Page 36 of Perfectly Naïve
Her lips twitch. “Oh, um. Yes.”
A grin pulls at my mouth, and I smooth my thumb over her lip again. “I like that brain of yours.” She sucks on my thumb. “Fuck, omega.” I grunt, extracting my finger before we end up right where we left off. “You can’t do that.”
“I wanted to taste me on your skin.”
Fuck. Me. It’s like she’s trying to kill me. “I think you should go.”
She scrunches her eyebrows together and studies my face. “Dilated pupils, flushed cheeks. Earlier,you were growling.” She tips her head. “What did your cock feel like when you wanted to rut me?”
“Jesus Christ," I mutter, stepping away. “I’m begging you to walk away, vixen. Please.” The desperation in my tone must hit her because she sucks in a quick breath. If she was experienced, if she was mine, I wouldn’t think twice. She was ready, willing. But at the moment, she’s not mine.
“Crap. I’m sorry,” she says quickly.
“It’s fine. But please.” I gesture toward her vehicle. “Before I lose all sense of propriety and knot that tight pussy on the front lawn.”
“Public play,” she murmurs, eyes hooding. “I watched a video with that.”
She watches porn? Fucking hell. “Liv.”
“Right. Going.” She turns and heads into the garage. I’m about to tell her that’s the wrong way, but she rushes into the house, returning moments later with her notebook clutched to her chest. She shoots me a shy grin. “Uh, sorry about the mauling. Thank you for the orgasm.” She hops in her car, and I watch her drive away, fists clenched to keep from running after her. When she turns the corner, I shake my head.
Thank you for the orgasm?
Chuckling to myself, I walk toward the house, ready for an ice-cold shower. That omega is dangerous, but I can’t wait to see her again.
Chapter Thirteen
OLIVIA
My mind is on overload.
We’ve been hard at work testing the new formula, making micro adjustments and studying the reaction. All the numbers and data are running on a loop in my brain. Something isn’t right. There’s something to adjust, but I don’t know what, and it’s driving me crazy. Like an itch I can’t scratch, I can feel how close we are to finding some relief, but none of our calculations have quite hit the mark.
When my mind isn’t full of equations and data, it’s running through the conversation I’m going to have tonight with Sawyer and his pack. I’ve been mulling it over, and if I really want to please a whole pack, and not just one alpha, I have to adjust the study. It’s logical that I ask his whole pack to help me learn. So, I’ve created a PowerPoint presentation outlining my proposal, the pros and potential cons, the data I’d like to gather, and how I plan to quantify my findings.
I’m excited, nervous, and more than a little distracted.
Which is why I’m taken so completely by surprise whenmy mother blindsides me the moment I step into her house after work.
“There you are, Olivia,” she calls from the sitting room. Her voice has taken on the fake, singsongy quality she usually reserves for people she deems more important than me. But it doesn’t entirely hide her irritation. “We’ve been waiting for you for quite some time, darling.”
As I come to a halt in the foyer, my eyes bounce between Mother and a prim-looking woman who sits straight-backed and unmoving on the sofa in the next room. She looks entirely too dour to be one of my mother’s pretentious friends, and I don’t want any part in whatever this is.
“I was at work. Like every weekday.” I’m tempted to run up to my room and escape this awkwardness, but decades of social conditioning keep my feet rooted to the spot as I paste on a bland smile.
My mother sniffs. “Yes, well, Carrie was kind enough to fit us into her busy schedule, so let’s not keep her waiting.” She pats the spot on the sofa between herself and Carrie. “Come, come, darling.”
“I’m so sorry, but I have plans this evening. Can whatever this is wait?”
Fire flashes in my mother’s eyes, but she manages to mask it before turning to the prim stranger and offering an apologetic smile. “You can see why she needs help finding a good pack. Despite my best efforts, Olivia is better at understanding numbers than social cues.” She titters condescendingly. “But I’m certain she can learn to please a pack.”
Her words have my back going ramrod straight. It’s not the first time she’s implied I’m lacking in essential omega traits, and it won’t be the last, but hearing it said so casually in front of a complete stranger is humiliating. Besides, I’m well aware of my social deficiencies. It’s why I’ve asked Sawyerfor help. Why I have an entire slideshow prepared to ask his packmates for help.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Carrie says, sniffing as she looks me over. Whatever she sees, it’s clear she also finds me wanting when her lips curl. “I work with very exclusive clients, Marnie. If your daughter isn’t going to take this seriously, I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Oh, trust me, Olivia will take thisveryseriously. Not every omega has the opportunity to be paired with a pack by the most sought-after matchmaker in Chicago.” My mom glares at me. “Now, come sit down, darling. It’s time we find you a pack.”
Dread pools in my stomach, swirling around with the anticipation I’ve been feeling about going to Sawyer’s. It’s enough to make me nauseated, but the quickest way to get out of this situation is to simply play along.
