Part 55

Once the shame of what we had done settled in, I moved away from his lap, attempting to look decent. Automatically my fingers went to my hair, trying to untangle the unruly mess Abel’s tugging left. My lips felt swollen, my cheeks red hot and my heart racing. I could feel my lungs burn, chest heaving as I tried to get my breathing normal.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the Alpha do the same, running a hand through the creases of his dress pants. My cheeks reddened as I saw the wrinkled shirt and a button ripped off in haste, looking away.

What had possessed me to do such a thing? Anyone could have caught us in the car in such an inappropriate, compromised manner. If so, Abel would have no choice but to honour my integrity and start courting me. A sick twisted part of me imagined the thought of that, getting courted by him as his omega. I quickly dismissed it just as it dawned on me, cursing myself for merely thinking about it.

“So…” He cleared his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts and forcing me to glance at him. “What do you want to know?”

I pinned him with a look, lips pressed together and resisting the urge to scoff. Was he asking for the specifics? Crossing my arms, I barely moved an inch.

“Fine. I’ll start from the beginning.”

A static silence filled the car as we both went limp, our ragged breathing the only thing echoing. I watched as he sucked a deep breath before talking about the dinner with his parents. The day that shifted things for us.

Colour drained my face as I let his words wash over me, dread filling the pit of my stomach. Panic seeped in my ribs, making a home in there, a ball forming in my throat. For a long minute, I couldn’t process the information, mind blank, but when Abel turned to me expectantly, I knew I had to say something.

“N-No…I…”

His hand immediately came to cradle my cheek, stroking with the pad of his thumb. “Baby, it's okay…Take a deep breath for me.”

“I…I…”

“Come on.”

Nodding, I followed him, noticing his chest as it rose and fell, eyes trained firmly on his lips.

“Good.”

I ignored the blooming feeling in my stomach, wetting my bottom lip, before raising my head. “Why would Allie not tell me about it?!”

“We both decided to handle it our way, Emma.”

“And how did that work out?”

He had the audacity to flinch after driving me out of my mind. I had imagined all kinds of scenarios, but this proved to be the worst. Never did I guess my best friend getting courted by the Alpha I was seeing, with who I also managed to fall in love. What a tragedy!

“Listen to me; we will not let it happen….”

“Abel, you don’t know who you are against.” I sagged in my seat, hands clasped together, suddenly feeling drained at the thought of talking. “Allies father…he is a powerful Alpha, not someone you should be making an enemy of. I think…” Suddenly it felt as if shards of glasses were stuck inside my throat as I avoided his eyes, feeling the burn of them. My toes curled as I pressed my legs together, “Uhh…I think you should go ahead with this match. Allie is better than me, comes from a normal family and has so much more to offer—”

“Can you shut up?!” His low growl cut me off, startling me from the daze as he wrapped an arm around my wrist. Startled, I looked up, meeting his eyes and suddenly realised he was leaning closer.

“Is that really what you want? Answer me honestly.” His thumb traced my pulse, making me jolt in the seat, eyes clenching shut.

I whined, “No.”

“Good because that’s not what we want either. Allie…she has her heart set on someone else, and I am obviously fond of certain someone and cannot let her go…so no one’s going ahead with this.”

I bloomed like a sunflower under the sun, preening at the word fond as if he had just confessed. That was more than enough, right? Maybe, maybe not, but at the moment, that’s all the assurance I needed.

“Okay.”

“Are we good then?”

I quirked a brow at him, feeling the nervousness exude which was a first as he’s always confident. Slowly I turned my head and peered out of the window, trying to hide a smile. Maybe I can let him stew for a while; after all, he did the same with me.

“Emma?”

“Hmm?” I innocently blinked.

“I asked you something.” His voice was almost followed by a pout; nose scrunched up. Of course, I folded quickly. How can I say no to that face after all?

***

After that, he took me to a drive-in, getting some fast food we ate in the car, too disoriented to get out. It’s inching close to seven in the evening when I unbuckled the seat belt, squaring my shoulders and looking outside. We were parked in the parking lot with no one in sight, the empty take-out boxes on our laps.

The lamp posts from outside glowed, throwing specks of light across the window pane, a ghost of a touch tickling for a handful of moments before I felt the tips of his fingers pressed against my skin.

“Where are you going?”

“To my room,” I said, voice barely above a whisper, and I was grateful that his hand didn’t still. “I’ll try to come over for a few hours, if you want me to, but I can’t stay the night. Allie and I need to talk.”

“Why don’t you tell her?”

I huffed out a laugh, picking up the empty take-out boxes and setting them on the dashboard. “Tell her what exactly?”

Abel leaned forward, nosing at the nape of my neck. “That you’re staying with me.” He hooked his chin over my shoulder, blinking adorably. Huh? Since when did I find that simple action endearing?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, easing out of his grip, feeling my nerves alight from the loss of his touch. Distance. That’s what I needed to evaluate the sudden need to tell him about my feelings.

“She already knows….”

“Edward.” I quickly said, cutting him off. “He will be back soon. Why don’t you spend some time with him?”

“We live together. We are always seeing each other.”

“Are you complaining?” I asked with a firm press of my lips, trying to appear serious though he could detect amusement. “Thread lightly; that’s my brother.”

“He’s my best friend too.”

“May not be once he finds out about us.” The words slipped off before I could stop, internally cringing, the fisting of the material of my shirt.

“Do you really think?”

I laughed nervously, avoiding his gaze, searching and heavy, “Ignore me, Abel I don’t know what I am talking about.”

“But…”

“Abel, I should really get going.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later.”

“Mhm.”

Flexing my toes once I put my feet on the pavement, I scanned the parking lot before rushing to the elevator. Ever since I had the sudden realisation, more like an urge to confess my feeling, something shifted, a feeling akin to strange.

My body buzzed with unfamiliar energy as Abel somehow got under my skin more than possible. It's distracting, to say the least. To make matters worse, I could still feel him, panties clinging to the folds. My neck tingled from where his lips were pressed, sucked and left enough kisses to bruise—effectively marking me, like he was my Alpha. The thought made me squirm, made a part of me want to be marked again. For real, this time.

It's confusing, to put it simply, and my thoughts being so traitorous, offered no help.

Perhaps the most concerning thing was that I could not for the life of me stop thinking about it. About the way our bodies aligned so quickly, how he knew how to get me limp and pliant in his hold, hands so quickly wrapped around me, how powerless I had felt. I could still feel the phantom touch of fingers, the way they had pressed roughly against my skin, lifting up my jaw as he crushed our lips together.

It scared me. How easily I had been submitting, how it didn’t even make me question for a slight second. Like it’s natural. As if it’s our true nature. What scared me even more, though, was the fact all of the above excited me. I wouldn’t be opposed to go through that again.

The sound of the elevator dinging bought me back to reality, mouth gaping when I saw Avon on the other side. His eyes widened when he took my state, nostrils flaring and jaw clenching tight.

“I am going to kill him!”

***