Page 13 of Omega's Forbidden Heat
“Then, I could come with you and help some more.” She can’t help the whine.
“We both know this would be a bad idea. A very bad idea.” He drags his gaze from her body. “Get some fucking blockers, Omega,” he mutters, twisting away from her and fleeing through the door, another cold blast of air blowing down the hall and making her shiver.
She can’t help but stick her tongue out at his retreating back. Yeah, it’s childish. But she feels just like a child who’s been dangled a new toy and then had it snatched away. She slams the door and screams in frustration, kicking her foot against the wall, and then howling in pain. At least, it takes the edge of the lust his presence had been stirring. She’s all hot and bothered; exactly how he used to make her feel as a girl. And now his scent is all over the house too. She follows it through the downstairs of the house to the living room, finding it most concentrated in one of the old settees. Some blankets hang over the arm, and it’s obvious this is where he slept last night. She flops into its belly and immerses herself in his scent, allowing it to permeate into her skin. It’s like floating in a warm bath.
Lying there in silence, she tries to dissect their encounter and what she finds confuses the hell out of her. He hangs around and makes her breakfast, lectures her, but he doesn’t want to play with her. If it weren’t for his scent and his eyes, she’d be lying in misery right now, convinced of his disinterest; certain she repulses him like she does everyone else. But his spiking scent and darkening eyes had signalled his desire — she’s sure of it. Even if the passing minutes allow doubts to creep into her mind. Was it really lust? Or was it alarm?
And if he did want her, why hadn’t he taken her then?
Rules.
Since when has Jack Johnson ever played by the rules? He was forever breaking them at school. Climbing up onto the roof, setting off the fire alarm, breaking into the staff room and scrawling rude messages across the noticeboard. Jack and Finn used to do those things together. They never cared about getting caught, getting punished. They’d risk it for a laugh.
He doesn’t want to risk it for her, though. She closes her eyes, the headache and the nausea returning.
* * *
6 years ago
She can hear voices and the dull thump of a base in the kitchen below her. She rolls onto her side and stares at the opposite wall. It’s no use, she can’t sleep. Not with that noise, not with her own curiosity nudging her out of bed.
She swings her feet onto the cold floor and tugs a hoodie over her pjs, then pulling the elastic from her hair and wiping the sleepy dust from her eyes, she creeps downstairs.
Light spills from the crack in the kitchen door, as well as a strange aroma and muffled laughs. She pushes the door and blinks under the bright overhead lights. Finn and Jack huddle around the open back door, smoke drifting from their mouths towards the ceiling. They peer at her with glazed eyes and snigger. Two dragons breathing fire.
“Mum will kill you if she catches you smoking,” she says, twisting her hands in the front pocket of her sweater.
“She’s asleep.” Finn grins at her, before taking a long drag on the spliff; the end glowing red. She’s never seen or smelt one before, but she knows what it is and her nose twitches at the tangy aroma. Finn eyes her as he passes the joint to Jack, who takes his own drag, then wets his fingertips, extinguishing the burning end, and pockets the joint in his jeans.
“Why you up?” Finn asks.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She walks cautiously towards the fridge, unsure if her intrusion will be welcomed or met with a roasting.
“Did you have a nightmare? She’s always having nightmares.” She can almost hear Finn’s eyes rolling in their sockets and her cheeks burn. She keeps her face hidden behind the open fridge door.
“Ahhh man,” she hears Jack say. “This is a tune.” She shuts the fridge and fills a glass with milk, watching from the corners of her eyes as Jack punches the air above his head in time with the music, silently flicking his fingers, and Finn picks up his phone and ramps up the volume. Their dancing becomes more exuberant, both bouncing up and down on the spot, heads bopping, hands waving as the music builds. She places her glass down on the counter and laughs, the noise catching Finn’s attention. He dives for her, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him.
“Come on squirt, you have to dance to this.” Despite her embarrassment, she’s swept up in their enthusiasm, swinging up and down on her toes. Finn lifts her under the armpits and spins her around like he used to do when she was a little kid. She flings her head back and the kitchen becomes a swirl of colours, Jack’s face passing hers again and again and again. Then Finn releases her and they chuckle as she stumbles about dizzy. Jack catches her hand to steady her, before changing his mind and twirling her under his arm until the song fades and he stops.
“Time for bed,” Finn says, and she can’t help begging to stay.
“Bed.” Finn says more firmly and Jack winks at her, raising her hand to his lips with an exaggerated bow and kissing her knuckles. Her heart stutters in her chest and blood rushes to her face.
“Bedtime for the princess,” Jack jokes, and she knows he’s only teasing her.
Still, it doesn’t stop her from running the pad of her thumb over the backs of her fingers as she climbs the stairs, their muffled voices growing fainter, trying to hold on to the feel of his lips against her skin, a strange tingling sensation faint at the back of her neck.
Chapter Six
His aunt is waiting for him when he returns home, leaning over the banister and calling down to him, her arms full. “Jack, is that you? Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry.”
“Yeah, it’s me.” He slinks off his jacket, hangs it in the hallway and climbs the stairs to meet her. “I was over at Finn’s.”
“Apologising to Amy, I hope” she says.
He runs his hand over his face at the mention of her name, trying to expel the recent memory of what just happened. She’d basically offered herself up to him, laid herself out on the plate for the taking. He could smell it, he could read it in her scent, undeniably. The Omega inside inviting his Alpha to come play. Those kind of messages are instinctual, not a message you could misread.
Any other girl, any other Omega, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. He’d have pressed her up against the wall and driven himself into her without a moment’s thought. An invitation from an Omega is not one an Alpha turns down. But the Omega was Amy. So there’s no way. No way at all. He can’t fuck his best friend’s little sister. Finn would murder him and then his dad would chop his body into tiny pieces and feed him to the pigs.
