Page 24 of Rejected Bullied Mate

"Oh, that's right. It's about stupid Alpha posturing. I forgot."

I didn't know which of us had moved first, but before I knew it, Kiera was close enough to touch, and I didn't let the opportunity slide by. I was bursting at the seams with the need to put my hands on her skin, to claim her or mark her in any way she'd allow. Or a thousand ways she wouldn't allow, but I wasn't that much of an out-of-control prick.

Something about the way she argued, the way she fought, just did it for me. When Kiera showed her vulnerable side, like she'd done the night of her first heat, opening her door with so much need in her eyes, it had knocked the breath out of me. It made me want to protect and guard her with my life. But this Kiera, this ferocious, wildcat Kiera who wasn't afraid to call me out on my bullshit, was the one who really made my blood boil.

I was half-hard right there in the middle of a public coffee shop. Thank God it had emptied out. My reaction didn't make any damn sense. Shouldn't I want my Omega to be meek and submissive?

She was fighting me every step of the way, and I couldn't even pretend like I didn't love every second of it.

I took her by the waist and pulled her close, our bodies meeting so suddenly that she gasped and looked up at me. Her lips were parted, and I was so fucking tempted to kiss her again, to taste the anger in her mouth and see how far she would let me push things. Knowing Scott, my rival if not my enemy, was in the office right there in the same building increased my desire for her tenfold.

I wanted to have her, right there where he could hear us, scent us, and know that Kiera was mine. My mate, my wife, my Omega,mine.

"Let me go,” she huffed, doing very little to fight me off despite her complaints.

"No," I growled. "I'm going to show you just how good it'll feel to belong to me."

I bent my head and drug my nose over the scent gland in her neck, making her shudder, her knees nearly buckling. Nothing had ever, ever smelled as good as she did right then. It was supposed to be a tease to make her putty in my hands, and it might have been working, but I hadn't expected my own self-control to be hanging on by a thread. I repeated the action, grinding my hips against her when I did so, letting her feel how hard she made me. Kiera didn't push me back, and I was overcome with the need to pull her to the floor and scent every inch of her skin, everyone else nearby be damned.

She moaned, and I moved to kiss her, unable to bear it for a second longer, but when I lifted my head from her gorgeous neck, I caught sight of us in the mirror behind the counter. Fuck, what was I doing? I looked like a goddamned animal about to rip into her.

And somehow, I'd forgotten about Scott altogether. The thing driving me insane wasn't being able to stake my claim on Kiera while he was near. No. It was Kiera, Kiera, and nothing else, making me lose my damned mind.

I stepped back immediately, breaking contact with her completely. Her scent was still surrounding me, making me want to pull her close again, but I kept myself at bay.

Kiera's eyes were closed, her hands reaching up as if trying to touch me again. When she realized I'd pulled back, she opened them and looked around in confusion. "Samson?" She asked, her voice cracking, "What are you-"

"We're done," I said coldly. I didn't know why I was talking to her like that, but it was better than jumping on her. "If you think you can work here without getting taken advantage of, then be my guest."

Her mouth dropped open in shock and confusion. "But...what...?"

I pushed past her and marched to the door, flipping the sign back around and throwing open the door. I knew I was acting like a fucking lunatic, but I didn't care. I just needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret.

Before I let my Omega see how goddamned obsessed with her I was becoming.

Chapter 11 - Kiera

Well, I fucking quit, just like Samson wanted.

Scott was none too happy to hear it, but it just wasn't going to work out now that the cat was out of the bag regarding his true identity. Dammit, I wished I'd never known. Working at the coffee shop wasn't fun, but it made me feel productive and kept me out of Samson's house.

I didn't regret quitting, but I did regret leaving the job without a reference. That was my own fault, though, for getting all up in arms about what Samson thought was best for me.

The job hunt was the least of my problems, though. I hadn't told anyone, but I could feel the tell-tale signs of my heat coming on. I could have sworn it was supposed to be another month before I had to go through the whole process again, but my body was already reacting, the temperature of my skin rising, and my body craving things that I didn't want to think about.

I hadn't felt this way since the first time Samson touched me, the night my heat had hit unexpectedly. Of course, I'd had heats in the seven years we'd been apart, but having no Alphas around made it easier to bear. I stayed in bed most of the day, having Deidre keep Kit while I called off work and suffered through it. But those heats had been nothing like the first one that Samson had helped me through, and now that another one was coming on and my Alpha was sleeping under the same roof as me, it felt like it was happening all over again, and I was desperate for release.

It was my last day at Crescent Moon, and I was more than ready to go back home and hide away from the world. But of course, it was one of the rare jam-packed days, and I was swamped until the late afternoon lull. I was wiping down tables when Gwen approached me, her hands clasped behind her back as if she was nervous.

"Kiera, do you think you're gonna need to leave early today?" Gwen asked me, raising her eyebrows. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," I snapped, then immediately felt bad. I shook my head and sighed. "No, I'm sorry, Gwen. I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

"You're going to have to leave before too long," Gwen said gently. "You're looking really flushed, and I know what that means."

I quickly looked around, relieved to see that we were alone. "Gwen, please. I really don't need that to be common knowledge."

"Sorry," she cringed, looking embarrassed, "My aunt is an Omega, so I just know the signs, that's all. I'm sure it isn't obvious to anyone else. But just in case...why don't you head out early before Scott makes his random daily appearance? After all, it's your last day, so you won't have to worry about him after this."

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