Monica hung up, going back to helping the pack that wasn’t even hers anymore. Meanwhile, Regina shoved the memory of the kiss from her mind. Oscar was horribly attractive, a magnet that drew her closer and closer, but she wouldn’t give in to it again. She wouldn’t be the kind of person to be used and shoved aside anymore.
When it came time to find the fox shifter, she would seek him out on her own. Regina didn’t want the shifter to fall into Oscar’s loveless Pack. No one deserved to be under an Alpha that everyone was too afraid to reach out to. She would do her best to convince the fox shifter to join her under Nikolai’s Pack.
Perhaps then, the shifter could have a semblance of a family.
Who was she kidding? Pack couldn’t replace the families foxes made. Regina knew everyone under Nikolai’s Pack, but not well enough to show up unannounced to dinner. Not well enough to confess her confused thoughts. They were Pack, but she didn’t feel like family.
Nothing had felt like family to her. Not for a very long time. It could be that family, in her mind, were people screaming and hitting each other. It was a possibility, but not one she considered for very long. What she ached for was a unit that made her feel comfortable. Much like the way she felt at Miles and Lia’s house.
Soon, they would be bringing another life into this world. While Regina would help out, she knew they would become more insular. Their lives would begin to revolve around the baby and not their friends. Friends weren’t family. Regina had no family.
The sun had fallen. Regina had spent most of the day rolling from side to side on the bed. Her sleep had been fitful. Dreams of approaching the fox shifter were interspersed with dreams of the pool kiss. Each would wake her, make her sigh, and keep her from falling back to sleep for a time.
Finally, she gave up. She left the bed and went to check her under things. They were still wet, dripping onto the side of the tub. The smell of chlorine drifted from them, making Regina wish she’d thought of washing them before lying down. Now, to wash them, she’d have to stay up through the night and watch the washer so that no strangers stopped to steal her things.
With a sigh, she left behind the wet underthings. She didn’t bother putting on the dress as she grabbed her wallet. The halls were empty. In one pocket she had her wallet and in the other, her key card. Her stomach growled, greedy for food. The complimentary breakfast wouldn’t be ready, and she doubted there was room service at this time of the night.
So, she crept to the vending machine hidden in a small alcove. While surveying her choices, she kept looking away to make sure no one appeared in the hall while she wore nothing more than a hotel room robe.
She slid her card into the flashing slot, grateful that most machines took cards these days, and searched for the number and letter combination that would give her a bag of chocolate and candy-coated peanuts.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there.”
Regina jumped at the sound of Oscar’s voice. She clamped her hand over her heart and stared at him while her candy was ejected from the machine. Oscar made a feeble attempt to point to the vending machine, unable to form words. His lips worked, but no sound came out.
“You’re one sneaky son of a…”
He gave her a half smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. She noticed the way his shoulders sagged and how quickly his smile disappeared.
“I take it Monica finally got ahold of you.” She crouched to retrieve her candy, painfully aware that she wore nothing beneath the robe. She ran her hand down the back of the robe to keep her ass from peeking out. It was strangely and inconveniently short.
When she stood, Oscar’s eyes were trained on her backside. They flicked back to meet her gaze a moment too late. She wanted to leave now that she had her candy, but the fox in her wouldn’t budge. It sat before Oscar, wanting to comfort him even if it didn’t know how.
No, it had an idea.
Regina wasn’t about to give in to the fox’s notion of comfort, though. It wanted to throw her at the man, to use their human body to ease his tensions. It was ludicrous, knowing what kind of man he was. He deserved to feel guilty for what happened. If he’d done better by his pack, then things like this wouldn’t happen.
Still, her heart went out for him. He did so much to bring people together. He worked to save those that were lost and give them a home. Only, he wasn’t very good at making it a home. He built the house and left it unfurnished.
“They found Pillar while Monica was on the phone with me. Everything is alright.” She knew her attempts to comfort him were fumbling at best. “I know it seemed dangerous, but she never went far, and nothing happened to anyone.”
Oscar nodded, hearing her words, yet not listening. Her voice filled the air, but she didn’t think he was ready to digest it yet. She let out a huff of breath through her nose. He was the Alpha. He needed to pick his head up and start doing something. He couldn’t wallow the way he was. It accomplished nothing.
“Quit your moping,” Regina snapped.
For a second, his lips curled back into a snarl, then his eyes focused on her, and the snarl faded. At least then his eyes were filled with something other than remorse. They sparked with defiance and anger.
“Everyone is fine except for you. You need to figure out what it is that you want to do. Do you want to lead them? Actually lead your pack? Or, do you want to be a father figure for everyone and not have to do anything? You can’t have it both ways. A pack needs an Alpha willing to do things.”
“I am doing things,” he growled at her.
She wasn’t afraid of the tone of his voice. What might have made others piss themselves, washed over her with no effect. Regina couldn’t figure out if it meant she was stupid or just brave. Maybe it was the kiss, having helped her cross a bridge of familiarity with him. She wasn’t just a shifter, but someone who had his tongue in her mouth hours ago.
