Page 85 of One for the Money
He holds up a hand. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying safe shouldn’t play into the decision.”
The argument continues, with Dario solidly on the fence. I edge around the guys and look over the candle options they have readily available on the shelf. Almost every scent imaginable is there, clearly meant to simulate Alpha scents, but they’re all so … masculine.
Not that our group isn’t masculine, because one look at Jude will dispel that notion, but we all smell like sweet treats and candy. They’re not standard Alpha smells. We all veer closer to what Omegas typically smell like than Alphas. I’ve never cared about it before, but right now I wish we were something a bit more standard so we could grab our scents in candles and be done with this argument.
I can understand why both Dexter and Jude think they’re right, but I immediately know neither of them is when I see the small pack of tealights on the candle shelf. I wave down an employee.
“Are these part of the Alpha reset package?” I ask. He nods and continues with his job, arms full of backstock.
I toss the pack of tealights into the cart. “Get little gold cup things to put them in. It’ll look romantic.”
“Romantic?” Dario nearly chokes on his tongue. “Since when are you Mister Romance?”
I smack him in the chest with the back of my hand. “I’m not, I’m just tired of hearing the bickering. Let’s move on.”
“Well, next is the toys…” Quinton’s smile is cheeky, and he dramatically fans his face with his hand. “And we’re not talking about racecars.”
There is nothing I want less than to shop for sex toys with Quinton Black. But I trail behind the three other Alphas, listening to him discuss the benefits of and pitfalls of specific plugs, vibrators, and dildos.
“We don’t need any restraints, we have plenty of those from the act. But I’d like to get a knot ring for Matteo towear. It’ll make heats easier if he can help in that way.” Quentin grabs one, tan colored silicone knot that is supposed to slip onto a Beta’s dick to emulate an Alpha’s knot and provide relief for an Omega who craves one.
Dario wrinkles his nose. “Would either of them actually want that?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. Matteo isn’t sensitive about being a Beta and not an Alpha, but he may be during a heat, like he can’t provide for her as much as she needs. Or he may be insulted by me even thinking of getting one of these.” Quinton turns the packaging over in his hands. “It’s a fifty-fifty chance, really.”
“Why don’t we say it was part of the package when we said there was a Beta in the pack?” My brother suggests. “That way, if he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t feel like we think he needs it.”
“That’s lying,” I say. “Why would we lie to our friend?”
“There are good lies, and bad lies, dude,” my brother reminds me, clapping me on the back. “This is something that if we need it, we’ll be glad we have it. But if we don’t need it, it could hurt feelings. Avoiding the hurt feelings trumps the truth here, since we don’t exactly have access to this stuff on the road.”
I don’t like lying. Never have. It feels like, if I allow anything other than frank honesty into my life, that it’s a slippery slope into being taken advantage of. I don’t like liars.
That’s probably something else I need to discuss with a theoretical therapist.
“Oh shit.” The cart rattles as Quinton throws the knot ring into it. “What if she goes into heat on a travel day?”
“Please don’t wish that shit on us,” Jude groans. He slips a set of jeweled butt plugs into the cart with a slightly pink flush on his cheeks. “That’d be a worst-case scenario.”
My brother shrugs and grabs an open-mouthed metal gag from the shelf, spinning it around on his finger. “We probably don’t need to worry about that any time soon, though. She just had all of those suppressants flushed out of her system. It’s going to be a while before she regulates enough for so much as a heat flash.”
Chapter 32
“That was a mistake.”
My stomach cramps painfully, and it’s everything I can do to keep the pain that has ricocheted through my body off of my face.
How did one little kiss flood my panties with slick and leave me aching and crampy like I’m going into heat? With one stroke of his tongue, my head went fuzzy, and in my gut, I knew that if we went any further, I was going to lose control.
As much as it pains me, I can’t let that happen.
But Matteo doesn’t live in my body, and the way that his face falls at my words tells me I need to elaborate on what is going on before I hurt him any more than I already have.
“Because I think I’m having a heat flash,” I grit out through another annoyingly painful cramp. “As soon as you kissed me, I felt it burning, and I started cramping.”
The words lift a weight off his shoulders, and he relaxes into the surface of my makeshift nest. “My kiss washot enough to trigger a heat flash? That makes me feel loads better.”
“Sorry, my brain fogged up and I didn’t consider the impact my words would have on you in an intimate moment.” Another wave of pain overwhelms me, and I whimper as I dig my fingertips into my abdomen. “Mother fucker, why is this happening so fast? I just went off the suppressants!”
