Chapter 16

16

Alluresh

I sat back down hard in my chair, nearly tipping it backward.

"You're what?" But I'd heard him perfectly. He was in heat. From one moment to the next, apparently.

"I'm sorry but I can't finish dinner," he said. "I need to go." He stood abruptly and ran from the patio and into the house before I could say or do anything.

This is good news. We will have an heir.

"Not if he runs away from us."

Scent the air. Like honey. He only went to clean himself.

Maybe that made sense.

I took a deep breath. The fragrance of his heat went into my every cell, awakening my entire body. All my alpha instincts popped into play. I wanted—needed—to be with him, make sure he was okay, care for him. Claim him. But he also needed his privacy.

How long would I have to wait? Would he even come to me?

I had no idea what to do.

He is ours. Go and take him. He is ready.

"Brute."

I cleaned up the dinner remains and went up to my room. I scented Tavi in the air everywhere I went in the house. It seeped under the door and into my room.

I went into the bathroom and took off my robe and shorts. Pool water had left my skin feeling tight and dry. I took a quick shower with the best skin soap and shampoo, and quickly dried myself off.

My body was aroused now.

I wasn't sure what to put on. Tavi's list had said no clothes. But that was during the act of mating.

I tore through my closet and dresser. Why hadn't I planned for this? I was meticulous about my clothes. But it hadn't occurred to me what I'd wear when I approached Tavi in his heat. I'd pictured him coming to me with his needs, and the clothes I would be wearing in the moment would be removed and we'd get on with the?—

Fucking. Yes, you don't even say that word much, like it's not something you want.

"I say that word plenty."

Not in the context of its true meaning.

"And anyway," I added. "Go away right now. You're not needed for the next two days."

What if he asks for me?

"He won't. Not during his heat!"

I found a pair of black silk drawstring pants, pulled them on and tied the string in a bow. They were roomy, unconstricting to my erection.

I can feel your guilt.

"What guilt, beast?"

That you bought him and now love him, but he isn't here of his own free will.

Through gritted teeth, I hissed. "You made me buy him."

Because you couldn't take your eyes off him. I knew he was the one.

"You don't understand anything. You wanted an heir. A child. Not me."

Well. Then. Tell him you've changed your mind. Make him take his heat alone. He won't die from it.

I wanted him. More than everything I already had. But not by force. "Can I do that?"

Aren't you the alpha?

"I'll tell him he still has a choice." I turned around in my room, my body restless, needy. "I'll tell him to lock his doors and I'll make no demands of him."

No, you won't.

"No, you won't." I turned abruptly at the echo of words Allure had just said in my mind.

Tavi stood in the doorway in a flowered, silk robe. I could see right through it. He was naked underneath. Like a sacrificial groom come to his defilement. His hair was still damp from his shower, his eyes like two large coins.

"Tavi." A pain came over me at the vision of him. He was so graceful, so perfect.

"I won't lock my doors. I don't still have a choice." His voice came out gruff but soft.

"You heard everything I just said?"

He nodded, walking into my room and straight to the bed, sitting at the foot. "We need towels."

I smelled the sweetness of his slick. The deeper he went into heat, the more slick he made. My body became more engorged. My nostrils flared.

"Unless," Tavi added. "Do you even want me?"

I could only stand helpless in front of him. He was the only omega I'd ever seen in heat.

My erection poked at the loose silk of my pants, wanting to lead the way.

Tavi's head bowed when I didn't answer. He thought I didn't want him?

My throat was too tight to speak. I let out a strange grunt and abruptly turned away from him. It was humiliating, this moment. I felt all language slip away from me.

"Why did you buy me?" Tone shaky.

"I need an heir."

"Then make one." Tavi's voice cracked.

I faced him again. His gaze was on me, his cheeks puffing with his fast breaths.

"I can't."

"What?"

"Not in this way."

Tavi's gaze grew fierce with tears. "What does that mean?"

I took a step toward him. Deep inside, I heard Allure. Oh no, here we go.

My knees felt suddenly weak. I swung my hands in front of me to see they'd become fists turning my knuckles white. "I don't know." My voice was not my own anymore. It sounded far away. Captive. "It's just that I haven't been fair. To you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tavi said, measuring his words carefully.

I took another step toward him, close enough to reach out to the bed at the corner to steady myself. "I can't just have you make an heir because I say so."

"But you can."

I shook my head. "I've been cold and dismissive and unfair." Wait, where was all this coming from? I never spoke this way. "I don't want to force you into anything. I can't."

Tavi sat very still, head turned, eyes fixated on me.

"It's about—it's that—" He struggled now, too. "I've already accepted it. And I like it here." He dragged in a loud breath.

"You've accepted your fate. But I no longer want to be the cause of that."

"You don't?"

"I mean, my feelings—" I gulped. I didn't talk like this. Allure? Was he part of this? "My feelings—" Again, I was at a loss for words.

I'm not making you say anything. You're in love with him and that's how it is.

I was so shaken, I blurted out loud to Allure, "I didn't say I was in love with him."

No, but I did. Because I know.

Tavi's mouth fell open. "Huh? In love? With me?"

I shook my head, trying to clear it. Nothing worked.

"Oh." He looked thoroughly disappointed.

I pointed at Tavi's ankle. "I didn't mean that as an answer to your question. What I'm trying to say is, your bracelet. The amount I spent on you. It isn't about that anymore."

"It is, though."

