Page 23 of In Deep
We walk from the centre of the city and, as we reach the outskirts, he tells me he needs to swing by his house to pick something up. I’m hesitant. We’ve only ever met on neutral territory. He’s never come to my place, and I’ve never been to his. Stepping into his lair feels like another step forward in our relationship, nearing the point when he’ll learn the truth and reject me.
“Just for a moment,” he says, picking up on my uncertainty. “I need the key for the boathouse. You can wait in the hallway.” He grins at me. I know he’s humouring me, that I’m being absurd. A fussy, scared little omega.
“It’s fine,” I try to say in a breezy voice. “I’d like to see your house.”
It’s huge. A four-storey townhouse with a wide, polished door and a black-painted railing. I swing my head back to look up to the roof where a further set of windows nest among the tiles and two neat chimneys frame the building.
“Shit,” I mutter. No student deserves to live in a place like this. “How can you afford–”
“My parents own it.”
“Right,” I say. The bankers.
The hallway is just as grand as the facade, with checked black-and-white tiles running over the floor and an old mirror resting against the wall. But it’s clear four young men live here and not some posh family. Dirty pairs of trainers are littered along the wall, a kit bag with its contents spilling out rests at the bottom of the stairs, and the paintwork is scuffed.
He leads me along the hallway and I hear the heavy door slam behind us as the scents in the house creep into my nose. It smells masculine, like sweat and testosterone and something tangy underneath. I recognise Zane’s scent but intermingled with the other three strong alpha scents.
Usually, smelling so many alpha scents together would be toe curling. The scents would curdle together, making the air rancid. But not these four. They compliment each other, combining to form something irresistible. My gland comes alive in my neck, scorching fiercely.
My hand feels hot in Zane’s, and I want to turn around and walk straight out. Away from these scents into the fresh air. But Zane grips it and pulls me along. We’re halfway down the hallway when the door at the end flings back and a man comes bounding through.
He stops when he sees us, and his gaze flicks between me and Zane.
“Hey,” he says simply, stopping where he stands. He’s smaller than Zane, but only by an inch, and he’s just as broad. Unlike Zane’s thick crop of black hair, his brown hair is shaven close to his skull, and his skin is lighter, a scattering of pale freckles running over the bridge of his nose and onto his cheekbones.
“Hey, Duncan.” Zane tugs me forward, resting his other hand on the man’s shoulder. “Rosie, this is my pack and crew mate, Duncan.” Zane tilts his head in my direction. “Duncan, this is Rosie.”
Duncan nods, his eyes not leaving my face, and I can feel the heat crawling up my neck. I search for resentment in his face, for jealousy, but I find none. Only curiosity.
Zane starts to ask his friend questions about their next practice session and Duncan nods, or shakes his head in response, his gaze continually flicking back to mine. I fidget from one foot to the other.
The scents of these two alphas combined is too much. It warms my body. I need to get away.
“Can I use the bathroom?” I ask.
Zane turns his head to look at me. Do I look flushed?
“Sure,” he says. He points to a door further back down the hallway, and I hurry there, closing it behind me and leaning against the pane. I take two long inhales, but it’s hopeless. The air is thick with their scents. Peering at my reflection in the mirror, I can see my cheeks glowing, the black of my pupils dominating my eyes.
I fill the small basin with cold water, the tap loud in the confined space. When I twist it off, I can hear the voices of the two alphas talking lowly.
“This is the girl?” Duncan asks, and I notice his slight Scottish accent.
“This is the girl. What do you think?”
“Mate, what do I think?” He chuckles. “She’s fucking adorable, and she smells like sex. Even over the blockers, I can smell it.”
“Right?! The fucking restraint I’ve shown with this one, when all I want to do is bend her over and rut her senseless.”
Despite the cool water I throw on my face, my skin burns. But I’m not sure if it’s with embarrassment or anger. They shouldn’t be talking about me like that, and yet it pleases the omega in me, stirs her. She wants to be bent over and rutted.
My body responds to the visual of Zane’s strong hands gripping my hips, his solid body crashing against mine. A flush ascends through my whole body, and I shiver violently with desire. A pulse drums between my legs and I feel myself get wet, slick running into my underwear. The aroma fills the bathroom. There’s no disguising it. They’ll know.
Quickly, I flush the toilet and rush from the bathroom. Zane is waiting for me on the other side of the door.
“Alright?” he asks me.
His nostrils twitch.
