Alpha Meets Beta (Alpha Meets Omega Book 4)

by Sky Winters

“It was part of the deal. We helped them relocate the snakes, alligators, anything put into danger by our project, but we asked that they not make it public. Before we took control of that area, people were hunting them, especially the alligators and snakes.”

  “For their hides,” she stated.

  “Yes, exactly. We’ve moved them to a place where there is little chance of that, and anyone trespassing here wouldn’t exactly be returning once the clan was done with them.”

  “I had no idea,” she said, still looking at the half dozen or so alligators resting along the banks, dimly lit by the setting sun behind them.

  “I’m not such a horrible person,” he told her, not sure why he had felt the need to show her this.

  Ordinarily, he’d have let the obvious disapproval slide. He’d never been one to care what people thought of his decisions or choices. In the brief time he’d known her, though, he’d felt different. That little spark that had always seemed to be missing with Omegas was there with her. His phone dinged, and he looked down at it. It was a reminder from his calendar.

  “Thank you. I really appreciate you letting me know. I’ll keep your secret.”

  “Good to know. Otherwise, I’d have to feed you to the alligators before we go.”

  She laughed, not a hint of nervousness now that she knew why he’d brought her out here and despite his joke. They stood there for a moment, watching the landscape for any movement, but the sun was going down, and soon, they wouldn’t be able to see.

  “Listen, I have some events coming up for my work—you know, social networking sorts of things. Do you think you might be interested in being my plus one to some or all of them?”

  “Oh, I . . . uh, maybe? I guess it depends on when and where they are?”

  “Of course. I’ll let you know. I guess I didn’t really expect an immediate answer. I was just sort of testing the waters.”

  “Well, the waters are warm. Just let me know,” she said.

  The way her face tilted up toward him, half-obscured by the dropping sun and the rising moon, was stunning. She was a classic beauty with her wild red hair and smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her lips were full and pouty, inviting, and before he could stop himself, he had stepped toward her, kissing her. He felt the impact of it all the way down to his toes.

  She didn’t pull away, instead leaning into it and kissing him back with equal fervor. They lingered there for what felt like seconds or maybe a millennium. It was hard to tell. It was both like a small forever and not nearly long enough, a paradox of some sort. When they finally pulled apart, they stood looking at one another for a moment before breaking their silence.

  “I guess we better go. It gets any darker out here and we might not have a choice about being dinner for the alligators.”

  “I’m sure your dragon could handle a few alligators,” she observed.

  “Perhaps, but I’d not want to have to make that choice. Besides, couldn’t you just shift into one of them and have a chat with them?”

  She laughed.

  “That’s not how it works. I can’t shift into non-mammals other than a dragon.”

  “Then, we definitely need to go,” he said, pausing for a moment to look at her again. “I don’t want to take you back to your car right now. Would you be interested in coming to my place for a drink?”

  “Are you going to roofie me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. Let’s go.”

  He smiled and walked her back to the car, this time taking her hand as they strolled. He felt something that he couldn’t remember feeling for a long time now. He was content, perhaps even happy.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Adriana

  “I love the smell of charred wood in the evening,” she commented as they pulled into his drive.

  “Yeah. Sorry about that. The air is still clearing and they haven’t pulled out the dumpster I put all the soggy mess in just yet. It’s better in the house.”

  “It’s not that bad. I mean, you can smell it, but it’s not overwhelming. Will you rebuild it then?” she asked as they got out of the car and walked toward the front door.

  “Yeah, I’ve spent most of the week cleaning up the mess. I took down a few trees on the other side so I could make it a little bigger.”

  “What do you need all that space for?”

  “I don’t, not really. I just like to work with my hands. It’s soothing. You know, like a hobby,” he said, unlocking the front door.

  Adriana stepped inside and looked around. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was outdated, right down to the crocheted blanket tossed over the back of a mustard yellow sofa.

  “It’s atrocious, isn’t it?” he said as if seeing it for the first time himself.

  “No. It’s quaint.”

  “Right. Quaint,” he chuckled. “What’s your poison?”

  “What do you have?”

  “Come and I’ll show you,” he replied.

  Adriana followed him to a door in the hallway. He opened it and reached inside to flip a wall switch. A light came on that lit the top of the stairs and part of the way down, but the bottom was still quite dark. She took a deep breath and smiled at him, considering how easy it had been to get her here. Right here. Alone with a man she barely knew out in the middle of nowhere, in a house that didn’t look like he even lived in it.

  This is what the detectives always missed. They didn’t consider how their victims had gotten lured in by their prey. It was just charm. They didn’t have to drag a woman out to their lair, kicking and screaming. They didn’t have to drug her. All it took was a bit of sex appeal and conversation. Her eyes darted behind her, wondering if she could make a run for it.

  “Adriana?”

  His voice cut through her thoughts like a razor. She shuddered, goosebumps popping up all over as she more fully realized her predicament. Who would write the article about how a journalist researching an online dating app was lured to her death by a handsome stranger? She hadn’t been able to find his name online. Dane Johnson.

