25. Lucy

One wordfrom me and he'd make Liam disappear?

All I could do was watch as Cas gently pulled on the adhesive around my neck. It shouldn't make me feel better to hear him offer someone's death so easily, but it did. If it was anyone other than Liam I might even take him up on it.

"Would you really pick me over him?" I didn't believe him—didn't want to believe him.

Cas gently pulled the thickest band of adhesive off my neck, not looking the least bit bothered by my question. "I'd rather not if I don't have to, but I'm your alpha Lucy. If that's what you need from me, I'll do it."

"There's something wrong with you."

"Yeah, there's a lot wrong with me, but you like that about me and we both know it." The sharp grin that sliced across his face was hypnotic. "You can torture me…kill me, I don't care as long as you accept me as your alpha. Choose us Lucy and you can do whatever you want."

I should stop him. Taking off my scent blockers didn't seem like a good idea, especially when my thoughts were churning like this.

On the surface I was numb, but just under that thin layer was chaos.

Whether it was a side effect of the suppressants or not, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that it pissed me off Cas was suddenly wearing scent blockers and I'd temporarily lost my mind when I thought he might be stalking some other omega just seconds after I felt devastated that he wanted to put me down.

The emotional whiplash was giving me a headache, but now that he was touching me again the boiling sensation just under my skin was starting to settle and the way his rough hands were skating over my neck was addicting.

Cas started on the second band around my throat and despite my worry that even a hint of my pheromones might hurt Frankie, I still didn't stop him.

I couldn't use the excuse of his pheromones or mine to explain why I felt this way either. There was literally no reason. At least not biologically.

Wanting him to touch me was a bone-deep need that I felt.

Calling him up here had been a risk, but I hadn't been able to stop myself. Watching them just wasn't enough anymore and I'd caved the second Frankie left.

Being alone was too depressing so I'd called him up here, hoping to get some answers. I'd figured if he wasn't the one messing with shit, I could ask him to help me since he's been with the company for such a long time and he already knew what I was hired to do.

Then he'd told me anything and everything I wanted to know. Which was great. I guess. But I couldn't make myself focus on the case right now. Not when he kept touching me.

Even when he did manage to keep his hands to himself, I made sure I was close enough to tempt him because now that I knew what it felt like when he paid attention to me like this, I couldn't stand the thought of losing it.

I didn't want him to give me space so we could talk about work. I wanted to climb all the way into his lap until there wasn't a single sliver of space left between us.

Watching him set the adhesive on the coffee table, I decided I needed some clarification before I made any reckless decisions.

Like asking him to bond me so he couldn't change his mind about this.

"Why do you care about me, Cas? I'm not asking because I don't believe you. I'm asking because I need to understand." His dark hair was always in his face, hiding the color of his eyes like he hated it. I brushed some of it aside so I could see all the different shades of stunning blue. "You're here after giving me the space I needed so I know it's not just because of my pheromones, but…I still don't understand. You don't really know me, and you have Liam. Is it just because you need an omega, or is it something else?"

"I guess part of it is because you're an omega." His gaze was still fixed on my neck and he started pulling off the last band of adhesive with single-minded focus. "I could smell your scent the second you stepped out of that elevator. It was pretty faint, so I couldn't catch more than an impression, but it was the first time I've ever found an omega's scent pleasing."

He could smell it?

No one had ever been able to catch the scent of my pheromones before they went all crazy other than Liam.

Frankie had known which was why she became an alpha when she did to protect me in that courtroom, and I suppose Francisco could tell too, but that was it. No one else knew just by looking at me and they've definitely never pegged my scent as omega-like.

Everyone knew most omegas possessed sweet or flowery scents so mine never quite registered as either when it had so many complex notes in it. At least…that's what Francisco and Frankie had told me.

The last bit of adhesive came off and I suddenly felt naked despite being fully clothed. I pressed my hand to my neck, worried I would contaminate the apartment and make Frankie sick again.

Cas placed his hand over mine and slid the other around my waist. "Most omegas are so fragile." His deep voice was gentle despite his words. "They break with the softest touch, and they die so easily."

Maybe that admission should freak me out, but he wasn't wrong.

"Youare not weak," Cas murmured, tugging me closer. "And you're probably the only omega in the world who might find my violence…attractive."

He had me so far in his lap now that my legs were over his thighs and my chest was pressed up against his. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself even closer, looking down into those gorgeous blue eyes to see everything I could possibly want to know and more.

This man – this alpha, wanted me. Not just my pheromones. He wanted me. But I still didn't quite understand why. "Do I help you as an omega then? Is being with me…like what other omegas can do for other alphas?"

His hands slid under my shirt and up my back. "I know you think you're defective Lucy, but you're not. You never were. Even when I could barely scent you, I kept finding myself thinking about you, wondering how you could possibly know exactly what would put my mind at ease without ever needing me to say anything."

It bothered me that I couldn't smell him when we were this close, saying things that should shift his scent, but at least the faint hint of Liam's orange soap on his skin was comforting.

