Page 62 of In Doubt
“And you don’t want a nice little omega?” The distance between us seems to be shrinking and her scent is potent in my nostrils, warming my belly.
“Oh, I want an omega,” I say, lifting my gaze to meet hers. “But I want one for our pack.” There’s heat in my eyes and she finds it too much, dropping her gaze to the cake in my hands. “I loved my big family growing up,” I continue, wanting for some reason to make her understand. Maybe it’s because I see this potential between her and Jake, see how it could grow into something between all of us. “Loved the noise and the chaos and the feeling of being loved in all directions. I always knew pack life would be for me.”
“I think I’d like it too,” she murmurs.
My heart stops beating and my breath catches in my throat. “You would?” I croak.
“Eventually, yeah.”
I shift against the table, feeling strangely giddy. I clear my throat as she nibbles on the cake.
“You like caring for people,” she says. I lift my eyebrow and she smiles in reply. “It’s why you like to cook for everyone. It’s why your mum liked to cook. It’s why my brother likes to cook too.”
“I guess, you’re right.”
“I am,” she giggles and my gaze dances all around her bright face. Jake always made this woman out to be difficult, argumentative, but I find her surprisingly easy to talk to.
My gaze falls automatically to her lips. A lone crumb hangs in the corner of her mouth.
“You’ve got a …” I point to her mouth and ducking her head, she brushes her lips with her fingers. “No, it’s …” I reach out and gently guide her chin upwards, her eyes drawing wide as I do. Then I brush away the crumb with the pad of my thumb, feeling the soft texture of her lips, and the thud of her pulse.
I want to kiss her. If she were any other girl, I would. But I remember what Jake told me, remember how skittish this omega has been, and I drop her chin and step away.
“I’d better …” she mumbles, hurrying from the door, and my heart drums in my ears as I watch her go.
16
Giorgie
We’re silent on the drive back to the temple, and I can’t decide if the space between us in the back seat of the car seems infinitely wide, like a giant chasm, or far too close, like I can almost feel the heat of his body. We’ve drawn down all the windows, each doing it automatically without a word to the other. His scent is almost drowning. It’s all I can smell, all I can taste, all my little brain is determined to fixate on. I guess mine must be bothering him too. Best to have the windows open.
I try not to look at him either, keeping my eyes locked out the window. Looking at him is just as overwhelming. The man is too beautiful. The angle of his jaw, those bottomless eyes, the cut of his cheek bones. It’s like he was chiselled from marble by some master craftsman. Peering his way has my stomach spinning and my mind lingering on that moment from last night, that moment in the hallway.
And other moments too. Aiden brushing his knuckles against my cheek. The pressure of Levi’s hand in the small of my back. Dylan’s fingers against my lips.
This is completely inappropriate. Jake and I are colleagues. For this trip we’re practically work mates. Thinking about kissing Jake Grantham, dreaming about what lies beneath his clothes, remembering how it felt to be held in his arms, lusting after his packmates, is wrong.
Pull your head out of the gutter, Giorgie Martinelli. You’re a professional.
Besides, he obviously feels the same way. He’s made no further moves to renew that kiss. It was simply one moment of madness. One we can both forget about.
The site is almost empty when we arrive. The buses and line of cars that usually wait by the outskirts are gone and there are only a few men steadily working at the main temple, removing with painstaking care more and more layers of sand.
It’s meant to be cooler now, the red disc of the sun sinking lower against the horizon and bathing everything in a golden light. But I’m just as hot. Sweat pooling at the base of my spine and around my brow. I fan my shirt, attempting to drive air down my top.
There’s no one here to greet us so we collect our tools from the main tent and walk around the temple towards our newly dug trench.
The temple looks even more magical against the sunset, the sandstone structure glowing like gold in the fading light and the never-ending sand dunes in the distance glittering.
“I think this is the time of day when the alphas would have come to pray, to offer up their thanks to the God of the Alphas and the Goddess of the Omegas,” Jake says, the scarlet disc of the sun dancing in his pupils. “To be mesmerised and enchanted by the stars. To have claimed one another under the watchful gaze of the Heavens.”
“Hmmm,” I say, wondering for a moment if this is some dream. His scent curls into my nose and it’s almost as if my footsteps drift towards him, being pulled there by some unseen force.
The Ancient Egyptians were all about fertility and breeding and it’s as if that magic hovers in the air, pushing me towards him.
“I know it’s silly, but I was really super excited about coming on this trip, and also a little nervous.”
“Because of me?” he asks, his voice tight.
