Page 12 of Pack’s Prize

He wanted me, that much was obvious. I glanced at Theo, at Michael, both staring ravenously at me, at Elias, at the two of us together, and the thought flashed across my mind that I wanted to see them together just as much as they obviously enjoyed seeing one of their pack with me. I’d seen alphas fight before–Roman and his crew among them–and the raw animal energy had been frightening, yes. Terrifying, at times.

To see that passion applied elsewhere–

Elias’s hand on my thigh made me gasp and start, my breath caught in my chest.

I could barely taste the food when it arrived, although I was sure it was delicious. It looked gorgeous–almost as gorgeous as Michael’s dark eyes staring me down, Theo’s careless grace as he brought perfect bites to his perfect mouth, Elias’s hand on my leg, his thumb moving slowly against my bare skin, grounding me even as my desperate need had my head spinning and my chest filled nearly to bursting with excitement.

Michael didn’t even look at the check, when it arrived on a polished salver, just produced a gleaming black card from a slim cardholder–so much for his wallet being thick–and tossed it onto the tray, giving it to the waiter, who disappeared with it into the back.

He looked at me, then, his lips curving upwards into the barest smile even as his eyes burned.

“Our place? Or yours?”

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

Theo

I knewI had been acting like an ass. At Ardor, at dinner. To Michael, and Elias, and… Ava.

It wasn’t fair to her to play her hot and cold like this, not when it wasn’t her fault that any of this had happened. After all, it was Michael’s idea to court an omega.Pretendto court an omega. It had been me who had been so attracted to this particular omega at the club.It had been–well, adding sexhadbeen her idea, but even if the favor she needed involved a lot more nudity than I had been expecting, it was hardly her fault that we weretrading favors. It only made sense.Mutually beneficial.

She’d seemed bold at the club, demanding what she wanted from us with only the barest hint of hesitation. Would she be as bold in our bed? My cock twitched; I had been half-hard for hours, just at the scent of her, at the sight of her soft, white thigh peeking from between the hem of her tiny skirt and the white linen tablecloth that hid the rest of her legs from view. And when she and Elias kissed, and her scent had sweetened–

Now, though, she was sitting quietly beside me in the back seat of the SUV, looking out the window as the city passed by. Her hands were clasped demurely in her lap as if she wouldn’t be able to keep them still if they weren’t laced together.

I needed her to touchmewith those slender fingers; to look atmewith those deep eyes.

If she did, though… I swore silently. Damn omegas. Was I dangerously susceptible to their charms, more than the usual alpha?

But no: it wasn’t omegas that were the problem, nor was it me.

It was her.

Ava.

Not since Paris had a woman made me feel like this–and, if I were being honest with myself, Louise had never made my heart pound and my blood seem to shimmer like Ava did, with her delectable wine scent. I had been younger then, and foolish.

I was older now, but…

“Ava,” I murmured into the space between us.

I couldn’t help myself.

Still foolish.

She turned to me, her eyes shining in the flickering light of the passing streetlights, her lips like plums, and I knew they would taste like wine, like ripe fruit, and–faintly–like cedar. I longed for her, and so, before I could stop myself, I leaned toward her, until our breath mingled in the close confines of the car. I wanted to pull her onto my lap, to peel the dress from her shoulders, but I settled for reaching out with one hand to cup her cheek in my palm. Her skin was smooth and warm, and I thought suddenly of her heat, when she’d burn with her need.For me, my instincts insisted.For me, and mine.

“Tell me what you want tonight,” I said, loud enough that I knew Elias, in the driver’s seat, and Michael, in the passenger’s, could hear me. Would she be bold again, now, as she had been in the restaurant, the club?

“I want…” she said, her gaze flickering between my eyes.Anything. Anything I could give to her, I would.“I want to see you. I want to–” she said, and her perfume was sweet and heavy in my throat and in my lungs, “to know what it’s like, between alphas.”

I closed my eyes tight, just for a second, as my heart squeezed hard and my cock throbbed in my pants.Bold, yes. Bolder than I could have imagined.

“Jesus Christ,” said Elias from the front seat, raspy. His knuckles, when I spared a glance toward him, were white around the steering wheel, his body tense, and I could tell from the way he was shifting in his seat that he was hard.

Like I was.

“That’s not what we agreed on–” said Michael, his spine, like Elias’s, ramrod straight and his face looking determinedly forward, out at the road. We were almost home.