Page 53 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Kieran

I sneak into Queen of Hearts, not wanting Daphne to see me if she’s busy and can’t get away for lunch. I know she’s working hard to prepare for the Flowerfalls Festival, so we’ve tried not to distract her.

Sterling and I have spent plenty of quality time with her, but we’re holding ourselves back from asking for more.

I want to smother her in affection, and while omegas tend to like that kind of thing, I don’t want to assume Daphne does.

She’s so independent and driven, I’m not sure how much she’d want us to take care of so she can relax and let go.

Well, outside of the bedroom at least. We already know she likes it when we take charge in there.

So while I want to take her to lunch today, I’m checking first to see if I should spirit her away.

There are a few customers milling around, helping to conceal me. I spot Daphne talking to a couple, but I barely notice them, too busy staring at my omega haloed by flowers.

My fingers twitch, itching to paint her lying on a bed of flowers. Maybe Daphne would model for me, laid out on the bed so I can capture her image perfectly. Even though I think of her as soft and strong and sweet and amazing, she outshines my poor mortal memory every time.

I don’t know how long I spend staring, but eventually Daphne finishes up with the customers and smiles at me.

I smile back, besotted, and watch as she sways her way over to me.

“You’ve been waiting so patiently. What can I help you with?” she asks in a sultry voice, standing close and stroking her nails down my shirt.

I have some sense left rattling around in me, so I grab her wrist before she reaches my belt. I don’t want to make a scene in public, especially where she works.

“I wanted to see if you’re free to have lunch with us,” I say.

“Of course. I’m always ready to eat,” she says, still in a low, sexy tone.

I growl but cut it off when the people nearby glance over at us.

I duck my head and usher Daphne to a more private section of the store, glaring at the alpha who’s still staring at her as we round the corner.

It makes my alpha want to usher Daphne all the way home to our nest so no one else can get at her.

“We could go back to my place for lunch,” Daphne says coyly, “or yours. We don’t always have to ‘eat’ at my house.”

I almost agree, briefly forgetting about my noble plan to take her for actual food.

“I’m always happy to be invited home with you. I’m sorry our place is so far away, it’s not very convenient. But I don’t want to interrupt your workday. I was thinking we could eat at the Lunching Hour or Screaming Teapot and have Sterling meet us there,” I say.

I breeze past the not quite a lie we’ve been maintaining. If we took Daphne home with us, it would be glaringly obvious we have packmates we haven’t mentioned yet. I hope she won’t think it was cruel of us not to tell her about them right away.

We tried to tell the others about Daphne, but when we did, Alister and Feliks said they were dating someone too. So that conversation didn’t quite go to plan. They were both very interested in their dates, so we all decided to keep dating separately for now and see how things develop.

I’m sure they’ll realize eventually that whoever they’re seeing isn’t right for them, because I know Daphne is the omega for our pack.

Ciro, of course, was absent from the whole discussion. We’ll deal with him later after the others meet her.

Come to think of it, I feel like I haven’t seen Ciro much at all in the past few weeks. Though that might be because we’ve been so busy with Daphne.

Daphne’s wandering hands almost make me forget about our lunch plans again, but I back her up against the wall and restrain her wrists so she’ll focus on what we’re talking about.

She pouts at me, and I grin. Daphne’s so cute when she doesn’t immediately get what she wants.

I’ll be happy to spend hours with her tonight, but she still has work to do, and I’m not going to fuck her in the middle of a workday.

Well, maybe when she’s not busy with festival prep.

Or during her heats.

Daphne’s nose flares as my scent gets stronger. My hard cock rubs against her stomach, and her eyes dilate, both of us breathing hard.

I can’t be thinking about Daphne in heat. I’ll lose my mind completely .

I hope she invites us to help her with her next heat. I want to be there for everything, heats, dinners, spending a quiet evening at home watching movies or reading or playing games. Whatever she wants to do, as long as we’re together.

I calm myself enough to step back and put some space between us, lessening the risk that I’ll kiss her.

“My place?” Daphne says, grabbing my shirt.

My resolve wavers, but my phone rings, saving the day.

“Are we taking Daphne to lunch?” Sterling says when I answer.

“I’m asking her now,” I tell him. “Are you free to go to lunch with us?”

Daphne sighs but agrees, releasing her hold on me.

I wait up front while she goes to get her purse, not wanting to test my self-control by being alone with her.