by Layla Heart
“Yeah. Thanks. Good to know.” My voice is hoarse and I turn back to the coffee machine, but I’m at a total loss over what I was doing.
Max looks good in regular clothes, he looks better in a suit, but under all that... Hell... I’m going to have to put on a clean pair of panties once I manage to sneak my breakfast back to my room... His chest is broad, well-defined, and there’s a light trail going from this bellybutton to the top of his slacks... He looks lickable.
I’m so lost in thought that I startle when Max suddenly appears at my back, reaching both his arms around me as he pours a cup of coffee. It’s like he’s embracing me, but not quite. His hard body is hot against my back and I feel his hard cock push right above my ass, it takes everything in me to not push my ass back and just rub up against him. Fuck.
Seriously girl, get a grip! This is not what we’re supposed to be doing. Imagining them while getting myself off last night was bad enough, I don’t need to add this to it.
“You’ll want a cup to drink it from. I don’t recommend drinking it straight from the pot.” Max’ lips are so close to my ear that I can feel them moving as he speaks, sending electricity down my body, soaking my panties instantly.
This is worse than Spence last night, with Spence, he made it pretty clear he wanted to fuck me there and then, but with Max, the way he stays in control, it’s like he’s daring me to take control and fuck myself on him.
Which I shouldn’t. Which I really shouldn’t. No matter how tempting. No matter how soaked my panties and how hot I feel inside.
I can’t.
23
Max
The way she so openly stared at me, her eyes appreciative, even though she apparently didn’t mean to, it made me bold. Bolder than I would normally act, but since we’re the only ones awake, it was worth it, it was totally worth it. Her body is strung tight as I make sure to keep as much contact with her body as I can while I pour her a cup of coffee. Then I take my sweet time to reach out and put the cup on her tray. Fuck. If I slip my hand into the sweatpants she’s wearing, I bet I could make her come in under a minute... And if she pushes her ass back a little more, I’ll come in my slacks.
I don’t want to step away from her. Standing here is delicious, just standing here and feeling her against me, it’s the thing of wet dreams. I could probably spend all day here, in this delicious torture with her body against mine. “Did you shower? You smell... human.” There’s nothing left of the scent I smelled at her apartment and late last night, the scorched pine, her scent, her Omega scent.
She slowly nods, not moving otherwise.
I nuzzle behind her ear, hoping to catch a sliver of her scent and she shivers against me. “I like your own scent better.” My voice is hoarse and, sadly enough, that seems to break the spell she’s under because she steps away, turning to me, her eyes angry instantly.
“I don’t. It makes people do stupid things.” Her jaw sets and she grabs her tray, almost spilling the coffee in her rough movements. “I’m going to have breakfast. Bye.”
No. No. I don’t want her to leave yet. Not yet. “Let’s have breakfast together, outside. Have you seen the view yet?”
“I’m going to eat in my room. Thanks.” She’s about to walk away when I reach out and slide my arm around her waist, pulling her against me again.
“But I’d really like it if we had breakfast together. Please?” I make sure to be as close to her as possible, and like before, she shivers, her whole body tight. Bingo.
“Fine. If it’s just you.” She waits and I quickly throw some stuff onto a plate. I don’t care what I’ve grabbed. I’m not going to test her patience, not when I get a chance like this.
“I’ve found a good place to sit, come.” I walk ahead of her, grabbing one of the fuzzy blankets from the back of a couch and then I open the door to the back terrace.
Cyra’s eyes go wide as she looks out, stopping in her tracks. Yeah, that’s what I thought too.
We’re right at the sea. We could walk from the back of the house, straight to the sea in just a few minutes. I bet this place is amazing in the summer...
If we get a chance, I’m totally bringing her back here in the summer, just to watch her step out of the house and make her way to the sea. That will be a sight, especially in the early morning, and her not wearing anything at all... Hmmm. Good plan.
“Come on.” I tug on her sleeve carefully, not wanting to spill her coffee or orange juice, don’t want to get her annoyed, and I walk down the path to a secluded area with benches and tables. It’s still got a great view of the beach, but you can’t see it from the house, and the wind isn’t as bad here either.
I motion for her to sit down and then I wrap the fluffy blanket around her shoulders, before I sit down next to her. “See? Much better.”
For a while, she just looks out over the sea, not eating anything, just staring, then she lets out a slow breath, her face falling. “How bad is it? Back home?”
I consider my words for a moment, but she deserves the truth. If we want a different relationship than what she’s been taught is what an Alpha/Omega relationship is supposed to be like, then we need to be honest with her, at all times. “Last I checked, the paparazzi were all over trying to figure out who you are, where you work, where you went to school, stuff like that.”
“Fuck.” She pulls a face. “I guess that returning to work is out of the question, then. Though, it might get the cafe some publicity, which could be good for them. If any good is to come from this...”
“They’re digging into the backgrounds of us four too. Not much to find about me, or Liam, mostly. Though, depending on what your idea of fun reality TV is, you might not want to read the articles that focus on Zack or Spence.”
