Page 98 of Packed Up In Vegas

“You’re much too cute for me to think that.”

“Well, that’s good.” He took my hand as we walked, diverting to get some iced coffee before we would head back to the pack house. “So, full confession, I’m not a virgin by any stretch of the imagination, but I definitely fell into the habit of watching more than doing the last few years.”

Heat rolled through me. “That’s a little bit hot, Miles. Probably a great start for you too.”

“Start?”

“Yeah, for our practice. We can’t get you any of that on stage before the actual heat, but if you’re nervous about participating, I have no opposition to you watching me get railed until you’re ready to rail me yourself.”

“Not sure how long I’ll last doing that.”

“Figure out our special first time fast and then you can join the fuck puddle.”

He immediately pulled out his phone and scrolled.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Booking us a place near Lake Mead for next week.”

“Hell yes.” I swung our joined hands and we fell into line at the coffee shop. “The pictures I’ve seen are beautiful. I can’t wait to go there with you.”

He kissed the top of my head and looped his arm over my shoulders. “And I can’t wait to get to learn every perfect inch of you.”

“Iwant to be clear that there’s no pressure for this trip,” I said as we pulled out of the driveway to head to Lake Mead. “If you just want to hang out this weekend, that’s totally fine.”

“I mean, same goes for you, but, Miles, I’ve wanted to fuck you since I first scented you.”

Heat erupted head to toe, and from the grin on Callie’s face, I could tell she absolutely noticed my scent going haywire. I’d never had to worry about it before she was around since I was on heavy-duty scent blockers so I could keep a clear head while monitoring the heats. Now, all bets were off and Callie would be too close the next couple of days for me to hide a single reaction from her.

We weren’t going far from home. There wasn’t much on Lake Mead itself aside from camping, but the edge of Boulder City had some cute rentals, and we were easily within a mile of the lake. I’d briefly thought about offering Callie a glamping experience, but those were neither soundproof nor in possession of air conditioning, and I didn’t want my omega to melt.

Callie watched the city disappear past our windows. The drive didn’t even take an hour, and I let her absorb the scenery instead of trying to push for conversation. She and I hadn’t had a lot of that. I wasn’t particularly worried, especially knowing I was the very first of the pack members she had opened up to. Circumstances had been different at the time, but I liked to think that we were closer now than we had been.

I parked next to the little cabin we were renting. If I squinted, I could see the lake from here, though it was warped from the heat rising off the ground. Callie bounded from the vehicle and into the already blessedly cool interior of the cabin. She paused in the foyer to take in the Southwest decor of terracotta shades, patterned carpet, exposed beams, and cacti.

“It’s so cute.” She disappeared to explore, snooping through the kitchen cupboards before diverting to the bedroom, where a king-sized bed occupied the bulk of the space. Callie flopped backwards onto it. “Not quite as comfy as my nest, but I’ll take it.”

I took a tentative seat next to her. “What would you like to do today?”

“Is it an inappropriate answer if I say you?”

My scent went wild and my cock immediately tented in my pants. “Um, not inappropriate, no. I just thought you might want to eat, or go check out the lake.”

“We can do those first if you want.” She sat up and tilted her head. “Are you nervous? If you don’t wanna have sex while we’re here, you should probably tell me now so I can get it out of my head.”

How was I supposed to explain to her that I hadn’t had meaningful sex in years? It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do, but I’d never had so much riding on my ability to connect with someone. “It’s not that. It’s just… Callie, when was the last time you had sex with someone you cared about?”

“Last night.” She eyed me curiously.

“I haven’t had sex with an actual partner since my early twenties. I started escorting at twenty-two, did that for five years, and then was on scent blockers so strong I didn’t even give a shit that I wasn’t fucking anybody. I’m basically re-learning to function with my normal biology and I don’t want to ruin anything.”

“You’re not gonna ruin anything.” She wiggled over until she was touching me, resting her head on my shoulder. “I said there was no pressure and I meant it.”

“I want to be with you—” I took a deep breath trying to collect my thoughts. “—as a proper part of your pack and as a partner. I just get these giant fucking walls in my head and it takes me a while to climb over them.”

“Take all the time you need to climb. I’ll be waiting on the other side when you’re ready.”

“Why don’t we go swimming for a little while to work up an appetite and then I can make you some of the best white-people tacos.”

---