Fall Semester (Omega Wolf Academy Book 2) Page 8

  Alyssa’s face scrunched up. “Well, there is this one guy.” She chewed her lip and blushed again.

  “Ohhh,” I squealed, only half amazed at the fact that I was squealing like the girls I’d made fun of for acting like this. I shouldn’t have been so judgmental, I realized. Happiness was something everyone deserved. I had so much happiness these days that it was only fair Alyssa find some of her own. “Tell me about him.”

  “He’s tall,” she began, measuring her words.

  I nodded. Of course he was tall; most shifter males were. I did understand the allure, though.

  “He has these intense blue eyes and really long eyelashes. Like, I would die for his eyelashes. Instead I got these stumpy little things.” Alyssa chuckled and shook her head.

  “Is he in one of your classes?” I asked, genuinely interested now. She was funnier than I’d ever realized. A little self-deprecating and dark humored, balanced with innocent feminine amusement, a combination I was realizing I liked.

  Alyssa nodded. "Yeah, he sits one row forward, three seats to the right of me, and now I sound like a stalker."

  I made a loud dismissive sound. "No, you don't. And I know all about being a stalker since I currently happen to be dating several especially fine specimens of eye candy."

  That made Alyssa laugh, and a layer of awkwardness fell from her like a weight off her shoulders. I literally saw it happen and smiled. My mates had been the ones to do that for me and I was only too happy to help Alyssa leave some of our shared past behind.

  "Just using them for their bodies, are you?" she asked, then turned and smiled at the server when he called out, "What can I get for you ladies?"

  We placed our orders and stepped aside to wait while they were filled. I took the time to think about my mates' bodies and let my lascivious thoughts tilt up my lips.

  "While they're each mind blowingly gorgeous, I'm not with any of them just for their bodies." The warmth that always filled me when I thought of my guys came back with a rush that flushed my cheeks and sent blood pooling in other, more southern, areas of my body. "Lucian is unbelievably smart, and cultured, and interesting in a way that makes me feel interesting. He really listens when I talk, you know?"

  Alyssa nodded.

  "And Chase. Everyone on campus has this preconceived idea of him as a southern playboy. They're not totally wrong, he's a charmer, for sure. But there's so much more to him that no one else sees, that he doesn't show anyone. He shows them, Dimitri and Lucian, and me."

  "What about Dimitri? Every time I've seen you around him, he's brought the Irish out of you."

  I knew what she meant. Dimitri drew the passion out from deep within me, which was both a good thing and a bad thing, all at the same time. A life without passion wasn’t worth living, but passion wasn't always sweet. It could be destructive.

  I shook my head, wondering at my undeniable attraction to him. "Old Ones, he pisses me off so bad sometimes." I huffed out a laugh. "But there is just something about him that makes me feel…" I searched for the right word, trying not to give away too much of our connection. Finally, I decided to just say what I was thinking. "Complete. He makes me feel complete. They all do."

  Alyssa sighed. "I want that," she whispered in a voice tinged dark by the past. She looked at me, chewed her lip for a moment, then blurted, "Do they know?"

  I didn't have to ask her what she meant. Everything in me froze. I'd wanted to tell her so badly, to share with another woman, a friend, someone who understood, but now I was afraid. What if she saw it as a betrayal? She wouldn't be wrong to feel that way. It wasn't my place to dictate what she did and did not feel. And it wasn't just the two of us. What about all the others? Would I be betraying everyone? It hadn't felt like a betrayal. Didn't I have the right to share my own story?

  Guilt mixed with defensiveness that this was my life, too, surged into my throat, making it hard to speak.

  Then I looked into Alyssa’s eyes and saw hope.

  All my defenses dropped away. She wasn’t accusing me of betraying her, I realized. She was wondering if three men, three natural born wolves, had accepted my origins. I swallowed my emotions and nodded. “Yes,” I confessed. “They all know, and they don’t see me any differently.”

  Alyssa nodded and swallowed, too overwhelmed to speak. She looked past me, blinking, then narrowed her eyes and tilted her chin. “Speaking of your Russian.”

