Knot Broken (Hiddenverse)

24. Miles

CHAPTER 24

Miles

Side-stepping Blair, her hand falls from my arm as I attempt to follow Lilah. I’ve been thinking of how to say what I need to say since yesterday. Rafe’s insistent that we don’t say a thing. But I’m not an actor. I can’t pretend like him.

And I need her like the air I breathe or the food I eat to survive.

She is mine .

My match.

This show’s pointless with that knowledge. Every instinct inside of me wants to claim her in every possible way. While knowing that if I do, she may not be ready for it. And the show had us sign an ironclad contract that would not only punish us but her as well if I did.

She disappears up the steps, and I don’t hesitate to follow. Damn, she has gotten under my skin.

I catch sight of her slipping into a room near the front of the house, and my feet close the distance of their own accord. Only stopping once I have the door shut quietly behind me. She’s curled up on a chair, watching something out the window. The light from the falling sun paints her face in soft reds and oranges, and emotions play over her features.

I pause, drinking her in for a moment before clearing my throat. She startles again, letting out another adorable squeak.

“Jumpy?” I tease.

“What are you doing here?” Her eyes fly to the shut door behind me before traveling back to my face.

I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips as I move closer. “We were talking.” I shrug, attempting to hide my nerves.

“You’re not supposed to be up here,” she says.

“I feel like we just had this part of the conversation,” I say with a laugh. Scratching my cheek, I glance out the window to see what caused the expressions to flow across her face a moment ago. My pack mates with Chad. Dismissing the sight for what it is, a simple conversation, I turn back to her. “That first morning, when I ran into you coming out of the bathroom?—”

She presses her lips together and watches me. Waiting for my next words.

“You asked what my musk smelled like. Do you still want to know?”

Lilah inhales before nodding mutely.

A smile wavers on my lips as a surge of adrenaline rushes through my body. I wet my lips. “Coconut, with almond and cocoa.” I shift on my feet. “It’s a sweet musk. And I’m painfully aware that it isn’t a scent that everyone likes.”

“Like an Almond Joy?” she asks, and I can’t get a read on if that’s a good thing or not.

I sink into the chair across from her and pick up a book from the side table for something to do with my hands that doesn’t involve pulling her into my arms. The Art of Courting . Fitting. Dragging my gaze back up to hers, I nod. “Yeah, like a candy bar.”

As the smile on her face grows, it feels as if a weight is lifted off my shoulders, yet a knot still tightens in my stomach, twisting with anticipation. “So you were musking that morning,” she says. It isn’t much of a question, but I nod anyway. “I thought it was my imagination.”

I huff out another laugh. “Definitely not. Even then I had the urge to mark you with my scent. Do you know how hard it is to not follow my instincts?”

She hugs her legs to her chest and hides a growing smile. “I’m pretty sure you were there when I dove straight into the deep end of that.”

“Yeah,” I sigh. “And the only downfall to it is the fact I need to smell your perfume now.” I glance back out at the guys, still chatting with Chad. He’s safe for all of us because none of us have even the slightest of feelings for the guy. And he’s made it clear that although he’s a flirt, he doesn’t like us that way either. “You know, I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m pretty sure Rafe or Elliott stole your clothes from the bathroom after you left. They both say production came for them, but I don’t believe them.”

Her eyes fly back to the alphas in question, and she watches them for a minute before replying. “I’m sure production picked them up.”

“Lilah—” I say, pulling her attention back to me. “I need you to know something.”

Her legs drop to the floor, and I wonder if she’s getting ready to run, rather than listen to my confession. The problem with that is I would give chase. And the cameras may pick up more than they expect.

I swallow drily. “Shit. Don’t run,” I mutter. My voice is nothing but gravel with the words, and she stills. My pulse throbs in my throat, and my fingers curl around the armchairs' soft arms. “I think you’re it for me. The one. My match. ”

Her mouth snaps shut, and she freezes, not even moving a single muscle. “What?”

The words are already free, so they run out of me like water, flowing over each other. “Your pheromones and perfume, they made something click inside of me. This possessive urge to throw you over my shoulder and run away with you. To hide you away until I’m sure you are mine in every way. It’s why I had to go on a run the other day. Shit. Even now, my head’s screaming, Mine , drowning out almost all other thoughts. It’s this primal instinct. I want to care for you and possess you. In every single way.”

She forces a laugh. “Miles, it’s probably the fact you’ve been around a bunch of omegas. Most alphas have all those urges, even without being a scent match.”

