Page 9 of Alpha & Omega (Alpha's Rejects #4)

While I worried about Harley essentially being my business competitor, we had too much in common, and he was too hot and sweet to brush off. Even after only one date, I wanted to get to know him more and to have something meaningful. Yet, at the same time, I built up my walls a bit, afraid to get too close in case something happened between us, especially with our businesses. If I kept losing money and he kept making more at my expense, changes would have to be made. Things would grow increasingly weird and awkward for me if that were to happen.

Harley was arriving soon, so I quickly spritzed on some cologne, took a quick look around my apartment, making sure I had everything picked up, and headed into the kitchen to warm up the dinner I’d made earlier.

I looked down at myself to make sure my clothes were fine. It wasn’t like I had anything fancy, so I wore a dark blue short-sleeved button-up with white pinstripes, which I opened to a white T-shirt, and paired with black jeans. It would have to do, but I knew the blue would bring out my eyes.

When I removed the tinfoil from the top of the casserole dish, I was engulfed in self-doubt. Harley was a chef. What was I thinking by cooking for him? God, he would probably hate it. My initial plan had been to make dinner, so he didn’t have to since he cooked for a living.

I’d made chicken Alfredo with broccoli earlier, having it ready by the time he arrived. I mean, I liked it, but that didn’t mean others would.

Fuck it. Surely, Harley didn’t expect me to be some gourmet chef. If he didn’t like what I made, we could do takeout, and I would save the meal for myself tomorrow.

I shoved the dish into the preheated oven and let it warm. Then I opened a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. I didn’t know shit about wine, either, but the liquor store recommended it. We served wine at Alpha’s, but people mostly drank beer and mixed drinks.

My heart leaped when a buzz sounded on the intercom from downstairs. Shit, why was I so fidgety? It wasn’t like me at all. I was confident, dammit! I went through extensive therapy to get there.

After wiping my hands on my jeans like some prepubescent teen, I went to the intercom and answered.

“Yo,” I said.

“Yo back.”

I smiled at Harley’s deep voice over the speaker.

“Hang on. I’ll buzz you in.”

Fuck… I needed music. He would like that, right? He read romance books and shit. God, I was not a romantic.

I rushed over to my phone, connected to a pair of Bluetooth speakers, and turned on a playlist that had some smoother rock songs. The light strumming of a guitar filled the room with the smooth vocals of José González, one of my favorite singers, singing Teardrop .

There. Good.

Deep breath .

God, why was I so nervous?

Because you like him, dumbshit.

There was a knock on my door, and I quickly opened it. Harley stood there with a smirk, his long hair pulled up high on his head in a messy bun, and his beard was perfectly groomed. Like me, he wore a short-sleeved button-up, but his was grass-green and covered in a pattern of small white flowers. Damn, he looked good in that color.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hey.”

I hadn’t realized he had his arm behind his back when he suddenly thrust a bouquet of flowers at me.

“Too much?” he asked sheepishly.

I took them and smiled. “No one’s ever given me flowers before. Thank you. And no, it’s not too much. Although I couldn’t tell you which flower is what.”

The floral arrangement consisted mostly of greens and whites with two large, pinkish-red flowers in the center.

Harley rubbed the back of his neck. “Being in dining, I took a class in floral arrangements. I plan them out for my tables at my restaurant. These here are mostly eucalyptus, palm, and fern leaves, and there are two artichoke flowers, which are related to thistles.”

“I love them, thanks.”

Harley stepped up closer to me and handed me a paper brown bag with handles I hadn’t noticed he was holding. “I brought bottles of red and white wines, since I didn’t know what you would be serving. They’re from my private reserve from my restaurant.”

I took the proffered bag and chuckled. “Your expectations are entirely too high for my cooking capabilities.”

“It’s too much. Sorry. I… I just…”

“You’re a romantic. I get it, and I like it. Thank you.”

Suddenly, I burst out laughing. “Look at us. We were so smooth on the first date, and now we’re both nervous wrecks.”

Harley laughed with me. It was deep and resonant. I loved the sound. “You don’t seem nervous.”

