Page 58 of Abel's Omega
The pups and I were still in the guest apartment, something I planned to change as well. We were going to be a family, I had no worries about that, and I found myself aching for Abel when I went to my lonely bed each night.
While I’d spent most of my extra money on Christmas presents for the pups—and Abel—I’d managed to keep a little bit back for myself, to buy an extravagant silk shirt in a vibrant Christmas red.
I put the pups to bed, and convinced them to stay there so the Midwinter Wolf would bring them presents. They were wound pretty tightly, but I’d made sure their days were as full of activity as I could manage, and one by one they all dropped off to sleep. I waited a short time after, to make sure, but as soon as I was certain they weren’t going to come crawling back out again, I jumped into the shower and cleaned up, then dressed in my dress pants and the new red shirt.
It shone brilliantly against my skin, my neck rising like white birch out of the V of the collar and reflecting in the blush on my cheeks. I spent some time over my hair, coaxing my curls into order and, daringly, added a thin black line of kohl around my eyes—another extravagant purchase. I had no jewelry that suited, but, wearing this shirt, perhaps I didn’t need any. And the point wasn’t to look pretty in my clothes anyway, but for the clothes to encourage Abel to help me take them all off.
As un-Alpha-like as I sometimes found him, he was a match for my Fan in alpha stubbornness. But his respect for me as a person was getting on my nerves.
I was puttering back and forth between the kitchen and the bathroom, too nervous to eat anything, or to leave off fussing with my clothes and my makeup. A knock on the door made me jump, then relief hit and I rushed to open it.
Bram slouched in the hallway. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I said, and ushered him inside. “The pups are asleep already. The television is there, and there are snacks in the cupboard next to the refrigerator. I got soda too—you can have two cans.” I’d learned my lesson the first time he’d pupsat, and now I limited what he was allowed to eat. “I’ll just be next door, if anything happens. You know where everything is.” I had it all organized anyway, favorite stories set out in easy reach, labeled snacks in the fridge in case anyone woke up. Extra pajamas in case of accidents.
“We’ll be fine.” He sat down on the couch and stretched his legs out, showing off their shapely length.
I raised my eyebrows at him, but he took no notice. That wasn’t unusual either. I should talk to Abel about him and the path I could see him going down. After we’d had sex. Alphas were always far more suggestible then. I suppressed the shudder that casual thought raised in me—Abel wasn’t Patrick. And Patrick was dead, and I had a new, wonderful life ahead of me.
So there.
Bram was already engrossed in some television show, brought in by satellite and piped through the whole building. The pack wasn’t as rich as I’d thought when I’d first arrived—sure, there were TVs, but most of them got no signal. Abel was working on getting internet at least out to the houses, but he was also right that the business offices needed it first. But this building had both because of the young adult barracks on three of the lower floors, so I never had trouble getting Bram, who still lived at home, to pupsit. The barracks shifters had no access to this floor, so I didn’t have to worry about Bram either.
I left Bram to his television, and walked down the hall to knock on Abel’s door. I barely had time to dry my sweaty palms on my pantlegs before he’d opened it.
“Hi,” he said, and the fond look on his face erased any nerves I’d been feeling.
“Hi,” I said back, letting him pull me inside the apartment. He kissed me as he kicked the door closed behind us, and I swayed into him, the heat of his chest burning through the silk and cotton between us.
“You dressed up,” he said when he finally let go of me. He led me into the kitchen and handed me a glass of wine. Something bubbled on the stove, smelling delicious, and I found the appetite that I’d misplaced.
“It’s Christmas. That smells wonderful.”
“Old family recipe. I had the wine, thought I might as well make it.” He went back to stirring and I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Will that spoil if we set it aside for a while?”
He glance back at me with a puzzled expression. “No. Not until I put the sour cream in. Why?”
Deliberately, I reached past him and turned off the burner. “Come here.”
His expression went from puzzled to suspicious. He had a point—my behavior wasn’t always logical. But I was serious about this. We’d waited long enough. It wasn’t like I was a virgin. Nor was I in heat. And it was important to me that this, our first time, be completely unaided by those maddening hormones.
So I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I frowned at him and led him back to the couch. “Undress me,” I told him.
“What? Bax—”
I put a hand over his lips. “I mean it. Here. Tonight.” I stepped in close and breathed my words against his lips, our gazes locked on each other. “I’m yours. You’re mine. I don’t want to sleep in an empty bed anymore.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’m happy to wait until you’re ready.”
I shook my head. Silly alphas. “How willyouknow when I’m ready?” His stunned expression was answer enough. “Trust me. I trust you.” I raised his hands to the top button of my shirt. “Help me.” It was just as hot now as it had been inHis Bad Boy Millionaire.
He stared at me a moment, then took a deep, shuddering breath, and it occurred to me that he was possibly more nervous about this than I was.
“It’s okay,” I said, and started pushing his t-shirt up his torso.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
