I leaned back against his arm and looked up at him. ‘Your alpha isperfect.’
He snorted. ‘The preening bastard agrees with you.’
I laughed; the sound died as he dipped down and brushed his lips over mine, once, tentatively.
Oh.
I surged up to make it happen again.More.
I hadn’t realised I’d spoken aloud until he chuckled against my mouth. ‘Whatever you want, whenever you want it, omega. Literally anything. Ever.’
His alpha wasn’t the only one preening.
The kiss was sweet,sosweet. His hand cupped the back of my head, cradling me like I really was precious, and his lips moved against mine, gently. I lost track of time amidst the nuzzling kisses, the soft caresses, the way his thumb smoothed over my nape. My body warmed from the inside out, as if I’d been drinking something hot and sweet, and a different kind of heat built in my core just as slow and sweet as the kisses.
He made no move to take it further, not until I parted my lips and let my tongue touch his skin, encouraging him to open to me. Our tongues met, and paused, and played, and I sighed with satisfaction as I melted into him.
‘I should take you back,’ he murmured, pressing kisses to my jaw.
‘Should you?’
‘Are you cold?’ he asked.
I shook my head.
‘Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes?’
I laughed. ‘No.’
‘Hungry? Tired?’
‘None of the above.’ I kissed him again, biting gently at his bottom lip. ‘The view is too beautiful to go back inside.’
‘It is,’ he agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the sea or the sky.
I kissed him harder, lips and tongues sliding, my hands questing upwards until I could bunch my fingers in his hair. It was softer than it looked, slipping like silk over my skin. He made a surprised, approving sound when I tugged on some strands, his arms crossing over my back as I wrapped my knees around his waist.
I hadn’t realised how hot my body was, how tightly wound my core. It had been building so gradually and gently, a backdrop to the emotion, to the connection between us. His lips pressed a trail of kisses down my neck; I threw my head back to lethim nuzzle at my collarbone, a moan escaping my throat as his tongue flicked out to taste my skin.
‘Byron –’
His breath fanned over my chest, warm and tickling, sending a thrill through my limbs. ‘Mmm?’
I squirmed on his lap. ‘I –’
He pulled back and I squirmed again, this time in disappointment. ‘What do you need, beautiful?’
I didn’t want to push too hard, not again. I pressed a lingering, closed-lipped kiss to his jaw. ‘Whatever you’re willing to give, alpha.’
Whateveryou’rewillingtogive, alpha.
My heart raced. I’d already said what I was willing to give to her.
Literally anything. Ever.
My body was electric, my muscles quivering, my hands trembling.
Because this wasRose, and she was in my arms, on mylap. This was my omega, and she was staring up at me, her eyes heavy in the now-dark, her tongue darting out to touch her bottom lip.