She lets out a short laugh, something akin to mirth passing behind her eyes, and she smiles a little. “I know enough about them. They were infamous for being playboys among human girls, so I’m pretty sure that they’ll be the same in shifter society. They... Yeah. Pretty sure I know what will be in those articles.”
I can’t help my own smile, glad to see that there are still things that make her smile, even something as ridiculous as what those other two Alphas get up to. She’s right though, they’ve got a similar reputation among shifters. “In the interest of fairness, the articles also mention that they’re really good at their jobs. Negotiating deals for companies and stuff like that. Their family businesses are in real estate, business side.”
She looks at me, simply curious. “And you? What do you do?”
“My job is really boring, really.”
“I don’t care. You know my jobs, you’ve seen me at one. I play princess for little girls at parties, so their parents don’t have to go out of their way to actually understand what kids would like to do at parties, and they can be with the adults while the kids are looked after. I don’t think it can be much boring than that.” She reaches out and as she’s about to put her hand on my leg she pulls back, her cheeks going pink. Cute.
I pick up one of her strawberries and hold it out for her to eat. She frowns for a moment, before opening her mouth so I can feed her. I pop the strawberry into her mouth and watch her chew on it before I answer. “I’m in analytics. It’s boring. Numbers, lots of numbers. My clients want to know what to do with their company. They want to know where to invest. Stuff like that. I look for the right variables and run the numbers for them.”
“Numbers guy, nerdy.” Her smile grows more, genuine happiness. “You must be really smart.”
“Liam is on the other side of the work. He creates some of the programs I use. He creates a lot of programs for different companies.” If anyone is the smart one of us, he’s it.
She nods, thinking for a moment. “He was working on a laptop yesterday, while we were waiting at the airport.” So she did pay attention to us, even though she was pretending she wasn’t.
“Yes. He’d made a script that mined the web for any new mentions of our names or the Gala.
He wanted to make sure that we knew what was going on at all times.”
“And?” She doesn’t look so happy now. “Found anything that you’ve not mentioned yet?”
“Not much. I promise. Liam has been tracking your family as much as he could. But, last I heard, there hadn’t been much interesting going on. Though, it was late, they may have had to wait until morning before making their move. The Gala itself has never been covered this much by news websites. Though, I don’t think they really appreciate the type of attention they’ve been getting.”
The Night Gala is never without controversies, but this year might have been a little bit too much. They’re currently getting part of the blame for ‘letting’ us sneak off with Cyra and for there supposedly not being enough guidelines to ‘prevent’ Alphas from taking any Omega away from the party. And they’re under a lot of fire for hosting this Gala in the first place, some places calling it ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘barbaric’, that it isn’t of the times anymore. Which I definitely agree with.
“It originally started with Zack and Spence’s entrance, that kind of blew up all over the place. But, of course, that was quickly overshadowed by us five sneaking off. And they had a couple of pics of us leaving my place. But nothing after that yet.” I don’t want to worry her, but she takes the information in with a strange calm.
“Okay.” Her voice is quiet and she picks up one of the croissants, plucking at it and eating it in small pieces while the flakes flutter down into her lap. She doesn’t seem to notice it, lost in thought.
“Your parents have been talking to the press. They’ve revealed some stuff about you, about your past, your schooling and things like that. But they’ve not told the media that you’re a phoenix. Which should keep you safe for now.”
This time, I’m the one reaching out and I slide my arm over her shoulders, over the fluffy blanket, and I move closer to her, keeping her cradled against me.
She finishes the croissant, whatever hasn’t landed in her lap anyway, and then pulls the blanket around herself more, leaning into me, as she lets out a long breath. “Tell me something else. Something fun. I don’t know. Anything. What happens once we’re safe again? Maybe we can return to a normal life. That we can... I don’t know. Something to make me forget all of this, just for a while.”
I pull her closer, sliding her legs over my legs and wrap my other arm around her too, holding her as close to me as I can, wrapping my body around hers protectively. “Next summer. We’re going to return to his house, or... I don’t know, something similar. Something at the seaside. Some place where the sun rises and sets on the beautiful blue ocean, every day. You’ll spend all day sitting behind the house, doing what you love best.” Not that I can imagine her ever sitting still, but that doesn’t have to ruin the dream.
“Reading.” Her voice is soft, sweet, as she speaks into the blanket. Her warm breath seeping through it and hitting my bare chest, spreading through me like a slow fire. “I like reading.”
I softly laugh. “Reading, okay. You’ll be reading all day, only stopping when you want to go for a dive in the beautiful blue water. Wait, no. You’ll have wireless earbuds, super good ones, I don’t know. And when you go for a swim, or just float in the water, you’ll listen to audiobooks. Once you’re done there, you pick up the book again and you keep reading. You’ll be able to read all the books you never had the time or energy to get through. All of them.”
She laughs quietly. “That’s going to take more than just one summer.”
“Okay. You’ll be doing this every summer for the rest of your life. And in the winter, you’ll do the same in some cabin high in the mountains, surrounded by snow. You’ll go skiing when you want to and spend the rest of the time reading near the fireplace, all wrapped up in fluffy blankets.” I smile as I try to imagine her sitting still for that long, she seems way too active for it, but that’s okay, it doesn’t have to be real.