“No. Picking up a stray and adding them to your collection isn’t doing anything. You’re the kind of father who says they’re raising a family but is just sitting in the background while the kids take care of themselves.”
This time, he didn’t hold back his growls. His nose crinkled, and he stepped closer to her. She didn’t back up, unafraid of this man. She should have been. She should have run from him, but it wasn’t like he was going to murder her in a hotel hallway. At least, she didn’t think he would.
Over and over again, she would prod his sense of justice and protection. There were serious flaws in them. Never would she say she could do what he did. That wasn’t right, but from where she stood, she could see the things that were falling apart in front of him. And they had nothing to do with his living room windows.
“Who are you to tell me what I need to do?”
“I’m no one,” Regina confessed. “I’m no one to you and no one to your pack.”
Oscar made a strangled sound. His snarl dropped, and his brows furrowed. He spun away from her, hand over his brow. Regina was left in front of the vending machine, wondering what she’d said wrong.
When he spun around, he inched closer and closer until her back was pressed against the glass window of the machine. He hovered over her, and her heart thumped, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with fear.
Excitement and desire slammed into her. She could feel a sudden moisture blooming between her legs. The scent filled the air and gave her away when Oscar’s nostrils flared. This was wrong, but she couldn’t escape. She didn’t want to escape.
“I don’t think you’re no one.”
His words rumbled along her skin and slid down her spine to leave her core tingling. He placed a hand on either side of her, as if he wanted to touch her, but wouldn’t allow himself.
Regine pulled her chin up. “But, I am. I’m just a shifter from another pack. The world will keep spinning once we go our separate ways.”
He growled, cutting her off from saying anything more. “Don’t say things like that. Do you really think you can just walk out of my life
after this?”
“It’s not like we’re mates. You said it yourself. You had yours already. I don’t even think I’m going to get one. We’re just two shifters, nothing more.”
Instead of speaking, Oscar pressed his lips to hers again. He leaned into her, his groin pushing against the thin layer of the robe that covered her. She drowned in the touch, in the feel of his lips on hers. His touch sent fireworks through her body, exploding in sensation she’d never felt with anyone else.
It frightened her, all the while making her crave more and more. She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, until they might have melded into one person. Oscar returned the favor by pressing her into the vending machine. His hands dropped to explore the bare skin of her legs. They rose and rose until they reached the space where panties should have been.
He groaned into her mouth, nearly losing control. His whole body shuddered before his hands moved along the span of her hips. They traced the plane of her stomach and dipped lower to find her folds.
She wanted to pull back and remind him they were in a hotel alcove. Someone could come by at any moment. Instead, she returned the kiss. She slipped her tongue past his, trying to get a taste of him. Like good beer, he went to her head. She felt effervescent, her head spinning while his fingers parted her folds.
Regina cried out when his fingers slid over her. They touched all the right places in one, smooth stroke. She had to grip his shoulders when her knees began to tremble. It was too much, yet it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted all he could give.
It wasn’t like they could have sex in the hotel hall. That would be wrong. Yet, she clung to him and almost begged for more. Oscar watched her, hunger mirrored in his eyes as he watched the expressions on her face. He bent for another kiss, pushing her against the machine again, as his fingers slid over her.
Again and again.
Pleasure pooled low in her stomach. It grew heavy and demanding. Their scent filled the air. Her mother would be so mad, again, Regina thought. This wasn’t a fox shifter. It was another bear. Her mother would shame her, throw some underhanded comment about having a bear kink and how it would ruin her marriage.
Regina didn’t give a shit about her mother’s gripes. All Regina wanted in that moment was more Oscar. She wanted everything he could offer with his hand and more. He teased her pleasure into a clever rhythm, rising and retreating to keep her from coming too soon. She frowned, wanting release.
“Not yet,” he whispered into her ear. The gentle touch of his breath along her skin only added to it. It slithered down her spine and danced along the heavy pleasure.
“Now,” she growled, arching into his hand.
She didn’t care that she was in an open hall. She didn’t care that they could be caught any moment. She wanted release, only the kind Oscar could give her. The fox inside her growled with happiness, with something more that Regina didn’t have the mind to translate.
Then, his fingers slid deep inside her. They reached home just as the heavy pleasure burst through her. Oscar held her upright while the orgasm turned her to jelly. Her limbs went limp, and her head lolled back. It coursed through her body, from toes to scalp, until her eyes drifted shut.
“You forgot about your snack.” Oscar retrieved the candies she’d let fall to the floor.
Her feet were unsteady beneath her. She had to lean against the vending machine to keep from falling over. When he stood, they came face to face. She wanted to reach out, to touch his dark cheek, and pull him closer. It couldn’t happen. It would never work.
Regina accepted the candies and bowed her head. She needed to run, needed to get back to her own room. If she let this go on, the situation would turn into her and Nikolai all over again. She’d pour her heart into a relationship with someone other than a fox only to have it handed back to her bruised and empty. She knew better, even if the truth hurt.
