The sky shifted above us to glimpses of the planets and Milky Way, the entire panoply Valentine’s decorated for all the couples.
Reid didn’t make a single sound. Maybe he’d fallen asleep.
My lungs failed me as I caught him looking at me. There was something in his eyes that I’d never seen in another man’s—a depth, a heated depth I wanted to dive right into.
“You wanna go?” I asked, almost breathless.
Reid simply shook his head.
“You wanna stay?” I bit my lip, expecting what came next, but trying not to hope too hard.
Reid had me heart and soul. I thought I might die if he didn’t lean over and kiss me.
I didn’t have to wait long. Our mouths melded together. Reid’s lips, full and hot, took over, plunging his tongue into my mouth and demanding more. I grabbed the front of his shirt, needing him closer. His hands were on either side of my face, holding me in place.
“I’ve been waiting for that all day,” he said, breaking away but only by an inch. His sweet breath fanned over my face.
“Me, too. I couldn’t even concentrate on those stupid flowers.”
He chuckled. “Oh yeah, well, I let a cup of coffee go cold, reliving last night in my mind.”
A goofy grin took over my face. “You’ve got it bad, Reid.”
He pecked me once on the lips. “So do you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Reid
Saying goodbye after the most romantic date I’d ever been on was harder than hard. Maybe it was because I knew we were on borrowed time, but I had a feeling it was more than that. We’d connected in a way I’d not with anyone before.
Sure, I’d had hot, lust-filled connections with other alphas and even some friends-with-benefits connections. What I never had was this need to learn everything about someone before. So, when Kayson’s aunt called to tell him something craptastic about the wedding, and he had to go before our conversation was over, it sucked monkey balls.
To be fair, we’d have had more time to talk had I not been sticking my tongue down his throat, but between his scent and the stars glimmering above us, it wasn’t as if I had a choice. The man called to me like no other ever had.
So, as I threw on my shirt after taking another shower, a freaking cold one, I was more than ready to see him. He’d only dropped me off long enough to go do some things his aunt had left for him at the shop, and I was already craving him almost as much as I craved my coffee in the morning. It should’ve scared me, especially given the short time I knew him and my recent breakup, but it didn’t. It felt right.
Three swift knocks on the door had me jumping. A quick glance at the clock told me he was early. Thank goodness. If he had been one second late, it would have felt like an eternity.
I opened the door, greeting him with a smile the size of Nebraska. No sense hiding how much I was glad to see him. He deserved better than games. I’d been on the wrong side of game playing in the past, and it sucked.
Topher was an ass.
“You’re early.” I grabbed his hand, yanking him to me, needing to feel his body against mine. His lips greeted me.
“I messaged you. I have to bring something to the venue on the way. Is that okay?”
“More than.”
I kissed him hungrily, both of our cocks now pressed together through our slacks and ready to go. We needed to stop if we weren’t going to come like teenagers in our pants.
I took a step back, instantly regretting it as the loss of his touch practically stung me.
“Let me grab my phone and wallet.” I picked up both and turned on my phone before slipping it inside the front pocket of my jacket. While I loved being away from the world, blocking out Kayson was not worth the price of being unplugged. “I turned it off so I didn’t get bothered by work.” I shrugged before grabbing his hand and heading out of the hotel.
We climbed into the florist’s van, which was far less sexy than his car the night before, but I couldn’t care less. I was with him. Shit, if he picked me up in a school bus, I’d have been fine with it.
I’d barely got my seat belt buckled when my phone exploded with notifications.
“How many times did you call?” I teased.
“That’s for me to know.” He turned on the ignition and began to exit the parking lot when my curiosity got the best of me.
Three texts were from him. Three glorious texts.
Thank you for a wonderful dinner.
Thinking of you.
I need to come an hour early. Hope that’s ok.
The rest were from Topher. All twenty. It turned out that my asking him for help turned him into a raving lunatic. They started with the crap I had already seen and quickly moved on to him telling me what to do then calling me a child for ignoring him, to the last one, which was by far the most concerning.
Since you refuse to deal with this like a grown-up, I will see you in person soon.
That could’ve easily been him saying as soon as I got back, but it had a tinge of urgency enhanced by the texts leading up to it. I never should’ve turned my phone on.
I typed back quickly.
No need. I figured it out. Thanks for your time.
And then shut it back down. I had zero time for his bullshit. I had a date.
“Everything all right?” Kayson’s hand rested on my knee.
“Yeah. Just my ex being an ass.” Possibly a stalker, but I left that part off. There was no need for me to upset him in that way. Not when we were already about to be a part of what I imagined would be a pretty awkward dinner. From what I understood, that was pretty much the norm for a rehearsal dinner.
“How ex is he?”
“One hundred percent.” I took his hand that was settled on my leg and gave it a squeeze. “He thinks he needs to take over my lease issue, and I just told him I have it handled.”
“Do you?” he asked, taking his hand away. For a second, I thought it was to not be touching me anymore, but as he turned the corner, I realized he needed both hands to make the thing move. I didn’t know if it never had power steering or if the power steering was shoddy, but it took all his effort to make the sharp turn.
