Page 52 of Want It All
My body told us both how much it wanted that with a fresh trickle of slick. The magic of slick-proof clothing only stretched so far; Sebastian’s pupils blew out as my perfume swirled around us.
‘Sweet,’ he ground out. ‘I knew you’d smell sweet. But the eucalypt … I can’t catch …’ He shook his head, his expression almost desperate. ‘Whatisthat?’
I opened my mouth to tell him, but a shrill alarm cut through the air. I stared at him. ‘I thought you didn’t pull the fire alarm,’ I said stupidly.
His blue eyes were dark and wild, his cheeks flushed. ‘I didn’t.’
I heard a noise and turned to the side to see Tristan jogging through the trees towards us. My face went hot as Sebastian relaxed his hold. Tristan pretended not to see as I straightened my skirt and buttoned my blouse, pretended that his beta hadn’t just been about to push his fingers inside me in a public garden. ‘It’s a lockdown alarm,’ he said, his voice low.
‘Two quick whoop-whoops,’ Sebastian said, his eyes widening. ‘Fuck. That means –’
‘A feral alpha,’ I finished, because I’d memorised the Banksia House handbook, and the third chapter was entitledOn-Campus Safety.
‘I need to get you back inside,’ Tristan said, his gaze travelling over Sebastian and me. ‘We need a room with a lockable door.’
I looked back at Banksia manor. From here, it didn’t look friendly. Its staring windows were full of shadows, its hallways ripe for stalking, leading to corners ready to help pin down prey.
Sebastian shook his head, his expression suggesting he was thinking along the same lines. ‘What if the alpha is near the entrance?’ He turned, looking over the garden. ‘There’s a shed that way. The map said it’s used by the horticulture staff.’
Tristan’s frown was sceptical. ‘And if the alpha comes outside?’
‘That’s why you’re here, Tris.’ Sebastian grabbed my hand and tugged me through the trees as the alarm changed pitch, becoming more insistent.
The shed wasn’t what I’d expected. For starters, it was more like a house, not a corrugated iron square. Second, it was unlocked, which seemed like an oversight, given that it was neatly packed with what looked to be top-of-the-line power tools.
Tristan ushered us inside, then closed the door, locking it with a satisfyingthunk. ‘Pull the blinds,’ he murmured, and Sebastian and I hurried to obey as Tristan closed the door on the other side of the room. It looked to lead into a workshop, but I wasn’t curious enough to confirm it. There was no lock, so Tristan dragged one of the cupboards in front of it, blocking us in.
Once he’d straightened, he cleared his throat. ‘Rose, would you mind …?’
He held something out to me; it took me a moment to realise that it was scent-cancelling spray.
My face went red hot.
I needed the spray because I’d slicked –while I was rubbing against his beta.
I looked up at him. ‘Please,’ he said roughly. His pupils were blown out, and when I dropped my eyes, I could see his shorts were bulging at the crotch.
And it hit me that I’d locked myself in a room with an alpha – while I was damp with slick.
‘Chocolate,’ Sebastian blurted out, raking in a breath. ‘Motherlickingfuck. Your scent ischocolate.’
‘Dark chocolate,’ Tristan agreed, his voice a deep rumble. ‘Rich and sweet, with a hint of …’ He trailed off, inhaling –breathing me in. ‘Fuck. Mint?’
‘The heat alphas … They couldn’t agree,’ I said, the words coming out unaccountably shy. ‘Some thought it was mint, others citrus. One thought it was pistachio, another, cranberries.’
‘I get raspberries,’ Sebastian grated out. ‘Sweet and tart and fuckingperfect.’
I stared at him; I hadn’t realised that his sense of smell would be good enough to detect the secondary hint in mine. I wasn’t the only one; Tristan was looking at his beta with wide-eyed worry.
The alpha shook his head, as if in disbelief. ‘The spray, Rose. Please.’
I took the spray and moved away from them, misting it liberally around my body, wishing I could shower and change my underwear. I turned away and, cheeks burning, sprayed beneath my skirt, coating the skin on my thighs, then made sure the scent glands on my neck and smaller scent points on my wrists were similarly covered. I moved to hand the spray back to Tristan, who, without a word, gave it to Sebastian.
I raked in a breath, but all I could scent was eucalyptus and the metallic tang of canceller. There was no hint of another scent at all, even a less potent beta one.
Or perhaps it wasmeTristan was scenting – all over Sebastian.
I hadn’t known that alphas could have self-control like this, not the kind that Tristan – and Byron – had. I’d thought they were all like the assholes who’d tried to force me to walk with them, ruled by hormones, dominance, and their ruts.