***
He breathed deep, enjoying the scent in the air. It brought a satisfied growl to his lips, but Regina didn’t look so satisfied. He knew she’d had an orgasm. He’d held her while it happened, there was no doubting that. Yet, she looked away from him as if he’d just kicked her cat.
Confusion gripped him and sent a sharp jab of pain through his heart. When she ducked and scurried past him, he wanted to reach for her. The bear begged him to pull her into their arms. It wanted him to carry her back to their room and never let her go.
But, he didn’t touch her. If she didn’t want him, he would have to respect that. No matter how badly it hurt. Oscar wasn’t used to rejection, certainly not of the heart. He’d closed it off for so long. Now that he’d opened it back up, it was dusty and outdated. He didn’t know what to do to get her attention beyond what he’d already done.
His heart, and the bear, screamed at him. They threw a truth at him that he couldn’t face, not as Regina slammed her door closed behind her. It couldn’t be the truth if this was how it would keep happening between them.
There was no way that Regina was his mate.
The thought filled him with hope and pain all at once. He loved her presence, how she called him out on everything he did. She would push him to become a better person, but what was the point if she wanted nothing to do with him?
In the morning, they would hunt down the wild fox shifter, and then he would take her home. Their paths would never have to cross again. He wouldn’t have to see her life moving on while he still pined for her. He would busy himself with something…anything…to get his mind off Regina Woodward.
Chapter Ten
The next morning was awkward, Regina realized. She had eaten breakfast alone, running downstairs before Oscar could come looking for her. He’d given her an orgasm in the dark alcove of the hotel, but she’d scampered away before it could turn into anything else. While she attempted to make a waffle in the breakfast area, her mind reeled, trying to figure out why she kept coming back to him.
Oscar entered, their eyes meeting for a moment that stretched too long. She ignored the unspoken questions he tried to send her, his brows arching with concern and confusion before she looked away. Beneath her lowered lashes she watched Oscar grab breakfast, waiting until his back was turned away from her before leaving. She left him to eat on his own while she waited in the hotel lobby, playing the awful dating simulator on her phone. In the tiny, pocket world, imaginary people were getting engaged and starting families.
She could make believe all she wanted. Such things weren’t meant for her. There were no foxes for her to marry. No families for her to join.
They didn’t see each other until they met in the lobby. Without meeting his eyes, she handed over the key card to her room and waited for him to check out. It took a matter of moments, all the while Oscar snuck glances in her direction and she made a point of looking away.
He wasn’t a fox. He couldn’t even keep his pack in one piece.
She wasn’t sure if she was being fair. Nikolai had the worst time with the recent uproar in their Pack, too. Of course, it had been spurred by Nikolai’s father and another packmate who sought to make Nikolai into a better man. It had been a shit time, but they’d come through it stronger.
She didn’t know if Oscar could even do that. He didn’t seem to want to admit that he wasn’t helping his pack. To him, everything was right in the world. The things that were happening to his shifters were the norm, it seemed.
It wasn’t until they got into the car that she dared speak.
“Look, I’m sorry about the way I spoke to you last night.”
Oscar paused, hand on his door as he turned toward her. “What are you apologizing for?”
Her throat was dry. The truth sat in her chest, heavy and horrid as she tried to pull it out. Each step left a thorn behind.
“For being a bitch? I said things I shouldn’t have. There is clearly an attraction between us, but we aren’t anything to each other. I shouldn’t have suggested that you couldn’t lead your pack.”
&
nbsp; He closed the door, the sound shuddering through her. She didn’t flinch, like she would have had it been her father. Despite his imposing presence and terrifying background, she still couldn’t find it in her to fear him. Perhaps she was stupid. Sense had been knocked out of her at a young age, and that was why she constantly fell for situations that never ended well.
She needed to nip this one in the bud before they let it get too far. Sleeping with Oscar wasn’t the kind of trouble she needed. He had issues he needed to work through and she would only serve as a distraction. Nothing she did would make anything better.
“You need to stop saying that.”
She guffawed. “But it’s true! The world isn’t going to stop spinning if we drift away from each other.”
He pressed his lips together, eyes distant as they peered out the windshield. He reached for the keys in the ignition before letting his hand fall. “It seems I lied. Not just to myself, but to you. I realized this yesterday morning while we were eating breakfast at the diner.”
Regina waited, but it seemed he too struggled with the truth. It was the kind of thing, once deeply buried, that was hard to dredge up again. She tried to think of what he’d said during the breakfast but came up with nothing.
Oscar, this massive and tattooed Alpha of a man, struggled. She could see it on his face, in the way his brows scrunched, and his lips twisted. His eyes danced between the road and her expectant face. There was only so long she could wait before she wanted to throttle it out of him. Tension built in her chest, as if she might implode if he didn’t break the silence.
Her Alpha Mismatch Page 8
