Page 45 of Lilacs and Leather

She shakes her head and continues to watch the crowd. I follow her gaze, smirking at the people on the dance floor. Bodies grind together, partners changing and hands touching. I look back at Lydia and find her brow furrowed and a small frown pulling at her lips.

“What’s up, baby?” I ask, leaning in to speak into her ear over the music.

“That girl with the purple hair. She was next to us earlier. She’s an omega. But she’s kissed that guy behind her, and the girl in front of her in the last couple minutes,” Lydia says, her words distant.

“If she plays her cards right, she’s probably going to do a lot more than that with them tonight. What about it?” I reply.

Lydia doesn’t speak again for a long moment, just watching the trio move together to the beat of the music. I observe her face, and I can almost hear the gears turning in her brain as she tries to puzzle it out.

“The word you’re looking for is ‘bisexual,’ baby,” I say with a soft laugh in her ear.

She turns to look at me then, and I catch the roll of her eyes. “I know what a bisexual is. I’m just...” she asks, her voice dropping.

I nod, my brow pulled down now. “Is that a problem?” I ask, hackles rising.

“No, not at all! I mean, Rhett’s with Lucas and me, so no, that’s not—” She cuts herself off, looking back at the purple-haired girl and her two friends. “I just didn’t think omegas could…”

“Didn’t think omegas could, what?” I ask when she trails off with her eyes thousand yards away.

“Let’s just dance,” she snaps.

I know a change of subject when I see one, and despite my instinct to push, I allow her to lead me out into the mess of writhing bodies. I pull her hips to mine so her back is against my front, and she leans into me, letting my hands guide her through the music. Her hand slides into my hair as she pulls my face down to rest against her neck. I take a deep breath of her scent, feeling the heat of her body against mine making my heart kick hard in my chest. I purr as she pushes her ass back against my cock, her scent making my head spin. My fingers tighten on her sides, and her little whimper barely reaches my ears over the music.

We dance for several songs, each more frantic and sweaty than the last. I can see beads of perspiration sliding down her neck, catching the colors of the lights overhead. Before I can help myself, I lean in a lick away the drops, the lilac and lavender taste of her skin filling my mouth and chasing away every other thought. She whimpers, nails digging into my forearms as I wrap them around her stomach to hold her even closer. She molds perfectly against me, every curve of her body soft and inviting. Her head is resting on my shoulder as we writhe together, and my eyes scan the crowd, my guard up with her in my arms. A sharp look and a low growl chases away a beta who tries to press Lydia between us. He’s cute and everything, but Lydia is mine tonight.

We take a break to do a couple rounds of shots at the bar, and then we’re back on the dance floor. With her in my arms, the world falls away. I only hear her breathing, and occasionally her singing along to the music. I can only smell lilacs and lavender and earthy rain. My stomach flutters, my heart feeling like a bird trapped in my ribs. She fills every part of me, carving a space in my mind that I don’t mind relenting. She’s so different from anything I’d expected to find. I imagined her as some demure, wilting thing, but her fierce soul calls to me in a way I’ve never experienced before. At some point, a body slides up behind me and my eyes snap open at Lydia’s growl as she turns to glare at whoever’s behind me. The person backs off, and I catch the satisfied gleam in Lydia’s jewel bright eyes.

Lydia’s arm wraps around my neck and that intoxicating honey and vanilla scent rolling off her fills my senses. I pull her close, one of my legs between hers as we move together. I wrap an arm around her waist, burying my nose in her shoulder. My other hand slides into her hair, and I clutch the silky strands between my fingers. My skin tingles wherever she touches me, and I close my eyes to bask in her glow.

“You smell so fucking good, baby,” I moan into her ear.

“Get me out of here,” Lydia whispers, her voice shaking.

I pull back sharply, all of my desire falling away at the absolute terror I can hear in her voice. But before I can get a good look at her, she’s pulling me down into a kiss. It’s aggressive, full of heat and something I can’t quite identify. I moan into her, coherent thought abandoning me at the feel of her soft lips moving with mine, mouth parting enough for me to slip my tongue into her mouth. She tastes better than she smells, sweet and cool and earthy. Her nails dig into my scalp, and I pull her closer, swallowing her whimper as our tongues twine.

“Where do you want to go?” I ask against her mouth, trying to push my lust aside to make sure she’s okay.

“Anywhere. I just need to be anywhere but here,” she whimpers, her nails digging into my hair harder.

I nod once and kiss her again, losing myself for a moment in the feel of her mouth on mine. When we break away, I untangle my hand from her hair and lace my fingers through hers and head toward the door.

Eighteen

Lydia

An omega like you.

The words play over and over in my head as Mateo guides me through the dance. My eyes close, and I swallow against the lump in my throat. The music feels like it’s coming from the other end of a tunnel, and I hardly feel the press of Mateo’s fingers on my hips, the slide of his tongue along the column of my neck. The words in my head morph from Davis’s boyish sneer to my mother’s shrill southern squawk tohiscondescending tenor.

An omega like you can’t be getting offers like this all that often.

An omega like you shouldn’t be having those sorts of thoughts.

An omega like you should consider herself lucky that I’m still here.

An omega like you…

I drag Mateo off the dance floor when the spiral of remembered words gets too loud in my head, and we order several shots. I let the burn fill me, trying to break out of the loop of my memories. But the distraction is over before it can do any good, and Mateo is pulling me back onto the dancefloor. Someone moves up behind Mateo, and the flash of red hair turns my veins to ice even as a growl escapes my lips.