Page 24 of Two For the Show (Trapped On The Tightrope Duet #2)

The crowd cheers as Dexter and I take our bows and run out of the tent.

I’m tense, more tense than usual, but I know it’s because Jude is sporting a brand new bite mark that he didn’t tell any of us about.

We had to find out about it when we saw it glinting on his neck right before the show started.

I’m not upset about it. I wish he had given us a heads up, but I’m really not mad at all.

Really.

I think.

His scent has already begun to change. He’s always smelled sweet, like a mix of fruit and vanilla that’s not heavy or overloaded at all.

Except now he smells like one of those cherry-filled candies in a box of chocolate.

The undertones in her scent enhanced the fruity profile of the taffy and swirled it together with chocolate, and the effect is fucking delicious.

I am struggling with this new revelation for several reasons.

So much jealousy thrums through me that I can hardly see straight.

Of course, she’d choose to bond the Prime Alpha next, and not solely because it’ll heal her FOS faster.

Jude is a pillar, and if any one of us could protect her from her old pack, it would be him.

Bonding to him gives her another layer of protection.

It makes sense logically that they’ve bonded, but my Alpha hindbrain doesn’t do logic when it comes to my Omega, apparently.

Her reasoning for not bonding me during our date was sound. But I can’t help but wish she had given in to her urges and bitten me. I want that scar. I want that magical connection between us that will let me know what she’s feeling. I don’t want to wait anymore.

I want my Omega, and I’m not ashamed to admit that.

I’m sinking into the ice bath Alex set out for me and Dex when our Omega comes into the tent, bearing electrolyte packets and a shy smile.

Her hair is shiny, her cheeks rosy. She looks like a fucking vision, not a single bit of the FOS lingering. Matteo said she only needed a little kick with Jude to get over it, and he was right.

Our girl is back, and all jealousy about not being the next to receive her bond flies out of me.

“Hey, Doc,” Dexter says, surprising the hell out of me. I know they had a moment on our date day, and I’m glad for it, but I still find it surprising that he initiated contact.

Maybe it shouldn’t. He did say he was going to try and that he wanted this to work.

I’m proud of him.

Shit, I still haven’t given him crap about liking that cheesy reality TV show. I need to remember to get on that.

She waves and hops up on a wooden crate. It’s chilly today, so she’s wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that clings to her figure. Now that I know what she tastes like, it’s hard to think about anything else when I see her.

Fuck, it was so good. So, so good. The memory of it is enough to have my knot aching.

“I wanted to talk to you both while you’re a captive audience,” she says with a soft smile. “About my bonding with Jude.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to us,” I insist. My teeth are chattering as I speak, but I still push on, needing to say it as much for myself as I do for her. “Who you choose to bond with and why is your business, not ours.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but we’re a pack. It involves us all, and I had committed to holding a pack meeting to discuss how we would handle everything, including bonding. I’m sorry for not upholding that.”

A pack.

Hearing her call us a pack does something funny to my insides.

She looks down at her sneaker-covered feet, rubbing the back of her neck. “Jude and I probably should’ve held off until we had made a plan. For that, I’m sorry. I feel like I’m fucking this whole being a pack’s Omega thing up.”

“None of us know what we’re doing, Alex,” Dexter says roughly. “I think we’ve all fucked up quite a bit.”

“You more than others,” I mutter under my breath. He splashes some water from his tub into my face, and I yelp. No doubt my lips are blue at this point.

She bites her lip to stop a laugh from escaping.

“Regardless, I wanted to make my intentions known to both of you that I’d like to bond you.

I’m not trying to rush it or anything. I know that we will find the moment that feels right.

But I don’t want to hold myself back when it arises.

Not like last time.” Vulnerability flashes across her face, and she looks down at her feet, swinging them and hitting her heels on the crate.

“Are you two okay with that? Do you want it?”

