15. Jade

fifteen

Ishouldn't be this gleeful to watch my soon-to-be pack staring in horror at the romantic treat Adrian and I left them. Kandi reaches out for a post-it with her name on it, and her cheeks darken in the candlelight.

Ha. Gotcha, my sexy beta.

Sven snatches several up, reading them, but his face is impassive. No emotion shows as he reads one after the other.

Kandi reaches out and runs her fingers through the rose petals. The contrast between the two of them is night and day. Kandi is melting at the romance, the gesture, while Sven could be walking through a carpark.

"Great idea with the cameras. You're right, we definitely needed to see it." I shovel a handful of lightly buttered popcorn into my mouth and offer the bowl to Adrian. He glances down when it touches his arm but looks up at the screen without saying a word. It's okay, we're a work in progress. He's not flinching at my touch anymore, and when I throw myself into his arms, he catches me.

He's thawing. See, progress.

I can't deny the tiny brief spikes of hurt, like the one that's twinging with Sven's lack of reaction, but I'm determined. You don't meet your scent matches every day. So, mine are a little messed up, that's okay, I'm a little messed up, too. This is going to work!

I lean into the alpha beside me, discreetly inhaling his scent. It's like my favourite scent in the world. It brings a sense of calm and safety to my manic mind. I love the smell of water, especially rain.

Kandi follows the trail of notes, collecting hers with chuckles or a huge grin, but eventually, she opens the door of the room we're sitting in and leans against it.

"Well, that was an interesting way to end a day."

"I was going to get Adrian in a pretty thong and corset, but I didn't think it'd go down well with Sven." I snicker.

Kandi glances at Adrian. "I don't know. I think he might have enjoyed it."

My nostrils flare at the heat in her tone. She tilts her hips sideways, towards the door, and I find my gaze glued there. What does a woman taste like? What sounds would she make if I buried my face between her legs and took her clit in my lips?

"Earth to Jade? Come back, Jade."

I blink and find both of them staring at me. "Oops. Sorry." I feel exactly zero shame.

Kandi seems to know it, too. "I can see you've got Adrian wrapped around your little finger, so I'm going to be the bad guy here. You both need to march your sexy behinds out there and face Sven."

I look at the screen, weighing whether I want to do that or not. "He looks mad."

"Yeah, he probably is, but you still need to go and face him. I'm not doing it."

I fold my arms over my chest and lean back in the chair, trying to get a read on how serious she is. "No. We made you a present. We get to enjoy it."

Kandi covers her eyes, and I decide she's either laughing or fighting back a scowl, either way, for some reason, she doesn't want us to see it.

Adrian abruptly stands up. "I'll go-"

"Don"t you dare. If anyone's going, I'll go. I'm not scared of him." I exhale and stand up. "I will sacrifice myself on the altar of love."

"I'm not scared of Sven-" Adrian says in amusement.

"He's just a big pussy cat-"

"He's not at all. You're so wrong," Kandi says.

"It will be fine," I say bravely and march towards the door. "Wish me luck."

Adrian and Kandi stare at me as I leave. I can feel their gazes and have to hide my smile. It's fun shaking these guys up.

I find Sven in the bedroom. He's holding a stack of post-it's, and he's sitting on the bed. He looks devastated.

"This is not the reaction I was expecting," I point out.

"What were you expecting?" Sven asks softly and picks up another note off the lamp.

"Laughter, blushing, affection."

"Dear Sven, you smell really nice."

"That is completely, one hundred percent accurate," I defend.

"What about ‘Sven, I want to lick your tongue'?"

My cheeks burn. "That's also accurate."

"And the flowers and candles?"

"It"s romantic. Just because we aren't engaging in a romance doesn't mean you won't appreciate it. Relax, Sven, it wasn't intended to get you to drop your daks and bump uglies with me."

Sven chokes.

I wink at him and drift out of the room.

My breath stalls, my ears listening intently as I move away. I slow my steps and, sure enough, by the time I get to the count of five in my head, Sven comes stomping out of the bedroom.

My feet patter a dance around the lounge, backing away from him, hiding the pile of notes I've just snatched up behind my back.

"Give those to me."

"I'm not sure you should have them. They seem to be upsetting you."

He snarls and rounds the couch, reaching out for me. "Come here, Omega."

I almost roll my eyes and moan in delicious ecstasy at the sound of his voice. I move away from him, spinning and preparing to leap over the couch. My jump is a spectacular failure. The couch shifts, and I end up teetering on the seat I'm somehow standing on, windmilling my arms around.

I hang in the air for a long moment, my balance throwing me off. I'm going to fall backwards. Instead of fear, I laugh loudly.

Trust fall, I think. Sven's chest catches me just like I knew he would. His arms enclose around me in a muscled wall of warmth.

I giggle as he pulls me back against him, away from the couch, but he doesn't return me to the floor. Oh, no. He holds me to his chest in mid-air. I close my eyes and inhale the licorice that is slowly strengthening.

"Give me my notes."

"You didn't want them."

His breath fans my ear. "I want them very much."

"You don't like my present."

"I love your present," he whispers. His thumb strokes my side, and I shiver in his hold.

"Really?"

