Page 70 of Want It All

‘Hello,’ Rose breathed nervously, andfuck, she looked more appetising than anything I’d laid out on the coffee table. Her pants were a sage-green plaid and she’d buttoned herself into the sweetest cream cardigan I’d ever seen, which was to say that I wanted tounbutton her, immediately. Her hair was caught up in a claw clip and her cheeks were flushed a deep, delicious pink.

Byron closed the door behind her, his face unreadable as he flicked the locks into place.

I was struck by a barrage of worries.What if I liked her scent, but she hated mine? What if she didn’t like Tristan’s scent? What if she liked his, but not mine? What if –

Her nostrils flared. ‘That’s …’ She spun around to Byron, searching his face, then turned back to me. She inhaled deeply, a flush spreading down her neck. ‘Oh,fuck,’ she said. ‘Vanilla. Vanilla andcherry.’ She gave a tiny groan, the sound hitting me square in the stomach and travelling down. She inhaled again, desperately. ‘That cherry … Wait.There’s an omega here?’ She looked around wildly, as if waiting for someone to spring out and surprise her. When no one emerged, she looked at me in confusion, her eyes wide. ‘Seb?’

I guess it’s go time.‘I’m sorry we kept it from you, Rose, but –’

She stepped towards me, her chest rising and falling rapidly. ‘You?’ Her pupils had blown out, the brown of her irises almost invisible. ‘Yousmell like cherry?’

I swallowed nervously; there was no indication of whether she thought that was good or bad. ‘I, ah. Yep. That’s me.’

She whimpered, closing her eyes and balling her hands into fists. ‘I feel … I feel …’

‘How do you feel, Rosebud?’ I whispered, barely daring to breathe.

And inhaling in surprise when a hint of her raspberry tartness spread over my tongue.

‘Rose?’ I managed.

She opened her eyes; the desperation in them pinned me in place. ‘I feel –’

‘Please tell me it isn’t ill.’ My eyes tracked the lovely curve of her throat, exposed by her upswept hair. I inhaled, chasing another elusive hit of her sweet scent. ‘Rose, please –’

‘No,’ she choked out, pressing a hand to her heart. ‘I need to –’

My stomach dropped. I took a step back. I didn’t think I’d ever felt sick with disappointment before. I’d known it was a long shot, but I’d held out hope because I knew what her scent did to me, and I’d wished –prayed, even – that it would be the same for her.

‘Rose –’

Her eyes flickered up. ‘Mine,’ she hissed, her expression wild. I had the sudden notion that it was her omega looking out from her warm brown eyes. ‘Mine.’

Something inside me shifted.

Mine.

Yes.

That wasexactlywhat she was.

My chest bloomed with a sudden ache, pulling me towards her, so strongly it was almost painful. At some point, my cock had woken up, and my trunks felt damp with precum. My hands trembled, shaking with the need to touch her.

I’d been wrong. I didn’t just want to fuck her.

I wanted to beinsideher. All of me. And I wanted her inside me, too. I didn’t know how, exactly – although obviously I could think of a few things – but it was as if sex wouldn’t be enough. Asimple physical joining wouldn’t give me what I needed, which was to possess her at the same time she possessed me.

I’d never felt this way before, so base, so desperate, soinstinctual. It was overwhelming and quite frankly terrifying, but I couldn’t stop my feet moving towards her.

She held out a hand, splaying her fingers across my chest, her warmth like a brand. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what she was doing – stopping me, perhaps, or warding me off – but in the next breath, her fingers were curling into my shirt to fist a handful of linen.

I inhaled, catching the distinct scents of her hair product, her perfume – and, beneath it, a trace of her scent. My hands slid up her forearms and curled around her elbows.

‘Yours,’ I grated out, and pulled her up to kiss me.

Her lips were ravenous and mine were no better, as if we were both trying to crawl beneath each other’s skin. Her tongue slid into my mouth and I sucked on it lightly before biting down on her bottom lip, licking over the hurt when she gasped. One of her hands dragged a path through my hair and bunched, holding me in place while she took what she wanted from my mouth.

What sheneeded. WhatIneeded.