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His hand dropped to his side in a helpless gesture that did nothing to quell her frustration. Ginny, half asleep on her shoulder, burbled out a fresh complaint. Rolling her eyes at the both of them, Zorah transferred the baby to her other arm, so she could slip her pinkie finger in the infant's drooly mouth and massage her sore gums.
The Alpha said nothing. Tense silence invaded the peaceful night, and Zorah's annoyance cranked hotter. This was pointless. He was a weirdo and wasn't going to tell her anything. He wasn't going to explain himself or help her understand why his stare affected her the way it did. He hadn't even offered her hisname.
Just as quickly, annoyance gave way to resignation. If he didn't know, or couldn't tell her, orwouldn't, then what hope did she have of understanding this peculiar experience? Who else could she possibly ask? Any other Alpha would lose his mind with envy, and any other Omega would think she was crazy. Certainly, her own mother would. Zorah could hear the condescending lecture now, "You and your fanciful ideas, Zorah! I mean, really! One Alpha is as good as the next one, why are you overcomplicating things?"
With a throatyharrumph, Zorah turned and lowered herself to sit, resting her tired back against the same boulder the Alpha leaned on. Facing away from him hurt less than scanning his huge form, waiting for an answer she'd never get.
Long, silent minutes passed as Ginny drifted into light sleep, leaving a soggy wet patch on Zorah's shirt. A single breeze snaked by, and she closed her eyes to appreciate the cool relief on her overtaxed body and mind. She was just so tired. If not for the lingering Alpha, she might fall asleep here and now. At least unconsciousness would grant her some reprieve from the tumult inside her caused by the unspeaking shadow at her back.
"Did he kiss you?" Again, the Alpha shattered the peace with an inflammatory query.
Only this time, Zorah's emotions refused to rouse at the provocation. If he didn't want to explain himself to her, that was fine, but that also meant she didn't owe him any more of her attention or explanations, either.
She glued her lips together.
"Riddick," he pushed. "Did he stick his tongue in your mouth? Or shove his filthy hand up your skirt?"
Zorah sighed at the tasteless accusation. Alphas were uncouth, and this one was no different, yet his intonation hinted at something other than brute crassness. It struck her as more miserable than grossly insulting. Like picking a scab you knew would bleed, he delivered the inquiry as if he expected the worst possible answer but couldn't help asking anyway. Pity had her half turning to look over her shoulder at his slumped, defeated-looking outline. Suddenly, telling him felt less like revealing a private detail than it did alleviating his worry. Why she cared if he worried, she wouldn't consider; she had enough worries of her own.
"He kissed me," she confessed, her voice as flat as the kiss itself. No spark had crackled when Riddick touched her lips with his own. No exhilaration had lit up her insides or kindled a desire for more. As much as she'd wished it to, the kiss stirred no more reaction from her than a bite of oatmeal. "But that's all."
The Alpha expelled a long, melancholic sigh. "You don't want him, Zorah," he said, his voice low and serious as he nearly purred her name.
An odd sensation rippled in her belly, and by the conclusion of the last breathy syllable, she only wanted him to say her name again and again until she fell asleep to the sound.
He spoke again. "He's all smiles and charm, but you deserve more than that."
Zorah thumped her head gently against the rock and parroted her mother's words with a hefty dose of sarcasm. "One Alpha's as good as the next. I have to choose one of them, don't I?" If she didn't want to be stuck with cousin Nelson she did, but she left that part off.
A low growl bounced off the rocks, and in a brisk reversal, the Alpha crouched in front of her perch. Close enough his hot breath cut through the muggy air and whispered across her cheek. Close enough she caught the first whiff of his unique scent. Its clean, bracing aroma tickled her nose and cleansed her airways from the inside out. Salt and eucalyptus with a hint of musk, it sang in her veins and ejected every other Alpha scent from her memory. Her Omega nature sat up and took notice, alert and intrigued.
Now quite awake, Zorah's brows shot up, pulling her eyes open as if to see every bit of him in the single beam of moonlight. His bumpy, crooked nose looked like it had been broken one too many times. It imparted a wild, dangerous look that contrasted with the loose curls scattered over his forehead. Those strands provoked a sudden urge to tangle her fingers in and push them off his brow. Below that, fervent eyes, accented by faint age lines, shone out from under lids heavy with crushing fatigue or simmering lust.
She squinted into the dusky sockets of his eyes. Could it be lust? All the other Alphas wanted her, but didthisone? Madly, for absolutely no good reason, she wanted him too.
But he gave nothing of the sort away. "Don't settle for any of them." Taut muscles flexed at his jaw's hinge. "None of 'em deserve you."
Zorah's heart thumped so hard her breath came short. Something was happening to her, something important and profound, stirred up by this wholly confounding and dissatisfying interaction.
"What do I deserve?" she whispered, canting forward to inhale another gust of his intoxicating scent.
"You deserveeverything." His snarled response, immediate and emphatic, raised goose bumps along her flesh. "Everything," he slowly repeated between his heaving breaths. "And nothing less." Holding her gaze, he dipped his chin in a single nod like the period at the end of his sentence.
Spellbound, Zorah mirrored the gesture, silently affirming her understanding because it was the only thing she could manage to do.
Their promise sealed to his satisfaction, the Alpha whooshed out a sigh, got to his feet, and spun toward the woods. "The patrol is coming; I can't be here."
That was it? They were done talking? He'd thrown her into turmoil, upended her entire plan to choose a Morris Hill mate, and was just going to leave?
"Wait!" Zorah hissed, jumping to her feet and thankfully not waking Ginny.
The Alpha halted; tension etched into every line of his rigid posture.
She hurried to close the distance between them. "What about you?" Her voice softened.
Do you deserve me? was what she wanted to ask, but shyness made her fumble to compose the untoward question.
He spun around, nostrils flaring as he scented the approaching patrol before returning the sensual caress of his attention to her face. It lingered there for a long, taut moment where, and she was so focused on that singular and intoxicating touch, Zorah didn't tempt a single sip of air.
