From the tone to his voice, Wynter sensed he’d plucked a nerve. “Easily said for an alpha. Omegas don’t get that choice.”
“True,” the alpha murmured. “You have a valid point.”
Wynter sat up straighter. He hadn’t expected the alpha to agree with his statement—and he found he rather hated it. It made it harder to argue with someone who was agreeing with him. Chin up, he smiled cheekily, feeling a tiny bit victorious all the same.
“But youcanchoose to be a nicer person,” the alpha tacked on before eyeing him. “Instead of making everyone else miserable around you.”
Wynter glared at the man. “You know nothing about me!”
“Nor do I want to after less than ten minutes in your presence,” Cavanaugh roared back. He reopened his newspaper and looked around it. “I think we spend this trip avoiding one another as much as possible.”
Wynter winced inwardly. Another alpha who couldn’t stand his presence. Maybe he was the problem after all. A few minutes passed in heavy silence, with an apology weighing on Wynter’s tongue, but he wasn’t sure he should be the one to apologize.
The porter poked his head inside their car and announced, “The club car will be opening in the next five to ten minutes.”
Wynter rose to his feet. “Good. I believe I need some fresh air anyway.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” Cavanaugh growled from behind his paper. “Stay there, for all I care.”
Wynter seethed. Seven hours stuck in a cabin with that alphahole? He’d be lucky to make it to the spa with his sanity intact. He stalked out into the cabin and down the hallway in the direction the porter pointed him toward.
But not until after casting a look over his shoulder.
At what, he wasn’t sure.
Fighting with Warden was exhausting. Arguing with Cavanaugh had been almost… titillating. His blood pulsed quickly, his face warmed by it. Wynter’s body thrummed with a need he couldn’t explain. His opponent was even more titillating than the arguing. Dark blonde hair that looked as if it had been raked by those big, strong fingers over and over again. He’d seen how much bigger than his they’d been when he’d tried to stop the man from manhandling his suitcases. Imagining them sliding over his body made him flush in parts below.
But it had been the alpha’s green eyes that had flashed with gold when they’d bickered that had gotten him most—that and a mouth that looked to be made for sin. As if Wynter knew what true sinning was. Still, he’d sat there, images of them kissing passionately playing in his mind as they’d quarreled.
A few feet down, he cast another look over his shoulder.
Why would he follow me?
Wynter scoffed inwardly before forcing himself through the doors separating the cars.
5
Cav lowered his newspaper the moment Wynter was gone, finally able to breathe again—though even then, all he could scent was the omega as he dragged air into his lungs. He leaned back into the seat, finally free to inhale Wynter’s sweet scent. His cock thickened more, already semi-erect from the start.
What the hell has gotten into me?
Cav never considered himself a rude man, nor an aggressive one. Was the simple fact an omega sat across from him enough to trigger some primal alpha bullshit from somewhere deep down? It’s not as if that was the first time he’d ever been near an omega, though. He’d never reacted like that. Cav prided himself in his affability. It’s what had allowed him to ingratiate himself with complete strangers all over the world as he’d traveled and learned their stories. Never had he offended one—at least not purposefully. He’d made a couple of errors during his travels, not understanding certain local customs, but he’d quickly apologized and made things right whenever possible.
But then, he wasn’t accustomed to being completely alone with omegas, particularly ones as like Wynter Jaymes.
His own papa had passed long ago, leaving him with his father and four unmated, older alpha brothers. He’d been the surprise, late baby of the family yet even at his brothers’ advanced ages, none of them had had mates until he’d been long gone, traveling the globe. After the primary grades, school had been segregated for obvious reasons—to avoid an accidental mating.
Cav had gone to a few of the omega balls—enough to keep his father and eldest brothers quiet—but he hadn’t really gotten to know many omegas during that time, nor had he wanted to. Mating, raising a family… it would take away from his plan to travel and his time writing. Being bound and tied to one place could come much,muchlater, if at all.
He didn’t buy into the whole class system nor the alpha-omega dominant-submissive bullshit, either, yet a few minutes alone with an omega and he’d been strained unlike ever before. His thoughts drifted to his cabin mate.Wynter.He hated to admit it—but the man was utterly beautiful.Hateful,but beautiful. That long, silver-blond hair flowing down his back—except for the few narrow braids along the crown—had called to him. All he could imagine was it cascading over him as he pounded up into the omega’s body from below.
He groaned, adjusting the crotch of his jeans, demanding he stop torturing himself. The omega was mated. The omega had been sure he’d seen it, twisting the ring like some ancient rite of protection. Cav was stuck in a spiral, unable to force the image of Wynter’s steel-blue eyes from his mind. They’d almost seemed to glow as they argued. His hands fisted with the need to drag Wynter’s slim body against his. It called out his name, begging to be touched.
He’s mated. Hands off.
Cav gnashed his teeth. A voice from down deep whispered something he didn’t want to think about.Mated, but obviously not happy.
It doesn’t matter if he’s happy or not. Someone else made that claim.