Page 51 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Damien

" Y ou have to tell me where you're taking me." Bethany's stunning eyes fix on me from the passenger seat. It seems that the alphas and I are determined to not let the omegas drive themselves anywhere ever again.

The Sunday afternoon sun dips low on the horizon, and I was somehow able to convince the rest of the pack to let me abscond with the raspberry-scented omega.

A fact I was rather surprised about, given the fact that Miles' parents only went back to Colorado yesterday, and our quality bonding time has been lacking the last few days.

"Ask me nicely," I grin, my fingers lightly tapping on the steering wheel. Perhaps I have a dormant alpha gene somewhere, with how much I'm enjoying taking care of them.

"Please, Damien, my handsome and smooth as hell beta mate, will you pretty please tell me where we're going?

" She flutters her long eyelashes at me, and my cock stirs, wondering if that's how she looked when she had her lips wrapped around it.

I had been deprived of the sight due to my other omega being stuffed down my own throat.

Giving up control had been exhilarating, and I kind of want to do it again.

Not right this very second, though. "Now tell me how pretty I am."

"You're beautiful," she deadpans, staring at me head on.

"Why thank you, bright eyes," I shoot her a wink, "you're not too bad yourself."

"Are you going to tell me?"

My brows furrow in mock confusion. "Tell you what?"

"Motherfucker!" Bethany laughs! "Tell me where we're going!"

"Huh." I muse, tapping my chin. "I've actually never fucked anyones mother before.

Guess I'll have to wait a little bit for that.

" I throw in a wink, letting my eyes drop down her body for good measure as her jaw drops, and by the time she picks it up, we're pulling into the parking lot of our destination.

"Starbrook Lane Nursery?" She squeaks, looking at me with wide eyes. "It's Sunday…and already seven—won't they be closed?"

"We're not here to shop, little omega," I purr, putting the car in park and reaching in the backseat for my backpack.

It normally goes against everything in my fashion-conscious brain to carry a backpack like one of the teenagers I teach.

Unfortunately, I don't own anything else that can carry everything I need tonight, so backpack it is.

I take Bethany's hand in mine as we approach the nursery, and pull the keycard out of my pocket that Mr. Branson gave me Friday afternoon.

All it took was a promise of a custom ceramic sculpture that can be used as a water feature in the nursery and his wife gave me access for the entire night.

When I had asked if he could turn off the security cameras, he only gave me a long-suffering look before telling me to 'clean up after myself'.

"How…" Bethany's expression is one of shock as I open the door and step back, motioning with a flourish.

"After you, bright eyes."

She steps inside without a word, and I step inside, letting the door fall shut behind me.

The re's no need to flip the switch for the lights, because the space is illuminated by string lights, wrapped around beams that stand throughout the large greenhouse.

The glass ceiling, combined with the golden glow of the sunset outside, as well as the soft illumination of the string lights, makes the nursery look like some sort of…

"It's like an enchanted forest," Bethany breathes. "How did you do this?"

Enchanted forest. That's what I was going to say.

"Elliot Branson is an English teacher at Starbrook City High. His wife, Theresa, owns the nursery. I made a trade."

Her brows furrow. "A trade? For what?"

"A sculpture," I shrug, threading her fingers through mine and start to lead her through the nursery. She keeps pace next to me, her attention snagged every which way by all the different plants and flowers.

"It's so beautiful," I don't even know if she realizes she's said it out loud, with the way she's entranced.

"Not as beautiful as you." My voice comes out ragged, unrefined. She almost startles, her steps coming to a halt before studying me for a moment, my cheeks heating under her scrutiny.

"Huh," she says thoughtfully, turning to face me fully.

"What?"

"Well, I think that was a genuine compliment and not a pickup line."

My lip quirks up in a wry smile. "Weirder things have been known to happen."

"Like what?" Her face tilts up towards mine, almost unconsciously.

I can't seem to stop myself from leaning forward, like we're just two magnets drawn together. "Have you seen Kieran wear his fuzzy bear slippers? The sight is bizarre."

Bet hany's head falls back suddenly, her laugh twinkling in the space around us. Just like that, whatever spell we seemed to be under is broken.

"Gods, yes," She laughs, and I smirk. Making fun of Kieran is always a safe bet. "So, Mr. Secretly-sets-up-a-date-at-one-of-my-unconventionally-favorite-places, what are we doing here?"

