Page 36 of Desperate Omega

“Friend with benefits, huh?”

Before I can think of any choice words with which to answer the nosy alpha, the wet bar of soap shoots out of my hand and lands in the water with a loud plop! I quickly bend over to retrieve it before the current of the water drags it away, and in the process I do the one thing I promised Brik I wouldn’t do.

I slip.

Losing one’s footing is never a pleasant experience. Doing it in total pitch-black darkness is even less fun. My stomach jumps up into my throat, and the whole universe whirls around me as I fall.

But I never actually hit the water. Before I can even process what is happening, strong hands and corded muscles are wrapping themselves around my body and pulling me upright again. I put my hands up, and they are met with a solid wall of hard muscle and smooth skin.

“Careful, little omega.”

Brik is in the pool with me, holding my naked body tightly against his own. His reflexes are impressive, even for an alpha, but right now his reflexes are the last thing on my mind.

Earlier, I wondered about the status of his arousal. Now I know. I can feel it pressing against my tummy, hard and hot and oh so long.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “Um… you can let me go now.”

“I don’t think so, omega. You promised you wouldn’t slip, then you broke your promise. That means we’re reverting to the original plan. I’m going to bathe you.”

“I’m already clean.”

“Are you?” Brik sniffs. “I still smell blood.”

He brings his face down close to mine and snuffles me like a dog, checking my forehead, my cheeks, my neck. At last he hones in on the source of the scent—my lips. When I was coming a moment ago, I bit my lip so hard I drew blood.

Brik cleans the blood away with a flick of his tongue.

The next thing I know, his lips are locked with mine. I’m not really sure which one of us started the kiss, but it’s clear neither of us wants it to end. We are hungry for each other. Starving. We devour each other’s mouths like a pair of ravening animals, moaning and growling as our tongues writhe together. Just as I feel myself starting to surrender completely, I break the kiss and pull away, to the extent that Brik’s powerful arms will allow.

“Wait,” I gasp. “I… we shouldn’t do this.”

“Why not? Does my kissing not please you?”

“No, it’s not that.” Quite the opposite, in fact. His kissing pleases me a little too much.

Brik stiffens slightly. “Is it Markus?”

“No, that’s not it either,” I say, though in truth that is part of it. Markus is not my mate, but I’d be lying if I said he was only my friend. What we did together last night in the mausoleum changed all that. I have not pledged myself to him, but I know he would not be happy about the way Brik is holding me right now, and I have to admit, I do feel a little guilty about it.

But that kiss though. And this hard body. It’s more than my heat-ridden mind can handle.

“I don’t even know you,” I say. “I only met you a few hours ago.”

“What do you need to know? I am an alpha, you are an omega, and we are both highly attracted to each other.”

I start to scold the cocky alpha for being so presumptuous, but he cuts me off before I can say anything.

“Don’t try to deny it, omega. I can smell your arousal. Now turn around.”

I don’t have to obey the alpha’s command; he turns my body for me. I hear him fishing in the water for the chunk of soap I dropped, and after a moment, he finds it. He pulls me tight against his body again, only this time my back is pressed against his front, and his naked erection is nestled into the cleft of my bare backside.

Then his powerful arms coil around me again, and his big, strong hands are on my breasts, squeezing and caressing them as he spreads the soap all over my skin. I know I shouldn’t allow him to do that, but it feels too good to try and make him stop.

Source, he’s good at this. I think he must have practiced on other omegas before me, and although I know it’s absurd, that thought ignites a flame of jealousy inside me.

“What about you?” I ask. “Do you… have a mate?”

“Not yet,” Brik answers. He gives my breasts a firm squeeze and brings his lips down to my ear. “If I did, do you think I would be touching you like this, Syra?”