Page 10 of Pack’s Pledge

Inever.

CHAPTEREIGHT

Beau

It had beena long time since I’d kissed a woman. Female alphas were rare, and usually, when I went looking for a partner, it was more out of necessity than the sheer pleasure of it: it was a hassle, honestly, trying to find someone who wasn’t, well,overly interestedin a male omega.Dangerouslyinterested, let’s say. Not that it would ever happen, I had assured myself, again and again, for the past, oh, ten years. But it could.

Better safe–and Ardor was safe, or at least, safe-ish–than sorry.

But tonight…

Britt felt electric under my hands.

As I slipped my firm thigh between her slender legs–all beta–and rucked up her shirt so I could press my palms against the soft skin of her lower back, she sighed into my mouth. Soft breasts pushed into my chest, and I longed to touch, to taste her. I knew she had felt my cock against her ass, could feel it now against her stomach, close–but not close enough–to where we both wanted it.

I had been right, too: her taste wasn’t the powerful, arousing burst of pine or coffee or woodsmoke that an alpha had. It was just… a faint taste of the beer she’d barely had any of, the hint of toothpaste, and underneath it, Britt; more intoxicating than any alpha, her natural sweetness tasting better than the saccharine sugar-sweetness of another omega. I licked into her mouth, wanting more of her. My cock was hard and leaking in my tight dress pants, throbbing against my zipper, and her tongue against mine wasn’t enough, or at least it wouldn’t be, not for long. I wanted to taste her everywhere.

“Britt,” I whispered, breaking the kiss with a soft sound. I kissed her jaw, then trailed my lips up to the shell of her ear as she arched against my body. “Baby,” I said, purring into her ear. She shivered. “Come home with me. Please.” I slid my hands lower, cupping her ass, pulling her tighter to me even as I ground my hips forward a fraction. If anyone on the dance floor was watching us–and I’m sure they were, I knew we were eye-catching in a place like this–they would easily be able to guess exactly what I was asking.

Her breathing was fast, her chest rising and falling against my own, but she stilled, not saying anything.Her cheeks were flushed, her lips plump and pink from our kisses.So damn pretty.

“I…” she said, and her storm-grey eyes flickered back and forth between my own, dark with lust, and something else. Uncertainty? “I shouldn’t,” she whispered, and then, “I can’t.”

Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Was she saying…

No?

I was embarrassed to feel my eyebrows crawl up my forehead.When had I gotten so conceited?

“Okay,” I said, forcing my brows down, hoping I hadn’t overcorrected into a scowl, or worse–apout. “That’s fine.” She untangled her long legs from my own, backing away, and my hands slid from her ass to her hips, then dropped to hang at my sides. “I understand, of course.”

“You do?” she asked, and her relief was audible. She reached out for me, and I lifted my hand to grasp hers, wanting this touch, at least.

I nodded. I did.

A male omega was rare.

Desired.

But…

I wasn’t analpha, and that’s what people–women–wanted, wasn’t it? The strong, powerful man, willing to do anything for them?

There would always be something different about me.

Something weak.

Somethingwrong.

I knew that. I had heard the jokes in school hallways and locker rooms before I’d presented, had told them myself, even. After my presentation–amortifyingweek of absence from school and an even more mortifying return to the same hallways and a new, lonelier locker room–I had heard the jokes continue, sometimes behind my back, sometimes to my face. I’d never been able to determine which was worse.

If Britt wasn’t interested in that, well, I couldn’t blame her for that. She could go home and tell her friends we’d kissed, danced, and that I’d begged for her, and she wouldn’t be lying.

CHAPTERNINE

Britt

“Yeah, of course I do,”Beau said, and gave me a crooked smile.