Page 65 of Brandy Snap: Part Two
And today was too tumultuous for her. It wasn’t the time for me to push my agenda onto her, no matter how much I wished to talk to her about biting her again.
No one in our families ever talked about it, but when Caspian’s sister presented, something similar to this had happened. Except Lily returned from work one day to find her entire nest excavated and redesigned by Zania to prepare for a photoshoot forThe New Omegamagazine.
And we didn’t see Lily for three weeks. Until she came home, gaunt, malnourished, her skin more translucent than Camille’s. It took her months to recover. I was certain it had created the same amount of damage as forcing her into a mating bond with her current alphas the night she presented.
And for Melanie to have to suddenly empty her nest because an alpha threatened her safety must have been equally shocking.
I hadn’t told my mates I’d explicitly asked Melanie to join our pack, only to be rejected. Mainly because barely an hour later she had exchanged bites with Kai, reigniting my hope.
I was still attempting to work out where I had gone wrong in my approach.
“Melanie,” I said, pulling her attention away from my mate as he stormed off.
I had to interrupt. I couldn’t imagine how long she might wistfully stare after him when I was right behind her.
Her head turned slowly, meeting me with cautious eyes. I wanted to immediately apologise, to beg, to do something which meant she wouldn’t look at me as if I’d failed her.
Though Caspian seemed to have no qualms about flirting with her, I had already broken Kai’s faith in me once by sleeping with her. I didn’t want to give him further reasons not to trust me.
Melanie avoided my gaze. It wasn’t hard to guess whether the pink riding her cheeks was from me or Caspian.
“We need to pack,” she said coldly, sweeping past me and back into the kitchen.
I stood there, drawing in her scent, trying to quell the excitement threatening to take me over.
My instincts were driving me wild. All the ways we could integrate her into our home spun through my mind once again.
In business negotiations, as soon as the other party made a concession, I knew I could win. It had taken her four days to call us. Though unplanned, it meant there was room in her heart for us, and she would be our mate eventually, so long as we were patient.
I disliked plotting it out as if she were a conquest, but there was no other way to keep myself calm around her. If I did not have a concrete approach to how she would become our mate, I could make another mistake and push her away.
Now that Kai was ‘Team Brandy’, as he called it, all that remained was Caspian overcoming his own stubbornness and submitting to our fate.
“Sin?” she called. “What are you doing?”
I drew in a ragged breath as I turned to focus on the kitchen again.
It was cramped enough for me to stretch my arms and touch the cabinets on either side, but long enough for an oven, counters, and a sink.
And at the far end, Melanie squatted in front of an open cupboard, reaching into the back to grab whatever remained there. But all I saw was the strip of smooth skin of her lower back as her vest rode up and her shorts rode down.
Her back arched, her gorgeous ass pointed out. I pressed my hand against my mouth as I watched her.
I might attempt to be a gentleman, but it was impossible when she wiggled her ass, muttering along with small moans of frustration as she reached farther into the cupboard.
“Caspian was right, you know,” I said, my voice low as I moved to stand over her. “It’s dangerous to be wearing those shorts in front of hungry alphas who are craving you.” And I already knew how delicious she was to eat.
My cock sprung to life as she edged back, freeing herself from the cupboard, her jeans-clad ass bumping against my shins. I could have stepped away, but I wanted to touch her in whatever way I could. And I could hardly be blamed if she was the one rubbing against me.
Her chin tilted back, craning her neck so she looked up at me between my spread thighs.
We watched each other, the curve of her throat completely exposed, and all of my thoughts went straight to the sounds she would make as I sunk my teeth into her.
How easy it would be to add a bite to the tapestry Kai had already created across her chest.
Melanie sighed as she leant forward, her bright gaze vanishing for a second before she twisted on her feet to face me. She pushed herself from the ground to travel up my body and stand, meeting my restrained stare with a glare. Now she was so close, I swore I could feel her breaths inside me.
Melanie eased back against the counter, and I followed her, my hands flat on the surface, caging her hips.
