Page 48 of The Feisty Omega

I shivered. Even in the car, it was cold. My reaction to the events of the day had passed, but I’d be glad when we were locked away inside the room with the world kept at bay. If I was lucky, there might even be a tub.

When Talius returned, he was swinging a couple of keys around his finger.

“We can leave the car here,” he told me, opening the back door and lifting out the bag of essentials we’d picked up at the store down the road.

When I got out of the car, the icy mountain air stung my throat, burning its way down to my lungs. I hugged my jacket tighter around me. Talius came around the front of the car and pulled me against him. As he wrapped his own jacket around me, I shivered again but the body warmth radiating from him felt good. I was cold and shifters naturally ran hot, so maybe I needed to rethink whether I had actually recovered from my day.

“W-hat r-oom n-umber is it?” I asked, trying to contain my shivering.

“Twenty-five. Should be down the end there.”

Moments later, the door creaked open and we were inside. When I stepped across the threshold, I found myself in a very basic room. The main room had a kitchenette, table and a double bed crammed into it. A narrow doorway on the left led to the tiniest bunk room, with three bunks stacked on top of each other and barely room to stand. There was another door off to the left. It was closed, but it had to be the bathroom – there was nowhere else. It was nothing like the fancy rooms we stayed in when my parents traveled for conferences or council meetings… and I loved it. It was basic and practical and… real. When I looked around us, I felt alive: raw and vulnerable, but excited for my future. I felt like I was livingmylife for the very first time.

When the door was locked behind us, I finally began to feel safe.

A beep and a gurgling sound above the door indicated the reverse cycle air conditioner was now functioning, and the remote control bounced on the bed as Talius tossed it away. A blast of warm air rushed over me.

I sighed a deep weary sound of relief. Safe, warm, and even warmer as Talius stepped closer and his strong arms encircled me again. I rested my head against his chest. The steadythud-thud-thudsoothed me; the alpha pheromones did their job. I already knew I was highly sensitive tothose. I allowed the tension to drain from my muscles. It had been a long and terrifying day, but I was safe now with my alpha.

But wait! What was he doing?

I wanted to protest when he pulled back, creating space between us – I wasn’t normally a needy omega, but damn it, I really needed my alpha’s comfort right now – until… suddenly firm lips captured mine, gentle yet possessive, a calloused hand holding my chin steady. The hard warmth of his lips burned against mine. Trembling, I followed his lead, my lips moving with his, my mouth opening to the gentle urging of his tongue.

This was new to us, this tender dance, his tongue tangling with mine, teasing and taking, exploring and claiming. It marked a new stage in our relationship, one that was inevitable, as we transitioned from friends to mates. I lost myself in the kiss, coherent thought annihilated by the dizzying thrill racing through me. The tingling excitement. I noticed my body’s response to the strong, powerful maleness of him, and I wondered at it, but I wasn’t ashamed. It felt right.

“Is that okay?” Talius’ stunning blue eyes mesmerized me, as he broke the kiss.

“Mmmf.” I made some nonsensical reply, rendered speechless by the jumble of thoughts and feelings racing inside me.

Talius stepped away and his large hands wrapped around mine. The rough callouses scratched lightly over my skin, pinpricks of awareness in a world that was tilting off its axis. We’d been strangers, and we’d been friends, we were about to be so much more.

“Come,” he said, tugging me towards the bed. My legs wobbled beneath me but I went with him, eager and terrified in equal amounts.

When we got to the bed, he climbed on and encouraged me to join him. Which I did, of course, because we’d always known it would come to this. He was always going to be my alpha, I was always to be his omega, just not this soon. I wasn’t hesitating, not really. I was willing… but inexperienced.

I was nervous but we also couldn’t wait any longer. As my mother had obtained a permit for an under-age mating there was nothing to say she wouldn’t try again. I might not be as lucky to escape next time. An unconscious frisson ran down my spine at the thought.

So yeah, nervous or not, I was ready for us to take our relationship one step further.

“Come, lie with me,” Talius instructed, settling down on the pillows and patting the mattress beside him.

Surely, he could hear my heart pounding, trying to vibrate its way right though my chest? But when I lay down beside him, he simply smiled, and ran his hand through my hair, cupping my head as he leaned forward for another slow, sensual kiss, before pulling back and letting his hand trail over my shoulders, the muscles of my upper arm, and down my sides until it rested on my hip. I quivered under his touch. My body yearned for him.

Suddenly, a strange humming vibrated in the air around us. My forehead tensed as I scanned the room, but there was no-one else there. We were alone.

It was then that I realized the sound was coming from me, but it also wasn’t me – it was my wolf voicing his absolute satisfaction at this situation. My wolf recognized his alpha and wanted to submit! OMG, how archaeic! The modern omega in me protested at the idea while the primitive wolf simultaneously delighted in the prospect. The dissonance was unsettling.

Heat flooded my cheeks. I hardly knew what to do with myself, but when I glanced at Talius, he was smiling. A growl rumbled from his throat, as his wolf answered mine.

“They’re impatient,” he said, rare dimples appearing in his cheeks, as he chuckled at the impertinence of our wolves trying to take over this moment. “But we’re not going to rush this. Only as far as you’re comfortable, and no further.”

“But… the exemption… they might use it again,” I whispered.

“I can keep you safe for a while. We’ve got time.” Talius sounded calm, confident. There was no doubting how deadly serious he was. “You’re mine, Irian, and I’m not letting them take you from me. But I’m also not going to let them set the timeline for us.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, relieved that Talius was handling the problem. For once, I could lean on someone else. He was my protector, my alpha, and… my heart thumped painfully, he was my love. Well, fuck. When did that happen?

My brows clenched. What if he didn’t feel the same? I was the omega to his alpha, and we were clearly meant to be together, but love? That wasn’t a necessity for this kind of union. But now that I felt it, I didn’t think I could bear it if he didn’t feel the same.

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