Page 57 of Dubious Match
Is it murder if I kill her nightmares?
“I bet this is the first time she’s slept longer than short spurts,” my brother murmurs, gazing down at her. “Her noises sound like she’s being fucking tortured.”
“Maybe she is,” Malcolm mutters. My pack hasn’t wanted to go far from the living room since we got home. “I hate to say this, but I’m getting a really bad feeling about the Forever Yours event. It’s going to be really busy and impossible to be with her every second.”
“She’ll never cancel,” I say. “There’s no way we could ever ask her to either. Too much is riding on this. I just wish it didn’t have to be Hollis waving a red flag in front of Emilia’s face.”
Hollis shifts with a small mewl, and Brice snarls. Toeing off his shoes, he crawls onto the couch to lay on her other side. Slowly, he works her coat off her body, handing it to Felix to put away and then takes her boots off. Brice’s arm wraps around Hollis and me, watching as she relaxes as he purrs for her.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Hollis avoids things that will comfort her,” Malcolm growls. “Did you notice how many times she’s shifted away from us if she felt she was two seconds away from rubbing her body against us?”
“She wants to scent mark us?” Felix asks.
“I think she wants to wrap herself around us, but she’s scared to let herself do that,” Mal says. “She doesn’t want a pack but she has us. The pull of scent matching doesn’t give a shit about her insecurities or that she may not want us.”
“She doesn’t?” I ask, feeling as if my heart was just ripped out. Swallowing around the bile rising, I run my fingers through her loose mane. It’s bouncy and curling like crazy.
The idea that she could reject us doesn’t sit well with me.
“I think she doesn’t want any pack,” Mal adds. “When I called her to ask her to dinner, she mentioned that she’s a matchmaker but never thought herself to be someone looking to settle down. I can tell there’s a story there, but I couldn’t pry at the time without worrying that she’d refuse to come over.”
“I wonder why she’d think that,” Felix says, also coming to lay down on the couch. “Mal, I don’t think she’ll be waking up anytime soon, we should just hang out with her while she sleeps.”
Nodding, Malcolm comes to lay next to me, his hand on her thigh. His fingers still before moving slightly up her dress.
“Mal,” I hiss, but he shakes his head.
“There’s a goddamn gun strapped to her thigh,” he grunts. “I wasn’t expecting to cuddle up to G.I. Jane.”
Snickering, I shrug. “When she next wakes up, we’ll have her remove her weapons, Malcolm. I’d rather she be armed to the teeth, knowing she can protect herself. Our omega isn’t the typical girl.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Brice mumbles, starting to fall asleep. We’re arranged in a cuddle pile, I won't be surprised if we all pass out. “I like that I never know what she’s going to do or say next. I also hate to break it to you, but I think she restrained herself from stabbing us all the first time she met us.”
“Now that I know what her fingers passing over her cleavage means and what she hides in there, I think you’re right,” I sigh.
My lids begin to feel heavy under the weight of Hollis’ body in my lap, and I let myself fall asleep. Hopefully, the warmth of our bodies and our scents will help her sleep longer.
HOLLIS
It feels as if there’s a heavy blanket over me, and all I can smell is warm sugar donuts, vanilla frosting, butterscotch bourbon, and raspberry sorbet. It’s enough to make my sweet tooth ache with the need to sink my teeth into something.
Umm what?
Opening my eyes, I realize I’m laying on an alpha’s chest, and I’m also gazing into Malcolm’s green eyes.
“Hey, beautiful,” he murmurs. “Sleep well?”
“Hmm. I actually did. What time is it?”
“Almost eleven at night,” Malcolm chuckles. “Everyone else is still asleep. Are you hungry?”
“I suddenly want something sweet,” I admit, licking my lips.
His eyes follow the path of my tongue, and I breathe in his scent. I have a feeling I could become a bourbon drinker.
“Do you?” he purrs, making me whimper.
