Page 13 of The Coveted Beta

I feel a confession bubbling up, the need to explain what just happened while Alex was out of the room. My nipple still throbs where Frederick sucked—it’s like he’s still sucking me there.

Only how can I get the words out? I feel ashamed to my very core, but also hot and needy, like I might die if Frederick were to take his hand away.

Belatedly, I realize they’ve been talking for some time and, further, talking about me.

“…so it’s a different approach one must take with a beta than with an omega?”

I catch up with the end of my husband’s question.

“It is,” Frederick confirms.

He removes his hand from the back of my neck, and I miss it instantly. But his fingertips settle again at my shoulder, and then they glide over my collarbone and all the way over the swell of my breast. They pause at the next bow on my bodice, and he gives a gentle tug.

My bodice gives. His fingertips skim along the edges of the gaping material as my breathing turns erratic and shallow.

Alex doesn’t tell him to stop. I feel he ought to.

I feel I ought to move or slap Frederick for his presumptuousness, only I don’t. That ship has sailed, so to speak. I’ve already had his mouth on me, felt the sweet, insistent pull of his lips, suckling me.

For a moment, my mind goes blank to everything but that memory. I’m shuddering with arousal, and all he’s doing is playing with the upper swell of my breast—little swirling patterns with the tips of his rough fingers.

“You need more preparation?” Alex asks. His voice sounds a little strained, maybe, but it’s hard to be certain with confidence over the whooshing of blood pounding through my veins.

Frederick tugs at my decolletage, and my breast pops out. I squeak a protest even though I don’t move to stop him as his big hand cups the weight. Then he squeezes my taut nipple between his finger and thumb, and I squirm in my seat, face flaming to a heat.

“For certain. An alpha can’t just fuck a beta.”

Goddess, those blunt words. Alex rarely swears in my presence. Whenever he does, it makes me feel a little hot and naughty. Given that I am already on fire at Frederick’s treatment of me, his words make me whimper with need.

“And what would one do then?” Alex asks, all interest, as his best friend, an alpha, plays with my nipple, squeezing it, tugging it, rolling it only just on the side of too rough. I try to steady my breathing and not to squirm.

“Some alphas even prefer betas,” Frederick says.

“They do?” Alex asks, tearing his eyes from my breast to meet Frederick’s gaze.

“Hmm. A man can get a little lust drunk with an omega. One male is not always enough, and you must share. I cannot imagine ever sharing a woman with another alpha; I always knew I was too dominant for such an approach. There was a time when I thought I wanted an omega. While I’m not a deeply philosophical man, perhaps things happen for a reason.”

He is talking about Rebecca, but it’s hard to hold onto the words when he is toying with me. His hand trails across to the other side, and I gasp as he bestows attention on the neglected nipple.

“She’s more sensitive here.”

“She is,” my husband agrees.

“So, yes, there will need to be some preparation, which might take anything from a number of hours to a number of days, or even longer. It can be a challenge even without the knot.”

I shudder.

He pinches my nipple and just holds it.

I can’t breathe properly, and I begin to squirm.

“Try and sit still, love,” The endearment rolls off Frederick’s tongue, and it freezes me in place.

My frantic gaze shifts to my husband. His throat bobs as he swallows.

“Some betas respond better than others,” Frederick continues. “And are naturally more compatible with an alpha; and the connection increases further over time. There is not so large a difference between a beta who has been bonded to an alpha for a number of years and an omega. Some venture to make nests, much to their alpha’s delight. When they are fertile, it can have an almost rut-like effect on their mates.”

He withdraws his fingers. My breathing is choppy, and my nipple throbs.

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