Page 42 of Shades of Scars

Her smile is mega-million watt level. “Oh yes, of course! I can still call Mr. Rogue-”

“That won’t be necessary. We will just tour around for an hour and be out of your hair.” Apollo cuts her off, and she dips her head with respect.

“Of course, Mr. Reaves. I will be around. Do let me know if there is anything I can help you with.”

Apollo weaves our fingers together, before he tugs me away from the alpha without another word. I think about glancing back over my shoulder at her, but I think better of it.

We don’t stop until we’ve reached one of the private closed off sections of the gallery full of brilliant hand carved statues and pieces of metal work and other various types of stone.

“I’ve never met a female alpha face to face before. Well, other than Raven.” I murmur softly to him when we come to a stop just inside the sectioned off portion of the gallery.

Apollo hums in thought. “I’m not sure where you originally came from, but where we used to live, there are more than plenty of them. Black Tide Valley doesn’t seem like the type of place where female alphas tend to migrate to unless they have a reason.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” I offer while getting my first good look around, some of that spark of awe returning to me as I do so. Apollo has no idea just how much being here means to me. After having never been on a date before in my entire adult life, I managed to snag two special dates with two amazing alphas. It’s a miracle.

“Care to look around, love? I’ve booked out the entire gallery for the next hour. Dutton is a good friend of mine and was more than happy to lend his space to me for our date.” Apollo places his hand on the small of my back, and a blush creeps across my cheeks at the contact.

As we walk forward and begin to peruse the selection pieces, I can’t help but comment. “I feel kind of stupid. How did I not know Dutton Rogue lives in Black Tide Valley?”

I stop at a statue of Astarte with a unique twist that piques my interest. “He doesn’t. He lives about fifty miles away in Port Iris, his home city just down the West coast. He has galleries just like this one set up in Barker and Green Mount to the North aswell, and he’s looking to open his first gallery on the East coast next year in Yulemite.”

“Wow. That’s impressive. What made him venture to the US from France?” I query as we move through the building from display to display. There’s such a wide variety of pieces from artists I know, and some I don’t. While we work our way through other rooms and sections, I quickly fall in love with several works from new to me artists that I make a note of, most definitely planning on stalking them online later when I get home.

Apollo stops just outside of one of the last walled off sections we’ve yet to go through, turning his body towards me to garner my attention. When I meet his eyes, there’s a glint there that would make a normal omega nervous, but it just makes me lift a brow at him in challenge.

My breath catches in my throat when he steps closer to me, making the soft peaks of my breasts brush against the hard planes of his chest through the fabric of our clothing. I tip my chin back to keep our gazes locked, and his entire body begins to rumble with the beginnings of a purr, which causes me to metaphorically melt into a puddle of goo.

He nuzzles the tip of his nose against mine, and I force myself to stay still for him. “I want to show you something, love.” His arm snakes around my waist, careful of my arm in the sling when he crushes my body against his as gently as he can. I just nod, wanting nothing more than to feel his lips on mine. He’s so damn close. All I have to do is lean up a little more.

I swallow back a whine when he pulls away, blinking rapidly while he guides me into the room we’d stopped outside of. It takes me a moment to pull my attention off the attractive angles of his face to get my first good look around. My mouth drops open when I come to a halt, Apollo pausing beside me.

He’s patient as I step forward and twirl around to take in the entirety of his little surprise. “And you thought I was a Ruby Rain super fan.” His eyes fucking twinkle while he watches me gape in stunned awe. It’s an entire room dedicated to my pseudonym used in the art world.

“Oh my God. Dutton Rogue has an entire room filled with every single one of my published pieces.” I say it out loud because I still can’t believe that what I’m seeing is real. He’s even got some of my pieces I published before my life had been sold away and I’d lost this vital part of myself. Pieces of my work that are no longer even available to the public on my art blog.

“I’m kind of jealous of the way you say his name, love. I thought I was your favorite artist.” Apollo slinks up behind me, wrapping one of his powerful arms across my chest, and the other around my waist to pull me back against him. Heat floods through my entire body at the feeling of every hard, perfect line of him pressed against me.

When he presses his satin soft lips against the patch of skin behind my ear, a small whimper escapes me. His arms tighten at the sound, and when his tongue darts out to taste me, a rush of slick gushes from my core in response, unbidden. I moan when he trails the hand of the arm band around my chest up until it collars my throat. He uses his thumb to press underneath my jaw, forcing my head to the side so he can have better access to the smooth expanse of my neck.

“Apollo…” I bite off the whine that nearly escapes me. My pussy throbs with need at his answering hum while he licks and nips his way over my skin.

Our scents rise and twine together thick in the air around us, and with each breath I suck in, I can’t get enough. “We can’t do this here.” Even as I say it, I can’t help myself when I grind back into the hard length of him pressed against the curve of my backside.

“We can do whatever we want, love. Tell me what you want, and I’ll gladly give it to you.” He purrs against my neck, drawing another whimper out of me. My hips rock back against him, my thighs beneath the yellow sundress I’m wearing already sticky with slick.Sweet mother Mary and Joseph.

“What about cameras?” I pant while his fingers flex, messaging my throat and making it that much harder to breathe. I am fucking here for it.

“Are you really concerned about that, love?” He rumbles against my skin, nearly making me sob when the arm banded around my waist starts to inch closer towards the throbbing ache at the apex of my thighs. If I just let go, he can slip that hand beneath the skirt of my dress. Rub his fingers through the mess he’s made of me. Discover just how little he has to work to get me soaked for him.

“Please, alpha…” I let out another breathy moan when I feel his fingers brush the bare skin just beneath the hemline of my skirt. “I-I need… t-touch me,fuck.” The tips of his fingers dip beneath my skirt, high enough to brush the slick sticky skin of my inner thighs.

My muscles tremble as he begins to stroke me there, coating his entire hand in my arousal. Omega pheromones are thick like fog around us, spiced jasmine and tangy citrus, and he growls against my neck, nipping lightly and making me jerk with a shocked gasp. Pleasure is already coiling tight deep inside of me, and he’s barely even begun to touch me.

“Don’t stress, love. I’ll give you what you need. Always.” My pussy practically twerks at his sensual promise. I swallow another whine, desperate to keep that sound to myself knowing exactly what it can unleash, when he swirls his fingers around in the sticky mess he’s made of me.

“Apollo.” I groan his name while he lifts his fingers up from beneath my skirt, bringing them close to my face like he expectsme to need a visual of just how weak I am under his expert hands.

“Taste yourself, love. Tell me if you taste as good as you smell.” He presses his fingers against the seam of my lips, and it’s no hardship to open for him. This isn’t the first time I’ve tasted myself, but it’s definitely the first time an alpha has made me enjoy it.

---