Page 26 of Pack’s Prize
“I need to go,” I said to Michael, cutting him off mid-sentence. He blinked at me. “Sorry,” I said. “I just need to get out of here for an hour or so. Get some air.”
“Fine,” said Michael. “You feeling okay, Theo? Is the omega–is Ava being here okay? I know you weren’t into the idea. I was surprised when you brought her home again yesterday, but I thought that that maybe meant you were getting used to the plan. If you want though, we can always get her that apartment sooner rather than later–”
“No,” I said, then again, reeling in my emotions. “No, she’s fine,elle estsuper.” Michael raised an eyebrow. “I just–I’m going to go on a walk. I’ll be back soon, I promise. I’ll work better after some fresh air.”
* * *
The afternoon was moreproductive than the morning, my emails and last-minute phone calls seeming to fly by after my errand. I hurried home, hoping to beat the deliveries, but when I arrived back at the penthouse with Michael, the two of us loaded down with take-out sushi, I found Ava standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by a huge collection of boxes and shopping bags.
Sushi would have to wait; I put it quickly in the fridge before returning where Ava was standing, looking dazed. Had she even noticed our arrival?
“Fuck,” Michael said from behind me. Ava jumped, eyes growing wide, cheeks flushed pink. “Fuck, Theo,” he said, quieter, lips pulling into a smirk. “I wouldn’t have expected this fromyou, of all alphas.”
“Ta gueule,” I said, but without heat, after all, my own cheeks were feeling warm at being caught out like this.
“What is all this, Theo?” Ava asked, her eyes wide and questioning.
“I stopped to pick out a couple of things for you,” I explained. “Did Michael mention to you that we’ll be attending a gallery opening on Saturday?” She shook her head no. “Well, we are, and you will be, too. You’ll need something to wear to it, and, since attending the gallery opening as our date would be considered part of our arrangement,” I hurried on, knowing even as I spoke that I sounded ridiculous, that I was doing a poor job of covering my embarrassment with too many words, “it falls under our purview–”
“Ourpurview?” Michael said from beside me, clearly swallowing back a chuckle. “Our purview?Who are you and what have you done with my Theo?”
Shopping for Ava, showering her with gifts–this wasn’t how I usually expressed my interest. Splashing out was more of a Michael thing, but… I’d gone to the store, thinking I would pick out some options for her to wear to the gallery on Saturday night, some dresses that would be a little more appropriate for an art gallery than the ones I’d seen her in so far, better suited to the club.
Three dresses had turned into five, and then a selection of other things I thought she might need, or want, or look good in… Which was everything, it turned out.
Ava replaced a soft, semi-sheer blouse in its paper, placing the package carefully back into its bag, a look of amazement and wonder on her pretty face, her dark eyes shining.
“This is too much,” she said, “you’re already letting me stay here–”
“Yes, and I saw yourtwo sad boxesof things you brought with you. Barely enough for a weekend. Please,” I huffed. “If you truly don’t like them, I can take them back where they came from, but if it is only the expense you’re thinking of, then they are yours. Nothing would make me happier.” She was still shaking her head, but the fingers of one hand were stroking the fabric of one of the dresses I’d picked out: a cream silk slip dress that I knew would cling to her curves like the drape of a Grecian statue. My cock hardened at the thought of her wearing the dress to the gallery, knowing that the fabric was so lightweight she’d have to wear nothing underneath. She’d wear it home–toourhome–and I’d peel the material from her body to reveal skin even creamier and softer than the slip...
“I love them,” she breathed, and my instincts roared in triumph.
“Check that black box,” I said, rolling my shoulders back to prevent myself from fidgeting.
“Is that from–” Michael asked, and I nodded once. “Fuck, Theo,” he said again. “You’ll kill us all.”
She looked up at me with a smile and a question in her eyes, but did as she was told, untying the bow that embraced the thick, smooth paper of the box, letting the ends fall loose. She lifted the lid, and lifted the pink tissue paper away, then froze.
A bloom of sweetness filled the room, as if I’d been transported to a sunny summer day in a vineyard–but the vineyards of my youth in France hadn’t generally had such an effect on my cock. It was thick and insistent against my zipper; I put my hands in my pockets to camouflage the bulge.
“That’s not for the gallery opening,” I said. If she hadn’t yet noticed how turned on I was from my obvious lump in my pants–or from my own scent, which I was sure was as strong as Michael’s, standing next to me and fuckingradiatingsex–my voice would have given it away; it came out low and husky. “It’s for a… a fresh start. That box is just for you. ”
It wasn’t a lie.
I couldn’t bear to see her in something I’d known she’d worn forthem–not after that first night, after she’d cried when Elias touched her and I realized how miserable she must have been. I wanted the things she wore close to her heart–and snugged against her sweet center–to be mine, and mine alone.
“What’s going on in here?” came Elias’s voice from the doorway, and I closed my eyes, just for a moment. All I had wanted was to give the woman something decent to wear…
“Theo’s spoiling the omega,” Michael teased gently. He came closer and wrapped his hand around my waist from behind to squeeze my hip for a moment. I could feel his own cock press against my ass, and shivered. I did not want to pressure Ava, not at all, but it had been a hard few days–literally.
Elias crossed the room toward her, and picked up one of mygifts–this one in palest peach satin–admiring the way the sheen of the fine fabric caught the light.
Or imagining her in it, perhaps.
As I had done when I’d bought it.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN