Page 32 of Crushes and Confections

“Now that sounds like a hell of a way to spend a life,” he said, pleased as punch, pulling me tighter against him. “But for now, I want to spend the rest of the day together.”

“In bed?” I asked hopefully.

“Minx,” he said, playfully. “Yes, in bed, but out of it too. I just want to enjoy being together and neither one of us stupidly holding back anymore. I know it must have been terribly hard to have resisted my charms.”

“It was the absolute worst,” I said, a mix of sarcasm and honesty in my words. “But now that I have you right where I want you, you’re never getting away. We get the rest of our lives together.”

I tilted my lips to press against the tender flesh where I’d bitten him the night before. I knew it wasn’t conventional, but every fiber in my body had begged me to claim him.

Sure we didn’t have a traditional bond, omegas and betas couldn’t form bonds with their bites like alphas, but seeing my teeth marks on his flesh was something I desperately needed. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that he was mine.

He was the boy who had cleaned up my scraped knees and built forts with me, he was the one who showed up in color coordinating outfits to homecoming that I’d knitted, just to make me smile. Now he was the man who’d literally swept me off my feet and taken me back home and into his arms, exactly where I belonged.

Suddenly all those years of seemingly unrequited love were worth it, nothing more than a temporary stage to get us where we needed to go.

His phone beeped on the nightstand and I couldn’t help but think it might have been a message from Vance and Adrien, the memory of the photo I’d let Riley send the night before coming to the forefront of my mind.

“You’re thinking about them aren’t you?” He asked, his fingers skimming over my cheeks where I was no doubt flushed.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” I admitted. “I’ve never been drawn to alphas before, hell, anyone but you really, but there’s something special about them.”

“They could be our mates,” Riley suggested. “I like to think that the two of us were always destined to be together, one way or another. Nothing says they can’t be too. It would explain why things feel so natural with them.”

“But we’re just getting to know each other,” I reminded him, thinking of how Vance and Adrien had made that clear when we’d had dinner at their house.

There had been teasing and flirting in abundance, sure, but neither of them had crossed that line.

“I’m pretty sure after how they acted at the auction last night, and after that little display you put on, they won’t be holding back for long,” Riley said. “They were waiting for me to get my act together, which I most certainly have, so it’s only a matter of time.”

A knock sounded on the door, the two of us looking at each other questioningly as his phone beeped yet again.

“I’ll bet the alphas are here to check up on us,” Riley mused as he reached over for his phone. A sleep-roughened chuckle escaped as he flipped the screen over to show me a text from Adrien saying they were outside.

“Text them back, I have to find clothes and a shower would be amazing,” I admitted with a frown. I was excited to see them but a sweat covered post sex body was not how I wanted to greet them today.

“You shower. I’ll text back and throw on some clothes,” Riley promised with a brush of his lips over mine. I watched as he rolled out of bed and flashed me his bare ass. Knowing I was watching, he wiggled it at me as he pulled fresh clothes out of his dresser and pulled them on. “Chop, chop, Claire Bear. You don’t want to keep them waiting.”

“Why do I feel like you’re going out there sans shower just to torture them?” I accused playfully as I finally got up and went across the hall to my room with the sound of his laughter filling the air. Riley was a brat through and through, and I loved him for it.

My shower wasn’t as long as I’d have liked but by the time I’d washed my body and hair, did my curly hair routine as quickly as I could, and found something to wear, the smell of coffee filled the air.

I came back to see a flushed Riley pinned between two alphas, his lips swollen, and his fresh spring rain scent, still tangled with mine, burned brighter.

“There she is,” Vance said when I walked out, holding an arm out for me. “You look beautiful today.”

I hummed happily. “I’m sure I’d look even better if you gave me a kiss too.”

Walking into their arms felt right, the only thing that would make it better is if I was smothered with all of their scents.

Vance cupped my face tenderly before pressing his lips to mine, sparks shot between us and before I could move to deepen the kiss, Adrien was there, pressing his lips firmly to mine. The dominance and possession in his kiss made me feel a bit weak in the knees.

He tore his lips from mine, his thumb swiping my cheekbone.

“Worth the wait? Wasn’t it?” Riley whispered, placing a kiss on my shoulder over his bite, looking at Adrien wantonly.

“I’m afraid you’ll both have to wait a bit more, even if you both look utterly delectable with those fresh bites of yours on display. As much as it pains us, if we don’t stop now you’ll both be pinned to the counter and laid out for breakfast while we devour you,” Adrien said.

“Yes, that,” I said, wanting to feel them. “You should definitely lay us out for breakfast.”

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