“I can have something brought up,” Nolan said, staring at me.
Smirking, I walked toward the kitchen and went up on my toes, opening a cupboard. Then I bent over, rifling through a different one. Nolan choked on his spit and I heard him stand.
Since this was our suite, I hadn’t bothered to put on clothes before airing out my nest.
“I’m going to get something from the cafeteria,” he proclaimed, turning on his heel and walking toward the door.
Muttering a few words under my breath, I stopped him in his tracks. The familiar hum of magic beneath my skin thrilled me, so much stronger than I’d experienced in forever. If I wanted to, I could have Nolan immobilized for hours. I opted to instead walk up to him and stroke along his barely-stubbly jawline. “Stay. Have something brought up and eat with us. You’re part of the pack now.”
With a thought I dropped the spell and he took a giant step backwards. He grinned, but there was hesitance beneath the smile. “Being marked by Oswald hardly makes me part of your pack. I’m a tertiary member, at best.”
“Oh? Would you like me to bite you, then? I bet Caspian would give you a little nip, too. He was obsessed with your scent, remember? He chose to suck your cock over being brought back to Shan and Em.”
Nolan’s face went red, all the way down his chest. He was wearing a button up shirt with a loud print, as usual, but it was casually undone at the top. “Gods above.”
Grinning, I moved closer. He moved back. I kept advancing on him, feeling like a lioness hunting a gazelle. “What happened to all your flirting, killer?”
“Killer?” he asked, his back hitting the counter.
He glanced down, startled, and his fingers clenched the edge of the countertop.
The pet name had kind of slipped out, but I wasn’t going to show hesitance now, not when I had him flustered. There was a bulge in his ridiculous cargo shorts. “You are one, aren’t you? It sounds cute when I call you that.”
“Well, yes. I do… kill people.”
I stopped, chest to chest with him. His biceps flexed, like he was putting all his effort into grabbing the counter. Nolan stared down at my face, but occasionally he would slip up and look lower, to my bare tits. Leaning forward I pressed against him and he melted, groaning, letting out a little sound of disappointment when I stepped back again, one hand clutching a box of oatmeal I’d grabbed from the counter. “On second thought, I’m going to have a little snack. The rest of the guys are going to be knocked out for a while.”
The kettle was across the kitchen, and I grabbed it to fill it with water. When I bent over the counter this time, Nolan didn’t make a noise and I spun back to face him with a raised eyebrow.
He was no longer alone, Oswald’s body pinning him to the counter and their lips smashed together. The man may not be a cat anymore, but he still moved as silently as one. I hadn’t heard him wake up or put on the pants he was regrettably now wearing.
“Don’t panic my mate,”Ozzy said to me as they made out, letting me know he was aware I was hungrily lapping up every moment of their interaction.“He’s sensitive.”
“Like you’re in a position to tell me off. You intentionally antagonised Shan last night.”
“Did you see how he choked me? Fucking worth it, and Shan won’t be scared off. Nolan will be.”
Valid point.
I’d seen hints of Nolan’s hesitance beneath his layers of sarcasm, sass, and smiles. He had trauma surrounding Alphas and Omegas, and thrived on being in control. This situation would feel pretty out of control to him, and I admittedly wasn’t helping.
Oswald released his mate and turned around, tossing me an oversized t-shirt. I pulled it on, for Nolan’s sake. Besides, since I wasn’t in heat anymore I was getting chilly in the air-conditioned suite. With me clothed, Nolan relaxed. He tried to step away from Ozzy, who was having absolutely none of that. My former familiar wrapped his arms around Nolan and tugged him against his chest, affection pouring through our bond.
“Considering you almost died, I’m going to go down and get you some real food,” Nolan proclaimed. “The others can eat when they wake up.”
I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t bothered turning the kettle on because I didn’t really want oatmeal. My goal in grabbing it had been to make Nolan blush down to his gods damned ankles. “We can get it together, you and me. Since I’m not in heat, I want to see what damage Kylan managed to do. Besides, we should talk about the plan for killing him.”
“If you think I’m leaving you alone with Nolan, you’re delusional,” Ozzy said. Nolan turned in his arms, confused. “I’ll wander about with you and explain my curse some more, now we’ve all taken a break from almost dying.”
The curse did pique my interest, and I’d known he wasn’t going to let me wander alone with his mate whom I’d already made uncomfortable this morning. “Fine. I’ll get some pants.”
My shirt was passable as is. It didn’t belong to any of us, smelling faintly of another scent and laundry detergent, but if I rubbed it on the bedsheets it would eliminate the stranger. I found Em, Cas, and Shan all sleeping still, curled up together. Cas and Em were adorable, grabbing for each other in their sleep. I found a pair of women’s leggings in the closet and slid them on under the shirt, discreetly rolling my upper body around the foot of the bed.
Not weird at all.
Omega instincts made me do odd things sometimes, especially since I’d met Cas and Shan. I couldn’t resist the urge to brush a strand of hair back from Emmett’s face as I passed him, feeling our bond open wider between us.
When I got back out to the living area of the suite, Nolan was sitting on Ozzy’s lap in the couch, and they didn’t look like they were ready to go anywhere.
