When an Omega Snaps (4 page)

“You did what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t tell me you have a rule against wagers too.”

“I do when they involve me.”

“But half of it involves me, so doesn’t that mean it’s allowed?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I wagered anything bad. Just that you’d end up in bed. With me.”

“Prepare to lose since I am putting you to bed, not joining you.”

“Are you sure? I mean I know it’s not really big, being only a queen, but we could snuggle.”

Snuggle? If he ended up in bed with her, he’d do more than that. Way more.

As the elevator door slid open, it occurred to him that, with her condo door only feet away, he could set her down and let her make the rest of the way to her bed.

Stupid body still wasn’t obeying.
Best to ensure she makes it.
Given her reputation, he wouldn’t put it past her to bolt back into trouble the moment he turned his back.

With that kind of reasoning, he had no problem keeping a tight grip on her as he strode the short hall to the door to her place. He knew which suite she occupied, the one reserved for guests. As pride omega, he could open the door by placing his hand on the security panel set in the wall.

In he strode, not paying the décor any mind. He’d seen this place many times before as it hosted visitors to the pride. He also knew exactly where the bedroom was, and he quickly entered it, and finally his arms obeyed, dumping her on the mattress.

She squealed as she bounced, arms and legs splaying—which in those shorts proved practically X-rated.

A true gentleman would have looked away. Apparently, Leo wasn’t as obedient to his manners as he liked to think.

But at least one question was answered.

She’s wearing panties.
Cotton pink ones.

Drool. So sexy.

Some guys might go for the lacy thong type undergarments, but Leo was more turned on by a woman who hid her assets in plain gear. The plainness only served to enhance the natural beauty of a woman’s body.

As if Meena needed any more garnishing. He already lusted after her way more than was appropriate.

Help her win the bet. Join her in bed.
How sneaky the whisper. Even worse, he couldn’t tell if it was his sly feline trying to get him to claim the vexing woman or his own mind trying to get him to cave to temptation.

Not happening.

He pivoted to leave, only to stop when she said, “Where are you going? If you’re going to put me to bed properly, shouldn’t you at least strip me?”

Ten. Nine. Eight. He didn’t calm down until zero. Actually, he still wasn’t calm, but he turned around anyhow, against his better judgment, unable to control the actions of his body.

There she lay, still splayed on her back, arms folded under her head. Her pose pulled up her shirt so that a strip of skin peeked between the hem of her top and her shorts. As for her shorts, damn, they did look uncomfortably snug. She really should remove them—along with her surely confining bra.

I’ll bet those breasts could use a massage after being bound all day.

He tucked his hands behind his back. “I am not stripping you. You can do that yourself.”

While we watch.
His inner feline approved of that plan, even if it knew that wasn’t Leo’s intent.

She obviously thought it was. “A voyeur. How sexy. Prepare yourself to be wowed by my uber sexy moves.”

He was wowed, and he also fought hard to not laugh—and pounce on her to ravish.

Laughter because those tiny jean shorts were determined to stay on.

“Stupid gigantic steak for dinner and killer cheesecake for dessert,” she grumbled as she squirmed and struggled with her bottoms.

“When did you eat?” Because she’d had only a few bites of his.

“Before you got there. Which is why I let you keep yours. I wasn’t really hungry. But I am now.” Her wink turned into a squint as she stuck her tongue out, arched her back, and tugged at her jeans, which had rolled into a fabric wad around her hips and stuck.

“Need a hand?” he asked. Not because he truly wanted to touch her—he did, he totally did—but because he couldn’t stand watching her thrust and roll her hips anymore. It made a man want to pin her to the bed and have her gyrate that lower body with erotic purpose.

“About time you offered.” She stilled and grinned at him, unabashed and inviting.

Leaning down, he didn’t waste time, just grabbed the fabric hugging each hip and pulled.

Rip.
The denim shredded and released her from its prison. Without it, though, she was revealed.

What had he said about plain panties enhancing? Never more true than now.

Pink cotton molded her lower pelvis and couldn’t hide the moisture soaking the thin strip of fabric covering her sex. The undergarment might hide her mound, but it couldn’t stem the musk of her arousal.

She wants me.

I want her.

Must have her.

Take her.

Claim her.

Help!

Leo succumbed to something he’d not felt in years. Panic.

“I think you can handle it from here.” By herself. Without him. No more touching. No more being a helpful guy and helping her strip.

“But what about my bra?” She cupped heavy breasts and shot him a sultry, pleading look.

Free the beauties!

He took a step forward. Caught himself.

Must escape.
He didn’t walk. He ran! Took off as if a herd of stampeding elephants was after him, ready to squish him. And before anyone laughed, stampeding elephants were no joking matter. He should know. He’d barely survived one of their mad dashes.

Just like he barely escaped her apartment unscathed.

I should have never gone in there. I should have walked her to the door and left.

He knew this, and yet, he couldn’t help himself.

Couldn’t help but want her.

It was enough to make even his temperature boil—with arousal.

Entering his own place, he immediately went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. Cold water only. He could lie and say he was conserving energy by abstaining from the hot, but his motive was to calm the raging heat within him.

