Page 45 of Scheme
“Message received,” Nora said with a light laugh, her mood immediately shifting from sulky to gleeful at this turn of events. She was unpredictable like that. “I hope you know what a lucky alpha you are. Thetasteof her… I’ll never forget it.”
She flounced off with one last wistful look at my thighs, and I was all but petting Kit’s arm to keep him calm, his hold around my waist bordering on uncomfortably tight.
“Your slick should come with a warning label,” Violet teased, handing her coat to the staff member waiting for it, revealing the fitted grey jersey dress she wore underneath with the explicit purpose of leaking through. “May contain addictive properties.”
Kane and I laughed while Kit adjusted his stance behind me, putting a little more distance between our hips. There was a burgeoning bubble of disappointment in my chest, ready to rise, but I refused to let it out. Maybe instinct had demanded he monopolise my attention tonight, but he wasn’t actually interested in anything more than that.
That was fine. We could still have a good night.
“Hush you. Come on, let’s grab a drink before you two disappear.”
Kit let me go, and the bubble attempted to inflate again, but he didn’t go far—just pulled my coat down my arms to give it to the waiting staff member. A shiver ran down my spine as IfeltKit’s gaze on my back, where the silk fabric dipped low, the whole scrap of a dress held up by delicate spaghetti straps. He wasn’t quite growling, but I immediately turned to face him, reacting to the pheromones he was inadvertently pumping into the air.
The ones that called and demanded and claimed. They were dangerous and intoxicating, and I grabbed his forearms, letting him know that everything was fine, that I was here, that I wasn’t going anywhere.
Not for tonight, at least.
“Do you want a glass of wine?” I asked, meeting his eyes, surprised at the ferocious look I found there. He shook his head stiffly. “Everything is fine, there’s nothing to stress about. We’re going to go get a drink with Nico and Vi, then we’ll find a spot to sit down and chill. Sound good?”
“You’re managing me.”
“You need to be managed,” I replied wryly, trying to wrangle Sensible Margot back into the driver’s seat. “I’m not mad or anything, but it does appear that your alpha instincts have chosen to rear their head. I know you don’t want me hanging all over you—”
“It’s fine,” he interrupted. Well, okay then.
I slipped my hand into his, following Nico and Violet further into the mansion, heading straight for the sitting room where the bar was always set up. Bryce was sprawled out on one of the couches, giving us a lazy salute, a glass of whiskey dangling from between his fingers.
It was early enough in the evening that people were mostly still milling around, flirting and feeling each other out. Nico went to grab us drinks, and despite the relaxed ambience, Kit seemed to be tensing up again in the more crowded room.
Deciding to take Kit’s gruff “it’s fine” as permission, I led him to a sofa on the edge of the room, gently pushing him into the corner seat before perching myself daintily on his lap sideways, crossing my legs so I didn’t inadvertently give Violet a show as she took the seat next to him, looking far too amused at this turn of events.
I’d never really dealt with alpha possessiveness before, but I knew scentmarking helped. Not that I had a lot to work with since I’d slathered myself in lotion, but I draped my arm over his shoulders and played with the ends of his hair, hoping it would soothe him a little. It seemed to work, if only mentally since Kit’s posture relaxed slightly. His arm wrapped around my back, his enormous hand covering half my thigh, one thumb at my hip. I swallowed thickly. I was going to be giving off plenty of scent soon if he kept that up.
Nico returned with bottled drinks for all of us, and I gratefully accepted my soda while Kit cracked open his beer.
“I wonder if Marissa is here tonight,” Violet mused, scanning the room. “She’s so fun. Remember last time? When she was paddling thatenormousalpha? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man come so hard.”
Nico growled—an entirely playful sound, nothing like the full-blown chainsaw rumble that Kit had let out earlier.
“Oh please,” Violet giggled, twisting to drape her legs over his thigh. “You said as much at the time, don’t play coy now.”
Theirpheromones were already growing cloying, and I found myself leaning into Kit a little more, wanting desperately to bury my face in his neck and breathe only him but having just enough presence of mind to remember that it was a terrible, humiliating idea.
Except, Kit’s fingers were brushing the hem of my dress, his hand skating further away from my knee with each pass.
“I’m sorry,” Violet said, turning to face me with an apologetic look. “My tits are aching, we’re going to go play. Remember what I said, though. Tonight is your night.”
I nodded, sipping my soda while the two of them moved into the centre of the room, Nico on a chair and Violet on the floor between his feet, ready to perform.
Kit nosed at my shoulder, startling me into returning my attention to him.
“What did that alpha mean about the taste of you?” Kit rasped. He shifted slightly beneath me, drawing my attention to averyalert part of his anatomy.
My face heated, both at the question and at the blooming ache between my thighs that could only lead to one thing.
I was old enough and experienced enough to control my reactions to a certain extent—I didn’twantto walk around smelling like a horny mess all the time, so I’d practised taking my brain to a place of perfect peace and calm where my body would follow suit.
All of that discipline, that honed control, thatdesirefor control, seemed to have gone out the window.
