Page 52 of The Packaged Deal
He smirks at me. “I can’t wait to have you again. Fuck that mouth of yours.” He exhales and licks his lower lip, his eyes drifting down to my groin.
“Maybe I’ll bond you next time,” I tease.
Sven frowns, and his whole body language changes instantly. “No bonds. Nothing has changed, Addy. This is just sex.”
My mind goes blank. There’s a strange roaring in my ears. “Just sex? No bonds?”
“Yeah, that’s what we agree on, right? Just sex.”
“My alpha!” I hear his voice in my head and remember the sharp pain, the bite throbs.
“Just sex?” I repeat dumbly.
“Of course. At the end of this, we’ll go back to how we used to be.”
“You don’t want my bond?” I ask cautiously.
“I don’t want anyone’s bond,” Sven says clearly. “You understand me, don’t you? No bonds on me and none of mine on anyone else.”
“Of course, Sven,” I say mechanically. I turn back to the pancakes, wondering how I’m going to stop my world from shattering.
He bonded me. He put his teeth in me and claimed me. Doesn’t he want me? No, he clearly doesn’t remember doing it. So, what was that?
There are so many questions whirling around in my head that I somehow manage to cook the pancakes in a complete daze.
Sven whistles while he walks back into the kitchen. The smile he sends me is full of flirty innuendo, and I try, I really do, I try to smile back at him, but I don’t know what to do about this, and I have no idea how to act.
There’s a medical issue at the very least going on. That scares me. But the biggest issue is should I tell him or not? Is it ethical to keep it to myself? Or should I just throw it out there? I feel sick just considering what I should do.
I clean the kitchen until everything is clean and put away again, and only then do I notice that Sven and Kandi are gone, and Jade is sitting at the table, watching me with a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “I honestly don’t know where to start.”
I expect her to press. That’s what most people would do, but instead, she huffs a laugh and slides out of the chair, reaching out with those tiny hands and wrapping her fingers around mine.
“Let's go and find something diabolical to distract ourselves.”
Her smile is pure wickedness. I know what she is now. She’s a wisp, a glowing specter that’s leading me down a path of bad choices. When I can’t see her, I remember all the reasons to stay away, but when she’s in front of me, I forget everything.
She glances back and smiles, and I’m lost. “All right, what are we going to do? We can move all the furniture and make it so that we all have to be together. We could steal Kandi’s resistance bands and use them to make a slingshot and fire balloons at the neighbour’s house. Or we could play hide-and-seek.”
“I don’t play,” I say without thinking.
Her eyes widen. “You don’t play? Why not?”
“Because I’m a doctor, and an alpha, and I’m old.”
She turns, walking into my space so quickly there’s no time to get out of her way. “You’re not old, Adrian, and I’m more than aware you’re an alpha and a doctor, but we can still have fun.”
My mouth opens and closes on the million arguments. I know I should lay them at her feet, but I can’t get a single word out. Maybe I should just push everything aside and just try something fun.
She takes my hand but doesn’t apply any pressure. It’s all in her smile, I decide absently. That’s her secret power, that takes her from a tiny omega to a goddess. I stare down at our clasped hands. I don’t feel alone when she’s near me. That’s what that feeling is.
I take a step towards her and watch the light ignite her from within. She lets out a low laugh that makes my cock twitch, and then bounces forward, leading me deeper into my house.
“I have the most perfect idea,” she whispers. “Let's leave them love notes. Everywhere.”