Page 9 of Coco and the Misfits (The Candyverse #4)

ATTICUS

N ever in a hundred years would I have imagined my night heading in this particular direction.

Never would I have expected to find myself seated on a pink bed, in a pink bedroom filled with paintings of grinning cats and flowers, holding a pink-haired, soft omega girl in my arms.

While she softly snores away.

She fell asleep quickly once I put my arms around her, and her warmth seeped into me. Soft and curvy, she smells of cotton candy and roses.

Her apartment is like a trip to fairyland, a dive into a fairytale. Not my thing. I’m a steel and leather kind of guy. I have my mancave. I like elegance and style, minimalist lines and monochromatic designs.

I’m a lone wolf. I live alone and won’t ever get a pack. That’s been my decision since I was a young alpha, and it’s not likely to ever change. Lone alphas are not common, but I’m a misfit. Rich? Yeah. Successful? Sure.

But also determined to live alone for the rest of my life.

This place, though. It’s so… her, it makes me smile.

She has piles of books with bare-chested men on the covers, or flowers, which is confusing.

They don’t look like gardening books. The lamp hanging from the ceiling is in the shape of an upside-down rose, the curtains are white and airy, and the carpet is in various shades of purple and red.

A dollhouse. A candy house.

So fitting for this sweet, dolled-up omega.

I doze on and off during the night, my ears perking with every little noise. No idea why I am so much on edge. People are assholes, often going after omegas. What happened shouldn’t have surprised me, although it’s the first time it has happened at the Alpha Bet in all these years.

I guess it shocked me that it happened in my place, on my watch.

Or that it happened to this pretty, soft girl.

No matter the cause, my protective instincts went from dormant to wide awake and roaring inside my head.

Keep her safe.

Keep her hidden.

Keep her comfortable.

I drift in and out of dreams. They are uneasy and tense. I find myself crushing her to my chest every time I wake up.

Damn.

I don’t sleep well on most nights, and tonight I find myself staring into the darkness for hours, which is unfortunate. I have too many bad memories to chew on.

Her scent, her silky hair when I bow my head and bury my face in it, is soothing. I try to let myself drown in her sweetness and not think; just exist in this stolen moment where I’m allowed to relax, to hold this girl without limitations, without constraints and obligations.

I don’t have to be good for her, to provide for her and take care of her after tonight, and tonight I get to enjoy it, let my alpha instincts take over. It’s such a huge fucking relief.

Tomorrow is another story.

Tomorrow I’ll be gone from here and never return.

* * *

But the moment she wakes up, moaning softly and blinking sleepily up at me, I know this was a bad idea. I should never have stayed. After all, it hadn’t been my original intention. I had decided to drive her home, check that she locked her door and leave.

As any sane man would have done.

Any sane man who hasn’t spent entire evenings staring at this pink-haired omega dancing away in his bar, drinking and laughing and singing with her friends.

Any man who values his sanity.

Still, I rally my reason and energy to sit up.

Only that presses her round tits against my chest and her tilted-back head shows me the pale expanse of her neck where I ache to kiss her, the skin I want to lathe with my tongue, bite and leave a hickey on…

Fuck.

“Atticus?” she whispers, her voice a little raspy from sleep. “Is it really you?”

I give her a wry smile. “Yeah, it’s really me.”

“Why are you...?” She shifts and grimaces. “Ow.”

Instantly, I’m on high alert. “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”

“... my neck.” She makes a face. “I have a crick in my neck. Did I sleep on top of you?”

That conjures some very fucking hot images of Coco on top of me, riding my cock, letting me feast on her tits, her pink hair sliding over me.

Yeah, and then pink birds sang and a unicorn came to bring you breakfast.

“Coco…”

She slides a hand up my chest and I feel its heat through the fine cotton.

Her lips part, her breath goes out. She looks like she wants to kiss me, and my cock is already hard in my pants.

It would be so damn easy to tumble her in these sheets, on this bed, take her fast and hard, fuck her mouth with my dick, then push into her and make her scream.

I grunt. “Coco, listen...”

