12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Luke

G enesis opened the door, and Luke forgot every single word he’d ever known. Lando and Gabe were either equally stunned into silence or they’d died on the spot—Luke didn’t know or give a fuck which. He couldn’t spare them a glance to find out.

Genesis goddamn Sexpot Valentine stood in front of him wearing the cowboy hat he’d given her and not much else. Black lace and animal print lingerie. Sky-high stilettos. A frilly little apron that provided just enough cover to add to the allure of what was underneath. Luke couldn’t speak. The silence stretched on for a long moment.

“I gasp as he rips open my blouse, freeing my breasts in one swift movement. I want to be angry, but instead I’m so turned on I can hardly breathe. My pussy is weeping–”

“Shit, let me turn that off.” Genesis’s skin flushed with embarrassment as she turned away. Luke liked the way she blushed, the way it made her beautiful skin glow pink, just like her ass had when he’d spanked her. He wanted to see every inch of her body flushed with excitement.

She moved faster in her high heels than should’ve been possible, scurrying across the kitchen to grab her phone and stop what must’ve been an audiobook. Luke still couldn’t move, enthralled by the sight of Genesis’s plush ass stretching the fabric of her panties so perfectly that they must’ve been designed with her ass in mind. She turned back toward them, a shy smile playing about her pouty lips.

Lando was, of course, the first to regain his composure. He strolled into the cottage with his typical self-assured grace, as if he wasn’t sporting a third leg like the rest of them.

“Marco sent tiramisu, but I see something much sweeter I’d like to eat. You look ravishing, Genesis my dear.”

Genesis’s smile grew more confident as Lando set the dessert on the counter before giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek. Luke didn’t understand how his pack leader could be that close to the omega without devouring her. Luke wanted to lift her onto the counter and fuck her brains out.

“Marco also sent fresh bread,” Gabe said, setting the basket on the dining table. “I’m going to say hello from over here because I don’t trust myself to wait for dessert if I get any closer to you.”

Genesis chuckled throatily, then turned her coquettish gaze on Luke. A jolt of electricity shot through him as he met those big brown doe eyes. He realized he was the only member of the pack still lingering in the doorway instead of taking a seat at the table. He scowled and stepped inside, shutting the door firmly behind him.

“I’m not coming over there either, Buttercup, because I’d rut you on the kitchen floor and then our dinner would get cold,” Luke growled, stalking to the table without looking at the omega again. “Not that I give a freeze-dried fuck, but I know Lando isn’t going to miss the opportunity to get his rocks off by delaying the fun. I will never understand the goddamn appeal of edging, especially not when Genesis looks like she needs to be stuffed full of cock A-S-A-fucking-P.”

Luke heard Genesis suck in a sharp breath. Gabe snorted a laugh while Lando gave Luke one of his longsuffering looks. The smell of jasmine and honeyed oranges overtook the aroma of dinner, making Luke’s mouth water.

“Genesis cooked for us. It would be rude not to eat the meal while it’s hot,” Lando admonished, unfolding his napkin and arranging it neatly on his lap. “I trust that once we’ve enjoyed her cooking, she’ll be amenable to being our second course.”

Luke’s attention snapped back to Genesis, who’d let out a little whimper before biting her lip to smother the sound. She’d almost reached the table, a steaming plate in each hand. Luke could see the slick glistening on her thick thighs, and the only thing restraining him from grabbing her and licking them clean was the chance that she’d hurt herself if she dropped the hot food.

“Yeah, I think I’m open to that,” Genesis said breathily, quickly setting plates in front of Luke and Lando, and hurrying back to the kitchenette. “It’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”

Luke tensed. That was very close to a “we need to talk” and that worried him. Was she done with them already? Maybe they’d come on too strong or he’d been a little too rough. Or maybe she’d decided she’d prefer a temporary pack closer to her age. Luke clenched his fists beneath the table.

“Whatever you want, the answer is yes,” Gabe promised, grinning at Genesis as she set down his plate. “Unless you want to leave, then the answer is yes but please don’t.”

Genesis let out another one of her husky little laughs, and Luke relaxed his fists. Leave it to the kid to say the hard thing in a soft way. He was so much better at this shit than Luke was. And so was Lando, for that matter.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Genesis joked as she sat down with her own plate. “Dig in. This was a fun new recipe, and I’m hoping I got it right. I figured you’d be able to tell me how close I got to authentic Italian, Orlando.”

Lando looked down at his plate as if noticing the food for the first time. Luke hadn’t actually looked at the meal either. It was a square-cut pasta covered in creamy sauce and topped with what looked like fresh Romano cheese. It smelled delicious. Luke’s stomach rumbled.