  I turned, searching the quad for Dimitri, and caught sight of him walking along the path that edged the grass. I lifted my hand to call out and stopped when I noticed that he was speaking on his cell phone and looked agitated.

  Something was wrong, I realized, watching him gesticulate with his hands in the way he did when he was angry. His face was a deeper shade than usual, another sure sign, and, as he got closer, I heard him curse in Russian. I let my hand drop to my side.

  “Yeah,” I said warily, turning away from him with one last worried glance. “I’m going to leave him alone for the moment.”

  “Probably for the best,” Alyssa murmured.

  I glanced back at him, chewing absently on my lip as he disappeared around the corner of a building. There was definitely something wrong with my mate and I was going to find out what, even if it completely pissed him off.

  Chapter 10

  I checked my phone for the millionth time for a text from Dimitri and felt crestfallen when it remained stubbornly silent.

  I’d texted him after leaving Alyssa at her dorm room, then waited all evening to get some kind of reply. He was usually great at getting back to me, they all were. We were all still in the first beautiful honeymoon months of our mate bond. When one of us called, the others answered.

  Something was wrong with him; I could feel it in my gut. It wasn’t just the tension that had radiated from every muscle in his body, it was the dark shadows in his eyes. They’d been there already, I realized now. I just hadn’t seen them. Guilt and worry for my mate mixed like bile in my stomach.

  We’d yet to figure out all the logistics of our relationship, me and my gorgeous wolves. What if part of Dimitri’s dark mood was jealousy over how much time Lucian and I had been spending together? We’d all spent time together for a few nights, watching movies or going for walks, but we’d decided and stuck to the decision to hold back the naughty thoughts that always consumed us when we were all together. I wanted to get to know them each, one on one, as befitted a true mated couple. The only problem was, we weren’t a couple. We were so much more, which meant more complications.

  I stepped back and appraised my work with anxious eyes. I’d been working all morning, cleaning and reorganizing the one place on campus that was special to Dimitri and me alone, somewhere we could claim as ours.

  The attic was still small and decorated with old furniture, but, after hours of sweat, it was dust free and smelled of lemons rather than mothballs.

  After a nice hot shower to wash off all the attic smells, I’d returned with supplies to make over the musty space into something more romantic. I’d covered the old couch where we’d first touched, first tasted, first fucked like demons, with a clean sheet so it didn’t look like trash anymore and had brought candles, wine, and an entire picnic basket filled to the brim to set the mood. I’d prepared everything and invited him, now it was on him to show up.

  I paced the attic, glancing out the small octagonal window to watch the students walking the paths below. There weren’t many students in this area of campus, since it was tucked out of the way, but there were always students in every corner of Omega Wolf Academy. I missed the Summer semester when there’d been less students and more solitude.

  I didn’t miss the threat to my life, but you had to take the bad with the good sometimes.

  My lips quirked up in a flash of dark humor. Dr. Bennett said dark humor was a perfectly fine coping mechanism, and that I was doing what was necessary to find peace and balance. Of course, he didn’t know that my current state of mind was mostly a result of havin
g found my mates. I wondered what he’d have to say about our little situation.

  I heard footsteps approaching and tensed. For a moment, I was back in the farmhouse, captive and afraid, then I shook it off. I was at school and the footsteps belonged to Dimitri. I’d recognize his gait anywhere.

  “Lexi?” he called out, pushing the door to the attic room open with a hesitant shove. He caught sight of me at the window and paused. For a moment, the confusion that creased his brow smoothed out, and he just stared.

  I breathed in the scent of him and felt it resonate deep in my blood. He’d always had that effect on me, from the first moment we’d met, even when I didn’t like him.

  I still hadn’t nailed down that particular puzzle piece. He was different from Lucian and Chase, more secretive, more dangerous. He wore annoyance and tough-guy attitude like a jacket and rarely shrugged it off. I’d seen the other side of him, watched the tenderness in his eyes when he looked at me sometimes, but I’d also seen him rip Randall’s throat out.