"No." I realized I was breathing harder, trying to make some illusive point. "It's not anymore. It started that way. But it isn't what I want. I can give you money. Let you go. I don't know any other right thing to do anymore." I was so frustrated, my voice rose. I practically yelled that last word.

I don't want him to go.

Tavi scratched at his head. He squirmed from his heat which thickened the air. His cheeks were flushed. "And Allure? Does he have anything to say?"

I dropped my head in my hands. "He doesn't want me to let you go."

"He wants to keep me."

I nodded. I wanted to keep him, too. But not this way. I wanted him. Yes, I was in love with him so much my chest ached. I didn't behave this way. I didn't do things like buy omegas and fall in love with them.

"So now you tell me all this?" Tavi asked.

"I'm telling you because I have to."

Tavi's face crumpled into pain. "Allure doesn't want me to leave but you do? I can't leave now. Not now."

I froze, realizing he had misunderstood. "No, I'm saying you have a choice." My whole body hurt to speak all this out loud. There were too many feelings showering me all at once.

"I don't have a choice. I never have. Don't tell me that. Not right now. Please!"

He was suffering and I'd done it to him. The alpha in me wanted to care for him, comfort him.

"Tavi, I'm not trying to harm you. I'm trying to save you."

He looked up, his eyes sparking. "From what? I'm a set-omega and nothing can change it."

"What I mean is, save you from me. From people like me. I can give you whatever you need to live a good life on your own terms. You can go to college, have hobbies, make friends. Go online. Do your gaming. All of it."

He looked like he was about to cry. His voice was thick. "Can't I—can't I have all that here?"

Stunned, I opened my mouth to reply and nothing came out.

Yes. Yes, he can.

"Here?" I croaked.

"Please, yes. If I left, I'd never see Allure again." He gulped. "Or you."

"Me?"

He nodded rapidly. "You've been so good to me. I—I have feelings, too. And you never properly answered my question about that."

You are so stubborn. Why do you think I get so angry and need to put you away in my pouch and go for long flights? You are ruthless about everything but your own feelings. Go for it, Mr. Alpha. Now's your chance. Be who you really are beyond the idea others have of you.

I realized I was towering over Tavi. I felt myself sliding to the floor on my knees so we could be on even ground, face to face.

"You have feelings?" I echoed.

"I want you to help me through my heat. No one else."

I became almost dizzy listening to him.

Tavi continued. "At first I had to accept I would have your child. That was my only future. You made it easier for me by spending more time with me so I wouldn't be so—so nervous. Now the idea has formed in me as something I want. With you."

"You want my child?"

"I think—" He started to shake. "I think I want more than that with you?" Suddenly, he reached out to me, his small hands upturned.

I took them in my own, feeling the warmth of his skin, nearly coming out of my skin at the way his fingers wrapped around my own.

"You want more?" My voice came out high and weird. I was still in shock, maybe. Clearly overwhelmed.

He plays tag with me. He isn't afraid of me because of my size or because I might move unexpectedly. He's the only one.

"Tavi, I want more than that, too."

"A child is a beautiful thing." His eyes were glittering. He whispered. "But not the only thing."

With me? He wanted this with me?

His hands gripped mine, tugged. Pulling me close.

"I'm in heat." He spoke low and clear. "But I want to be properly kissed first. And I want it to be you."

Every cell of my body was on fire. My stomach was in tangles. My cock strained, the tip aching, leaking.

I leaned toward him. I wasn't moving with my conscious mind, but on instinct. On feeling only. The same way my dragon behaved and acted on instinct. On pure emotion. I let that part of me open up.

I leaned toward him and that move defined my entire world in one moment.

Tavi bowed up to me at the same time. Our foreheads touched. He tilted his head back a little, exposing his throat. His mouth was right there, and I brushed my lips across his.

He made a moaning sound, soft, gentle, but it filled the room. And me.

I pulled my hands from his grip and placed them on his shoulders to hold him in place as I repeated the kiss, but this time pressing in with my mouth, moving it, opening it.

He was warm, his mouth sweet and pliant. Everything in me strained for more, more. And then he opened his mouth.

I swooped inside with my tongue, careful at first, licking my way in. His tongue met mine and little lights started exploding in my mind.

He was so small and light I wanted to pull him all the way toward me and into my arms, lift him up and up, and then place him on the bed where I could press myself against him, head to toe.

My body responded fervently to that exact vision. My hands went beneath his shoulders. I pushed one knee forward and up between us so I could begin to stand. I crossed my arms behind him, holding him, rising.

I thought he might fight or awkwardly flop his weight back. No. Not my perfect mate. He made a little cry into my mouth and wrapped his legs tightly around my waist, his arms around my neck, and let himself be lifted by my strength alone.

It was effortless between us, as if we'd been waiting for the walls to crash down all this time.

One of my hands smoothed down his back to his hip until I was cupping him. I felt the wetness there against his robe, and the incredible heat.

He gasped and pulled back from our kiss. "I'm sorry. Oh gods. Towels. We need towels."

I didn't care about towels. I took his mouth again and rose up over the bed with him in my arms and knelt on the mattress, sliding him up and following him down.

"We don't need them. I want your scent all over this bedspread. All over my room." I growled the words. "I want you in my bed. And afterward, I'll keep the spreads and sheets with your first-time scent in my private hoard as my most valuable of treasures."

Tavi cried out, grabbing my hair in his hands, as I ravished his mouth again and again.