“Have it handled?” I clarified, and he nodded. “Not in the least, but I’ll figure something out. I work from home, so I have no need to stay in an overpriced city if I don’t want to.”
“So, thinking of a new location?”
“I kind of was.” Saying it aloud felt good. “Not sure where, but someplace more economical, and someplace where you don’t get lost in the crowd.”
“Sounds like Mapleville, if you ask me.”
It sounded like it to me, too.
Chapter Fourteen
Kayson
Reid had me worried. Not a little bit like, I have a hangnail bothering me, I should probably take care of it. More like, hmm, I should probably get that broken arm casted before it falls off.
We weren’t to the point where I felt like I could sit him down and say, “Hey, babe, I need to know what your plans are.”
I wish we had gotten to that point.
“What’s the emergency?” I asked a little callously as I entered the restaurant. Celeste was in the corner, crying, with a raccoon’s worth of black crap running down her face and a crowd of worried onlookers surrounding her.
“Look!” she screamed and pointed to the ceiling. The piece I had used to covertly cover the dusty ceiling fan was in a shambles. Despite my begging everyone to not turn the fan on and even placing a Post-it note over the switch.
They did it.
They turned the damned fan on.
“No problem. I need a ladder, and I’ll grab some other stuff from my truck.” The hostess from before scrambled to the back yelling for a ladder while I passed Reid and grabbed his elbow, dragging him outside with me.
Because the man was almost doubled over in laughter, and he wasn’t doing a stellar job of hiding it.
“That’s ridiculous, Kayson. Did you
see the switch? Someone had to remove the note that said not to touch the fan, turn it on, and the put the sapsucker back. That takes balls.”
“It does. I wrote that note.”
“You should’ve covered the damned thing with duct tape. Clearly, notes don’t work.”
“Here. Hold this.” I put clear tape, wire cutters, ribbon, and a few extra things in his hands while I got the rest. I couldn’t wait until this wedding was over.
I might put a sign up on the shop that said, No longer taking wedding projects. Sounded good to me.
What didn’t sound good to me was Reid leaving. I supposed that after the wedding was over, there would be no more reason for him to stay.
Unless, we were enough of a reason.
Unless, I was enough of a reason.
“What was that?” He shuffled everything to one hand and used the other to stroke my cheek. Out of instinct, I pressed my face against his palm and reveled in the warmth while I could.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
With a shrug, I pried away and forced myself to go inside and fix the stupidest situation known to a florist in the history of florists.
“Can you fix it?” Celeste asked, now cleaned up and sobbing more like a baby than a grown woman.
“I hope so. Reid, can you tape that switch up so no more idiots can touch it?”
I grabbed the haphazard ladder they’d retrieved for me and got to work. With a bunch of ribbon, wire, and tape, I finally got it looking halfway decent.
“It was me,” Celeste blurted with a screech as I got down from the ladder. “I turned it on. It was hot in here.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks. “You asked me to put this on the ceiling fan. Remember?”
“I do. I’m sorry. I promise this will be the last emergency.”
Sure, she did. I left the restaurant with Reid following me, chuckling the whole way.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, getting back into the driver’s seat.
“I think I dodged a bullet by getting rid of Knox. Seriously, that’s his new type? Ditzy and dramatic? Who knew?”
The tension went away at the sound of his deep laughter in my van. It filled the air and my heart with a song I didn’t know I loved.
“I suppose it’s time to go get dressed,” I said, sighing after our fit of laughter.
“Should we meet here or…?”
I scoffed and put my hand over the console to tug on his thigh. “No way. I’m coming to pick you up all proper-like. You even get to see me in a suit.”
“You? In a suit? Yeah, I’ve pictured it, but I’m fairly certain you’ll burst that dream.”
I sighed, heavy and loud.
“What?” Reid asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that the more I see you, the more I want to see you and even now, just dropping you off, even for a little while seems painful. That’s stupid, right? After two days, I’m ridiculous to feel this way.”
“It’s not. I’m a firm believer in the fact that no feeling is ridiculous—ever.”
The standoff is what scared me. I knew he felt the same, but he was standing at a distance I couldn’t cross.
He would have to cross it when he was ready.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, putting the van into drive. We didn’t speak on the way to the hotel, which I simultaneously regretted and reveled in. It was wasting time with Reid, but I knew if I spoke, I’d do something rash like beg him to stay or never leave his hotel room.
I’d stated my case. I needed my omega to close the space between us.
“Here we are.” I stopped in front of the hotel, mentally debating whether or not to walk him up to his room, but I knew that wouldn’t end well.
It would end well, but we wouldn’t make it to the rehearsal dinner. Maybe not even the wedding.
“I know.” Yet, he didn’t make a move to get out of the car.
I decided to make light of the situation. It was the only way.
“Well, look, I have to go home and make myself look hot for this fine omega I’ve been seeing so, dude, you have to get out. I need my beauty time. Go!”
He barely cracked a smile, but got out, shutting the door gently before turning and going into the hotel.
Damn, Reid was going to break my heart hard.