  “Hey,” I murmured, suddenly not sure what to do with my hands. I crossed them in front of me, then let them hang by my sides, feeling awkward as hell. Taking a deep breath to settle my nerves, I walked to the couch and perched on the edge, then busied myself pouring a glass of wine. “Thanks for coming.”

  Dimitri moved into the room, closing the door behind him. He stood for a moment and just looked, at the room, at the picnic, at me. The touch of his gaze felt intimate, like a brush of fire over my skin.

  “Did you do all this?” His question sounded sincere, so I bit back the automatic sarcasm that leaped to my tongue all too quickly when I was with him.

  I nodded and pushed to my feet, holding two glasses of wine. Alcohol would make my nerves disappear and it would give me something to hold onto. I held a glass out to him and smiled when he took it.

  “Sláinte,” I murmured in Gaelic, lifting my glass to clink delicately against his.

  “Cheers,” he responded, lifting his glass to his lips. He took a long drink, emptying half the glass while never taking his gaze off mine, then lowered it to the makeshift picnic table. “Did you ask me here for a date?” His eyes went dark with a lust that made my core throb intensely, and his hands reached for me.

  I danced back, letting out a nervous giggle. “Not so fast,” I teased. I’d set this all up so we could connect, so we could talk like I’d talked with Lucian, and get to know one another. Sex was always going to be an easy answer between us. It was the rest that would take some work. I wanted to put the work in and really get to know him. So, I batted my eyelashes and flirted my ass off. “I went through all this trouble to make you a picnic. Don’t you at least want a taste?”

  I held my breath as amusement and heat warred in his dark eyes, knowing my teasing could backfire and lead to a knock down, hot as hell, bout of sex that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Being with Dimitri set my blood on fire. I just wanted… more.

  His lips turned up in a decidedly sexy crooked smile and his eyebrow arched. “I’m definitely hungry,” he said in a gravelly voice that made my knees tremble.

  I sank down onto the couch and grabbed the throw pillow I’d brought from my room. I laid it across my lap and reached for the basket. “That’s good,” I said, trying my best to ignore the sexual innuendo in everything he said and did. “Because I may or may not have packed enough for a small army. But if you don’t like fried chicken or coconut cream pie…” I pretended to push the basket away.

  Dimitri’s gaze shifted from my breasts to the picnic basket. “Chicken?” His nose lifted slightly as the scent of freshly fried chicken filled the small room.

  It smelled divine. I’d spent a small fortune on the order, knowing only one thing that could distract Dimitri from sex.

  Food.

  I laughed as his hand snaked out to lift the cover of the huge basket. “Calm down,” I teased, pulling a small container of hors d'oeuvres out first. I unscrewed the cover and lifted a mini quiche to his lips. “Try this,” I urged, enjoying the undercurrent of foreplay in the air.

  Dimitri opened his mouth and accepted the bite of egg, cheese, bacon, and buttery crust from my hand. Before I could pull back, his lips closed around the tip of my finger, sucking lightly. I shifted and nearly moaned at the thrum of heat that blossomed from his touch.

  While he chewed appreciatively, his eyes half closing with pleasure, I moved quickly, setting up plates and cutlery. I set the table, one container at a time, displaying my wares.

  “Old Ones, Lexi,” Dimitri said with a laugh that lit my heart. “How much do you think I can eat?”

  I shoved him playfully. “I’ve seen you devour an entire pizza then ask for something else. I’m not in a rush if you aren’t.”

  He watched me silently for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I’m pretty happy right here.”

  Thick emotion caught in my throat at the simple statement and at the way his fingers reached out to twine with mine. For an instant, he felt accessible, real, and all mine. I didn’t want this feeling to end. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to rearrange the order of tonight’s festivities, I thought, shifting forward incrementally, wanting to taste his lips.

  “How’d you manage all this, anyway?” he asked, reaching for the container of chicken first. His body language made it clear he hadn’t noticed my change in heart. Ignoring the plate, he lifted a thickly battered leg to his mouth and took a bite. “Mmmm…” He rolled his eyes and made sexy happy sounds as he chewed.

