Page 46 of Crushes and Confections

“You can too, you know,” Jack said, the beta bumping his shoulder against mine. “Once you get done with meeting the parents and the chaos settles a bit, why don’t we grab some lunch? Autumn said you’re a writer? I’d love to hear more about your work.”

My eyebrows rose at his easy offer.

“Yeah,” I said, adjusting my glasses. “Sure, I’d like that, Jack.”

“Me too,” Boone said, stepping up beside him. It was the first time I heard the quiet alpha speak, but I got the feeling it wasn’t an unfriendly disposition, more of just the way it was. “We’ve known the two of them a long time, and we’re really glad to see them this happy.”

“That means a lot,” I said with a nod. “And thanks for putting together whatever this secret courting countdown thing is.”

Boone’s lips twitched behind his beard. “It’s the least we could do. I still think Mom was a little bummed that we didn’t profess our undying love for Autumn and go through the whole ordeal.”

“You would have hated it,” his mate said, stepping up to him. “Plus I had a lot of things to work out for myself.”

“Alright, alright,” Hunter said, tipping his hat to me before snatching up his mate. “Let’s go work on some of those things together and let them have a moment before they meet the parents.”

“How much time do we have left before your parents expect us?” I asked. “Or are we doing introductions here?”

“Introductions at the house,” Riley said. “They went back to start up the fire pit and finish the prep.”

“We’re more than happy to help them with that,” Adrien offered.

“Why don’t we take a second to read this crazy poem together and see if we can make sense of it,” Claire said, tucking one of her curls behind her ear. “We can go—“

Her words faltered as a gust of wind rose behind me, swirling our clothes and making her gasp, her nose flaring.

“Claire?” Adrien asked, stepping closer.

She put her arm on his shoulder, shaking her head as she stepped closer to me, burying her nose into my neck and taking a big inhale as she pressed her lush body into me. A growl sounded from her throat, and I pulled back slightly, only to be met with a slightly feral look in her eye, her pupils almost completely black.

“Mine.”

CHAPTER 16

Claire

It was as if some feral beast took me over. One second I was reading the confusing poem Janet handed over, and the next, I was nearly jumping the alpha right there in the town center.

“Claire?” Riley said. The confusion and concern there would have been funny if my mind wasn’t fogged as the scents of cherry and lime overwhelmed me. It was sweet and tart, fresh, and with the alpha’s pheromones mixed in, I felt downright intoxicated.

“I need you. Now,” I growled. Again I pressed my nose to Vance’s neck and breathed in, taking great gulps of air like this alone could satiate me.

My body pressed against his as desire slammed through every inch of me. Vance grabbed my wandering hands with his own, locking onto my wrists to stop me from undressing him in public. But the show of dominance only had more slick pooling between my thighs.

“Please,” I begged him quietly, stepping back and trying to breathe, but he had invaded my senses until there was nothing but him on my radar.

“We need to take a detour. Our place is the closest,” Adrien said.

“Yes, let’s do that,” I said quickly, wrapping one arm around Vance and practically dragging him to the parking lot. Instead of piling into two vehicles, we all smashed into Riley’s truck, him tossing the keys to Adrien and squishing in the middle as I sat in Vance’s lap.

For once I didn’t second guess it, simply twisted around and rested against him, whimpering and squeezing my thighs together.

This wasn’t a heat, I still had my mind even though I found him overwhelming, but it was also something I’d never experienced before. I knew Riley’s scent of spring rain was amazing and I wanted more of it, breathed it in, whenever I could. But this was so much more intense.

“We don’t have much time, or we’re going to be late, and the whole town will know,” Adrien pointed out.

“We should sit this one out,” Riley agreed. “Though it pains me and I can’t promise I don’t expect some sort of reprise in the future.”

“Thank you,” Vance said roughly. “If she’s feeling even a fraction of what I did the first time I scented her, then this is going to be a lot as it is. I only started taking the blockers again this past month or so when I decided to venture out, and they must have cleared my system fast.”

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