Page 12 of Sweet Whiskey

I bring my hand to my mouth, licking at my sticky fingers as Dallas pulls back to watch me.

His eyes widen as I clean his cum from my hands.

The cock still hanging out of his jeans starts to harden again, and he curses, tucking it into his pants before buckling back up.

I’ve never been one to play like this, but just like his scent, his essence is overwhelmingly delicious.

I moan, and Dallas shakes his head before taking another step back.

“Kinsey, I’m on the cusp of rutting you.” His voice is deep and desperate.

I whimper, slick leaking out of me, and he turns around, giving me his back while his hands run through his hair.

Jumping off the table, I grab my underwear and clean myself between my legs before wiping off the rest of his cum.

I move to the side, tucking it into his jean pockets and then pulling on my leggings .

“Okay, I’m covered,” I say as his chest rises and falls in deep breaths.

Dallas doesn’t move for another moment before facing me again, some of the desire cleared from his face. “I’ve never almost lost control like that. I was two seconds from knotting you in our public library.”

I blush and clench my thighs together. “Let’s discuss this outside. I don’t think us being in this room is helping much.”

He nods and leaves the room first and heads to the front desk to check out the book he wanted. I scurry past the desk a couple of minutes after him, rudely not acknowledging either of them with a glance or a wave. As soon as I’m outside, I don’t wait for him, needing a minute to myself.

I’m halfway to the inn before I finally stop speed walking and take deep breaths of the cold morning air.

Resting against a brick building, I think over the past twenty-four hours.

Since my first heat when I was eighteen, it’s been a regular cycle that’s never wavered in the past. And now, since being in town, I’ve had two heat spikes out of nowhere in reaction to men I’ve found utterly irresistible, their scents downright delectable.

I frown. Is it possible they’re my scent matches? Wouldn’t I know for certain? I rest my hand on my stomach, dazed as I think about it further.

Oh my god. We’re scent matches.

My reaction to Colt the first night, how drawn to him I was immediately, should have been my first sign. The way I didn’t question Brooks and Dallas, and the way I wanted them just as badly. I smack my palm against my forehead.

God Kinsey, what was the point of all those years of being at the academy if you don’t even recognize your scent matches?

Shaking my head, I laugh lightly and then start to rush toward the inn.

I run into Brielle on the sidewalk with two coffees in her hands. Her eyebrows furrow when she takes in my flushed face and holds up a cup. I raise an eyebrow, knowing I had left her with a coffee and pastry before I went to the library .

“Don’t ask, but I figured since you’re up before the sun like a freak, you’d be due for another,” she mumbles. I take it, sipping it in a hurry as she watches me.

Her eyes narrow. “You got that frazzled look. What happened?”

“I think they’re my scent matches,” I blurt out.

Brielle coughs up the drink she just swallowed. “Who is they ? What do you mean, scent matches? But we’re on suppressants!”

I grab her elbow and pull her inside our room at the inn. “I think that’s the problem. Since my scent is suppressed, I only get whiffs of theirs and each time…it triggers a mini heat. Dallas had to get me off at the library!”

Her eyes brighten. “Which one is Dallas again? The curlicue blondie? He seems like the type to go down on you between the stacks.”

My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “No, Dallas is the one with the black hair like a rockstar. Not the beard like Colt. ”

Brielle grins. “But you’re not denying the going down part? Was it good?”

“Brielle! Focus on the important part,” I say, snapping my fingers in her face.

She sighs, flopping down on the bed while protecting her coffee. “A man who knows how to eat pussy is the important part. So few of them know how.”

Suppressing my smile, I move to our bag and pull out my suppressants, turning them in my hand to read the warnings. “I’m not crazy, right? Like they could have been suppressing my scent and my ability to smell them?”

Brielle sips loudly. “You’re not crazy.”

Something in her tone has me turning to stare at her with a narrowed look. “That was a confident you’re not crazy and not a sarcastic you’re not crazy . You know something.”

She flips her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Okay, fine. No need to pull my arm. I think I found my scent match too.” She wiggles her fingers for the suppressants .

My mouth drops open, handing them over to her mindlessly. “In the same town? W-what are the chances?”

Her eyes brighten, tossing the pack to the far side of the room as if to discard them entirely. “String theory.”

“String theory?”

Setting her coffee on the nightstand, she sits up, her hands moving excitedly to explain.

