Page 109 of Knot Your Business

“Everything all right?” I ask, my gift for her momentarily forgotten.

She nods, her gaze growing shy. “Just sorting through the last couple graduate applications. These ones are more involved because they offer accommodations for Omegas. I have to submit my blood work and confirmation from the Council as well as the match finalization.”

“You have what you need?”

I haven’t actually seen the finalization paperwork since signing it Wednesday while she was still in the depths of her heat. Not beyond watching her sign it Thursday night.

When she nods, I ask, “May I come in?”

She tilts her head. “What would you do if I said no?”

There’s a bit of sass in her voice, and I raise an eyebrow.

“Suppose I’d try to lure you to my room with the promise of Kung Pao chicken,” I murmur. “Though Mamma would be disappointed to learn that her own food would not be as alluring to you.”

Her cheeks darken. “Where’d you learn I like Kung Pao?” she asks, her voice as soft and unsure as it had been when she’d realized we’d gotten her the customary stacking rings.

“Can I come in?” I raise an eyebrow.

She swallows hard and bites her lip for a moment before nodding.

“Will you tell me where you learned that now?” she asks as I cross the space.

She gathers the papers and sets them on top of her laptop, moving both to the floor on the other side of the sofa, leaning over the edge to manage the reach. Her shorts ride up, revealing the line where her thighs meet her ass, and fuck if my dick doesn’t get hard at the sight.

I stretch my neck and breathe through my nose, reminding my body that we didn’t come here to fuck her. Not that she’d even be interested, and I don’t blame her. The ring box sits heavier in my pocket at the reminder of my own selfishness. Her lips are pursed as she resettles into the corner cushion, her expectation clear.

“I’ve been trying to make up for the last month,” I say. “I’m not sure you want to actually know my information sources, though.”

She tilts her head again before nodding once. “Yeah, I probably don’t want to know just how easy it is to find out things like my preferred foods.” Her eyes narrow. “Unless you have some in with the Council. Then that type of info would make sense.”

I smirk. “Not me. Victor.”

“That… makes a lot of sense, actually,” she murmurs. She pulls the clip from her hair and runs her hands through it, frowning.

While she’s distracted, I pull the ring box from my pocket and perch on the coffee table, letting my elbows rest on my knees as I lean toward her. Her hazel eyes are bright but guarded when she focuses on me again, her hands held limp in her lap and her legs crossed.

“I’m aware that this doesn’t fix what I did to you, Sirena,” I say, twisting the ring box around in my hands. “And I have no expectation that you’ll actually choose to wear it. But in my family, you put your money where your mouth is. It’s not often I am the one paying, but I’m willing to get used to it if it means I have a chance to build something with you.”

Her heart flutters in her throat, but her breathing is steady.

I continue, not dropping my eyes from hers, making it as clear as possible just how serious I am about all of this. “I wasn’t lying when I said I resent just how out of control my designation makes me. I often feel captive to desires that aren’t wholly my own.”

She nods. “I can understand that.”

“I imagine you can.”

A nearly-there smirk, and she messes with her industrial piercing.

“I won’t get it right.” Admitting the weakness tastes like ash, but I don’t back down from the reality. “There will be more times when I offer you something like this. I’m sorry for those, too. For every time I will inevitably hurt you.” She nods. I lay out the rest of my truth. “You are the only Omega I’ve ever wanted to figure this out between. No other has made me want to learn the balancing act between these instincts and my life as I would like to live it. I’m not expecting it to be easy. But I hope you will give me enough of a chance to build something that will weather whatever our lives throw at it.”

A silence descends between the two of us, her eyes roving my face, like she’s trying to see into the depths of me. I do my best to let her see it all, the vulnerability chafing. I’m ready to crawl out of my skin and lick my metaphorical wounds in my own room away from her searching gaze when she nods once.

She drops her legs, letting her feet settle onto the fluffy gray rug under the furniture.

“I’m approaching this pretty damn blind myself,” she admits, her voice softer than I’ve heard before, the vulnerability weaving through it twisting my heart and settling that instinctive need to take care of her. “My parents’ match is… Well, my dads only stayed because they didn’t want to lose their kids. They love each other but tolerate my mother. And she does even less for them. I’m sure I will also need to apologize from time to time. I’ve just wanted the chance to try.”

I offer my hand, and she presses her palm into mine, her fingers wrapping around my wrist. I run my thumb over her knuckles. The purr kicks to life nearly immediately. She tenses, her eyes widening in her sudden fear. My stomach clenches, and I tighten my hold on her even as I let the purr grow louder.

---