Page 66 of Knot Their Soldier: Part One
He clears his throat and looks around like he’s trying to find someone to pass the question off to. It’s almost comical. The others are too far ahead, but I swear I can hear Blaze snickering at Viper’s discomfort.
He opens and closes his mouth as he searches for the right words.
“We’ll stop when you start purring,” he blurts, the words tumbling over each other in his rush to get them out.
I stare up at him. The apples of his cheeks peeking above his beard are red, but it’s not from exertion. He’s blushing.
“And why do you think I’ll purr?”
“Because you did yesterday… and that day in the hospital.” He’s not meeting my eyes, and I find myself feeling a shred of power in this situation. He’s entirely out of his depths. Me too, but I’m not about to surrender my first taste of an upper hand.
“Well, I refuse to do it,” I scowl and charge onwards with renewed determination.
I’ve taken three steps when a firm hand grasps my biceps gently.
The sparks skitter across my skin. Every time we touch, no matter how innocent, it feels like magic.
I hold still.
“I don’t think you can help it, Omega,” he says, his voice low. The presence of his giant body behind me makes my gland ache. His size and dominance has my hindbrain pushing my Omega nature to the fore.
I huff and tilt my head back so he can see the frown on my face. “What do you mean?”
I watch him in profile as he glances up the hill, at where Knox and Shade are. The others have stopped in their tracks, their posture stiff as they wait.
“Shade did some research about this sort of thing,” he mutters, almost as though he’s embarrassed about the fact. “And we think it’s the same response Omegas get when they’re overstimulated, overwhelmed, during their… er…”
He rubs the back of his neck, scrunching up his nose as he fights to finish his sentence.
“…heat?” I provide, taking mercy on him.
“Yeah.”
I pause and glance at the others down the path. They can hear our conversation loud and clear, so I nod at them. “I agree.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, it makes sense. Biologically, it’s a way of encouraging an Alpha to take care of an Omega when she’s vulnerable.”
“Yeah.” Viper swallows and takes a deep breath before saying in a rush, “I feel it. It’s instinct, like you’re calling to me. I can’t help but want to care for you. Treat you like a queen. Satisfy any desire you have.”
My eyelids flutter, and a breathy “oh” slips from my mouth.
Viper is a quiet person, brooding even, so it’s a shock to hear his raw voice spewing out his deepest desire, almost like he can’t help himself.
He turns away from me and starts walking towards the others, hands raking through his hair and tugging at the dark locks.
“Come on,” he calls back to me, and I scamper behind him.
We catch up to the waiting team, and I smile wanly at the others. “So, you’re trying to tire me out, huh?”
“Doing our best, baby girl,” Shade smiles, like he’s proud of me for discovering their plan. My eyebrow twitches at the nickname. “We gotta figure out what triggers it and how to stop you from slipping under, or at least bring you out of it fast.”
I hum and nod, my eyes darting over to Knox. He’s studying me intently.
Frustration rises and settles in my chest. It rankles me that they’ve been secretive, keeping me out of the discussion and plans. I get they’re used to following orders without knowing the finer details, but this feels unfair.
“You feeling close to slippin’, Omega Sparks?” Knox asks with a raised brow, almost like he can see my simmering anger and is waiting for me to lash out. I bet he can’t wait to put me in my place again.
