I stare at her, weak. “Were you trying to kill me?”
“Maybe.” She licks her lips primly.
Knock. “I canhearwhispering! What’s happening in there?!”
“We’ll let you know when we’re finished organizing, Patty!” Hannah says.
“That’s not how organizing works!”
Hannah takes my hand, letting me pull her up.
“Now you’re just being ridiculous!” Patty barks, footsteps stomping away.
I tuck myself back in very carefully while Hannah watches like she’s waiting for an encore.
“Think she knew what we were doing?” she asks.
I blink at her. “I was screaming about delicate organizational work while you had my cock in your mouth. Patty thinks we’re alphabetizing porn magazines at best.”
She snorts so hard she nearly doubles over. “We should get back before they try to break down the door,” she says, turning for the door.
“Or…” I catch her wrist, pull her flush against me, my mouth brushing her ear. “I could return the favor right now. Get on my knees. Taste you. Make you come so hard you forget your own name.”
Her breath stutters, which is music to my ears.
“It’s tempting,” she whispers, heat blooming under her skin. “But we really do need to go.”
“Fine.” I let her turn… then reel her back in again, my voice dropping, dark and possessive. “Just know something, Hannah.”
She swallows.
“You can run all you want. But you’re my scent match. Which makes you mine. And I always claim what’s mine.” My lips brush her throat. “It’s only a matter of time before you stop fighting it… and let me take you apart.”
She shivers, her entire body lighting up, her arousal spiking, sweet and sharp. “We’ll see,” she breathes, trying—failing—to sound steady.
I press a slow kiss to her pulse. “No running, Hannah. Not from me.”
She doesn’t pull away.
And I know, with blinding certainty, this Omega is about to wreck my entire world, in the best possible way.
9
HANNAH
We just dropped Dad off at his house, and now Noel’s truck is idling in the dark street, engine running but neither of us moving.
The silence stretches between us. I can hear the heater blowing, the occasional pop of the engine settling. My hands are twisted in my lap, and I’m staring at them like they hold all the answers.
“So,” Noel finally says, turning slightly in the driver’s seat to face me. “Do I take you all the way back to Lily’s place? That’s over an hour from here. Or you could crash at mine tonight.”
My immediate reaction is to say no. To politely decline, make up some excuse about not wanting to impose, maintain the boundaries I’ve been desperately trying to keep between us.
But I’m exhausted. The party drained every ounce of energy I had, and the thought of that long drive followed by trying to sleep in Lily’s spare room and not making too much noise to wake up her little ones sounds overwhelming.
“I couldn’t?—”
“Look.” Noel cuts me off, and his voice is gentle, but there’s steel underneath. “Lily already told me what happened with Scot. About him packing up your stuff, changing the locks, kicking you out of your own apartment.”