"Really. I think it's thoughtful, and I enjoy reading these thoughts you and Addy have been having about me. I especially like the one that says ‘your scent makes me squirm'."

I squirm, and when he snarls, my breath catches.

I feel so small in his arms, and there's something about Sven's wildness that just makes me lose my freaking mind. His scent strengthens, as does mine.

"Did you have a good day today?" I ask.

I don't know why that question kills whatever was growing between us, but he suddenly lets me go and stalks to the light-switch and turns the lights on. I pout as I watch him sweep up the remaining post-it's and shove them in his pocket without answering me.

"I had a terrible day. All I did was think about you and miss you so much, Jade," I say in a deep voice. "Aww, Sven, that's so sweet. As you can see, I spent all day thinking about you and wishing you were here."

Sven pauses and glances at me. "My day was normal. Not good, not bad. I didn't think about you at all."

I catch a flicker of something on his face. Try as he might to hide it, he can't. My smile grows as I study him.

"You liar."

He jerks back from me and puts several feet of space between us. "I'm not lying."

"You are. You thought about me today?"

Sven grits his jaw and looks around. "Kandi, Addy, get your asses out here!"

I flounce over to the couch and throw myself on it, scowling in frustration at my grumpy alpha.

It's two steps forward and one step backwards with him.

Kandi sits next to me, and I get up on my knees and straddle her lap, wrapping myself around her.

"What's the matter?"

"Sven's being mean."

"Don"t be mean, Sven," Kandi says without heat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him snap his head towards me and glower.

"I'm not being mean."

"He's being cold," I whine and snuggle my face into her neck to hide my smile.

"I'm not being cold," Sven growls.

"You're being cold, Sven," Adrian says. "You have that whole arms-folded, on-the-other-side-of-the-room-like-you're-looking-for-an-exit, face-closed-off, tone-shutdown, vibe going on. That's the definition of cold."

"So, you're all going to gang up on me?"

"Yep," Kandi says happily.

"Yes," I say loudly.

"Why not?" Adrian adds.

"Then you don't want my surprise?" Sven says.

I sit back, twisting around to stare at him. "What surprise?"

"Oh, got your attention now, have I, little omega?

"What surprise?" I ask again.

Sven just smirks at me and walks out of the room. I twist so I can look into Kandi's beautiful brown eyes.

"What surprise?"

"I'm not sure," Kandi says and reaches up to brush my hair back from my face. I freeze as her fingers ghost over my skin. The touch is so soft and delicate, but the strength of feeling of intent behind it makes my stomach churn.

Does she want me now? Does she know how much I want her? I dip my head forward, but then pause, remembering the rejection. I might seem like I don't care, but I do. The old me would have crumpled to the floor in floods of tears. The new me just waits, letting her decide how this is going to go.

Her eyes drift to my lips, and I become acutely aware of where I'm sitting, of her between my legs. My temperature soars, and I feel my panties grow wet.

Please, oh, please, want me.

Kandi's eyes lift to mine, and then she leans forward. Her lips touch mine in a soft brush. Inquisitive, gentle magic. I melt completely, falling into her, my mouth parting, inviting her in. She moans and grips my back, pulling me closer. Her tongue traces my lips, and then pushes into my mouth. I'm going to die. I'm going to die so happy. Yes, if there were any doubts, they're gone.

Her kiss, the taste, the feel of her in my arms, it's exactly what's been missing in my life. I wrap my arms around her neck and shift my hips, rolling them towards her. Pleasure coils inside me, an aching need.

Kandi breaks away, and reluctantly, I pull back, too. I search her face for regret or something that might give me some indication of where this is going.

To my relief, there's nothing but a small, contented smile.

"Was that okay?" I ask.

"It was perfect."

"Okay," I say in a small voice. My cheeks burn, and I blush, looking down. "This is a bit awkward now."

"That's only because we need to do it more," Kandi purrs.

My heart jumps into an unnatural speed. I pull back from her, wincing at the wetness soaking my panties. My heat is going to be really bad next week. I can feel it growing inside of me, being triggered by their proximity.

"I just need to go to the loo."

"Good! Then we need to have a meeting about all this nonsense," Sven shouts out cheerfully.

My head snaps in his direction. "It"s not nonsense!"

"This can't happen again!" Sven retorts.

I'm irate, shouting at the alpha from different rooms, but more so because he's vetoing my decisions.

"Oh, it's going to happen again!" I snarl. I shove off Kandi's lap, giving her a regretful look, and jog into the kitchen.

"It's not. It's messy and inappropriate."

"It"s romantic, and that's what mates do for their pack," I snarl at him. "And whether you like me, accept me, or never see me again, you will always be mine, Sven, and I'm never, ever giving you up."

He stands there, his chest heaving, glowering at me.

"Are you sure you want someone like me?" Sven asks in an almost silent tone.

"Yes. I want you. I want him. And I want her." I march towards him and poke him in the chest. "And if I want to give you romance, you'll accept my romance, and say thank you, and just be nice."

Sven narrows his eyes. He reaches out, pulls open a drawer, and grabs a small box from inside.

"What's that?"

"Your gift."

He's never going to be boring, I decide while I stare at his closed-off expression.