I chuckle, continuing our trek to the patio furniture staging area. "You know, I hope you don't plan on me legally changing that to my last name. It'll be a pain to read on my driver's license."

"You'd make it work," she shrugs, and then we're coming up to the staging area. Really, it's just a section of the greenhouse that they let the employees use to take their breaks, but it also serves as a way to show customers exactly how their plants could look in their backyards.

Bethany eyes the wrought iron table and chairs like it's set up for her own personal tea time. "Take a seat, gorgeous girl." I motion to one chair as I put my backpack on the other, unzipping it as I pull out all my goodies.

By the time I have the tablecloth, candles, plates with cheese and crackers, and wine on the table, my omega is looking at me with a strange glint in her eye.

She doesn't say anything though, so I move the backpack to the floor and sit in the vacated chair, pulling out my phone so I can play some music through the bluetooth speaker. Soft violin plays through the small box, and suddenly, this seems a whole lot more romantic.

Which is exactly what I was going for.

When I pull two metal tumblers out of my backpack, she laughs, calling me "Mary Poppins". I'll be Mary Poppins as long as she keeps looking at me like that.

We talk. We sip on our wine, munch on our adult lunchables, and laugh. We laugh so much. We start with our childh oods, our passions and hobbies, and then the most amusing topic—my childhood friendship with Hunter.

"He did not!" She laughs, covering her mouth.

"He very much did. Eomma went ballistic when she found out he had done it too. One of the cheerleaders filmed the entire thing, and Hunter didn't speak to me for a week."

"Why did he get mad at you ?" Her face is adorably puzzled.

"I'm the one who told the cheer squad he was going to be streaking across the football field in the first place." My grin might look devious, but that's probably because it is.

She completely loses it. Tears stream down her eyes as her laughter overtakes her, and it's absolutely contagious. My own laughter makes my ribs ache, and when it dies down, she's wiping the tears from her eyes.

And then…silence.

We stare at each other for a moment, and I get lost in her pale blue eyes. I shake myself free from her hypnosis, reaching for the bottle of wine.

"Damien?" she asks quietly as I start to pour.

My eyes briefly flick to hers. "Yes?"

"What…" she huffs a breath, "what is this?"

I frown, looking at the bottle. "It's a Pinot Grigio—"

"No," she lets out half a laugh. "No, I mean, what is…this?" She motions to the plants, the table, the wine. To everything. Suddenly, I'm questioning the last thirty minutes. Was it just me having a good time?

"Do you not like it?" I can't keep the slight frown off my face. This is her favorite place. I brought her favorite cheese. There's no discernible reason for her to not be happy with this.

Unless…unless she isn't there with me yet. I mean, she had my dick in her mouth just a few days ago…but maybe a candlelight evening in a nursery ranks below a three-way oral chain?

"Of course I do," she reaches over to grab my arm, "I love it, actually. I'm just wondering…are you trying to get to know me better? Seduce me? Woo me?"

"Can't it be all three?" I ask, licking my bottom lip.

"You can be insufferable sometimes."

"You love it."

"I do." Her eyes widen as she quickly clears her throat and stuffs her face with a cracker. My mouth is dry.

How does she do it? How can she disarm me, strip me bare of my confident facade in less than four words and then act like she has no idea the effect she has on me?

Unless she doesn't.

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"Will you bite me during your next heat?"

She blinks at me, her tumbler halfway to her mouth. Then she chokes. She coughs and sputters, little bits of cracker flying everywhere, and then I'm grabbing a bottle of water from my bag, coming around to her side as I get on my knees in front of her.

Gratefully, she takes the bottle, immediately downing half as her eyes water.

"Sorry," she chokes out, wiping her mouth.

"I just…that was the last thing I expected you to say.

" She gingerly sets the half full bottle on the table before shifting herself to face me, and I shuffle forward so I'm on my knees between her legs.

One of her hands runs through my hair as she stares into my eyes.

"You get that it's permanent, right? If I bite you…

you're bonded. You won't even have to bite me back. "

"I know." Gods do I know. "I'm going to ask Miles too. But…the two of you…you're the only ones I want to be with, and I don't want to wait one more second than I have to."

"We've only known each other…well, it's been less than a month."

"I know."

"And we've been courting for…a week."

"I know."