Page 18 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Maggie

“Aren’t you cold?” I asked, laughing as he jumped back and forth on the sidewalk.

“Fucking freezing,” he said, smiling. “How far are we going?”

“Lead the way,” Ben replied and we took off in a jog. He let me set the pace and I held back a bit so we could still talk.

“So is there a reason you decided on booty shorts for a 7 AM run in October?” I asked. Ben kept pace with me easily and the shorts in question showed off his long muscular legs. He was a little taller than me and the extra inches were definitely all in his legs.

“Based on the way you’re ogling me, I’d say they served their intended purpose,” he said, grinning at me.

I blushed and pretended it was just the wind on my cheeks.

We were running through the neighborhood around the Center.

All the houses looked very similar: old Victorians with huge yards and massive trees.

We couldn’t see the river off to our left, but I could feel it in the cold breeze blowing in.

The streets were quiet here, just early commuters driving into the city, and the sun was just beginning to rise.

The world seemed fresh and new in a way that I’d only found on these early morning runs.

“So, you know a lot about me,” I said after a few minutes. “But I don’t know anything about you other than you’re a personal trainer. Where are you from?”

“I’m a Midwestern boy, from a small town in Illinois. It’s a tale as old as time: cute bisexual Alpha moves to the big city to try and make it as an actor and instead winds up a personal trainer. There are dozens of us, I’m sure,” he said, laughing.

“Oh god, not another one!” I said jokingly. “That’s so cool that you were an actor.”

“Well, I wanted to be an actor, and that is a key distinction,” Ben said.

“I acted in high school and college, I even got a theater degree back in Illinois, but I’ve never acted professionally in anything beyond some shitty plays.

But it all worked out. I’m much happier now than I ever was back then. And god, I was so poor!”

I laughed. “So you realized acting wasn’t working out. But what made you go into personal training?”

“Every audition I went on, I always got great feedback about my looks. Which yes, has done wonders for my ego, thanks for asking. I was spending so much time in the gym anyways because I had nothing else to do so I figured I might as well get paid for it. I told myself it was temporary, but it turned out I loved it and I’m really good at it,” he said, and turned to face me so he was running backwards.

“Show off,” I said, rolling my eyes and smiling.

He turned to face forward again. “I got a few high-end clients, and now I’m officially a business owner. And I have a couple of celebrity clients,” he mock-whispered.

“Anyone I know?” I asked.

“Unless you watch a lot of shitty reality TV, probably not,” he laughed .

We reached a dead end and had to turn back, retracing our steps onto another tree-lined street.

“Do you go to visit your family a lot?” I asked.

“Not really, we aren’t very close,” he said.

“They’re both Betas and having an Alpha as a son, not to mention a queer one, was challenging for them I guess.

It was quite a shock when I presented at 19.

My dad especially struggled. I think he’s jealous of me being an Alpha, and pissed that I don’t act the way he thinks an Alpha should. ”

“What, like an asshole?” I asked, angry on Ben’s behalf, and he laughed.

“Yeah, or maybe just straight and conservative like him. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t homophobes or anything, they just seemed so bewildered by me,” he said. “You’ll understand when you meet them.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “It’s our first date, and you’re already planning a trip to Illinois?”

“Fuck no, we’ll make them come here,” he said, then suddenly gave me another one of those extra-brilliant smiles that made my heart flip. “Hey! You just said this is a date!”

“Don’t make me regret it,” I teased.

Ben’s eyes grew dark as we maintained eye contact, and my scent intensified.

“If you keep looking at me like that, these shorts are going to get even more inappropriate,” he said, and I flushed again. Why were we running in the cold when I had a perfectly good bed we could be enjoying?

We lapsed into silence again, but kept catching each other’s eyes when trying to take sneaky glances.

After the third time this happened, I burst out laughing and had to slow to a stop.

We were at the entrance to a park, and I turned in.

“Let’s walk for a minute, I need to catch my breath, and I don’t trust you not to make me laugh,” I said.

Ben grabbed my hand and interlaced our fingers as we strolled into the park.

The sun was up, and the morning was a little warmer now.

Light filtered through the autumn foliage and created a golden glow.

The park was deserted, and suddenly the awareness of Ben next to me was overwhelming.

Running had made his scent even stronger, the watermelon sweeter, and the basil note more intense.

He really was gorgeous, especially in this golden morning light.

He pulled me closer until our shoulders bumped. “I’d give almost anything to know what you’re thinking right now,” he said.

I laughed and bumped his shoulder again, looking up at him through my eyelashes. “You can’t tell? I thought my scent gives everything away now.”

Ben slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Not everything, Maggie.”

His scent enveloped me and I lost control, suddenly and completely. I whined and pressed myself against him, my face buried in the crook of his shoulder.

He groaned and pulled me a few steps into the shelter of a gazebo, overgrown by yellow ivy.

He turned and pressed my back against one of the columns, growling when I whined and tried to pull him closer.

I could feel his hard length pressed to my leg, but he wouldn’t let me maneuver it closer to where I really needed it.

“I want to kiss you,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically rough, “but I want to make sure it’s what you want, too.”