I pushed his hair out of his face, admiring the way the sun made his eyes sparkle like diamonds. I could listen to him talk all day. It was a shame he was usually so quiet.

"When you pointed that gun at me…I was fucking done, Lucy. I would never have admitted it, but I wanted you right then and there." Cas pressed one hand to my back and slid the other just under the waistband of my shorts, forcing my tits into his face. "I wanted you when you yanked open my car door to yell at me, and I wanted you when you told me you didn't expect me to smell like apples. But the moment I knew I'd do anything to have you?"

Jesus. For someone who barely said anything, he sure knew how to sweet talk me. I didn't want him to stop either. I wanted to know every single thing he's ever thought since the day I collided into him as if we lived in some kind of a romance drama.

"I knew I'd do anything to have you when I saw the way you trusted me," he admitted, rubbing his face against the curve of my breast like all he wanted to do was scent-mark me. "You held onto me in your sleep as if I were the only person in the world who could keep you safe. Do you know what that kind of trust does to an alpha who's never had it before?"

His thumb hooked in the waistband of my shorts and I dug my fingers into his shoulders when he tugged them down, but I didn't stop him.

"Liam trusts you like that," I argued, annoyed that he was so distracting even without his pheromones messing with my head.

"My relationship with Liam was built on what I could do for him as an alpha and what he could do for me as a legacy." Cas grinned when I didn't try to stop him from pulling my shorts down to my knees. "I was going to leave you alone since Liam was so interested in you, but then he insisted I court you as well…"

"But?"

Cas shrugged. "I didn't think you'd want me to."

He was really stuck on this, wasn't he?

I ran my hand through his hair again just to feel the soft, fluffy texture of it. "You're definitely a lot, but I don't think I could handle Liam by myself. He can be so…"

"Annoying?" Cas lifted me up and ripped the shorts all the way off of me before setting me back down and the sensation of his tactical pants against my bare pussy was making it hard to think.

"Overwhelming," I corrected, shivering when he slid his hand up my bare thigh. "I really like him, but I also really like you. You're quiet when he's demanding – calm when he's not. And Liam shines so bright…"

I trailed off when I saw a shift in Cas's eyes. I couldn't say what it was exactly, but he seemed guarded. His hand even paused its ascent.

Liam shined so brightly and it was obvious Cas was used to being in his shadow.

Those bright red eyes that shined like freshly spilled blood. The platinum blond hair that looked like white gold with the way it always shimmered. His skin was such a pretty golden tan and every time I looked at him, he reminded me of the summer sun while Cas was like a winter storm with his howling silence that always felt so predatory.

"Basking in his warmth feels amazing," I admitted as I reached back to grab my shirt. "But I like how cool and restful it feels in your shadow."

I yanked the shirt up and over my head, tossing it to the floor.

Cas's expression didn't change, but the hand gripping my thigh squeezed hard enough to bruise. "Even without your pheromones I'm losing my mind."

I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck to suffocate him in my tits. "You can't smell them at all?"

His eyes flashed and he let out a low growl, grabbing my ass with both hands. "It's faint. Like the first day we met."

It felt different like this – when I was in control of my own mind and body. I still felt like I'd cry if he didn't fuck me, but I'd survive. It wouldn't be the end of the world because there was always later.

But I didn't want to wait for later.

Grabbing the back of his shirt, I gently pulled up and he shifted instantly so I could take it off.

I would never get over what Cas looked like without a shirt on.

His shoulders were massive and his muscles were ridiculously well defined. For fuck sake he had washboard abs and I felt like I didn't really get to appreciate them the way he deserved the first time I saw him without a shirt on.

I'd been too far gone, drowning in desperation and the burning need of my heat, to really get a good look at him.

He had so many tattoos, but they didn't cover every inch of his skin in ink. The style was similar to mine even if the theme was different. Each piece complimented the shape of his body, drawing the eye to the strength under the skin instead of covering it up.

Each arm had a sleeve of tattoos that went up to his shoulders, curling around the front and the back, covering his neck right up to the jawline, but the majority of his abdomen and chest was completely empty of ink. Even his back only had two large curving designs that had my mouth watering.

Something about the fact that his neck and arms were fully covered while there was still so much untouched skin really did something to me.

Cas watched as I ran my hands up and over his shoulders to his neck, running my thumb over the piercings that went all the way up his left ear. The right one only had two lobe piercings in contrast but all the black jewelry really added to the harsh line of his jaw.

Full lips softened all those sharp edges – I made sure to memorize the color this time and glitched when I realized they were the same dusky pink as his nipples.

"You're so beautiful," I murmured. "But your eyes…your eyes are definitely a work of art."

He looked up at me like he wanted to fall apart, weeping because I couldn't stop admiring him, but there was this feral gleam that warned me this gentleness wasn't going to last long because Cas wanted to devour me.

"You like these pretty eyes so much that maybe I'll let you have them. Just say you're mine."