museum date six months ago? I don’t remember a single thing we saw. I spent the whole time watching you. How you took shot after shot until it was perfect. I loved how you lingered on pieces that theother guests just glanced at. Then we got ice cream and talked about your favorite works, before I destroyed that ass in bed.” I wink at the last part.
She laughs. “That was a good date. We always did have fun together.” She steps closer to me, her eyes lowering, taking deep breaths of my alpha scent, and I pull her to my chest.
We can make this a good trip, right?
I know she loves my scent as much as I adore hers. If she wants it, I’ll give it to her. I haul her up, water splashing as she wraps her legs around my waist. Her nose digs into my throat, and her inhale goes straight to my cock. I know she can feel it when she giggles and wiggles her hips a little.
“Sorry,” I murmur. When she pulls her head back, her eyes are glossy, her lips parted. “Are you okay?”
She nods slowly. “Yeah, you smell so good. I think I need to be fucked right now.”
I don’t want to get my hopes up. Like she said yesterday, liars don’t get slick.
“I can take you to Alric or Zach. I’m sure whatever meeting they’re in, they’ll be happy to postpone it. Everyone in business knows an omega comes first.”