“Atticus,” she breathes, voice hitching a little, and fuck, she smells even better now, like cream and honey, all topped with her sugar candy scent.

“I should go,” I say, my voice rough.

“Don’t go.” Her hand reaches my neck. She tugs my head down. “Stay...”

She’s interested. Willing. Aroused. She wants me to kiss her, and I hesitate. Why do I hesitate?

Because this is the mother of all bad ideas.

What the hell, Ace. Sex is fine and if sex is all she wants, perfect. But you know damn well that this soft, sweet girl doesn’t need a hard ride and a goodbye, she needs a pack. She needs protectors. She needs people who will stay with her and not leave her behind, like you’re about to do.

I push her off me more roughly than I’d meant to. “I really have to go.”

She sits back on her ass on the bed, a hurt look crossing her face. Then she glances around and frowns. “What happened last night? Why am I still dressed? Why...? Oh shit!”

I wince as her memory obviously catches up and she scrambles away from me. “Yeah, shit.”

See? Good thing you didn’t fuck her, Ace. Imagine if the memories returned as you were buried in her. That would have been a disaster.

“Look,” I say, “I should leave you to shower, brush your teeth, drink coffee... whatever your morning ritual is. I’ll head on home.”

Thank God it’s the weekend. She’ll have a chance to rest.

She says nothing, still staring at me, eyes wide.

“Make sure to lock your door after I’m gone,” I say as the silence stretches awkwardly, “and avoid walking alone at night. I don’t want to scare you, but be cautious. I really don’t like what those guys tried to pull. Like I said, I’ll do my best to find their faces and names, but until then...”

Still no reaction. That’s concerning, but she’s an adult. A big girl. She doesn’t need a daddy.

I repeat this to myself, but as I prepare to get up and make my goodbyes, she buries her face in her hands and starts to shake.

Fuck. Fuck!

I’m not used to being around... people, I guess. I hang out with men, I fuck women. That’s the end of my social life, and I’ve never... taken care of anyone.

Not since that old disaster.

The urge to pull her back into my arms is burning. So I fold them over my chest instead. “Coco...”

“Sorry... sorry. I’ll be fine. You can go.”

But I can’t, not now. Not like this. “A penny for your thoughts?”

She sniffs, wipes her cheeks and lifts her chin.

“That this sucks. I’ve always loved going out.

Never had any fear. It makes sense that you’re not afraid until something bad happens to you, right?

I was lucky. So damn lucky that you appeared when you did.

God knows what might have happened...” She shivers. “Shit. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s perfectly understandable. “

She scoots closer. Puts a hand on my arm. “Thank you again. For bringing me home. For staying. You are such a gentleman.”

I almost laugh. If she only knew me... but nobody does, not where it counts. “No problem. After all, it happened in my bar.”

She looks away. “Professional pride, huh?”

No, but I don’t correct her. Better if she thinks that of me. “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I have nowhere to be anyway. I’m out of a job, too.” She sighs. “I’ll stay home.”

“Out of a job?” Damn my alpha instincts, rearing their heads again. “What happened?”

“The old lady I was taking care of has found a cheaper carer. I’ll need to go job hunting.”

“Online,” I growl.

“Online, or ask at the gym, at the tattoo parlor, at the?—”

“I’ll find you a job.”

She gapes at me. “What? No, you don’t have to...”

“I said I will.” This time, I manage to get up, though my legs and lower back are cramping, muscles stiff from the odd position I spent the night in. Mission set, I can finally move away from this magnetic girl. “I’ll be in touch.”

“You...? Okay. Sure.” She also gets up, slowly, her dress riding up her legs, giving me tantalizing glimpses of the shadow between them. “Don’t you want, I don’t know, a coffee? A tea? Some water?”

“I’m good. I’m...”

I’m losing my train of thought, that’s what I’m doing. Losing my mind. This small omega is curvy in all the right places. Nice, heavy tits, nice round ass, shapely legs, thighs I can hold onto while I fuck her, and that sweet face, the key to unlocking the secret door to...

My heart?

What the fuck. I almost laugh out loud. Get real, Ace.

And get out now.