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JACK
“We must find Stimpson,”Pax growled at our paired reflection in the hall mirror. After much pestering by Beatrice, we’d had our hair cut. The fashionable style made Pax look severe in the warm candlelight. I wanted to provide some comfort but lacked the will power because my thoughts were the same as his.
“Drexler–” I knew he was our best hope. Pax was reluctant to engage the other alpha’s help. Rather, he would rely on Meeker, who’d had little luck despite his most valiant efforts. But Pax was not wrong on one point: making a deal with Drexler was akin to bargaining with the Devil.
“Our last resort. I’ll go to the Burkes tonight after the opera and see what’s to do. They play deep but they drink deeper and someone might let something slip.”
“I’ll look forward to enjoying our omega on my own… Mind, if you return foxed, take the bed and don’t bring the stink of Hollands into her nest.”
“I never!”
My eyes flashed amusement at his indignant response. Teasing him had always flirted with danger, but now? Now Trix and I battled to see who provoke him first.
“What are you plotting?” Our mate stood at the head of the stairs. Dressed in a rich blue with all the delicacies of modern fashions, she practically skipped down the stairs, a bright smile on her face.
“His attempting to irritate me.”
“Lud, how boring. Tod, you’d find better amusement polishing silver.” Beatrice waved Pax’s indignation off and fussed with her hair in the hall mirror. “I look ridiculous.”
“The turban suits you.” Pax snapped. “I’d not have picked it if it didn’t.”
“And you are the arbiter of fashion?” She retorted.
“If you want an easy life, pick your fights… We’ll be late if we don’t leave now.” He barked, and I swear on all that the Goddess holds holy the omega smirked.
“Oh, Pax. You are so easy to rile. Of course I love the turban. Your taste is excellent.”
“I’ll—”
“We wouldn’t want to be late.” She stood on her toes and tugged him down to press a soft kiss on his mouth. The little menace batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ll be a good omega, I promise. And any, uh, punishment you might think I deserve can be reserved for a later date. To Covent Garden!”
“Here!” Lady Mountview waved at us in a display of girlish joy. The little omega’s mood so at odds with my own. But tonight, I needed to set those concerns aside and focus on the omega and alpha beside me. And my mate seemed genuinely happy to see our exuberant guest and her five alphas. We threaded our way through the crowd and the omegas did some sort of fluttering greeting that made no sense to me. The alphas just bowed. At least they made no move to touch. I suppressed a growl at the memory of another alpha touching my mate.
“I love you.” I jumped at the murmured words from Beatrice.
“My omega.” I traced a finger along her bites.
“Come, we must endure the opera.”
“Endure?” I blinked at her in exaggerated surprise.
“Oh, I like the swirl of society about me. The singing? Less.”
“Scamp. Harassing Pax over it–”
“Hush. He’ll hear.” She looked over her shoulder to where Pax stood talking with Maxine, one of the Mountview alphas.
There was nothing interesting in the opera, sung in a language I didn’t understand, and the house was nosy and hot from all the bodies. But Lady Mountview, who insisted that Trix call her Tiffany, was enraptured. She was translating for one of her alphas, who seemed more interested in watching her lips move than in the opera itself. Not that I could blame her when my own mate had relented to sitting in my lap after the first interval.
“It isn’t appropriate.” She’d grumbled before curling against my chest.
“We make our own rules. And I ain’t a gentleman.”
“You are more of a gentleman than most born to the title,” she chided. “Shall we make Pax jealous?”
“I like to watch,” Pax chuckled, shifting in his seat so that he was looking at us and not the performance. The lights from the house created a halo of warm light around him and kept his face in shadow.
I ran the back of my hand across her silken soft cheek, down along her neck–briefly bracketing her throat–, before slipping my hand into her gown to cup her breast.
