Annie Nicholas: The Omegas

The deep blue color of his eyes reminded her of the sea. Well-defined cheekbones led to a strong jaw and a slight teasing smile on his full, sensual lips.

A stirring began deep inside her. He wasn’t beautiful, more sexy and hot.

Breathless, Sugar experienced an impulsive urge to ask him to rub the smooth, pale skin of his bald head all over her body. A hunger awoke, one she thought lay dormant. It unfurled inside of her and wanted to be fed.

“You’re not wolf.” He loomed over her. A black tattoo on his well-developed chest peeked out from underneath his partially unbuttoned white dress shirt.

Eric tapped her chin with his finger, silently instructing her to close her mouth. “Sugar is our neighbor.” He gestured to the rakish vampire. “This is Mr. Pal Robi.”

Heat crept up her cheeks. She stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

His hand engulfed hers while he shook it tenderly. “Is that your real name?” He didn’t release his hold.

She dropped her chin. A thrill ran through her. “My parents have a poor sense of humor. I have a twin named Spice.”

Amusement creased the skin around his eyes. “Sugar and spice, and everything nice.”

The poem annoyed her more every time someone quoted it. “Yes, I’ve heard the rest. I’m not a little girl anymore.” She withdrew her hand from his. Maybe the phenomenal packaging was only skin deep.

A carnal light sparked in his eyes. “Definitely not a little girl. You may call me Daedalus.” His gaze traced her face and slipped lower, caressing the curves of her breasts, then down along her hips.

Sugar gasped as this alarming man studied her. She could almost hear the Omegas leering at her response to Daedalus. “I’ll get out of your way.”

He didn’t move as she pressed herself against the wall to squeeze by him. The tips of her breasts brushed his well-muscled arm. They pebbled, pushing through her blouse. Naughty images of him running those large palms over her nipples played in her mind.

Her panties got damp as a flash of desire burned through her. She realized he’d wanted her to brush against him. He was such a cad, and it made her want him even more.

Daedalus watched her heart-shaped ass wiggle back down the hall. She was ravishing. He would never mix business with pleasure, but she didn’t belong to the pack. Just a neighbor and a bonus.

She reminded him of the 1950’s pin-up poster girls, pretty and full of luscious curves. He still kept those posters in storage.

Sugar. His thoughts sprang to the hard caramelized shell on crème brulee. He would like to ignite her sweetness into a passionate inferno.

Daedalus had felt her response to him as she brushed his arm. The flush of color in her face pleased him. He wanted her to turn and look his way one more time before she entered her home.

The Omegas began wrestling with his coffin again. “Can we call you Daedalus?” one of them piped up.

Sugar glanced back at him.

“No.” He gave her a shameless wink.

Sugar walked to the Omegas’ apartment. Quiet dominated their corner of the building since Mr. Pal Robi’s arrival last week. She’d seen them when she went out on her garden balcony to water the plants last night. They jogged with their vampire trainer on the sidewalk. He ran, and they straggled behind. Other than that she hadn’t seen any of them. No one came over to visit. Not even Katrina, who had become a permanent fixture in her home.

She stood in front of their door and wiped her sweaty palms on her old, worn jeans. Maybe I should have changed.

The thought irritated her. She’d never worried about her looks before he moved in. She’d never lusted after a man like this either. Her past lovers always started as emotional relationships, then grew into something physical. What she experienced with Daedalus seemed more animalistic. If she fucked him and got it over with, then maybe her mind would clear. The memory of his sexy half-smile with a wink haunted her every night. Those blue eyes, broad shoulders, firm body, bald head—

The apartment door swung open, and the demon of her fantasies stood staring at her, shirtless. A thin sheen of sweat covered his pale skin as if he’d been doing some vigorous exercises. It made him shine. The circular tattoo she’d glimpsed through his shirt on their first meeting covered his heart, a black snake eating its tail.

He gave her a crooked smile, melting her to the spot. “Hello, sweetness. I got tired of waiting for you to knock.” He stepped back and gestured for her to come in.

As she entered the Omegas’ apartment she noticed the place looked cleaner than usual. Five wolves under one roof could make quite a clutter. Daedalus must have them run a tighter ship.

“How did you know I was out in the hall?” A little shaken after his sudden appearance, her concentration slipped and she couldn’t remember her reason for being there. His being half-naked didn’t help.

“I have a good sense of smell.” He closed the door behind her.

“You smelled me? Good to know for future reference.”

Fingers ran through her curls as she walked past him. She glanced over her shoulder, but his back faced her while he locked the door. It must have been her imagination. The touch felt real though. Did he move that fast ?

He finished with the locks and turned around. “I heard you walk down the hall too. Why were you waiting?”

She didn’t know, looking for some courage maybe or a little self-confidence with an internal pep talk . “I was thinking about going back for a book Sam wanted to borrow,” she lied. Something unsettling occurred to her. “Can you read minds too?”

He chuckled and leaned in close, his nose almost touching hers. “Possibly. Are you thinking dirty thoughts?”

“No!” Her cheeks burned.

“Then I guess I can’t.”

Did that mean he was thinking them?

He brushed past her to sit on the worn, beige couch. His touch sent a thrill through her, it unnerved her too. He tapped the cushion next to him.

Out of her element around him and his flirtatious ways, she sat in the armchair across from the couch. His request to sit next to him ignored since she couldn’t trust herself to not jump on his lap. Her lack of self-control surprised her. She allowed her eyes to roam his handsome face to his bare chest, each time she jerked them back up to meet his stare, they’d meander back down to those well-defined muscles.

An unfamiliar quiet filled the living room, where laughter and banter normally flooded the space. “Is anyone else home?”

“No.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The heat in his gaze grew as he made his interest in her clearer. “We have the place to ourselves. What did you have in mind?”

Not sure what to do with the invitation, she blushed even more as the room became warmer. What she had in mind was to tear her clothes off and let him have his way with her, but the Omegas could walk in at any moment. “Where did they go?” she croaked, her mouth and throat gone dry.

His smile widened as the burning heat in his eyes turned into amusement. “I’ve sent them on a mission.” He snickered to himself. “See…” He gestured around the room. “They don’t have a television, and I really need to watch football this weekend. I have a division of Pal Robi Security housed not far from here, so I’ve sent them to steal theirs.”

She raised her eyebrows, her anxiety and insecurity combusted in her fury. “You want them to steal for you?” The nerve this vampire displayed, to turn her kind-hearted friends into thieves. It made her blood boil. A mission indeed. She knew hiring him would be a mistake.