“Don’t do that,” I demand, half-growl and half-plea. I slide out of the chair and kneel in front of her, capturing her hands and holding them. “Don’t discount my feelings.”

“Your feelings?” she scoffs. “Is there an attraction between us? Absolutely. I can feel it in my bones. But scent matches don’t exist. The most you can hope for is someone you can love and who can love you in return.”

My eyelashes brush my cheek as I inhale a steadying breath before I do something we'll both regret. Her denial is making the urges stronger. Opening my eyes, I focus on her. “Then, I love you.”

She pops to her feet, knocking me to the side in the process. “No, Miles. Don’t say things like that.” I can see the panic in her face, and I know she’s going to run. My whole body tenses, attempting to resist giving chase as she turns on her heel.

I fail, and the second her hand lands on the doorknob, I’m behind her, boxing her against the hard wooden door. I step into her, pinning her in place as my nose grazes along the side of her neck, searching for any slight hint of her perfume. There is none, the drugs obviously doing their job.

She twists her whole body to face me. I don’t give her the space she needs, and she brushes against me as she does. Igniting a whole new fire in my blood.

“Miles—” she whispers, her eyes locked on my shoulder. “Step back.”

“I told you not to run,” I murmur. Logic’s gone, and in its place is this need to convince her of everything I’ve said.

Her chest brushes against mine as she pulls in a breath, and her eyes lift to mine. Her crystal blue eyes look dark in the low light of the library. She shakes her head, her blonde hair like a crown atop her head against the backdrop of the dark wooden door.

“You don’t love me, Miles, and to say those words with a houseful of omegas is cruel.”

Her words make me want to shake her. They make me want to prove it to her. They drive me off the edge and straight into pure instinct. Her lips are soft beneath mine as I claim them, ruthlessly. She releases a soft whimper that pushes me further. My fingers wrap around her delicate throat, and I angle her face up to mine. She bites my lip, and I nip back at her. The alpha in me drives my reaction. Primal. Raw. Lust.

She tries again, and I tighten my hold on her neck, just barely cutting off her breath before loosening my touch. She whimpers and submits. It’s what I need.

The second she relents and tangles her fingers into my hair, kissing me back as desperately as I’m kissing her, something eases inside of me. My fingers run down her sides, finding her hips, then her ass to drag her against me. It isn’t enough.

Breathing hard, I break our kiss, nipping along her jaw, and down her throat. I suck the flesh at her scent glands as if my mouth can encourage the perfume I crave to fill the space.

“Oh, shit, Miles,” she gasps. Her fingers dragging through my hair in an attempt to either draw me closer or push me away.

I graze my teeth along the spot, and she shivers against me, arching her neck instinctively. It’s tempting, the silent offer of her throat, and if her pheromones were clouding my thoughts, I would probably take it in a second. Groaning, I kiss a path back to her mouth, capturing her sweet lips with mine.

“Lilah, I need you so fucking bad. In every way,” I growl. Attempting to pull her even closer, my fingers tighten on her ass, and she willingly lets me. Her legs wrapping around my waist, her warmth seeping into me, and making me harder.

She moves in the sweetest way, finding friction between us, and mewling out soft sounds of pleasure. I capture each one, greedily claiming her mouth. I’m lightheaded and slightly dizzy from our kiss and use the door behind her to hold her up, picking up the rhythm she found.

If there were no clothes between us, I would be knot deep already. Locking her to me for as long as possible. Breaking off the kiss, I find her lust-filled eyes before committing her kiss swollen lips to my permanent memory bank.

Pressing my hips into hers, so she knows exactly what I mean, I say, “I need to touch you.”

She swipes her pink tongue over her lower lip and nods. Wasting no time, I find the band to her sweats—thank whatever God there is for that invention—and slid my hand beneath it. I watch her as my fingers slip along her panties, and the warmth of her sex and the moisture of her slick has my cock jumping inside my jeans.

The tips of my fingers run over her curls, dipping beneath the fabric. She sucks in a breath, and I hold mine too, as I part her folds and swirl my middle finger into the wetness already gathered there. Over the swollen nub of her clit, I add pressure to the sensitive flesh, and her eyelids drop shut, her long lashes brushing her pink cheeks as she lets out her breath on a moan.

“That’s it, my sweet omega,” I breathe, completely entranced by watching her facial expressions as I touch her. “Show me how much you like my touch.”