Page 4 of A Baby for Christmas
"You shouldn't walk the streets smelling like that." Sure, this was a small town, but bad things happened to omegas everywhere. I'd only been working at the shelter for a year or two, but I'd seen enough to know what horrors the quietest of streets could hide. I couldn't let anything happen toRobin.
"I've got to dosomething," Robin insisted, glancing in the direction of the bathroom before his eyes fixed on my lips like he couldn't decide what the better option was—jumping me or locking himself in another room. Why, oh why did he have to take drugs tonight? "It wouldn'tmeananything," hesaid.
Not to you,maybe.
I shook my head. "That's not a good idea." If I kissed him now, I would lose it. Already, my self-control was hanging on by a thread. Around Robin, I felt like a recovering alcoholic and his lips were thatone glass of wineI wouldn't stop at. And just like any addict faced with his vice, I found it almost impossible to back away when Robin offered all I'd secretly been craving foryears.
But how would I let him go again in themorning?
He leaned in close enough for me to feel his breath on my face. My eyes were drawn to his mouth. "You're not thinking straight," I said. The statement applied to both of us,really.
"I don't care." Robin touched his forehead to mine. A shiver went through me as I drew his scent into my nose again. "C'mon," he murmured. "I want youto—"
I never got to know what it was he wanted me to do, because that moment, the doorbell rang, yanking me out of my stupor. Robin cursed. I jumped off the couch. "Probably just someone from the shelter again," I said. "You might wantto—'
"Yeah, I know." He dashed into the bathroom as I smoothed down my shirt and adjusted my pants. If I opened the door only halfway, maybe no one could see my hard-on.
3
Robin
Deep breaths,Robin. Keep it together now.Inhaling, I leaned back against the cool tiles of the bathroom wall. How was it that I got stuck at my best friend's house experiencing the most intense heat of my life? The guy who sold me the pill had told me to be careful, but fuck. I could barely thinkstraight.
Well, there was one coherent thought in my head: I wanted Ben. I always did, in a way, but tonight, the urge was becoming impossible to resist. Trying to think of something else, I banged my head back against the wall. I shouldn't have come here. I should have gone home and dealt with this heat in the sanctity of my own four walls. Only I was so scared of spending another Christmas by myself that I didn't think. And now here Iwas.
I needed to distract myself somehow, so I tried to figure out what was going on at the door, who'd dropped by, but it was difficult to focus. Why had I ever thought going through another heat was a good idea? Fuck Calvin and my need to impress theasshole.
Voices came from the other room now. It sounded like there was a boy at the door, or two. What were they doing out on Christmas Eve? And why were they interrupting my time with Ben when I'd nearly convinced him to give me what Iwanted?
I turned up the faucet and splashed some cold water in my face. Ben and I had broken up years ago, but it was a lie to say I didn't think of him when I was in bed with other guys sometimes. Okay,allthe time. How could I not? He was hot, and kind, and hegotme in a way nobody else did. When I was the new kid in school, he was the only one who stood up for me when I was bullied for wearing oversized hand-me-downs. He didn't even care about the uneven buzz-cut my foster parents had forced on me. He knew what it was like when life was difficult. We became each other's most important allies, but we hadn’t worked out as a couple. We were friends. Being friends was a good thing. I only had to keep telling myselfthat.
"Robin? You okay inthere?"
Suddenly I remembered being TP'd in the school bathroom and him finding me there a moment later, demummifying me with a quiet rage simmering just below the surface. He'd been angry on my behalf. He'dcared.I think that was probably the moment I first developed a crush on him, on the second floor bathroom of Oceanport's only middle school, wrapped in toiletpaper.
Romantic, Iknow.
"I'm fine," I made myself respond to Ben's question. "I'mjust..."
"Justwhat?"
"Just really, really horny." I had to laugh because this was such a stupid situation to be in. When I'd experienced my first heat as a teenager, Ben had been there for me. Why couldn't I have him now? Where had I gone wrong that I found myself hiding in his bathroom now, trying to get my hormones undercontrol?
Why had I fallen for the one alpha who didn't want to knock meup?
"Is there anything I can do to help?" heasked.
I laughed harder. "You mean besides theobvious?"
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, besidesthat."
"Can't think of anything. I think I’m probably going to be fine, though." At least, my head was clearing a little bit. Maybe the drug didn't have long lasting effects? Come to think of it, ithadbeen prettycheap.
Somewhat confident that I could handle myself, I left the bathroom—only to be hit with a whiff of Ben'sscent.
I thought I was going to be okay, until that smell entered my nose. I'd always loved Ben's scent and tonight he wasallalpha. Musky and earthy with a hint of sandalwood and a large helping of pheromones that short-circuited my brain all over again. I'd forgotten that omegas weren't the only ones who could draw people to them with their scents. Ben wanted me, even if he wasn't saying it out loud. He wanted me just as much as I wantedhim.
Some part of my brain decided that action was required, and before I could even fully think about what I was doing, I was throwing myself at my best friend. Ben made a surprised sound and then my lips were on his, shutting him up. He tensed. For a second or two, I was afraid he was going to push me away. And then he yielded. His hand went into my hair as he opened his mouth, meeting my tongue with his own. From his touch, desire flowed through me like an electrical current. God, I'd missed the taste of his mouth, of him. I felt like I’d been starving in the desert and finally got a drop ofwater.