“Hell fucking yeah,” I say, jumping out of the tub. The water sloshes all around, and I rush her, picking her up and spinning her around, ignoring her squeals about me being wet and cold. “How could you even ask that? You know I’d cut myself open just to let you stitch me back together.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Dexter grumbles, climbing out of the freezing cold water.

“It was a yes or no question. You didn’t have to go all gothic romance on her.

” He crosses the tent to where I still hold the squealing Omega to my chest, and brushes a hand down her hair.

“It’s a yes, by the way. I know we’re not there yet.

But we will be one day. And when we figure it out and get there, know that my answer is yes. That is something that I want.”

They stare at each other for a moment, so many words unspoken between the two of them.

For a while there, I wasn’t sure if I would have to choose my brother over my Omega. It tore me up inside, leading to a rut-induced fight with him.

Right now, I know that this moment will forever be etched in my soul.

The moment I knew that there would never be a choice. That I can have them both. That we can be happy together.

As Dexter walks out of the tent, Alex finally relaxes in my arms. She stares up at me with those dark eyes, and I can’t help but brush my hand down the side of her face.

“You really mean it, though? You’re finally giving in and accepting that you’re going to be ours? Did this have anything to do with the way I made you see stars?” I waggle my eyebrows comically, using humor to mask any lingering worries I have that she may still back out of this .

She laughs loudly, lightly tapping me on the chest with the back of her hand. “That is definitely not not a part of it. But yeah, I mean it.”

“What made you change your mind about waiting for everything to be sorted with the assholes?”

My Omega rests her head on my chest and runs her hands across my back as she hums softly.

“I realized that if I waited, I was giving them control of me still. And that I didn’t want to wait for this perfect time and rapid-fire bond you all.

It felt right with Jude, so I took that step.

I want that same thing with all of you. That moment that feels perfect. Exactly how it was always meant to be.”

“Do me a favor, then,” I ask, holding her away from me so I can see every inch of her gorgeous face. Her clothing is soaked from my body, my dick has nearly become inverted at how cold I am, but this moment couldn’t be more perfect.

“Anything,” she breathes softly. And I believe it when she says it. In my heart, I know she’ll try her best to do anything I ask of her.

And I would do whatever it takes to make her smile.

Apparently, Alphas have several Omega scent matches out in the world, but finding one of them is rare enough that no one has ever been documented as having met more than one.

Regardless of what the research says, I don’t think I have anyone else for me out there.

It’s only Alex Shields. It’ll only ever be her.

Which is exactly how I want it. How it’s supposed to be.

Which is why I ask her my favorite question.

“Truth or dare?”

Her eyes sparkle as she chews her lip. “Dare. ”

My heart stutters in my chest, and for a moment, I rethink this crazy plan that popped into my head.

But no, this is the perfect moment.

“Bond me, Alex. Do it now. Right here, right now. Don’t make me wait another fucking second. Bite me. Bond me. Make me yours forever. Please.”

Her jaw drops a little, her eyes growing misty. “You don’t want a sweet, private moment, where we talk about our feelings? Or where I bite you while you’re buried knot deep inside me?”

I nearly lose it at the thought of her squeezing my knot as I fist her hair. “No one says you have to stop biting me after the first time.” I lean forward and nip at the end of her nose. She swats me away like the adorable pest that I am.

Clicking my tongue, I take a step away from her and cross my arms over my chest, staring her down. “So, Dr. Alex Shields, what do you say? Are you going to back down from a dare?”

She lunges forward, weaving her hand through my hair before yanking my body flush with hers. Her warm breath caresses my ear, sending me into a full-body shiver as she whispers, “Never.”

When her teeth pierce the skin of the front of my throat, it’s like I’ve woken up from a twenty-eight-year-long nap. It’s like a live wire jumping and sparking all over, knocking on a door inside me. I know I don’t have to answer it, that I can turn it away and face no ill effects.

But fuck that.

I have never wanted to see what is on the other side of a door more in my life.

I throw it wide open, let her essence fill me, and let out a sob of joy.

My Omega.

Forever.