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In the end, that made it my business.
Still, I’d underestimated how much this topic would upset Mia, based on the sudden souring of her lovely scent. We were both in the most vulnerable position two people could be in—naked and pressed together, the condom still clinging to my softening cock, filled with my come and covered in her fragrant slick.
Mia seemed to be making a spirited attempt to sink straight through my ribcage and into my chest. Her warm breath puffed against my collarbone, slightly too fast to be anything but frightened. Guilt pricked at me for upsetting her while she was curled up in my bed. It would have been all too easy to back off... to apologize for bringing it up and let things return to the status quo.
Unfortunately, the status quo was a bit of a shit show these days. It wasn’t serving any of us; least of all, her.
“Mia?” I prompted gently, modulating my scent into the best approximation of reassurance I could muster.
She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Her lips brushed against me as she murmured the words directly into my skin.
As much as it pained me to ease her away from my body, I needed to see her face. She blinked in the early afternoon light streaming through the window, looking very young and very lost. Fresh love bites decorated her throat. Staring at them, I feltwantthrob through me in a way it hadn’t for years.
I took a steadying breath. “I’m not fishing, I promise,” I told her. “But from what I’ve seen, you’ve got a marriage that isn’t serving your needs, along with at least two sexual relationships that are trying to be casual, but aren’t.”
Three, my conscience added helpfully.Make thatthreesexual relationships.
“So?” she said, a bit aggressively. “This can be whatever we decide to make it! I may be an omega, but I’m allowed to sleep with whoever I want!”
I covered a wince, aware that I’d just put my foot down right in the middle of the infamousopen marriagediscussion.
“Andisthis what you want?” I pressed. “Casual sex, I mean? Because from where I’ve been standing, it doesn’t feel very casual.”
Staring down at me, Mia puffed up as though to deliver a vicious comeback—why don’t you mind your own business, oryou don’t know about my relationships. Except, rather than say anything like that, she made an ugly, choked noise and promptly burst into tears.
The guilt niggled deeper... but this, at least, I knew how to deal with. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her against my chest again and pressed my face into her hair.
“Still got you,” I promised. “Shh, it’s okay. Shh...”
I got the feeling these tears had been a long time coming. Grief for her marriage, I’d have bet, and general overwhelm on top of it. Mia cried for long minutes, her body hitching fitfully in my arms. Gradually, she quieted. I let her gather herself, trying not to think too hard about how well she fit in my embrace.
“I can’t...do... all of this at once,” she began haltingly. “I can’t reopen a restaurant, and fight a street gang, and decide the fate of my marriage, and navigate new relationships inside of a pack.” Her voice was rough and congested. “It’s too much.”
I thought of Tony, of the teens at the Hope Project. Of Luca, and Emiel... and I thought I understood. Chauvinists would have everyone believe that omegas couldn’t handle pressure without cracking. They clearly hadn’t met Mia Dimitriadis.
“You feel responsible for all of it,” I offered.
“Iamresponsible for all of it,” she shot back, andoh, this was starting to feel an awful lot like looking in a mirror.
“Even though there are other people involved?” I asked.
She made an unhappy sound against my throat. “The restaurant wouldn’t exist without me. Nat expects me to make the decisions regarding the future of our marriage. If thereisa future, I mean. And I’m the one who landed on your doorstep and started sleeping with people.”
“Pretty sure the ‘sleeping with people’thing was a group effort,” I pointed out gently.
She considered that for a few moments.
“Is it bad that my relationship with Emiel is just about the least complicated thing in my life right now?” she asked, a bit sheepishly.
“Your relationship with Emiel is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a long time,” I said. “And I can’t express how grateful I am that it happened.”
She gave another little silent, hitching sob, but didn’t protest the words.
“I asked if we could start looking toward the future,” I told her. “But I’m not asking you to be responsible for singlehandedly bringing that future into existence. Just like the sex, that’s going to have to be a group effort.”
Mia was quiet for several seconds.
“Did you know Luca thinks you and the others won’t ever mate him because he’s too broken?” she asked.