Page 31 of Forbidden Taste
“I don’t know why it matters.” It dawns on me that he’s always brought information to me like this. Always told me what other people were saying in between helpful tidbits so that I don’t realize he’s not actually a friend. It’s like he’s trying to gauge the truth of the rumors to satisfy his own curiosity and calling me Mr. Giant and ‘big guy’ aren’t the friendly terms I told myself they were.
“Leo!” he snaps. “Of course it matters! His parents are ruthless—been preparing him for this big, extravagant life, and you just got in the way of that. I told him to leave you alone because he’d ruin your life, and whatever twisted complex you’ve got going on, that you wouldn’t fit into his world—”
I cut him off, slicing through his ramble. “I considered you a friend. Someone who’d be straight with me. But I’m not so sure anymore. I can make my own choices just fine. Riley is mine and it might’ve taken me a moment to actually have the confidence tosay that, but it doesn’t change how I feel. I’d say I need you to understand that but I really don’t.”
Eugene groans, flopping his head back before speaking again. “Man, you don’t understand.”
“What I don’t understand,” I growl, “is why you seem so protective of me now when you never were before. You never helped stop any of those rumors about me. You tagged along almost as if to get more gossip, but it was never really about making sure I was okay, was it?” My eyes narrow, searching his face for answers. “Was I just your entertainment, or were we ever friends?”
“Of course we were friends!” he protests, his hands flying up like he can fend off the accusation.
“Sure, whatever. I don’t want to stand here and argue with you, but yes, the rumors are true. Riley is mine. Excuse me.”
It feels like a minor victory to claim Riley as mine in front of someone, even if it’s just Eugene. Heart pounding in my chest, I make a beeline for Riley’s apartment. The door swings open just as I reach it, Riley grinning up at me as I drag him into a possessive kiss, my hands gripping his hips, pulling him flush against me. His lips part, a moan filtering out into the space, the sound sparking heat down my spine, the kiss deepening as my tongue sweeps across his.
“Sweetie,” Riley gasps, pulling back, his voice breathy, his hands pushing at my chest, “Hawk’s here, so unless you want him to find you balls deep in my ass…”
Heat floods my face at the fantasy of Hawk watching us but then quickly shifts and suddenly it’s Hawk I’m imagining, pressed beneath me, his vanilla musk thick in the air as I sink into him. A wanton moan slips from my lips as I try to force those thoughts back down, Riley giggling as he drags me farther into his apartment. Our scents are so thick that I didn’t notice the smellof Chinese food coming from his nest, Hawk curled up in the corner, looking as if he belongs.
I shed my shoes, crawling in after Riley as he reaches for the little speaker, turning down the classical music playing in the background. Hawk notices the movement, tilting his head to the side. “I noticed it before but I don’t think I’ve ever been around an Omega who’s had music constantly playing in their nest.”
Riley just shrugs as we settle in, Hawk opening up containers and producing forks from a small bag. “I prefer noise to silence.” There’s no other explanation and Hawk doesn’t demand one as he pulls out chopsticks as well, handing them around.
There’s a little bit of everything, pork lo mein, sesame chicken, dumplings, and even those saucy short ribs that can be a hit or miss depending on the place. Silence falls between us as we dig in, none of us exactly sure what to say to start the conversation but as the moments drone on, my hunger wanes, questions swirling in my head begging to come out. Of course, I choose the worst one to start with. “Why’d you choose dance?” I ask Hawk, my eyes flicking to him across the nest. “It’s usually a major for Betas and Omegas.”
Hawk sets his chopsticks down, leaning back against the pillows, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he smiles. “I’ve always thought it was beautiful. The grace and power one person can have to invoke an emotion without ever saying a word.” He pauses, his fingers tracing the edge of a box. “Over the years, watching movies, plays, I wanted that—the same thing. It felt like dancing with nature, an invisible moment. So I practiced until it became a way to express myself.”
He turns it back on me, his smile tilting. “What about you?” he asks, and Riley shifts, settling on his stomach, his head on my thighas he shovels a piece of sesame chicken into his mouth making him look like an adorable chipmunk.
“My fathers work with wood and stuff. Carpentry, furniture—it’s in my blood, I guess.” That’s not entirely true. I didn’t go into this major just because it was what my dads did and still do. My twin didn’t take this path, so it’s not that. I heave a sigh, offering up more. “I’ve always loved creating but putting my vision into words or into song or music allows everyone else to interpret. I guess I liked the idea of interpreting someone’s vision and making it a physical, tangible thing.”
Hawk’s smile widens as he reaches across the nest to squeeze my thigh. “It suits you, babe. You’re going to do wonderful things, whatever it is that you end up doing.” He then turns his attention to Riley, our Omega looking up with both cheeks stuffed.
Riley’s eyes widen as he starts chewing really fast, nearly choking on his food in the process. “Shit, yeah sorry.” His cheeks flush as his gaze moves to Hawk. “I lived and breathed music because it was a comfort. Always alone at home, and now it’s somewhere to escape into. It’s why there’s music all the time. I don’t like the silence. Reminds me of all the moments I wanted someone here but there was no one to call.” A tendril of sadness works its way through the bond but it’s gone in the next second, Riley sitting up, his eyes glinting with curiosity. “But how’d you start with the rent-an-Alpha service?”
“It’s a long story,” Hawk says as he sets his chopsticks down. “My sister—she met her Alphas when she was young, maybe too young, I don’t know, but they were rough with her.” His throat bobs, his eyes glistening with tears, a flicker of pain running through his expression. “She didn’t make it. I promised myself no other Omega would feel like that,” he continues. “I’m not dominant enough tobe a police officer or anything like that. This was my misguided way of fulfilling that guilt—that I could’ve stopped it.”
“You couldn’t have possibly known,” Riley says as he scoots closer to Hawk, the Alpha drawing Riley into his side.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he murmurs, placing a soft kiss to the top of his head. “It’s taken me a long time to realize that, but it still hurts.”
That’s when I connect all the dots from earlier until now. “That’s why you dance.”
“It was a way to express my grief. We were all we had.”
I’m not sure what comes over me—some wild, untamed thing clawing up from my chest—the need to soothe the pain in Hawk’s expression or maybe just the desire to hold him but I end up leaning across the nest and slipping a hand around the back of Hawk’s neck, food forgotten. I pull him into a soft kiss, my lips grazing his, tasting the sticky sauce lingering there. His mouth yields, pliant beneath mine and then a moan falls from his lips, a wholly Alpha sound that has me pulling back and searching his dark eyes.
“This only has to go however far you need it to, babe,” Hawk purrs, his hand settling on my thigh, squeezing ever so softly.
“I don’t know what I want,” I admit.
“Then I’ll follow your lead.”
“Why would you do that?” My fingers flex against his neck, needing to understand, needing something solid to hold onto.
“Because your comfort is more important than anything else and as I mentioned before, I’m not picky about where I end up. Take what you need, babe.”
Riley pulls the food out from between us, shoving it outside the nest as I lean in again, my lips finding his. It’s strange—Hawk doesn’t push, doesn’t take, just lets me explore. Riley attacheshimself to my side, lips teasing my neck as he slowly crawls and presses closer. My hands start to roam, confidence flickering as I slide them up Hawk’s arms, feeling the lean muscle beneath my palms, the heat of his skin, and I tug at his shirt, helping it over his head.
