Page 148 of Knotting the Cowboys

"Yes, Alpha," I say, and I definitely don't mean for it to come out so breathy, don't mean to look up at him through my lashes like that.

He groans, running a hand through his hair. "You're gonna be the death of me, woman."

But there's fondness mixed with the exasperation, warmth beneath the frustration. I climb onto the bed, tucking my legs under me, feeling oddly proud of myself for reasons I can't quite articulate.

Maybe it's the whisky or it's the way he looks at me like I'm driving him crazy in the best way.

It's just nice to be someone worth going crazy over.

He approaches the bed with the measured steps of someone approaching a wild animal, or maybe a bomb—something dangerous and unpredictable that might explode if handled wrong. His eyes never leave mine, green gone dark in the low light of the single lamp.

Every step closer makes my heart beat faster, makes the shirt feel thinner, makes me hyperaware of how much skin is bare beneath the soft flannel.

"You going to sleep like a good Omega?" His voice is carefully controlled, but I can hear the strain underneath, the way he's holding himself back.

I pout, an exaggerated expression that I've never let myself make before—too childish, too manipulative, too Omega. But here, now, with whisky courage and his shirt warm against my skin, I let my lower lip push out, eyes going wide and pleading.

"Not tired anymore," I say, and it's true. Every nerve is singing, every cell suddenly, brilliantly awake. I tilt my head, looking up at him through my lashes, giving him those eyes I've discovered are his weakness. "Don't want to sleep."

His hands clench at his sides, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

"Willa." My name comes out like a warning, like a prayer. "If you keep looking at me like that..."

"What?" I challenge, pupils dilating further, making my eyes go soft and wanting. "What will happen?"

"I'm going to have to see how you look with my cock deep in your mouth." The words are rough, stripped of any pretense or gentleness.

Raw want bleeding through his careful control.

Instead of shocking me, instead of making me pull back, the crude promise sends heat flooding through my body. I've been good for so long, careful and controlled and everything a proper Omega should be. But proper got me locked in a burning building. Proper got me a pack that saw me as property.

Could it be time to be improper.

I let my smile curve slow and deliberate, maintaining eye contact as I deliberately make my eyes go even softer, even more pleading.

"What if that's what I want?"

He breaks.

One moment he's standing there fighting himself, the next his hands are framing my face and his mouth crashes into mine. This isn't like the possessive kiss in front of Blake—this is desperation distilled into action. His lips are demanding, tongue sliding against mine with a hunger that steals my breath.

I moan into his mouth, hands coming up to fist in his shirt, pulling him closer.

"This side of you," he pants against my lips, "is super fucking effective."

Then he's kissing me again, deeper this time, one hand tangling in my still-damp hair while the other grips my hip through the shirt. I can taste the whisky on his tongue, feel the way his control frays with every sound I make. When he nips at my lower lip, I gasp, and he takes advantage, licking into my mouth like he's trying to devour me whole.

My hands find their way under his shirt, palms flat against his abs, feeling the way his muscles tense under my touch.

He's so warm, so solid, and when I rake my nails lightly down his stomach, he groans into my mouth.

"Fuck," he breathes, pulling back just enough to look at me. His pupils are blown wide, lips swollen from kissing. "You're going to wreck me."

"Good," I whisper, and then I'm sliding off the bed, dropping to my knees in front of him.

His whole body goes rigid. "Willa?—"

"Shh." I look up at him through my lashes, hands already working at his belt. "Want to taste you. Want to see if you lose control when I use my mouth for something other than talking."

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