  I grinned at his obvious enjoyment of the fare, then shook my head and joined in. I’d planned a picnic and I would have a picnic. I loaded up two plates while he devoured the leg, then handed him the fuller one. “Bon appétit,” I said, picking a chunk of white meat off a breast. I moaned as it hit my lips. “This is really good.”

  Dimitri just nodded since he was too busy sampling the baked brie and rolling his eyes in bliss.

  We ate and laughed, relaxing as we chatted about easy topics like classes and sports. He told stories about Lucian and Chase that made me laugh so hard I nearly choked on my wine. It was wonderful, it was perfect.

  “So, when’s the last time you were home?” I asked, tipping my glass up to get the last bit of wine in the bottom. I reached for the second bottle and refilled both of our glasses before realizing he hadn’t responded right away. A frisson of unease tensed my half-liquid muscles and thickened the air between us. I regretted the question immediately.

  Dimitri shrugged and exchanged his plate for the now full glass of wine. “A while,” he muttered, pushing up from the couch. His body was stiff now, I noticed, as he moved away from me, crossing the room to the window.

  The sun was setting, casting a soft glow of orange light that illuminated him. He was so beautiful, I thought, and so guarded. The easy laughter had disappeared from his face, replaced now with the shadows I’d seen that day in the quad. My stomach muscles tightened painfully.

  It was obvious he didn’t want to talk about home, about Russia and his family. We were family now, I’d said those words to Lucian, and I’d meant them. We were mates and that meant the bonds between us were unbreakable. They could be strained and weakened, something I feared would be all too easy given our unique situation, but they couldn’t be broken.

  Dimitri’s secrecy was straining our bonds now, but my secrets had done the same. Just because I’d shared my past with them didn’t mean Dimitri had to reciprocate immediately. He’d given me time and space to figure things out and he deserved the same.

  It was what mates did for one another, or so I thought. I didn’t have much experience with this kind of thing. He’d tell me when he was ready. Until then, there were other ways to deepen our connection.

  “You look like an angel in that light,” I murmured, climbing to my feet. The wine buzzed pleasantly in my veins, but not enough to make me intoxicated. Just enough to let my inner vixen free.

  I felt his gaze on me as I glided across the floor and saw
the subtle shift in his posture as he dropped the defensive mask he’d thrown on at my question. Interest, hot and heady, darkened his eyes. I stepped into the glowing light and wound my arms around his neck.

  “I think I’m ready for dessert,” I whispered, letting my voice turn husky with desire. I wanted him, I always wanted him, but I was also using seduction as a distraction. There were more ways than one to feel close to my mate.

  I leaned up on my toes, bringing my mouth to a hair's breadth away from his lips, then hovered there, letting our breath mingle and our gazes lock together. I hid nothing from him, letting my emotions show clearly in my eyes. His went dark with lust then shifted, as if searching for something…

  Then the moment was gone, and his hand moved like lightning to the back of my neck to tilt my head like an offering. My mouth opened in a gasp, then was seared with his. His kiss was bruising, like a challenge that I wasn’t sure I could meet. I would damn well try, though.

  I thrust my hand into his thick hair and closed my fist, violently pulling his head back and breaking the assault. His eyes flashed with something primal and a growl slipped from his curled lips.

  I bared my teeth then sunk them into the flesh above his shoulder.

  Dimitri groaned and bucked his hips forward, turning me so that I was pressed between him and the window. His hands let go of my neck and dropped to my waist.

  My blood flashed unbearably hot, spreading wildfires over my skin that chased away all sensible thought. My wolf surged forward, pressing against my mind, wild with the need to bite and own my mate. I pushed her back, far enough to stay human, and let the wildness I felt show in my eyes.

  Dimitri’s wolf came out to play, too.

  He growled and lifted me easily, settling my ass in the curve of the window’s ledge. With a smile that came perilously close to savage, he shoved my sweater dress up around my hips and ripped the tights from my body, exposing my tiny, saturated black panties beneath.

  Dimitri lowered himself, moving slow, like a wolf stalking its prey, and inhaled the scent of my arousal. I watched him and tensed in exhilarated anticipation.