“I know you shrugged off all the classes about fated mates and all that kind of stuff, not believing in it. But I believe scent matches are a form of them. Maybe over the years, fated mates have diluted down to scent matches. But fate doesn’t just go away, we’re all still attached.

Imagine tiny little strings of fate that tie everyone together to weave the universe.

Becoming best friends with you all those years ago and following you on this adventure led me to my scent match. ”

During our time in the academy, Brielle and I had different priorities with our extra courses.

Outside of the required curriculum, I usually took courses to help me get a job, preferably in HR or business administration of some kind.

Brielle had the privilege of doing more whimsical courses like astrology, tarot reading, and philosophy.

I never judged her for it, considering her family was really wealthy, and I would probably do the same if I didn’t have the worry of helping pay bills with my mom.

I’d always been too busy to listen to her ramblings, and now my heart aches because I can see how much she genuinely believes and cares about this stuff.

“Wait, who? The bouncer, Jax?” I ask.

She shakes her head, her nose scrunching. “No, a cowboy of my own. He came to the bar last night too.”

I paint a small smile on and sit on the bed. “So it’s fate then? Invisible strings tying us all together, and it brought us to this town for our scent matches?”

She nods. “I mean, why else would I stay crammed in a tiny car for over a week and then in a room the size of my closest unless I’m meant to be here?”

Studying her face, I raise my eyebrows. “You really believe that? That this is where we’re meant to be.”

Brielle shrugs. “Yeah, I mean…when’s the last time you even thought about going to the city? We passed through way cuter towns on our way here, and we couldn’t wait to get back on the road. Your poor baby probably feels neglected since we parked at the inn the first night.”

“It’s only been a few days, Brielle. It’s not like I’ve automatically decided I’m staying,” I tell her with a frown. “I’ll admit to feeling really drawn to them, but I still don’t know them.”

Her eyebrow raises and I roll my eyes, point a finger at her, and say, “Don’t even mention what we’ve done. Sometimes that’s just biology, and you know that. Remember when that one alpha came in during a course and you nearly begged him to mount you right then and there.”

Brielle’s cheeks flush. “God, he was so hot. And smelled so good. I wonder whatever happened to him.”

“And that’s no different between him and how I feel about them.” I wave my hand toward the door, then rub my face. “I don’t think they’re bad people, like I don’t get those vibes. But I’m not ready to settle down just yet.”

“And if your heat comes? You’ve never really been attracted to the clinic’s alphas. This time is different. You got wet panties just looking at them.”

I blush because it’s true. That’s the way of life for an omega near alphas, biologically ready to take their knot at any time.

She smirks when I don’t have a retort, and I slump onto the bed.

“You think we’re moving too fast?” I ask.

I wasn’t sure how to do it any other way.

During the academy, they paraded us around like prizes, and I turned down every courting request after the initial meeting.

I don’t have a lot of experience, other than the casual conversation with the alphas who are about to take care of my heat.

Brielle frowns, sitting down next to me. “No, babes. Not at all. Sometimes things just happen, and the pace doesn’t matter. Do they make you feel unsafe? ”

I shake my head, a smile lifting my lips. “The opposite. I’ve never felt so relaxed being around them.”

She smiles back. “And have they pressured you to do anything?”

My cheeks flush. “If anything, I’m the one begging.”

With a shrug, my best friend looks at me, amused. “Did you ever think we’d reach a point where I’d be talking you off the edge of a whirlwind romance?”

I snort. “No, if anything, I always assumed you’d make me an aunt sooner rather than later.”

Brielle gasps, nudging me with her shoulder. “Never. Whoever knocks me up better have a ring on my finger and a bite mark on my neck.”

We fall onto the bed, laughing.

“You want a ring?” I ask, curious. It’s more a beta tradition, a physical indicator of one’s commitment similar to a bond mark.

She shrugs. “Yeah, I mean why not? ”

“And a wedding too?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit silly that we don’t get elaborate ceremonies like that when we’re bonding with people at soul level?” she says wistfully.

I snort. “I guess. I’d be your maid of honor, right?”

The word duh flies out of her mouth just as I remember another aspect of a wedding: the father walking the bride down the aisle.

My stomach drops. That had been the whole point of us driving here, the whole point of me going to the library, and I got distracted again.

I groan, rubbing at my face. “God, I never want to show my face at the library again, but I didn’t even get to glance at what I was looking for. ”

Brielle pats my hand. “We’ll find him, Kins. It may not be right away, but a man doesn’t just disappear.”