I breathed in his scent deeply and felt a bit of the manic need for closeness pass. After a few moments, I felt a settling and the desire burning in my core banked slightly. The clear evidence of his arousal made me less self-conscious. I pulled back slightly.

“I really want you to kiss me,” I said, looking into his rich brown eyes. He smiled down at me.

“Good,” he said, simply, before closing the distance between us. He brushed his lips against mine once, then pressed a soft kiss to the right corner of my mouth. He started to pull back, and I opened my eyes in surprise. He was smirking, like he knew I was disappointed in the chaste kiss .

Just to spite him, I hauled his face to mine and claimed his lips in a bruising kiss.

He reacted immediately, pressing me back into the column and thrusting his thigh between mine.

I licked at his lips, and he responded by sweeping his tongue against mine in a slow slide.

I gasped and ground against his leg, needing friction.

My scent was out of control and mingled with his to create an intoxicating mix that made me feel high.

When he swept his tongue against mine again, I pulled it into my mouth and sucked.

“Fuck, Maggie,” he groaned, breaking our kiss, but still pressing his rock hard length against me. “I’m going to lose control and fuck you in this gazebo if we don’t stop.”

“Yes, that sounds amazing, let’s do it,” I said and slid my hand down to grip him through those ridiculous shorts.

He yelped and grabbed my wrist. “And I’m supposedly the troublemaker?” he asked me with one raised eyebrow, then stepped away to let chilly air flow between us.

Suddenly, the desire I’d felt turned into a sense of crushing rejection.

I felt tears pricking my eyes. He doesn’t want me , that little voice inside said, which I was beginning to realize was the Omega part of my brain.

I knew logically that he did want me, and we just couldn’t fuck in a public park, but that little voice was persistent.

“Maggie, sweetheart, come here,” Ben said and wrapped me in another embrace.

“Sorry, I think it’s the stupid Omega instincts,” I said as tears started to fall. “This is so embarrassing, I’m sorry.”

“Let me make something very clear, then. I intend to make love to you, slowly and thoroughly. I’m going to taste your sweet pussy and make you come so hard you can’t see straight.

I might even knot you if you’re a very good girl.

” His filthy whisper against my ear made me shiver, and the tears stopped immediately.

“I just can’t do those things with a man walking his dog 50 feet away. ”

I snapped my head up, and sure enough an old man was glaring at us while his dog, also staring at us with an expression of disapproval, pooped. I burst out laughing again at the absurdity and tried to step away from Ben.

“Nope, you need to stay right there. I’m indecent, remember,” he whispered, and pressed his erection against me again. We both smiled at the old man, but I stayed wrapped in Ben’s arms.

“Nice morning!” Ben called to him.

“This is a family park,” he called back. “I can smell your stink over here, you perverts!” He stooped to pick up his dog’s poop in a bright blue bag, then shook it at us before walking back towards the opposite entrance of the park than the one we’d entered through.

“Well, I think that did the trick,” Ben said brightly. “Race you?”

He took off running before I could reply, and I chased after him, feeling lighter than I had in a long time.

Back at the Center, Steffi consented to Ben staying for a quick breakfast as long as he stayed in the meeting room.

I brought him a chocolate chip muffin still warm from the oven, and we ate side by side on the couch with the door open.

I felt like I was 15 again, having to keep my bedroom door wide open whenever my boyfriend David came over.

I felt as giddy as a teenager, too, giggling with Ben about our park adventure.

“When should I come to pick you up tomorrow? You could just come back with me now, the guys would be thrilled.”

I squinted at him. “Do they really want me to come over, or is that just you?”

“Of course they do, sweetheart. Lucas started cleaning the house last night in preparation, and Soren can’t stop smiling.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close to run his nose along the side of my neck before kissing my cheek.

“Behave or Steffi’s gonna kick you out,” I said, but I didn’t pull away. “Plus, I need a shower.”

“Don’t you dare wash off my scent,” Ben said playfully and leaned back. His arm stayed wrapped around my waist. “You never answered my question about this weekend.”

“What about Lachlan? Does he want me there?” My face heated at the memory of throwing myself at him the day before, even while a twist of lust shifted inside.

Ben sighed and shifted back so he could meet my gaze. “Lachlan’s his own worst enemy. And he does want to get to know you. He’s just got… baggage,” he said.

“What kind of baggage?” I asked.

“The kind that he needs to tell you about himself,” he said, looking a bit sad. “But yes, he wants to get to know you, too.”

I nodded and smiled. “Then I’m free whenever.”

“How about 9? We can have breakfast together.”

“That sounds great,” I said. He grinned and gave me a quick peck.

“Maggie, you shouldn’t be kissing me, that’s so inappropriate,” he said loudly towards the door before scrambling away from me. I followed him to the front door, scowling.

“Goodbye, Benjamin,” Steffi called from her office.

I gave him a quick hug, surprised at the desire to take him up on his offer to go back to the house with him. You just met, chill out , I thought. “Bye,” I said, my voice more glum than I intended.

“I’ll be thinking of you,” Ben said with a dark gleam in his eye, and brushed his finger across my bottom lip. My scent blossomed.

“Good bye, Benjamin,” Steffi called again from her office, more sternly.