“Trust me, I’ve been fussing around here for the past hour, making sure everything was perfect.”

With my hands now full, Harley wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against him, pressing his face close to mine. I was surrounded by his bergamot and citrus smell, which I inhaled.

“Hi,” he said again, grinning crookedly.

“Hi.”

His lips met mine, and we melted under each other as we kissed, using an excessive amount of tongue, with promises of a hot and steamy night. I loved the way his beard chafed my skin.

We pulled away, and he followed me inside after shutting my door behind him. He took a look around my place as I dug around for a vase for the flowers, which was stupid because I didn’t own one. Instead, I grabbed a pint glass, filled it with water, and put the flowers in. It was a little cramped, but it worked.

“I like your place,” he said. “The industrial theme is pretty nice, with the brick and chrome. It goes well with your bar. Someone took some amazing shots of you and your skateboarding. I love all the photos.”

I poured us two glasses of wine from the bottle I’d already opened, handing him one. “Thanks. For the longest time, I never had anything until I was finally on my own, working a couple of jobs. All I owned was shitty, but it was all mine. After winning a couple of championships for skateboarding, I was able to get the bar and this place. I try to be frugal, but I like having some nice things, too. I splurged on my leather sofa.”

Suddenly, I stopped. “Wait, you went to my bar? When?”

He smiled shyly. “On Monday, while you were gone. I was curious about your bar and didn’t want to bother you, so I checked it out that day. It was still early, so it wasn’t busy, but the place was nice. I can see the love you’ve put into it. ”

“Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure how that made me feel with Harley going to Alpha’s while I hadn’t been there. Why couldn’t he have stopped by while I was working?

It’s no big deal, Kingston. He was only curious. I probably would’ve done the same, and I was surprised I hadn’t yet.

Before I walked back to the kitchen, he tugged on me and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me against him again. “Is it weird to say I missed you already? I’m so inept at this dating thing, but I’ve done nothing but think of you since our last date.”

I relaxed under him and held him back with one arm while holding my glass of wine in my other hand. “I can say I missed you, too. Our first date was amazing. I hope we have many more.”

“Same.”

We kissed quickly, and he let me go to plate our dinner before we sat down to eat.

Harley took a large bite of the chicken dish, making me oddly fidget. “I know this isn’t technically supposed to be a casserole…” I said, shrugging.

He grinned, finished chewing, and wiped his mouth. “It’s whatever you want it to be. And it’s really good.”

I barked out a laugh. “I’m not sure I believe you, but thanks.”

“Kingston…” He said my name firmly enough to make me look at him. “One thing you’ll learn about me is that I don’t lie. Life’s too short to fuck around. That doesn’t mean I’ll be a dick, but I won’t placate you either. And just because I can make fancy meals doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy comfort foods.”

“Okay. Thanks. I like that. I don’t believe in fucking around, either. I hardly ever put up with shit, but I also try not to be a dick.”

“See how much we’re alike? This is why I’m so nervous tonight. I… want more of you.”

My stomach twisted around—such a rare sensation before Harley came into my life. I kind of enjoyed the nerves since they showed he was already starting to mean something to me. Yet, I didn’t like them because they were a reminder of potentially having something to lose.

“I want more, too,” I said, and I meant it.

After dinner, Harley and I sat on my sofa, sipping wine. He reached for the glass in my hand and set it down on the coffee table with his. Then he pressed his hand to my chest and eased me onto my back before hovering over me.

A tendril of hair fell from his bun, so I tugged on it.

“Is it my turn?” he asked, pressing a kiss on my jaw before moving to my ear and nipping my hooped lobe, remembering what I liked.

“What do you mean?”

Yeah, I was playing coy.

His mouth moved to my throat and nipped the skin there, too, while his hand traveled down to cup my junk before moving between my legs, near my ass. “You know what I mean. I want inside here, King. I want to bend you over this couch, eat you out until your hole is sloppy and just begging for me to fuck it.”

My cock went from happily pulsing at the kisses and nips to a steel rod from his words, forcing its way out of my jeans, or trying to. “Hell… When you talk like that, how can I say no?”

