Page 7 of Forbidden Taste
My legal name is Leo Haynes after my Alpha father but most everyone uses my Omega father’s name, withdrawing the respect I so rightfully deserve. As if, calling me Mr. Woods tells me that I am an Omega just like my father—abnormal, too large, too…
Riley’s little huff of frustration keeps me from finishing that thought. “Leo, we’re grown adults. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Remember how I said I had been waiting for you to comeinto my practice room? I wasn’t lying. Second, we’re not even on campus. Besides, I couldn’t get you out of my head and I didn’t like how we left things.”
“It was just a kiss, wasn’t it?” I don’t believe that but that’s all it can be. There’s nouswithout ruining his future and as much as it pains me, staying away would be the safest path for both of us. And yet, I’m hoping Riley calls me on my bullshit because Ireallywant him.
“Is that all it was to you?” Riley’s tone shifts, softening as his gaze burns into me.
I fumble for the right words but the confidence I have in everything else seems to disappear when it comes to being in Riley’s presence. “No, it was… I…” My cheeks heat, a flush crawling up my neck. I can’t finish. Riley tilts his head, watching me. His eyes dip lower, lingering, then snap back to my face as a slow grin spreads across his lips.
“I fucking hope you had the same fantasy I did, Leo. Jesus, it’s all I can think about after seeing the outline through your pants yesterday.” His tongue darts out, slicking his lips, his scent blooming—ripe, needy, intoxicating.
An involuntary whimper slips from my throat, a small desperate sound that has me mortified. I slap a hand over my mouth before shoving the rest of my stuff into my bag and rushing outside. Confusion twists with shame, a dark knot in my gut, but I’m still turned on—painfully so. I barely make it to my car, breathing too hard, panicked when I hear Riley’s soft, vulnerable voice behind me.
“Leo, I didn’t mean to scare you in there.”
Am I scared? No, I’m just really,reallyconfused. I don’t squeal and whimper. I don’t dream of fucking other Omegas and knottingthem. But with Riley, it’s like everything I know about myself is just out the window.
“Sweetie, do you want me to go?”
The thought of him leaving is terrifying and I twist around, dropping my bag by my feet as I hurriedly shake my head. He’s so much shorter than I am as he steps closer, my eyes darting across his face, taking in the full cheeks and the adorable button nose and those lips I’m dying to kiss again. “I’m just confused. This is a lot.”
All those years studying Omega instincts—textbooks, lectures, dry facts—none of it prepared me for this. The heat under my skin, the slickness I felt last night, the need clawing at me now. It’s terrifying, waking something primal I didn’t know I had.
Riley steps closer, placing a soft hand on my arm. His touch sears through my jacket, his fingers playing with some of the fluff before he speaks. “Is it me?”
I shake my head again, harder this time. “I want you,” I choke out. “But I feel wrong. I’m not supposed to. I…” My throat closes, shame curling hot in my gut. I’m an Omega. I shouldn’t ache to take, to claim. And the moment he finds out about my knot, it’s game over.
Riley closes the gap between us and rests his hands on my chest. “You’re just as precious as I am. Sweetie, look at me.” I lift my eyes, slowly meeting his gaze. He’s not staring at me like I’m a monster, a freak with a knot and slick. He’s intrigued, his doe eyes shimmering with want, lips parted just enough to tease. “I want you. Forget about everything else.”
My hands twitch, longing to pull him closer, to bury myself in him, to drink in his scent, to justhold him.
“One step at a time, sweetie,” he whispers, and then he fists his hand in my jacket before pulling me down to kiss me. I groaninto his mouth, the sound rumbling deep, and my hands find his waist, fingers digging in. Something snaps inside me—an instinct, a dominance that I knew was there but has never surfaced—and I switch our positions. I press him against the car door, my body pinning his, hard planes against his softness.
His scent blooms wild, honey-sweet and needy, and I deepen the kiss, tasting him as I thrust my tongue into his mouth needing more. My cock fills, straining in my jeans, the fantasy of knotting him flaring in my mind.
I imagine him beneath me, legs spread, his heat swallowing me as my knot locks us together. Riley’s supple, pliant, no longer dominating this embrace as he lets me take charge. I grind against him, the friction sending sparks through me, my knot pulsing, aching to swell, to claim him right here.
He presses a hand to my chest, breaking the kiss with a gasp. “We better stop before your first time is in the back of a car.” His lips are swollen, glistening, and I blink, stunned.
“You want… that with me?” I ask, my voice thick, disbelief threading through it.
Riley laughs, a soft, breathy sound that melts me. “You’re my mate. Of course I do.”
I step back, confusion swirling in my chest, my breath still uneven from our kiss. My body screams for him but now there’s chaos in my head all over again.Mates?
“Sweetie, I only figured it out yesterday, but it’s the reason you kept seeking me out. The reason I always wanted to see you. We’re drawn to each other.” His words sink in but I don’t know what to say. Riley taps my chest lightly, throwing me a playful smile. The small gesture helps to calm my nerves. “On Monday, just come into my practice room, okay?” He wiggles his fingers and I produce myphone, fumbling as I hand it over. He types in his number, his touch lingering as he passes it back. “Text me,” he muses, eyes locking with mine. “If this doesn’t go any further than this, I’ll know because I won’t hear from you.”
Riley reaches up for another kiss and I gladly oblige. I swallow one of his little sounds before he pulls away and heads across the parking lot to his own car. I’m so close to throwing everything to hell, to pursuing the Omega that’s got a chokehold on my heart and my head. People have always had my name on their tongues.
Always talking about my size or the inability for me to find a mate or literally anything to hurt my feelings. I’ve developed a thick skin over the years and as strange as two Omegas together can be, I’m wondering if the only thing holding back whatever this is blooming between us—is me.
six
RILEY
I spend the weekend hiding from the world, my nest a fortress of pillows and blankets, a sanctuary where I can shut out everything but the one man I’ve decided to obsess over. My phone buzzes relentlessly—Benjamin, my mother, their voices clawing at me through missed calls I refuse to answer.
But Leo? I dive off the deep end with him, texting him nonstop, drowning in the way he responds. He’s so fucking adorable, timid in a way that makes my chest ache, saying the sweetest things. “I liked kissing you,” he typed late Saturday night.