“Cacio e Pepe,” Orlando said, smiling a wide smile that made him look a decade younger. “My nonna used to make this all the time. It’s deceptively simple but tastes wonderful. How thoughtful of you.”

A pulse of— something —through the bond made Luke’s chest ache. There had been similar bursts of sensation all week, and Luke knew that they always happened when his packmates were with Genesis. He’d been trying not to think about it.

Luke stabbed a forkful of pasta, ignoring the salad Genesis had set out. He shoved it into his mouth and bit back a groan. Goddammit. She was a good cook on top of everything else. That just wasn’t fucking fair.

Evidently, Lando felt the same. “This is incredible. Every bit as good as Nonna’s. My father learned it directly from her and even his was never this good. You are a diamond in the rough, tesoro.”

“Tesoro means treasure, so that’s a little redundant.” Gabe rolled his eyes at Lando then turned an impish grin on Genesis. “This is incredible though, carino. Which translates roughly to dear or honey and is much prettier than Lando’s Italian endearments.”

Luke was pretty sure Gabe was intentionally playing up his Guatemalan accent because he knew it was sexy, the little shit. He snorted. “I don’t speak Italian or Spanish or anything else but southern, so I’ll just agree with these pretentious assholes. You’re a mighty fine cook, Buttercup.”

Genesis flushed again, obviously pleased by their praise. They ate without talking for a few minutes, passing bread and salad, and making contented sounds. Luke wouldn’t have believed anything could’ve distracted him from Genesis’s smoke-show body, but her cooking was doing the trick.

Or it had been. Once Luke’s stomach was pacified, his hunger for Genesis returned. He eyed her shrewdly, trying to think with his head and not his cock. She’d invited them here to eat, talk, and, presumably, fuck. Two of those things were very good. So, what was her angle with this talk? What was she buttering them up for?

“So, what’s up, Buttercup?” Luke leaned back in his chair, cocking his head at Genesis with a smirk. “The last time a woman got all dolled up and made me dinner, I woke up missing a kidney. I can’t spare another, so why don’t you tell us what’s on your mind?”

Gabe raised an eyebrow at Luke, shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know how you come up with this shit. Genesis, Luke has all his kidneys. Hyperbole aside, however, I do agree with him. Tell us what you need.”

Genesis bit her lip again, and Luke resisted the urge to lean over and free it by sucking it into his own mouth. She seemed to catch herself, suddenly releasing her lip on a heavy exhale. She squared her shoulders and looked at each of them in turn. Luke braced himself.

“First, let me say I appreciate you letting me set the pace and respecting my boundaries. As you know, I don’t have any experience being tended by alphas, so I was surprised by the intensity of the experience. But I’m ready to continue our sexual…exploration.” Genesis squirmed a little, her scent rising. “Tonight, obviously. Hence the ensemble.”

Lando leaned forward and covered her hand with his. “Your comfort is always our top priority. We’re obviously thrilled to do all manner of wonderful things to you this evening, but you’re always in control. We slow down or stop whenever you need us to.”

Genesis nodded, giving Lando a small smile. Luke was pleased as peach punch that she was ready for more sex, but he refused to get his hopes up too high. He assumed that had been the easy part of the conversation.

“Thank you. You’ve all done a wonderful job of making me feel safe.” She gave them a warm smile that made Luke’s chest swell with pride, though he refused to show it. “Which brings me to my next point. Intimacy.”

Luke stiffened. As much as he’d feared the prospect of Genesis wanting a different pack, it didn’t stop the icy dread that crept up his spine now. If she wanted more, he wasn’t sure what he would do. Luke had been pissed when Gabe invited her to sleep in his room on her first night. It was too intimate, too soon. Even Lando had been crossing that line, going above and beyond taking care of Genesis’s needs. He was practically courting her, and that was not what Luke had agreed to when they took her on. This was temporary. It had to be.

Luke couldn’t handle anything more.

He crossed his arms, preparing to be the sensible one if his packmates couldn’t. He’d been careful to make the omega feel welcome, while staying detached enough not to blur the lines.

Except you bought her a cowboy hat, he admonished himself . That had been a lapse in judgment, though it was hard to feel bad about it considering how damn good it looked on her right now. Besides, it was just something to make her feel a little more at home on the farm.

“Emotional intimacy, you mean?” Gabe asked.

Genesis nodded. “Yeah, that.”

“Is that what you’re looking for?” Luke demanded, making her flinch. He hadn’t meant for it to come out so gruffly, but he barreled on anyway. “I mean, you stayed unmated this long for a reason, right?”

Genesis shifted in her seat, eyeing him warily. “Yes. I did. Which is why I’m not very good at the whole intimacy thing. I never wanted a pack, and I don’t know if I ever will. Honestly, part of the reason I chose you was because you seemed unlikely to ever want to mate again.” She paused and looked away before adding, “No risk of me being hurt.”

