Page 26 of Unbonded
“Never. This is ours now, Omega.”
We rock harder, our skin glowing with slick and sweat as we chase our pleasure. The last thing I hear is Dash panting my name as I come apart, my orgasm tearing through me like a wild wind. Dash shudders as I clench and shake around him, and then I feel him spurting inside me, filling me to the brim.
When we finally come out of our haze, I slide down him like warm butter, every muscle in my body slack with bliss. I melt even more as Dash tucks me close, our limbs tangled together. The bed is drenched in our scents, and while we should probably change the sheets, it’s like a claiming neither of us wants to wash away.
But I can’t stop the chill that shivers over me and I pull back, running my fingers over his swollen lips. “Is this a dream?”
His lips curve under my touch. “If it is, I hope we sleep for a long, long time.”
Me, too. In fact, if this is all I’m ever going to get of Dash, I hope we never leave the bed. “But how can this be real? Things like this don’t happen to me.”
“They do now.” He sounds so smug, I nudge him in the ribs, but he just shrugs. “I’m pretty sure this was always going to happen.”
“Really?” I’ve never been a fan of fate, probably because of the way my life has unraveled around me. But as I lie in Dash’s arms, the idea that our paths were always meant to cross leaves me wrapped in a warm glow. “Lucky me, then.”
“Luckyus,” he murmurs, tucking my head on his chest. His heartbeat is right under my ear, but I can still hear the smile in his voice as he says, “And in the morning, I plan to show you what a winning streak looks like.”
CHAPTER NINE - KATE
Breakfast is served on the terrace, and I’m feeling so blissfully happy, I’m certain it’s only Dash’s hand in mine that keeps me from floating off into the dawn-streaked sky. My lips are raw and my legs like jelly, but I’m sparkling clean, Dash having spent an age on his knees in the shower, lathering every inch of my body with his tongue and hands. While I was still coming down from another mind-scrambling orgasm, he brushed out my hair and patted some of his suppressant on my tingling skin. He told me I didn’t need it – and maybe I don’t, given that his scent is now friction-burned into my pores - but I insisted. Our blissful bubble can only last so long, and the last thing I want is my bitter scent to be the thing to pop it.
I grip his hand tighter as an immaculately dressed Corbus rises from a table loaded with exotic dishes. My empty stomach growls at the tantalizing spread, but more than a little of my hunger is directed at the magnetic man in his wool-silk plaid suit. He removes his sunglasses as we approach, and I watch the alpha carefully as he examines us, his gaze lingering on our clasped hands. Dash seems completely unconcerned –smug, even – and I try to remember his reassuring words from lastnight.
“Morning, Corbus,” he hums, kissing the alpha’s lips and tugging me down into the seat next to him. “I’m famished. Ooh! You got the good pastries.”
“It’s a special occasion,” Corbus replies in his lilting accent, his gaze sliding from Dash to me. “Goedemorgen, Kate. I hope the bed was comfortable.”
I bite my lip, my manners struggling against the influx of wild images from last night. “Um, yes. It was very comfortable, thanks.”
Dash smirks around his pastry, his heavy-lidded look making my pulse throb between my legs. There’s no way Corbus can miss the spike of arousal in his scent, but he just smiles at the omega. “Good to see you’ve worked up an appetite. We should do sleepovers more often.”
“Shouldn’t we?” Dash purrs, licking his fingers with cat-like precision. “In fact, we should make this a regular thing.”
I try to give him a reproving glance, but I’m pretty sure I just look hopelessly giddy. Since I opened my eyes to Dash’s beautiful face, I’ve been telling myself I shouldn’t get my hopes up. This could just be a fling. A chance to burn off some sexual steam. But my hungry little heart isn’t listening, especially when he reaches under the linen tablecloth and dances his fingers up the inside of my thigh.
“Coffee, Kate?”
My head snaps up, bobbing jerkily as Corbus fills my cup from a steaming pot. I bury myself gratefully in the hot drink, eating blindly from the plate in front of me until Corbus says, “Ah, here comes Bram.”
Dash leaps out of his chair and dances over to the other alpha, who tracks him like a shooting star streaming across the sky. Bram is dressed in a no-frills business suit, the fabric straining against his broad shoulders. His short hair is damp, and his inkand leather scent even more potent as he pulls Dash in for a long, slow kiss. Seeing them together – two very different forms of masculine beauty - brings those wild images from last night back to the fore, and I squirm in my seat.
“You both look refreshed,” Bram remarks in his low rumble, stooping to kiss my cheek. I hold my breath so I don’t breathe in too much of his scent, but he does the opposite, and I wonder if he can smell Dash on my skin. “Did Corbus discuss the contract with you yet?”
“Contract?” I look between the two alphas. “You mean for the remodel?”
He shakes his head. “This is about you.”
He places a neat stack of papers beside his plate, and I can’t help but think of Lachlan’s information pack on my kitchen counter.Could this be about my heat?Has Bram somehow found out about the auction and decided to place a bid?
It’s a crazy thought, but my heart speeds up as he slides the papers towards me, and I scan the top page. It’s on Paragon letterhead and reads like an offer of employment, with a live-in arrangement and a monthly wage that makes my jaw drop.Are they asking me to be their housekeeper?But it’s only when I flip to the next page that I see the position title. “You want me to be your pack’s companion?”
Dash has been reading over my shoulder, but now he scowls and tosses his pastry back on his plate. “I don’t know how you saysignificant otherin Flemish, Corbus, but it better soundexactlylike the word ‘companion’.”
I breathe a little easier at his outrage, because how can I be disappointed when he just called me a significant other?
“It’s okay, Dash,” I murmur and flip another page, reading carefully. Since Stanley King brought his wrecking ball into my life, I’ve gotten better at checking the fine print on contracts, but I can’t see a definition of the position anywhere. ‘Companion’was once a term used to describe an employee – who was usually a beta –engaged by a pack as a sort of emotional support person for their omega. While Dash clearly disapproves of the label, I’ve definitely done worse jobs.
“I don’t mean to offend you,” Corbus says quickly, and when I glance up from the contract, there are spots of color on his high cheekbones. His cedarwood scent has also spiked, flooding my senses with what tastes like regret. “My intention is only to give you protection, legally and physically. As a member of the Paragon family, you will have a safe place to live while your renovations are complete, as well as granting you access to our pack’s resources. That includes a salary for an initial six-month period, even if you decide to end the arrangement before that time.”