The icy chill of the shower did help ease some of his erection, but it couldn’t wipe his mind clean of her.

Unbidden, but welcome, he gripped himself, the thickness of his cock a testament to her effect on him. He wrapped his fingers around it, closed his eyes, and let the fantasy take over.

Perhaps by letting it play out, he’d diminish its power over him.

So he let himself imagine she knelt before him. Glorious and naked. Her golden hair streaming about her shoulders and kissing the top of her splendid breasts. What did her nipples look like? He’d left before finding out, but he imagined they were large, succulent, just like the rest of her.

And she would be an enthusiastic lover. On her knees, she’d grip him tight. Oh yes. Snug hand stroking his cock back and forth, rubbing the soft skin, providing friction. A quick lick to the tip, a gentle caress that would turn into a full-on lap of his mushroom head.

Groan.

A suck into the warmth of her mouth, a mouth that would suction and bathe him in moist heat.

Sigh.

As she sucked him, her hand would work him, back and forth, back and forth, faster, faster. His hips thrust, plunged, pushed his cock deeper. What kind of sounds would she make? Appreciative moans. Maybe she would indulge in a few nips of his flesh, hard enough to make him gasp.

“Take me, Leo. Take me now,”
she’d sweetly beg.

Would he bend her over to claim her or finish in her mouth? She would sense his dilemma and whisper,
“Come for me. Let me taste you.”

Holy fuck.

He climaxed. Hot spurts of cream washed down the drain. Relief at last.

Now, perhaps, he could manage to resist her strange allure. Obviously, he’d gone much too long without release. A man needed to come on a regular basis if he wanted to control his baser urges.

No wonder he’d almost succumbed to the vexing woman. He was just overdue.

Yet, if that was the case, then why did the thought of her winking and whispering,
“Can we do it again?”
lift his spent cock?

I can’t be horny again. Not so soon.

Yet he was, and the more he tried to not think about her, the more he couldn’t help remembering the taste of her on his lips, the feel of her nibbling on his neck.

Argh. His bout of masturbation hadn’t worked. What was wrong with him?

Since his body seemed determined to return to its feverish state, he made a point of staying in the frigid stream, head bowed, breathing and focusing on mundane matters. The upcoming pride picnic at the farm. The newest baby girl born in the pride, whose shocking red hair had them all wondering what genetic throwback she’d prove to be when she hit her teens.

When he felt he’d regained control of himself, he finally stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around his loins. Given the lack of heat during his polar plunge, no mist obscured his mirror, and thus did a blotch of unexpected color catch his attention. He turned and took a closer peek.

“I don’t fucking believe it. She marked me.” Indeed she had. A nicely purpled hickey stood out in stark contrast to the rest of his neck.

She marked us!

It irritated—pleased—him. It also wouldn’t last long. He healed rather quickly.

He touched his fingers to the mark, reliving for a moment the act that put it there. The tender touch of her lips, the sensual heat of her breath, the shocking arousal and need to taste her skin.

Sigh.

Back into the cold shower he went.

Dark lashes feathered against cheeks. Full lips appeared soft and inviting. Dark hair, mussed instead of perfectly brushed.

No lines of annoyance to mar his face. She enjoyed it while she could. Chances were it wouldn’t last much longer. Especially since she was about to rouse him.

“Wakey, wakey, Pookie.”

To his credit, Leo didn’t scream. Not like Hayder did the last time Meena perched on him and woke him with a stare. At the time, she was only twelve, a lot smaller, oh and she was wearing a bogeyman mask. Still, the yelp he let loose, totally un-lion like. From time to time, she enjoyed calling his voicemail and playing the sound clip for giggles.

Leo didn’t let out anything but a grunt when he opened an eye and noted her straddling his impressively wide chest.

Unlike her brother, Barry, he didn’t fling her off. Unlike her daddy, he didn’t tell her to go bother her mother. And unlike her last boyfriend, he didn’t gasp for air and demand an ambulance. What a pussy her ex turned out to be, letting a few cracked ribs get in the way of good-morning sex.

Leo did none of those things. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Hunh. Did he perhaps not notice her sitting there?

She wiggled. Kind of hard to miss her squishing him, wasn’t it?

He didn’t budge.

Down she leaned until her face only hovered an inch or so above his. He didn’t open his eyes but he did ask, in a tone of voice she well knew—exasperation with a touch of resignation—“How did you get in here?”

“Through the door, of course.”

“It was locked.”

“I know. A good thing I got a key.”

“How the hell did you get a key? The door is hand-print coded. Nobody has a key.”

“Does the how really matter? As your mate, I needed access to our place.”

“This is not our place. This is my condo.”

“Yes, I can tell.” She wrinkled her nose. “This place is like some immaculate and boring showroom. Don’t worry. I’ve got plans to redecorate.”

“I like my decor as is.”

“I’m sure you do, but since we’ll be sharing it as mates—”

“We’re not mated,” he growled in a sexy tone she really enjoyed.

“Yet.” Spoken with absolute conviction. Meena was a strong believer in fate.

“Ever.” He sounded so convinced.