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but Lando silenced him with a look. His pack leader’s face was neutral, giving nothing away. It was another talent of his, and one that worked well in the boardroom. Luke had always preferred more aggressive tactics. It’d made them a good team.

“Go on,” Lando urged, spreading his hands. “We appreciate the honesty.”

Genesis sighed. “I’ve enjoyed our time together a lot more than I expected. But I don’t want to misrepresent my intentions. If you want more than a temporary relationship, I might not be able to give you that. And even if I decided I want to try it, we’d need to take it slow. Like, sloth slow.”

Luke couldn’t stop the relieved breath of air that whooshed out of him. She was warning them that she might not want more. He could handle that.

What he couldn’t handle was that some of his relief felt tied to the fact that she also might want more eventually. If she’d given a definitive no, Luke would’ve been disappointed. That didn’t make a lick of goddamn sense.

Lando nodded, face still carefully blank. “Is there anything else we should know?”

Genesis’s upturned nose crinkled in an adorable expression of annoyance. “There is one more thing. My fathers are in town next week and want to meet you over dinner. Whichever night is convenient.”

Gabe laughed. “You sound like you’re inviting us to the guillotine instead of out to meet your family.”

“You don’t know my family.” Genesis frowned. “They are very concerned about my unmated status and are very excited about this…relationship.”

Luke lifted an eyebrow. He’d be just as worried if he had an unbonded omega daughter determined to face the world alone. He knew too damn well how dangerous a place it could be.

“I may have let them believe this was more than a temporary arrangement,” Genesis continued sheepishly. “It would be great if you guys could let them believe that we’re actually courting.”

Luke huffed a laugh. He was torn between wanting to spank the mischief out of her and wanting to have a word with her fathers about how they made her feel. It was obvious she carried resentment toward them that he couldn’t blame her for, but there was something deeper beneath it—a hurt that made him want to find the source and beat the shit out of it.

Lando leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers. “So let me be sure I have this clear. You’d like to move forward sexually, take the emotional intimacy slowly, and convince your family we’re courting, correct?”

Genesis pursed her lips. “Well when you say it so succinctly, it seems like I may have overthought this conversation. That’s the trouble with being a writer—you get wordy. Yes, that’s the gist of it.”

Lando nodded slowly, sitting back and crossing his ankle over his knee and giving Genesis a long, calculating look. Luke didn’t know what was going through his pack leader’s mind, but he had a hunch it was going to annoy him.

“I have a counteroffer for you,” Lando said evenly, his gaze locked on Genesis. “We’ll take things slowly and we’ll pretend for your parents—if you agree to pretend full time.”

“What?” Genesis and Luke said at the same time.

Lando tilted his head. “You said you weren’t sure if you wanted anything more. I’m not sure whether we do either. I propose a compromise that allows us to gather more data, so to speak. Our pretend courtship is an opportunity to glimpse what our relationship could be. Contractually, we already have an end date. That should be ample time for us to determine if we want more from each other.”

“Excellent idea.” Gabe grinned as if Lando hadn’t just said the silliest goddamn shit ever.

“You want to play house?” Genesis asked incredulously. “You want to fake court me?”

“That’s correct,” Lando replied. His perfect calm made Luke want to throw something at him.

“And in three months, if one or more of us doesn’t want a permanent relationship, what then?” Genesis challenged.

“Then we part amicably as friends and wish you the best. We’d even tend future heats if you wished.” Lando shrugged. “However, if we reach the end of the initial contract and unanimously agree to pursue this, then there will be no extensions and no more contracts. We court for real, until we’re ready to mate.”

Luke’s world tilted on its axis, a tidal wave of anxiety washing over him. Lando couldn’t be serious. They weren’t going to mate again. There was no way Luke could put another omega at risk, especially one as ridiculously fucking perfect as Genesis goddamn Valentine.

Would you rather let her go?

Luke’s heart stuttered. Fuck. This was a goddamn disaster.

Gabe’s hand found his under the table and squeezed. Luke took a breath. His feelings must’ve been blaring through the bond. He tried to wrangle his emotions, fixing his face into its customary scowl.

Three months of getting to know Genesis. Three months pretending to court her. Three months to make sure everyone came to their senses before he could ruin all their lives.

“Three months, then we part as friends,” Genesis said, nodding sharply.

“Or in three months we commit to a true courtship,” Gabe corrected.

Genesis looked at each of them in turn, holding Luke’s gaze for a beat longer than the others. He wondered what she saw in his eyes. Whatever it was, it didn’t deter her.

“I accept those terms,” Genesis said, and Luke closed his eyes. When he opened them, she was watching him again, a smirk on her full lips. “Let’s fake court. But you better fuck me like it’s real.”