Page 5 of Such a Lovely Omega
“Has there been a request for a demo of what I like best?”
“Impact play is always popular, isn’t it?” Indeed it was, with or without me out there.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a whoosh, closed my laptop, and stood up. “Come on, then. Not promising or even suggesting I’ll do a demo tonight. But I will have a drink and chat with the nice people. Satisfied?”
“Smug.” He smirked at me. “C’mon, friend. Never say I didn’t save you from yourself.”
“I’m just annoyed I didn’t think of hiring someone before you did. Why do you have to be so smart?”
“Can’t help myself. You didn’t even see my fire demo.”
“Yeah, I heard you finally did one.” We’d always had this sort of a relationship, bantering, teasing, a far cry from the intensity with omegas and submissives who looked to us to meet their needs on many levels.
Although, I did have to say that the few times I’d seen Talon outside the walls with his mate and baby, he revealed an ability to love at least as strong as his dominance. What must that be like? I couldn’t imagine. I’d only ever felt an attraction like that to one person, but he fell in love with someone else long ago.
I followed Talon out into the hallway, but before we got to the public area of the club, he was waylaid by a staffing issue and had to send me ahead. He promised to meet me at the bar in fifteen, so I headed there and planted myself on a stool that opened just as I arrived. Music pulsed around me, the crack of whips, cries, and moans, the real sounds of our club. My soul awoke at the cacophony of pleasure and pain, reminding me why I took on this place. It had been just a “job” to me for too long, when that was never the intent.
The bartender set a single malt in front of me without being asked. The beers I had last time I set foot out here were good, but whiskey would always be my go-to. I picked it up and took a sip, rolling it around in my mouth. We had top shelf for our members, and some paid for a bottle up there, but my collection hid in a cabinet under the bar and only senior staff even had a key. “Thanks, Frank.” I spun the stool to face the club floor. From here, I could see several of the stations, bound submissive omegas stretched out on the spiderweb or bent over the spanking benches. The dungeon monitors, volunteer members all, were watching closely to make sure all was well. It took experience to tell the difference between consent and non—which was strictly forbidden. As well as pain chosen or not. Since we were all membership, and a forfeiture of the rather large deposit put up for the membership would be the result of rule breaking, we didn’t have a big problem.
As I relaxed, grateful for my friend who had my back, my gaze landed on a face I never expected to see here. I’d checked in with him a few times since Emile died, but since West never encouraged me to call again, I’d fallen out of the habit. An alpha was attempting to chat him up. Seeing his pale cheeks and uncomfortable posture, I was off the stool and on the way to his side in a flash.
“West, you got here.” I took his arm and steered him away from the other alpha. “I have been waiting.” Since he didn’t argue or dig his heels in, I had to assume I’d gauged his discomfort correctly. When we were back by the bar, I stopped. “I hope that was all right? I didn’t break up a kink connection.”
He shook his head. “No. It wasn’t anything like that.”
“It’s good to see you. Want to come to my office and catch up?” I hadn’t seen him since Emile’s funeral, and I now realized how remiss I had been.
He shrugged. “I guess.”
I probably had that coming.
Chapter Five
West
“It’s been…almost a year, hasn’t it?” Alex asked, shutting the door behind me.
“Yes,” I whispered, taking in the sparse but elegant office. Steel-gray walls. Hardwood floors, stained black but with veins of silver highlighting their imperfections. Everything was modern and minimalist. A simple black desk. A large leather chair. Files lined up. Five pens in a straight row to the right of the desk.
He set his glass of whiskey, neat, on the desk. “Please sit down, Alex. I can’t believe it’s been a year.” My back warmed where he gently touched me, guiding me to the seat opposite his desk. As I sat down, I couldn’t help tracing his movements with my stare. I didn’t remember him being so purposeful, so graceful and yet, power emanated from him, so palpable I could reach out and breathe it in, lean into it, let it shelter me.
“In one week. One week,” I repeated, not able to wrap my head around the fact either. Some days, it felt like he had been gone a week and sometimes, the hours dragged on and on until I was sure Emile had been gone a decade.
“How are you?” he asked. “Didn’t think I would see you here.”
I shrugged. “We had…we have…I have a membership.” This was harder than I thought but at the same time, Alex emanated comfort and safety. I tried to soak in as much of it as possible while I was here—fill up my cup. The damned thing had been a desert for far too long. “Emile bought us a lifetime membership before he passed. He…anyway, I’m here.”
“You didn’t answer the question, West.” My name rolled off his tongue and caressed me in places no one had ever touched.
“Which one?” I asked, feeling the corners of my mouth lift in a smile that felt foreign on my face. The muscles were out of practice.
“The one about how you are doing.”
I breathed in and out, caging my emotions in. They threatened to spill out at any drop of a song or the sight of a sappy commercial. “I’m okay.”
Alex cocked his head to the side. I’d never been a good liar. “It’s okay if you’re not. Emile was your mate. Your alpha. There’s probably a part of you that will never be fully healed, West.”
West. West. West. Emile called me baby or darlin’. Unless there was something serious going on, he never used my name. One of the things that jarred me in the beginning and then…one I eventually let slide. I had let a lot of things slide.