“Exactly. I’ve been working on my persuasion and seduction skills. How am I doing?”

“It’s working.”

He sat up, unbuttoned his shirt, and pulled it off. Next went his leather boots. “You’re wearing entirely too many clothes, King.”

When I sat up, he helped me remove my button-up and pull the T-shirt over my head. Once I was shirtless, he was on me, with my back pressed to my sofa, the leather cool against my skin.

Harley smothered me in a kiss, laying his heavy body on top of mine, but I could take the weight. He ran his fingers through my hair, and mine dug into his smooth, warm back as our kiss deepened. When his lips moved to my neck, I kissed and nibbled on his freckled shoulder.

“I like these,” I said.

“What? My sun damage?”

“Yep… they’re sexy.”

He chuckled. “If you say so.”

We kissed for a bit longer before Harley climbed off me and gave me his hand. I took it, and he lifted me to stand. He slipped his first two fingers into the band of my jeans and tugged me to him, our faces an inch apart. “Time to get naked, and you bent over that couch of yours.”

He pulled his fingers out and popped the button before slowly pulling down my zipper. Our breaths came in pants as anticipation from promises of rimming filled us both.

I slid out of my jeans easily, being barefoot already, and pulled off my underwear. Harley stared at my body with heated chocolate eyes that glimmered in the dim lighting of my living room.

“Damn, you have a nice body, King.”

I teasingly fisted my cock and pumped it slowly. “So do you, but I can only see that gorgeous, hairy chest.”

He huffed. “Hairy? I’m not that hairy.”

I reached for him with both hands and combed my fingers on his chest. “You’re perfectly hairy.”

“Well, since you put it that way…”

Suddenly, he grabbed me, spun me around, and I found myself face down on my sofa over the armrest. “My turn.”

A gentle hand ran along my back, fingers sliding over my spine as he leaned over me. “If that’s okay with you. I know we’re just playing, but I want to—”

“We’re good to go, Harl. You’ve got the green light.”

I didn’t mind if that cooled the moment a little. I quickly learned Harley was gentle and kind, but I really liked that he could break out of that and be hot and sexually demanding. It was a sign of how good of a person he was and exactly what I wanted. I didn’t need someone to fuck around with my heart when I had too many other things to worry about.

Strong fingers spreading me open pulled me out of my head. I really needed to stay in the present moment.

Warm breath ghosted my skin as his face inched closer to my ass, sending chills across my skin. I folded my hands under my head and forced my body to relax and enjoy the moment.

Harley’s tongue finally swiped up from my taint to my awaiting hole and swirled around it, pulling a groan out of me as I melted into the couch .

He spread my ass cheeks wide, and while it was a vulnerable position, I didn’t feel that way around Harley. All I felt was desperation to come or fuck something already.

Soon, the ring of muscle loosened enough for his tongue to prod inside.

“That feels fucking nice,” I moaned.

He chuckled and left me for a second.

“Hey… where are you going?”

“Hang on.”

A wrapper opened, and warm oil dripped over the crack of my ass. His fingers worked the lube in and around my hole before he sunk a finger inside me.

“How long has it been since anyone’s appreciated being inside you, King?”

“Too long. Long enough for me not to remember.”

“Then we better work you open.”

Harley slowly stretched inside me, pressing on my prostate, making sure I was fucking desperate to come. I tried to push back for more by the time he worked in two fingers, constantly hitting that hot spot. It had definitely been too long, so long I’d forgotten how good it felt.

“You’ve got a gorgeous ass,” he said, inserting a third finger. There was the expected burn, but it didn’t hurt. Harley’s cock definitely would, though. He wasn’t small, but if he could take me, I could take him. “You just suck up my fingers. Fuck, I can’t wait to get my dick inside you.”

I grunted. “Now’s a good time, Harl. I’m getting a bit fucking desperate here.”

“You think you’re ready?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

The zipper of his jeans sounded behind me, and the swoosh of removing them. Harley roved his hands over the globes of my ass with a low growl rumbling through his chest, which went straight to my nuts.

“Let me get wrapped up, and we can get this party started.”