Page 48 of Daughter of Garnet

"I want to touch you." I struggle against his hands. "Please, let me touch you."

He's holding his body as far from me as possible, our only points of contact his hands. "Not tonight. Maybe next time."

There won't be a next time, but that thought flies away as a third finger makes its way inside me, and the satisfying stretch of it has me sobbing in pleasure. Does this feel so good because I am an Omega and we're built for pleasure? Or is he just that good with his hands?

I can feel my orgasm boiling inside me, and my dragon is roaring with delight at this Alpha's attention. A few tight circles on my clit are all it takes to have my back arching off the tree and my body shaking as if it's been shocked, as fire floods my veins.

When I come down from the earth-shattering experience, I'm looking at the man through heavy eyelids. Now I'm wishing I could see his face, to know if he is as wrecked as I feel.

I reach for him as he takes a few steps back from me.

"Come back. I want to take care of you."

He shakes his head. "Not this time, darling."

Before I can say anything, he's leaving with such quickness that my stomach bottoms out. I've never had someone so eager to be away from me after sex that they run away, and it doesn't feel good.

I have to push the thoughts from my head because I've been out here for too long, and I'm sure Viv is searching for me.

I can worry about this empty feeling in my chest after I check on my friend.

CHAPTER 24

Zoe

Dominic is ten minutes late for our study group, which is shitty of him since he's supposed to be the one leading it. By the time he stumbles into the library, black shirt wrinkled and untucked, his cheeks ruddy, we're already packing our stuff up.

"Sit down," he barks. "It's time for another lesson."

He walks behind my chair, and the sour scent of barley wine nearly bowls me over.

"Are you drunk?" My words are a low hiss, meant to keep my classmates from hearing.

"Yep." He continues to the head of the table, as if the fact that he's drunk isn't problematic. He sits backward in his chair, using the top rail to prop himself up. "We're going to deviate from the syllabus today."

"Why?" Naoise pulls out his notebook and flips through it. "We've got a test in two weeks. We can't afford⁠—"

Dominic cuts him off by slamming his hands on the table. "I teach what I teach. You can go if you don't want to learn." Naoise doesn't move to leave, and after a moment, the Alpha nods. "That's what I thought. Today, we're going to be talking about scent matches, bonds, and rejection."

I squirm in my seat. Dominic said we were scent matches when he found me in my shifted form. I've done some research since then, and rejecting one means rejecting the God who bestowed the gift of a match upon you. I can't imagine they'd take that well, and pissing off a God isn't high on my list of things to do. Most scent-matched pairs are Blessed by the same God, but there have been a few cases of cross-God matches.

I wonder how they decide that. Do they work together and flip a coin on who bestows that particular Blessing?

"Meeting your scent match is supposed to be the greatest day of your life, but what people don't tell you is that it's a prison sentence. Without your consent, you're locked to another person, because if you reject your scent match and refuse a bond, you could go feral or get sick. Our choices are ripped from us. Our job prospects narrow because we're seen as more stable, and now we're saddled with a spoiled, manipulative Omega that we don't want to take care of."

Bile rises in my throat at his words. This lesson—brought on by booze and contempt—is for me. He wants me to know how much he hates that we're matched, and that he would change it if he could.

The rejection makes my eyes sting, and I push back from the table, ready to flee before tears betray me.

His lip curls in a disgusted glare. "Sit down, bunny. You need to hear this, too."

Warren scoots his chair closer to me and leans over to whisper, "Bunny?"

"I don't know." My words are mumbled, and thankfully, Dominic doesn't hear.

My classmates are locked onto the Alpha's words. I don't know if they can tell that he's drunk, but if they can, it doesn't seem to bother them.

"Don't let anyone lie to you. A scent match is a burden. Can't even get it up for anyone else once you meet them. Fucking bullshit. And even if you can't stand your scent match, you still feel pulled to them. It's not a Blessing. It's a curse." He stands up and pushes the chair, which clatters to the floor. "Class fucking dismissed."