Chapter Fifteen
Reid
The rehearsal dinner was awful. Not even a little awful, either. It was full-on, absolutely awful.
The food was nice enough, and my date was the sexiest man in the room. The bride and groom—they turned every part of the night awkward.
Celeste hated pretty much everything and was so nervous about things being perfect the next day, she switched which person walked with whom a bazillion times. I’d never been more glad to not be a groomsman in my entire life. Who would’ve thought being an out-of-towner invited to the dinner because it felt like the right thing to do and not because they were in the wedding would be the best position to be in.
First, she paired them by who knew who. They looked fine. Celeste thought it looked unorganized.
Then she tried to pair them so that people with similar hair color walked together. They looked fine. Celeste thought they looked like sibling pairs.
Then she tried to pair them by descending heights. They looked fine. Celeste thought it looked too contrived.
Eventually, Knox told her that having them paired by the wedding planner, who was set to arrive in the morning after having to miss tonight with a flat tire, was the best way to go.
She cried.
Then we ate a pretty decent meal of prime rib, and she worried that the guests at the table would be “too beefed out” since they were having beef tips for dinner at the wedding.
She cried.
Finally, dessert was eaten, and I could excuse us, blaming jet lag. Technically, I’d come from the same time zone, but no one batted an eye at my excuse, although I could have sworn a few of the bridesmaids and groomsmen had their eyes turn green from jealousy that we got to leave first.
“About time.” Reid had my back against the back wall of the restaurant, kissing me soundly before I could reply. Damn, he was a good kisser.
When we came up for breath, I rolled my eyes. “Sorry. I had no idea it would be—that—just that.” Even when she tried to save the day by giving us all little Valentine’s Day favors, it ended with her in tears, for what reason, I had zero clues. There were simply no words to cover it.
“How could you?” Kayson kissed the spot below my earlobe, sending my mind far away from the dinner and straight to his bed—or couch—or car—I wasn’t really concerned with the logistics. “That was fucking awful.”
“Do you know her? Is she always like this?” Because the Celeste I had seen glimpses of this trip sounded absolutely nothing like the Celeste Knox had talked about ceaselessly.
“Naw.” His fingers traced the path from my ear to the crook of my neck. I swear he was trying to kill me. “She’s usually a bit of a prima donna, but I blame most of it on pregnancy hormones.”
That explained so much. Especially why people weren’t trying to give her wine to help her chill out.
“I didn’t realize.”
“Yeah. So, hopefully, the stress of the wedding and the hormones are what is causing that.” Reid pushed off the wall and held his hand out for mine. “So, my place? Coffee.”
Oh, there would be coffee, all right.
“Only if coffee is served in the morning after a night of naked fun.” I pecked his check as I grabbed his hand, loving the way we could be so naturally playful with each other.
“You’re killing me.” He grumbled my earlier sentiment. Looked like we were even.
“Don’t die.” I sucked on his earlobe briefly before giving it a little nip and whispering, “I need your knot.”
“Not helping,” he said under his breath as he headed toward the car, taking me in tow.
“Not trying to,” I teased back.
&nbs
p; Before I knew it, Kayson had us home and stumbling into his apartment, which was the back half of an old house, our hands already exploring places they shouldn’t in polite company. Eff polite. I needed him and fast.
“Nice couch,” I sassed. We fell back into it as our kissing and fondling became more than we could handle standing up.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t.” His voice, husky with need, told my body that I wanted him to do whatever it was he thought I thought he wouldn’t do. Because words just didn’t mean a thing at the moment. All that mattered was touching him, tasting him, scenting him, taking his knot.
“Do it,” I panted as I latched my mouth to his.
Next thing I knew, our kiss broke, and he had me turned around, my back to his front, his need pressing into my ass—so close yet so far from where I wanted him to be. Damn clothing.
He reached around me and as he kissed and nibbled my neck leisurely, he opened button after button with such haste, I was surprised that buttons weren’t flying everywhere.
As he pulled it from my shoulders, allowing it to drop to the floor, his kissing and nibbling became more frenzied. I was pretty sure my moans helped that along. The shirt had barely hit the floor when he had my undershirt up and over my head. Darn dress clothes had too many freaking layers.
“Bend over and hold on here and here,” he directed as he relieved me of my pants.
Whack.
That one swift slap to my ass had me doing the opposite of what my logical brain would have told me to do. Instead of moving away from the source of the pain, I wiggled my ass back at him, encouraging him to do it again.
Instead of complying, he walked around to my side where I could see him. He never said I couldn’t move, but I was staying put until he told me otherwise. I liked this side of Kayson. A lot. And wanted to see where it was going.
He removed his clothing one piece at a time, taking out a condom and placing it on the coffee table before stepping out of his pants. He was a stunning man, and I could stay there forever, looking at the lines of his muscles and the light smattering of hair leading directly to his very-happy-to-see-me cock if it weren’t for the need building in me, begging him to take me.
Roses for His Omega: A Mapleville Valentine's Day Novella: M/M Non Shifter Alpha/Omega Mpreg (Mapleville Omegas Book 2) Page 6
