Page 19 of Scheme
Sometimes, being a good omega meant giving a fumbling alpha a hearty shove in the right direction.
I cupped his face, pulling him the rest of the way to me and pressed my lips against his, kissing him with the kind of confidence that I wanted to be kissed with, in the hopes that it would make him relax.
It certainly made him something.
As Kit took over our movements, one firm hand gripped my hip with the perfect amount of pressure, while his tongue stroked against mine with a sudden obscene level of confidence, I wasn’t surerelaxedwas the best way to describe him.
Danger,the sensible part of my brain piped up, a bright yellow Slippery When Wet sign popping into my head.
“I think that was good,” I mumbled, breaking away and stumbling back a step. “Very convincing.”
Kit’s hand hovered in the air where he’d been holding me, and for a split second, he looked as though he was about to reach for me again.
In all fairness, I was a great kisser.
“Right. Yeah. Very convincing.”
“Great.” I nodded once. “Good. Should we head in then?”
Why was my heart beating so fast?Just a kiss. Nothing to lose your head over, Margot.
Kit exhaled heavily, fingers flexing at his side before he finally nodded.
The moment we were across the street, he headed straight for the doors, holding them open and gesturing for me to enter first. It was an old-fashioned place—with what looked like the original wood panelling on the walls and black-and-white patterned tiles on the floor. With so many people, it was warm and smelled like pheromones and lager, and I quickly shed my cardigan, draping it over my forearm.
“Let’s grab a drink first,” Kit muttered, resting a heavy hand on the small of my back and leaning down to speak in my ear. I opened my mouth to reassure him that we could go and find his friends right away if he wanted, but one look at his face made me think that the drink was for his benefit, not mine.
Had that kiss shaken him too? I doubted it. Kit didn’t look as though he was wanting for great kisses, and I knew for a fact that he’d once been a regular at Bryce and Kane’s orgies too, before my time. There were always single and widowed omegas like me there, as well as betas and his fellow alphas.
Weirdly, I didn’t like thinking too hard about that.
Kit ordered a pint while I opted for elderflower soda, and as soon as we’d picked up our glasses, Kit slid his hand into mine, guiding me through the crowd toward the back of the pub. While I’d been expecting the contact—it would have looked pretty weird if wedidn’ttouch each other—my heart still did a weird skip at the gesture.I should find a cuddle buddy,I thought absently. I needed more platonic touch in my life.
A chorus of excited greetings reached us the moment we found their booth, and Kit’s grip on my hand tightened ever so slightly.
“There he is! Man of the hour!” A boisterous voice announced, standing up and clapping Kit on the back. “Thought we’d never see you again, ya bastard. It’s beenyears!”
“Has it?” Kit said with a grin that didn’t look quite natural. “Everyone, this is Margot. Margot, this is Coleman, Beckett, and Rajeev,” he said, gesturing at the three alphas before faltering, clearly not knowing the names of their mates. Or the name of the spare, ridiculously beautiful unmated omega who was looking at Kit with a faint frown on her face.
I knew we should have had a codeword.
“Sal, Jocelyn, Lennox,” Coleman—the loud one—said, gesturing at each of the mated omegas in turn. “And this is our friend, Sinclair.”
Sinclair recovered quickly, shooting both Kit and me a beaming smile as she shuffled over to make room for us on the bench. There really wasn’t enough space for two, but Kit set his beer on the table, plucked the glass from my hand to set it down too, and dragged me onto his lap. I perched on one muscular thigh, draping an arm over his shoulders for balance, and attempted to look as though we did this all the time.
“Margot, was it?” Coleman asked reluctantly, apparently unable to dismiss me while I was sat on Kit’s lap. Kit banded an arm around my waist, leaning forward to take a sip of his pint.
“That’s right. It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much.”And liked very little.
Coleman shot me a tight smile, glancing apologetically at Sinclair. “So how did you two meet?”
“Mutual friends,” I replied easily, glad we didn’t have to lie on this front at least.
“Nico and Violet,” Kit clarified.
“They didn’t waste any time shackling you,” one of the omegas mumbled, as if they were doing any differently by bringing Sinclair along. “How long have you been back in the country anyway?”
“More importantly, how long are you staying?” Coleman boomed obnoxiously. He really did have a very loud voice, and I wasn’t just thinking denigrating thoughts about him because he looked at me like I was a particularly gross bug he’d like to squash.
