Page 37 of Unsubmissive Omega
“Anyone else?” he snarled.
No-one answered. Over the pounding of my heart and my shuddering breaths, and my occasional hiccoughing sob, I heard the shuffling and scuffing of feet. The group was dispersing. I sagged against him, my forehead pressing into his leg. My heart still rapped mercilessly against my ribs.
“Come here,” Darius said, slipping his hands under my armpits and gently pulling me up.
The next thing I knew, he’d lifted me into his arms as if I were as light as a feather, and he was striding away from the dispersing crowd and heading for the packhouse.
I was afraid one of the challengers might attack him while he had his back turned, but when I sneaked a peak around his arm, I saw the group was reduced to just a couple of lingerers. One of them was Zendius, and he was watching us with a strange expression on his face. I wondered why he hadn’t come over to help, but that thought faded as unimportant now the danger was past.
One last shuddering sob slipped out of me as I permitted myself the undeserved luxury of relaxing my head against Darius’ upper chest. I knew I didn’t deserve his comfort, but he was my mate. He’d forgive me, wouldn’t he?
Heat seeped from his chest into my body, my face wet from my tears and his sweat where it lay against his pecs. I inhaled deeply. He smelled wonderful: the mix of body odor and musk and Darius’ own unique scent combining to form an elixir that was heady and intoxicating. Why hadn’t I ever noticed this before?
A flush of shame washed over me again, as I realizedIwas the only reason I hadn’t appreciated it before. I had been so full of my own self-righteousness that I had refused to notice what was right in front of me.
Did I whimper? Darius held me tighter and murmured, “It’s all right, Xander. I’ll get you out of here.”
I didn’t know what he meant. Was he going to throw me out after all? I clung to him.
“Don’t… don’t send me away…” I half-sobbed.
“You don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to,” chided Darius, his voice gentle. “You should know that by now. Except for… that first time… I’ve never forced you to do anything against your will.”
“That wasn’t against my will,” I confessed to the coarse hairs of his chest. “I wanted it… I just didn’t want to want it.”
“Hmmphf. That’s good to know. I felt like shit about that. We need to talk.” I was jostled around as he strode rapidly over the uneven ground. When we reached the back door, he juggled me easily with one arm, reaching for the door handle with the other.The flyscreen screeched in protest as it opened, and I made a mental note to oil it later. It was well past time I started to pull my weight within the pack.
The corridor was dark and silent as we made our way to the bedroom. The clatter of trays and dishes down the other end of the corridor as Marta continued her cleanup of the kitchen, seemed distant. Up here, near the bedroom, the corridor was deserted, silent except for the muffled thud of Darius’ footsteps across the floorboards.
When we had reached the bedroom door, my warm cocoon vanished as I found myself slithering out of his arms and onto my feet. The loss of his body heat and the firm protection of his arms was disconcerting. The hardwood boards beneath my bare feet were cold. The metal doorknob was cold.Iwas cold. I shivered.
One minute I’d been bundled up in the gorgeous alpha’s arms, safe and secure, and now I felt… weird. I was used to being alone, so why did it make me feel odd now?
I advanced into the room, then turned, frowning, feeling even more adrift as I realized Darius had remained at the threshold. Why wasn’t he following? I needed him to be right here…Oh no!I felt the heat of a mortified blush creeping up my neck and settling in my cheeks. I’d tossed him out, hadn’t I? Told him I didn’t want him here. Locked him out even. And like the generous alpha he was, he’d let me keep the space for myself, even though it had been his long before my bad-tempered ass turned up.
I sighed. I’d really screwed this up, hadn’t I? Every time he’d behaved as a mate should, I’d shut him down. If we were to get back on course, it was up to me to make a move. Taking thefew steps back to the door, I reached out and grabbed his hand, a little rough in my awkwardness. He let me pull him into the room without protest, dark eyes watching me intently. He made no attempt to lead the encounter. Maybe he was as unsure as I was, how we should proceed.
Turning to face him, I let my eyes rove over him. For possibly the first time in weeks, I let myselfreallysee him. His chest shone with sweat, clumps of dark hairs matted and glistening, the curve of his pecs shiny, the skin golden brown. I swallowed the urge to lick his muscles, licked my lips instead. Pheromones hung heavy in the air; a trickle of slick ran down my inner thigh.
My eyes traveled further down. He was well endowed, and even though I didn’t think he was particularly turned on yet, his package was prominent. I hadn’t seen him naked since that first night, and I had hardly seen him even then. I wanted to, now.
My eyes kept going. I bit my lip when they reached the torn jeans, the ugly red stain around the tattered edges. My fault. The congealed blood was dark, there was no fresh blood. Thank the Goddess for shifter healing. I felt guilty enough as it was.
I stepped closer. Really close. The finest sliver of air filled the gap between us. I felt the heat radiating from that very fine body. Then I slipped my arms up and around his neck, tugging gently. When he obligingly lowered his head, I lunged in and smacked my lips to his. It wasn’t the most graceful move, but he got the message.
Strong arms wrapped around me and hugged me close. His lips took control of the kiss. Yes, we needed to talk, but there was something else we needed to do first.
My heart pounding, I pressed my hips to his, felt his hard length against me. Relief that he still wanted me made me bold andI reached down and taking one of his hands from my waist, pushed it lower until it settled over my ass cheek.
His other hand slid down and he squeezed my ass through my jeans. I moaned around his tongue, encouraging him, my own tongue tingling, loving the taste of him. Another burst of scent hit the air, and my jeans grew wetter. Rather than being uncomfortable, oddly it made me hornier and I straddled the thigh of his uninjured leg. The metal of my zipper pressed uncomfortably against me, but I loved the feel of riding his thigh.
“Clothes off!” Darius grunted, drawing away.
“No, wait! There’s something I want to do first,” I argued.
I swear he rolled his eyes at me.
“Fucking hell,” he grumbled. “Can you not be unsubmissive just once?” but his eyes were twinkling, and there were creases around the corners, and I knew he was playing with me. Something told me he didn’t mind a bit of sparring, as long as neither of us was actually trying to hurt the other.