  The penny dropped. Dane Johnson. Dwayne Johnson. The motherfucking Rock! Not only had he taken on a fake name, but he had made a joke of it. Jesus, she was stupid. Okay. Okay, don’t panic, her brain screamed.

  “Adriana?” he repeated.

  “You’re not The Rock,” she blurted.

  “What?”

  “You lied about your name. Dane Johnson? Really? I can’t believe I fell for that.”

  “Adriana, what’s going on?” he said, looking bewildered.

  “Who are you? Why did you bring me here?” she said, moving away from the door.

  “To have a drink?”

  “What is your name?”

  “Dane.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Yes, it is,” he said, walking back down the hallway and pulling a photo off the wall. He slipped it out of the frame and turned it over, handing it to her. “See?”

  Adriana looked down at it. Dane. Age 15. Though it was a much younger face, it was obviously him. She bit her lip and kept looking at it, unable to meet his gaze.

  “Adriana? What’s this about?” he asked.

  “I . . . I don’t know. I had a moment of panic when you started to take me down to the basement.”

  “Down to the base . . . Oh. Jesus. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about how that might look to you. Of course. You’re out here alone with a stranger and he tries to lure you down to his basement.”

  He looked down, a low chuckle escaping his lips. When he looked back up at her, he was smiling broadly, and she felt like a complete asshole.

  “The wine cellar is down there. Well, not just the wine. All the booze. I thought it would be easier for you just to pick what you’d like because I’m not quite sure what’s down there myself.”

  Adriana continued to look down at her shoes until he reached out and cupped her chin in his hands, pulling her face up toward his. He was still smiling, and she still felt
like an idiot.

  “I tell you what. Go have a seat on the sofa, and I’ll just bring up a couple of bottles of wine for you to choose from. I’ll even let you open them so you can be sure I didn’t put anything in them,” he said with a wink, not giving her a chance to answer.

  Instead, he made his way down the stairs, flipping another switch at the bottom to light that part up. She could see a section of what appeared to be a substantial wine rack down there before she turned and went to the living room to park what was left of her dignity on the sofa and wait for him to return. She had no idea why she had reacted that way. Was it a leftover from her encounter with Parquo? Some repressed fear she’d been choking back, perhaps?

  She heard his footsteps coming back up the steps and tried to think of what she was going to say. She felt like a fool, which was unusual for her. She was always on top of her game. Was it him who put her so on edge or just her frustrations with what had happened to her recently? Either way, she needed to come up with some explanation for her ridiculous behavior.

  “I brought three—merlot, white zin, and pinot grigio. There are other choices I can go down and get if you would prefer something else. Also, there is a chiller down there with cold beer and a cabinet full of hard liquor, though I’m not sure what I have to mix it with unless you want an old-fashioned screwdriver.”

  “Pinot would be great.”

  “Would you like to inspect the cork?” he asked, no trace of a smile this time.

  “No. I’m sorry about that. I just, I don’t know. I had an unpleasant experience not too long ago and I guess I freaked out a little.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Listen, Adriana, if you are uncomfortable being here, I can take you home right now. I won’t be offended. I promise.”

  “I appreciate that. You don’t have to take me home.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

  “I’m sure. I want to stay.”

  Eager not to dwell on things, Adriana waited while he uncorked the pinot grigio and poured her a glass but opened the merlot for himself.

  “I prefer red myself,” he told her. “Do I need to take a sip of yours to put you at ease?”

  Adriana blushed and smiled at him, feeling incredibly silly. He was being incredibly good-natured about it, though he wasn’t going to let her live it down anytime soon, she thought.

  “I think I’ll be okay. So, these events you have to go to, tell me about them.”

  “Boring work stuff for later. I will give you the info on them tomorrow and you can let me know which ones you are able to make it to, if any. You’re not obligated, but it would actually be doing me a favor by being my plus one, even if you choose to do so platonically. I hate these things, but there is always good food and plenty to drink.”

  “I guess we’ll see how our schedules gel then,” she replied, flattered that he was asking, even after she’d had a mini meltdown earlier. Still, she wasn’t quite willing to just accept blindly. Dane looked around the room like he’d never really looked at it before.

  “This place could really use something, couldn’t it?” he said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to be polite.

  “I guess I’ve been content to just let it stay like Mom and Dad had it. Maybe it’s time to make it my own.”

  “I suppose that is up to you. If you’re comfortable with it like this, then there is nothing wrong with that.”

  “Yeah, I am, but you’re the first person that I’ve ever brought here. I mean, as an adult. I’m just now realizing how it must look to someone else.”

  “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it. It looks fine. It just doesn’t seem like you. There are crocheted blankets draped across the sofa,” she said, smiling.

  He laughed, glancing at the colorful aqua blue and yellow blanket he’d watched his mom making during his teen years. It was bright, cheerful, and it made him happy for it to be there, but it wasn’t the only one in the room. In addition to the ones on other chairs and in the bedrooms, there was also a stack of them, along with some handmade quilts in the hall closet.

