AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you need time, though, if you need to work through things with the others. Even if you want to check out your options. That’s okay. You’re allowed to make choices and feel out what’s right for you. There are a lot of really great guys living on the farm, and I know a few in town, too. Any of them would count themselves lucky to spend some time with you. I just want you to know I’m an option. One that’s really, desperately, into you.”
Ava moved swiftly and before I knew what was happening; she was sitting across my lap and her arms were around my neck. She was breathing hard and looked me directly in the eyes. I could get lost in that star flecked sea of green, as her cherry scent enveloped me.
“Nick,” she breathed my name, as if it meant something to her. “I really like you, too. Everything else in my life is so complicated right now, but not you. You’re the sweetest, most perfect gift.”
I breathed out, heavily. But I couldn’t wipe off the enormous grin that spread across my face.
“Can I take you on a date sometime soon?” I asked her. “On a picnic or something?”
“I’ve never been on a date. I’d love that.” She squirmed on my lap until she stilled suddenly and a serious look crossed her face. “Are you going to wait for our date to kiss me, though? Because if you are, I’d like to have the date now, please.”
She was so cute, asking politely for what she wanted. I gave her a grin I was sure looked goofy as hell, but on the inside I was jumping around and punching the air.
“I just have to do one thing first.” She scrunched up her nose and looked adorably confused, as I reached up and tugged the scrunchie out of her hair. The long brown strands fell in waves over my hands and down her back. I almost shuddered at the silky feel of it. I leaned forward slightly and breathed deeply. Her scent didn’t affect me the same way it did her alpha mates, but it still had me spinning. Her hair smelled of her natural cherry scent, with a layer of vanilla. Either she had a vanilla shampoo, or Cary had been nuzzling it. I figured it was probably the latter, and I found I didn’t mind at all.
I glanced at her. She had one eyebrow raised and a small smile on her face. I swallowed hard and shifted back slightly so I could caress her face. Her skin was so soft as she leaned into my touch, rubbing her cheek on my hand like a cat. I ran my hand back up under her hair and pulled her slowly towards me. Savoring every moment of this, because I knew it would become branded on my brain forever.
She closed her eyes and sighed softly, as her mouth parted slightly. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I lowered my head and kissed her tenderly. Her lips tasted the same as her scent. My groan echoed in my head as she opened her lips wider, and her tongue flicked out, licking over my lip. I lost it, as I pulled her harder into me and kissed her with abandon. Her hands ran through my hair before she tugged on it. I almost dragged her up onto the table as the sensation rocked me, but I held myself back.
I don’t know how long we kissed for. It could have been minutes or days before we finally pulled apart, both of us struggling to draw a breath.
“Wow,” she whispered in that soft voice that drove me wild. Her lips were plump and swollen, and her hair was gorgeously tousled from my hands. She had a satisfied smile and looked pleased with herself.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, my brain offline for the moment. I reached up and smoothed down her hair for her.
“Don’t worry, I can fix it,” she said, a little breathlessly, as she grabbed the scrunchie off my desk where I’d dropped it and forgotten it instantly. I kinda didn’t want her to.
“Can I do it?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager. The next best thing to leaving it down would be to fix it myself.
“Uh, sure,” she said as she swiveled around on my lap.
Great, she probably thought I was some kind of weirdo now. I ran my fingers through it to get it back into some kind of order. Then I pulled it up high on her head and wove it around, before I twisted the large scrunchie in place to make a messy bun. I even put Ryder’s slightly wilted flower back in. It wasn’t as neat as it was earlier, without a brush, but it would do.
She leaned forward and looked at her reflection in a dark monitor. “You’re good at that.”
“I have nieces,” I laughed. I also often volunteered at the informal childcare cabin at the farm to give the mums a break. So I was used to fixing ponytails and buns. I didn’t tell her that, though.
“What other skills do you have that I don’t know about?”
I just shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. It wasn’t a skill, but I loved to take care of people. I had a big extended family, and everyone was noisily up in each other’s business. I loved them dearly, but I’d always felt a little lost amongst them. None of them needed me. Which is why I’d been so happy when Max had taken me under his wing and started teaching me what he knew about tech. It had felt like a way to help. To be a useful part of something.
Then Cary and Ava had come along. They had both looked so lost at the farm at first; it had been a pleasure to help settle them in. I think I’d gotten more out of showing them around, and getting them the things they’d needed, than they had. Now, meeting their alphas, it was clear they needed this pack. If I was honest, I did too.
I must have zoned out, because Ava gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she hopped up off my lap. I missed the feel of her instantly. Now that I’d tasted her, I was a junkie. I wanted another hit.
“I’m going to let you get back to it. I know what you’re doing here is important.”
She had it wrong. She was the most important thing in the world to me. “I’d rather kiss you all afternoon,” I blurted out, and that blush stole across her cheeks again. I wondered what she’d look like laid out naked on a bed, if she’d blush the same way while I ate her out.Get a grip, man.
I’d never felt so much overwhelming desire for another person before, as if someone had hijacked my brain.Well, maybe not my brain.
“Another day,” she said, as she backed out of the room. She blew me a sweet kiss, and I caught it, before I pressed my hand against my chest and grinned like an idiot.
Only when she turned in the doorway and stepped out, she jumped and gave a startled scream.
I was out of my chair instantly and across the room in a heartbeat.
twenty-five