Cyra pushes closer, her nose almost at my neck, her breath warm on my skin, setting it on fire. “And what about you? Where will you be?”
24
Liam
The sun is high in the sky when I wake up. Not strange, since it was already getting light when I finally went to sleep. We spent almost two hours after we arrived just trying to come up with a plan of what to do next, how to move on from here. We can’t stay here for the rest of our lives, and we also can’t hop from one place to the next, to the next, trying to stay ahead of whoever is trying to find us.
We pooled our resources, trying to find out what we could do within our own means and what we might have to hire people for. We came up with a handful of plans, all based on different scenarios that could play out in the coming days. The best thing, of course, would for this to blow over and for everyone to forget about it. The chance of that happening is minuscule, so that was easy to plan out.
There are a couple of other scenarios that could play out, the first would be that people somehow find out that Cyra is a phoenix. If that happens, we’re going to find a way to hide her away for a while, though my instinct would be to hide her away for the rest of our lives... But just long enough for her not to be as recognizable anymore should be enough, and then we’ll probably have to keep letting her take the meds and everything until we come up with a better plan.
Another scenario is that her parents bring forth a ‘rightful mate’ or something ridiculous like that, basically someone they approve of to be her mate. That could turn very ugly, very fast. In those cases, you can get court cases taking years while parents and mates fight over an Omega. It’s... horrid. But definitely something that could happen.
And I’m pretty sure that each of us at one point or another considered the idea of simply mating her this mating season, getting her knocked up, claiming her as our own. And then we promptly discarded that idea because Cyra would kill us if she ever found out that we even thought of that. No. We’ll have to find another way to keep her safe while not forcing her to live a life that will most likely kill her spirit.
I eye the pile of clothes on the floor and sigh. We’re going to have to get some new clothes, because I don’t think we can keep wearing our suits for days on end. Especially not since mine isn’t exactly the cleanest after my fight with Zack on the plane.
Talking about that... I reach up, touching my face. I don’t feel too much pain, and when I look down, I don’t seem to be covered in too many bruises. Shifters heal fast, so it’s likely as much from that as from the fact Zack just needed to have a brawl, get his energy out, and he wasn’t really trying to inflict maximal damage. Which I’m very sure he’s capable of, if he wants to.
When I make it downstairs, I find Zack and Spence in the kitchen, scarfing down the breakfast that’s been brought over.
“Good morning, I see.” I look around, but don’t see Max or Cyra, though I can smell Max’ scent, his scent of freshly dug forest floor, earthy and strong, so he must have been here, not too long ago. “Leaving anything for the rest of us?”
“Nah.” Zack smirks. “First come, first served. You shouldn’t have slept in that long, grandpa.”
As I pass him by, I smack the back of his head. “I was talking about Cyra, dumbass.”
Spence laughs. “Oh, she believes in ‘first come, first served’. She took nearly all the strawberries with her, and made a good dent in our supply of croissants. I don’t think we need to worry about her.”
I laugh too. She fits in, she fits into this weird mix of people very well.
“Good.” I pour myself a mug of coffee, emptying the can, and then steal the last three croissants, quickly making my way to the back of the house.
“Hey!” Zack calls after me, but I don’t hear him move. Fun. Teasing the hydra is very fun, maybe a little too fun sometimes.
I open the back door and step out. It’s not too cold today, and the sun feels nice on my skin. I plop down a little distance away from the door and just eat the croissants as I look out over the sea. I’m still too
groggy to be around the two other guys, they’re a little too active for me so soon after waking up.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been at the sea. I usually camp in the mountains or in forest areas, I feel more at home there, but the sea is also nice, for a change. I should definitely visit the seaside more often, maybe even together with Cyra, if she likes it.
As I’m finishing my cup of coffee, two figures appear on the path from the beach, Max and Cyra. Cyra has one of the fluffy blankets wrapped around herself as Max is carrying a tray with dishes up to the house.
Something twists in my stomach. I should have kept walking and I would have found her. But now Max has been spending time with her for I don’t know how long... That could have been me. Fuck.
“Morning.” I smile as they’re closer.
“Pretty sure it’s well past noon.” Cyra laughs slightly and just seeing her calm and not totally stressed out feels good.
“It’s always morning somewhere in the world, we’re just in the wrong timezone.” I get up and step closer to her. “I wouldn’t go inside just yet... The other two seem to be holding a ‘who can choke on the food the fastest’ contest.”
She lets out a louder laugh as she glances past me and then she looks up at me. “And you have other plans?”
I shrug. “We could go for a walk on the beach. Enjoy the view. I could even let you ride on my back.”
She frowns slightly, though she’s still smiling. “I’m not entirely sure that would be safe. I’ve never ridden a horse before.”
I’m about to reply with a funny remark about me teaching her, but stop when I catch the look on Max’ face, who’s staring at his phone.
He lets out a loud curse as he holds his phone out for me to read. ‘Unknown Omega who left the Night Gala with four Alphas turns out to be Cyra Fireborn, parents confirm...’