How cute. “Have I told you that I love a challenge?”

“This is not a game.”

“You’re right. It’s not. A courtship doesn’t have losers, only winners.”

He sighed. Again, another sound she was all too familiar with.

“What do you want?”

Wasn’t it obvious? “You.”

“Other than me.”

“World peace.”

He snorted. “Not happening.”

“Shoes I can buy off the rack instead of special order.” Size twelve feet for a woman presented challenges.

“Go barefoot, it’s better for you. What else?”

“Scorching-hot sex.”

That made his eyes shoot open. He stared at her, and she smiled, especially as a certain part of him went from semi-erect to full-on steel pole, a thick and long one. How nice to discover he was proportioned.

“We are not having sex.”

“Are you sure about that?” She squirmed atop him, the thrill of the rub sending frissons through her body.

“Very.”

“If you’re not in the mood, then what is this?” She did a slow grind against the proof of his arousal.

His eyes turned a deep shade of smoky blue, a sign of his passion. A sign he was about to break loose. A sign he—

“That, Vex, is called an urge to pee. It’s a natural male bodily reaction that occurs upon waking.”

His response didn’t deflate her one bit. She thought it cute he was lying to her and playing hard to get. No one wanted to mate with a manwhore.

Still though, it didn’t mean she let him off the hook. She gave him another rub, which she immensely enjoyed. “A shame. I do so love a little morning nookie. It helps get the day going.” While he made no outward sound, she did notice a teeny tiny tic by his left eye, and even he couldn’t fully hide the tension in his body.

Done torturing him for the moment—pleasant as it proved—she rolled off his delightful body onto his bed. “Go. Pee. I’ll wait for you,” she announced when he didn’t immediately move.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? Are you the type who gets stage fright if he thinks someone is listening to him pee?”

“No. But I am kind of not dressed for company. So if you wouldn’t mind…”

“Mind what? Getting a look at the merchandise?” She smiled as she laced her hands behind her head. “Go ahead and flaunt it, Pookie. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got.”

Ooh, look at that. The tic got a little bit more pronounced.

“I am not going to parade naked in front of you. It wouldn’t be proper.”

“Now you sound like my mother. Put some clothes on. Wear a bathing suit when you swim. Don’t flash your boobs for beads. This isn’t New Orleans.”

That was definitely another sigh. “I am starting to see why you were banned from visiting.”

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault the mice got out. They were supposed to be a surprise. How was I to know they’d get in the wiring?”

“Dare I ask why you had mice?”

“To play a game of course.”

“What game involves live rodents?”

She rolled her eyes. “Like duh. Mousetrap of course.”

“Of course.” Even he couldn’t stop the twitch of his lips. “Interesting as this conversation is, I am going to the washroom. I expect you to be gone when I return.”

“Or else?”

“What do you mean or else? I’ve given you an order, and as a guest of the pride, you will obey.”

“Sure thing, Pookie.”

“And stop calling me Pookie.”

“Would you prefer Snookums?”

“No!”

She might have laughed at his harried tone if he’d not chosen that moment to fling the covers back, revealing lots of flesh. Muscled, slightly tanned, delectable flesh.

Wanna nibble.

While her cat might want a bite, Meena wanted to pounce on him. Especially since the bold man, while initially shy about showing off, didn’t move in a hurried fashion to the bathroom.

Nope. He rolled off the bed, presented her with an ass—in serious need of teeth marks, hers of course—then moved with a sensual grace that had her sighing.

Oh what a fine-looking male.

Mine.
The possessive thought took her a bit by surprise. Meena usually shared everything with everyone.

Until now. Now the idea of another woman eyeballing her man made Meena a teensy tiny bit upset—upset as in, I’ll-rip-her-eyes-out-if-she-stares-too-long. At least now she understood why Grandma had spent a year in jail. Some things were worth doing time for.

“Have a good pee,” she shouted. “And don’t worry at all about the fact I can hear you. A healthy bladder is a good thing. It means we don’t need to budget for diapers.”

The bathroom door shut, and the fan went on—which made her giggle. Despite his order to leave, she didn’t move. She flopped her arms out on the bed, a nice big bed.

She felt quite at home in it, and she greatly enjoyed Leo’s scent, a masculine aroma that she inhaled with every breath.

Leo might still be fighting his attraction to her, but he’d come around. She’d make sure of it.

Comfortable and a little tired—the darned man had left her aching the previous night and that, in turn, led to a lack of sleep—she napped, only to wake some time later to his grumbled, “You’re still here?”

She stretched as she opened her eyes, and despite his grumpy query, she noted he watched her every movement.

He wasn’t the only one watching. She took in his appearance that included him being freshly showered, shaved, and unfortunately dressed in khakis and a T-shirt. What a shame. She wouldn’t have minded a peek at the front of him to see if it presented as splendidly as the rear.

“You look positively yummy, Pookie.”

“Don’t change the subject. I thought I told you to leave.”

She gave him an honest answer. “You did, but I didn’t think you really meant it, so I stayed. Besides, I don’t want to go.”

Nope. She was staying right here.

But by right here, she meant on his bed and not on the floor where he dumped her!