Page 30 of Pack’s Prize
Now is not the time, I thought, willing down my cock.Fuck.To be irritableandsporting a boner was the last thing I needed during the opening.
“Are we ready to go?” Elias asked, stepping from the hallway and into the living room, where Theo and I stood, both of us fidgety and impatient. He looked good. Better than good, in the same suit he’d worn to the club, dark material hugging a broad chest, thick thighs, his ruggedly handsome face looking even more rugged, even more handsome, in the formal clothes he typically avoided. God, I needed to get laid.
I nodded. “Just waiting on–”
“Ava,” Theo breathed, and my heart stopped.
She was wearing the dress Theo had picked out for her. Creamy silk, the color of moonlight on water, fell to mid-calf. Between the delicate straps that held it up and the fluttering hem, it clung to her every curve, highlighting her full breasts, skimming over her soft stomach, her round hips and ass. Her long, dark hair was curled into soft waves like a hollywood starlet and her makeup was simple–just long, dark lashes surrounding her deep brown eyes and some sort of lip gloss that made it look like she–orI–had been nibbling on her lip, drawing the blood to just under the skin, inviting further exploration.
“Holy…” murmured Elias, and I had to agree.
She was glowing, luminous from the inside out, her cheeks flushed, and the scent of orchard… I could have drowned, just looking at her.
She smiled, one side of her red mouth curling up. She knewexactlyhow good she looked, and that didnothelp the problem in my pants.
“Well?” she queried, and turned in a slow circle, looking coyly over her shoulder. “Am I suitable for courtship?”
Fuck.
How had I ever,ever, thought that this was a good idea?
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Ava
The Stoll Gallerieswere a series of white rooms, each of them filled with small, curious works of art.
The people were also curious. They were supposedly here to see the art, but they were spending a lot of time looking not at the art, but at me.
I had felt the eyes on me as soon as we arrived, even before the party had started: the employees, the caterers, prepping platters of cheeses and wafer crackers and fruit, the bartender, standing silently in the back corner, polishing wine glasses.
I felt like a goddess in the dress Theo had supplied for me; the silk material floated around my skin like a full-body caress, and beneath the fabric, I wore nothing but their scents and mine. I’d cloistered myself in my guest bedroom while I did my hair and makeup, wanting everything to be perfect before I saw them.
I told myself it was because this was their big night: the gallery’s opening was a big deal for their business. Theo had been working long hours this week, and Michael had been even more high-strung than it seemed he usually was, if the way Elias was doting on him was any indication.
It was also a big deal for them to be bringing me along as their omega.
Theirfakeomega.
It was more than that, though. I had the eyes of the visitors, sure, but I wanted their eyes, too. I’d been flushed all evening, my cheeks warm under the weight of the three alphas’ gaze.
“Tell me about the art again?” I asked Theo, pulling him aside as patrons continued trickling into the gallery, some lingering near the artwork in the front room, a few striding straight to the bar in the back. I wanted a glass of the Champagne on offer, too, but I needed to keep my head, and I could already tell that it would go badly with the fluttery feeling in my chest, the trailing heat low in my belly. Nerves, excitement. I couldn’t tell exactly. I wanted this to go well for them.
“Oh, darling,” Theo said, “youarethe art.” He gave me a long look, his eyes burning into mine. The fluttering in my chest dropped lower. The throb was back between my legs.Focus, Ava.
“You know what I mean,” I said.
“I do. And I also know you have been thoroughly briefed by Michael, and more importantly… that no one here is going to ask you about the art. Most of the people here simply do not care, much to mychagrin,” he pronounced it the French way, and I smiled. He stepped closer, our bodies nearly touching. “And it wasn’t mere flattery when I said you are the art.” His head bent toward mine, and I sucked in a breath as his lips skimmed along the skin just below my ear. “You look beautiful tonight.”
I swayed toward him, wanting the warmth of his body.
“Theo,” I said, “I’m looking forward to tonight,” and I could feel the vibration of his growl from his chest, making my nipples push against the silk of my dress.
“We’rein public,darling,” he said, raising one eyebrow. His eyes twinkled, and I flushed at the private joke, then stood on tiptoe for one more soft kiss.
As I watched an older woman with slightly too much makeup look from me, to Theo, to Michael, then back again, I smiled.
I was playing my part perfectly,I thought, the warmth in my cheeks rising as I stepped quickly away from Theo, making my way over to Elias.I was playing the part, and it was getting meexactlywhat I wanted.