AllFreeNovel
Share Us
M I L E S
I wakeup to a very needy Omega wrapped in my arms, and I can’t imagine life being any more perfect. I kiss the top of her silky brown hair, and she mumbles something incoherent, burying her nose further into my bare chest, breathing deeply.
“Miles?” she mutters before sitting up sharply, staring at me through a mess of sleep-tangled hair. She blinks several times, frowning at me. Confused.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m still here,” I say, nuzzling the side of her temple. “I stayed with you all night. Did you sleep all right?”
“I did,” she says, her voice slightly odd. “I slept great. I never sleep that great.” Her frown dips upward into a tentative smile. “Thank you for that.”
“So really, I’m just your big teddy bear?” I joke, although it’s a role I’ll gladly take. If Riley needs a teddy bear, I’ll be that for her. I’ll be anything for her.
“I guess so,” she says, but her words trail off. She stares off at the wall, a little wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows.
“Hey,” I ask, cupping her chin and guiding her gaze back to me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she says, biting her bottom lip. “It’s just… my past. I’ve not always welcomed the touch of an Alpha. I didn’t think I ever would.”
She looks at me with wide, sorrowful eyes, and I wait patiently, giving her the option to continue.
“My parents had a friend, an Alpha. He liked to touch me. I thought he was going to force me, and my parents didn’t believe me when I tried to tell them, so I ran away. That’s how I wound up here.” She runs her fingers down my jaw. “And that’s why I was alone. Until you.”
Ouch.Her words are like a hot knife plunging deep into my chest. I want to growl and claim her right here and now, so I can protect her from any other Alpha like that again. But I have to keep that instinct calm.
“I will always protect you. Even if you don’t choose us. Even if we don’t claim you.” Although, I don’t think I could ever do anything but protect her. I’m too far gone for Riley. I can honestly say that if another Alpha tried to claim her, I may not be able to help feeling territorial. Worse, I’m not sure what I’d do—what I’d be capable of—in trying to stop that from happening.
Thane was going to wring my fucking neck.
“I’m not ready to be claimed, yet,” she says tentatively, like she’s afraid to shatter the moment.
I hold on to that little word,yet, like it’s something precious. “Last night was incredible, but it doesn’t have to mean anything more than you want it to mean. We didn’t bond. You’re still an unclaimed Omega. I promise.”
Her shoulders relax a little. I hate how even the slightest idea of bonding with us makes her so unhappy. She leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips, a chaste one that still makes me want more. “I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful for all you’ve done, but I don’t want to make that decision. Not yet. I’m just not ready. And if you knew…”
“If we knew what?”
“Nothing.”
She gives me a sad smile and tucks her sleep rumpled hair behind her ear.
“I understand,” I say, even though it kills me to say the words. I want her to choose us, to chooseme, as her family.
An idea hits me, and I grasp at the chance to turn the seriousness of the moment back into the carefreeness of last night. To put that smile back on her face where it belongs.
“Hey, do you want to shower with me?” I tip my head toward the bathroom door. “It can be as innocent as you like.” I pause. “Or not.”
Her pink lips spread in a wicked smile. “Not too innocent, please.” She hops out of bed, buck naked and sprinting toward the bathroom, laughing as I chase her. The internal struggle to keep my need to tackle her to the ground and knot her swells within like a foreign beast, but I smother it, taking the small sips of her that she allows me, knowing one day, Iwilldrink freely.
There’s no way she doesn’t feel this too.Want this too. And I’ll do anything to make it happen. For her to be mine.Ours.
Inside the bathroom, I catch her, whirling her around as she hoots with laughter. After a toe-curling kiss, I break away from her long enough to start the shower. When the water is at the right temperature, I step inside, tugging her in with me.
“I love this shower,” she confesses as she reaches for her shampoo. “I barely had water pressure at the apartment. Here, it’s like standing in a rainstorm. I love it.”
“Only the best for the Woods pack,” I say, taking the bottle of shampoo from her. “Let me do that.”
I spin my index finger as a gesture for her to turn around, which she obeys. I pour the soap into my hand and start to massage it into her scalp. She groans and leans back against me, her skin slippery and wet against my own. My cock hardens against her plush ass, but instead of ignoring it, Riley reaches around and begins to stroke it slowly.
“Ah, God, Riley,” I moan, my hands shaking as I try to finish soaping up her hair. “That feels amazing. But I need to rinse your hair.”
