Page 6 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

A lone car's headlights shine in my rearview mirror off in the distance, and I hope it's them.

Not that I'm scared of bears anymore. But the woods are looking even scarier now, and there's a good chance there's like a serial killer in them.

I place my hand on my abdomen to try to soothe some of my worries.

" You have your hazards on? " Remus asks the headlights I'm watching, starting to slow and pull off the road behind me.

"Yeah, did you just pull up, or am I about to be murdered?" I ask, sinking lower into the passenger seat.

" I'm here with Jace. Where are you, pretty girl? " his voice sounds strained.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to have an alpha in it for more than just a bit of fun—one who wants to provide, protect, and take care of me. The idea has my heart hammering in my chest as my driver's side door is opened.

" There you are, " he says with such fondness that I shouldn't be surprised by my affection-starved brain and body. Both respond in the only way I know how to keep an alpha around. I fill the car with so many pheromones that if he's scent-matching me, he'd be on top of me in–

Remus might be unable to squeeze his whole body over the center console to cram himself into the passenger seat with me, but he tries.

His long, strong fingers wrap around my throat, holding me in place as his other hand rests gently on my stomach.

His face is close to mine, his eyes shining so bright it's almost painful to look at them.

" You are so perfect, " he whispers.

It's not at all what I'm expecting. I'm ready for some growling and barking and commanding me to bend over the car's hood so he can rut into me.

Instead, he's stroking my scent gland with his thumb, rubbing soft circles where Tessie is trying to kick him.

He's trying so hard to purr even though it sounds like he's dying.

He keeps his face close to mine, breathing so hard I can feel his breath against my mouth.

What does he smell like? I get faint whiffs of mint but nothing substantial, and who's to know if that's even coming from him with how off my nose has been lately?

I burned toast a few mornings ago and thought it smelled like cherry turnovers.

" Can I kiss you? " he asks, as though I'm not mentally trying to project into his mind that I want him to toss me into the backseat and fuck me.

I nod slowly. I don't think he'd hurt me, but it's good to let beasts control things when they're out. They can be temperamental sometimes, and I'm not trying to upset him. I've never been hurt in all my time messing around with them, but there are always stories.

His lips find mine, gentle, soft, unlike any other beast I've kissed before.

It's chaste, too, which has me furrowing my brow when he pulls away before I'm satisfied.

I can't stop the whimper from the back of my throat.

Instead of signaling to him that I'm in the sexy kind of distress where I need him to kiss it and make it better, he thinks he's hurting me and scrambles so far away from me that he's back to standing outside the car.

"Okay," I mumble under my breath.

I sit in the car for a second, trying to make sense of what just happened because I'm putting off enough pheromones in here to put him in a rut if he were scent-matching me like he said he was.

Yet, he's now pacing in front of the car, his hands on the back of his head as he growls low, talking to himself.

I give him about thirty seconds to figure his shit out, and then I'm wiggling out of the car, head tilted down because, damn, if he doesn't just demand submission when he's out.

It's hard to fight the urge to offer my neck to him, but I don't do that for alphas who haven't earned the privilege.

So far, none of them have earned it, though plenty do get pissed when they growl and my neck isn't offered.

"Are you okay?" I ask, snapping him out of whatever argument he's having with himself.

The dominance in the air seems to lessen, and when I look up, his eyes are dark again, with a hint of anguish in the crinkled corners and tight press of his lips.

"Where's your spare?" he asks, and I look at him like I don't understand what in the fuck he's saying because I don't. We were just kissing, and now he's asking about…? Oh, tire. A spare tire.

I rub the back of my neck and think about how, when I bought this car used, the guy told me I'd need to get a spare to put in the little hidey hole in the trunk. I may or may not have done that.

"So, how important is it to have a spare?"

It's his turn to look at me like I'm stupid, and maybe his expression is a little more warranted, even though he hides it quicker than I did.

"Okay, that's fine. Where are you headed? We can drop you off first, and I can come up here tomorrow with my brother and get your car back to you."

"Wait, what?" I ask, my mouth popping open slightly when he walks over to me. He ducks into the car's passenger side, reaching across to turn off the ignition, and hands me the keys. "You're just going to take me?"

"Do you feel unsafe? Jace is in the car, too. He's an alpha with a beast, but they prefer annoying me over causing trouble."

He checks my car, looking for my purse, which he finds and tosses over his shoulder. Why is that so hot? He's not holding it like it's a bag of on-fire dog shit or handing it over to me. He's just sliding it over his big, strong, sculpted-to-perfection arm.

"Do you feel unsafe?" he asks again, and I realize I've been staring at his arms for too long.

My mouth is dry as I look from those sexy biceps up to the clueless expression on his face.

Am I bad at flirting? Are my pheromones not as strong as I think they are?

Because he genuinely looks like he thinks I'm not down to present for him right here in the grass where the bears and the serial killers might see.

"No, I don't feel unsafe," I say, my voice a little strained because I'm so confused and horny at the same time. His inability to read my signals shouldn't make me want to jump him. They should be doing the opposite, and yet here I am, following him to his car.

Jace is already in the back, his nose scrunching as I slide inside.

"Sorry," I tell him, at least getting confirmation that my pheromones are working just fine. I've been told I smell nice, but when an omega is looking for someone to satisfy her, we can put out a lot, and I bet I'm doing just that right now. "You can roll the windows down if it'll–"

" No. " Is the one-word growl we both get from Remus, who makes himself known for half a second to nix my idea of rolling down the windows.

"It's fine," Jace chuckles from the backseat, leaning his head against the back cushion. "I'm going to sleep anyway. Don't let Remus try to have all his firsts in one night."

The statement catches me off guard, but when I open my mouth to ask him what he means, Lucas opens the driver's side door and settles in.

I let my eyes linger on him for way longer than is appropriate as he puts the car in drive and starts driving South.

He catches me staring, the tips of his ears turning red.

It's on the tip of my tongue to ask him why Jace would make that statement, but the longer I look at him and the self-conscious way his shoulders bunch and his inability to even look at me while I'm throwing all of my 'come fuck me' pheromones at him, I'm starting to wonder just how inexperienced is he?