  “Yeah. I don’t suppose you’d want to help a guy out with that?”

  “What? Redecorating? I’m hardly qualified.”

  “I bet you have great taste. You should help me fix this place up a bit, make it more my own.”

  “I can do that,” she told him.

  Adriana sat back and sipped her wine, looking around as she considered the possibilities. It meant something to her that he was coming up with a reason for her to spend more time here.

  “It’s getting late. I should probably get you back home soon,” he said, glancing at his watch.

  “It’s fine. It’s not that late.”

  “I’m sure you have work tomorrow.”

  “No. I’m off for a few days, actually.”

  “I see. I guess we can just keep drinking wine then,” he replied, “but if we do that, I might not be able to drive you home. You could spend the night, though. I mean, I’m not being presumptuous or anything. I have a guest room. The door locks.”

  Adriana laughed at the mention of her locking herself in, but only thought about the offer for a second.

  “More wine then, please.”

  She considered that only a little while ago, she’d panicked over the possibility of him being a serial killer, and now she was accepting his invitation to stay over. What was wrong with her? What was this effect he had on her that both frightened her and thrilled her at the same time?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Dane

  Two days had passed since Dane had brought Adriana to his parents’ house. He’d not intended for things to go the way they had. He’d just wanted to spend a little time winding down and getting to know her. They’d had a bit of wine, but not too much, and then he’d shown her to the guest room, but that’s where things got carried away. A mostly innocent kiss turned into a fire that spread like wildfire through them. Even just recalling it made him feel amorous again.

  “I think I’d rather sleep in your room,” she said breathlessly as they stood there in the doorway.

  “That can be arranged,” he told her, scooping her up and carrying her down the hall to his room.

  He lay her across the bed and climbed in beside her, leaning over her to resume the kiss that had brought them here. She smelled like a meadow of flowers on a warm sunny day, all clean scents like sunflowers and plumeria. She tasted like the nectar you’d likely find in that same place. Before he realized it, he was completely lost in everything about her. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had this kind of effect on him.

  His already massive erection strained against his jeans as he leaned into her. No doubt she could feel it too. It was a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, he was very well equipped to please a woman, but it was also difficult to hide it when he was excited and maybe shouldn’t be. She was going to his head somehow, having an effect on him that was unusual.

  He'd never experienced the rut with a woman and knew it to be powerful. Still, there was something much more than just a physical reaction happening. There was a chemistry between them that he hadn’t expected when he first met her. She was attractive, very much so, but it was more than that.

  His kisses drifted away from her lips, lightly caressing her skin as she moved down her neck toward her shoulders. Her shirt prevented much more than that. It had to go. Apparently, she thought so too, pushing upward against him and pulling it over her head to expose her shoulders and a very sheer lace bra that hugged her perfectly rounded breasts. He continued his slow exploration of her shoulders, enjoying the quiet cooing noises she made as he made contact.

  Lifting himself up again, he looked down at her. She was beautiful, her red hair spread out across the bed beneath her and her smoldering eyes showing off how turned on she was.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “Oh, yes. What about protection?”


  “I’m on the pill.”

  He smiled and went back to kissing her skin, slipping the straps of her bra off either shoulder to clear the way as he moved between them and then down to her breasts, letting his tongue slowly swirl her dark pink nipples until they were hard against his tongue and then suckling at them as she moaned. He pulled one into his mouth and lightly bit it, enjoying the way she tensed up against him.

  “Umph,” she uttered.

  He wanted to turn her over and bury his cock in here right then and there, but he wanted to take his time and enjoy just how incredible this felt first. He gathered the clasp in the center of her breasts and popped it open, letting the bra fall to fully reveal her perky round tits. His hands were large, almost covering them completely as he kneaded them and sucked at her nipples some more, sending her into a long series of moans that sounded like some sort of sexy symphony.

  He moved downward, kissing his way down her stomach, and nibbling at her sides softly so that her body tightened and lifted up toward him. He enjoyed watching her squirm so much. He reached her navel, noting how perfect it was in her firm flat belly as he slid down to kiss his way along the top of her pants, noting how she instinctively lifted her hips up toward him.

  Her hands moved down to tangle in his hair, running through his closely cropped strands as he toured her lower abdomen. He pulled away and stood at the edge of the bed, not taking his eyes off of her as he slowly unbuttoned her pants and slid them down her legs, leaving her lying there in a pair of champagne-colored lace panties looking positively edible.

  He reached out and grabbed either side of them, pulling them down her hips and legs until they reached her feet and dropped to the floor. Her pussy was bare except for a very small triangle of pubic hair. He could see the moisture glistening in it as he grabbed her ankles and eased her closer to the edge, then pushed her knees open.

  She gasped loudly as his mouth covered her public mound, his tongue lapping back and forth across her clit, lightly teasing it as he tasted her. Her hands found his hair again, guiding him as he alternated between licking and sucking at her tender center.