Fated Kisses for the Omega Read online

  I licked my lips, and noticed his eyes on the motion. It made my cock interested all over again.

  “Thank you… for catching me,” I said after a moment, trying to break the awkward silence between us.

  He blinked, seemingly stunned before smiling at me. “I saw you were about to step on a patch of ice, and didn’t want you to take a tumble. I guess I failed though.”

  I shook my head. “I might have been hurt if you weren’t there.”

  I finally noticed that one of his legs was in the same puddle of slush I’d landed in while trying to stand. I made sure my feet were not on ice, then held out my hand.

  He studied me for a moment, then took it and I helped him to his feet.

  “Thank you,” he said, rubbing his ass.

  “I’m sorry you got all wet,” I replied, suddenly feeling a blush cross my face.

  He shook his head. “It’ll dry.” He paused and looked at me. “Looks like you got some on you too.”

  I shrugged. “I saw a laundromat up the way. I’ll grab a spare pair of jeans from the car and toss these in a dryer.”

  “Don’t have a dryer at home?”

  I smiled. “I just rolled into town about fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Oh,” he looked slightly surprised. “In town for the races?”

  I blinked. “Races?”

  He chuckled. “The shovel races?”

  I shook my head. “The what?”

  His chuckles turned to full-on laughter. “Oh man, it’s a thing around here. Right now there’s a competition up at the ski area. People from all over come in to race down the mountain sitting on shovels.”

  “Why does that sound extremely absurd and dangerous?” I asked.

  The alpha grinned. “Because it is.”

  Somehow the expression on his face made him even more handsome, and there was just something about his demeanor. It was open in a way I wasn’t used to. The alphas in New York seemed to all have the attitude that they were busy doing important things, and those from home thought that omegas were something to coddled or ordered around. But the man standing in front of me was accepting, and though I didn’t even know his name I could sense a gentle strength to him.

  Desire curled through me, until a breeze pressed my wet pant leg against my skin and made me shiver.

  “We should get you into something dry,” the alpha said, rushing to my side. “Which hotel are you staying at?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know yet.”

  “You don’t have reservations?”

  “No. Do I need one?”

  He sighed. “Normally no, but the races… they’re one of our big tourist draws, and right now everybody’s probably full.”

  “Oh…” I said, looking down for a moment. Then I shrugged. “Eh, no big deal. I’ve got a good sleeping bag. I’ll just sleep in my car for a few days. Won’t be the first time.”

  A blend of pure desire and shock combined and wound through me as the alpha growled low in his throat.

  “Or… maybe…” I tried, trying to get my reaction under control. “I could drive to the next town and get a room?”

  The growl lessened, but didn’t disappear entirely, and it made me want to do whatever this alpha wanted. Slick started to coat my entrance and I was pretty sure my cock was trying to make its presence known too.

  What was this, some sort of omega flick? One where fated mates meet, and the omega gets weak kneed at a protective growl?

  Ten minutes before I would have believed those tropes as nothing more than romance cliche. But now I wanted to wrap myself in his arms and scent, and allow him to carry me off to our happily ever after.

  “How about you stay with me?” the alpha suggested.

  Chapter 4 - Carlos

  “How about you stay with me?”

  Allowing the omega to sleep in his car was absolutely unacceptable, and even finding him a room in Mount Sable was more distance than I was willing to allow.

  I couldn’t explain it, but everything in me demanded that I keep this omega safe. He was gorgeous, slender with a short dark beard and hair with frosted tips. His silver eyes had a light in them, shining through obvious shadows of his past.

  And his smell. He smelled like mine. Even the few feet between us seemed too much. I wanted to tug him into my arms, carry him home and claim him.

  But I was more civilized than that. I’d always thought of myself as a progressive alpha. Some of my best friends were omega, I voted for politicians who were in favor of omega rights. I wasn’t afraid to voice my opinions of vile alphas who thought omegas were nothing more than subservient breeders right to their faces. I even made monthly donations to the omega shelter.

  Somehow the gorgeous man in front of me made me question how much control I truly had over my alpha instincts.

  The omega blushed, an irresistible dusting of pink over his cheeks. “Thank you… but I don’t even know your name.”

  “Carlos,” I replied immediately. “Carlos Martinez.”

  He gave me a soft smile. “Andrew Jacobson.”

  I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you Andrew.”

  He hesitated before sliding his hand into mine. I couldn’t help but notice the chill in his fingers as we shook.

  “You don’t have to stay with me,” I conceded. “But at least come over to dry your pants and warm up. Ok?”

  Andrew hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Ok.”

  “Where are you parked?”

  Andrew pointed up the street, to where I noticed Liam looking dejected, standing outside his parents’ store next to a smoldering display.

  “What happened there?” I asked, shock running through me.

  “I don’t know,” Andrew replied. “I heard shouting and turned to look. I was trying to decide if I needed to move my car so a fire truck could get in. That’s when I slipped.”

  I frowned, and had to keep from settling my hand at the small of his back as we started walking. “If you don’t mind delaying a couple minutes, I’d like to ask what happened. That’s one of my friends there.”

  “Ok,” Andrew replied softly.

  A minute later we were climbing the steps to the boardwalk. Liam’s eyes snapped to me.

  “Carlos!” he said, running over.

  “What happened Li?” I asked, noticing Andrew duck slightly behind me.

  Liam ran a hand through his hair. “I was busy inside, then somebody yelled fire. I ran out to see a whole display of our shovel bears—the ones with the hearts that say ‘I dig you’—going up.”

  “Somebody set your shovel bears on fire?” I asked.

  Liam nodded. “Yeah. Luckily we only keep a small display outside the shop, so that not too many walk off. But we probably lost a dozen or so.”

  I could see he was getting emotional. “Do you want me to call Alex for you?”

  Liam nodded, stress tears in his eyes. “Could you?”

  I pulled out my phone and called Alex. He picked up on the third ring.

  “Carlos?”

  “Hey, could you break away to Liam’s parents’ shop? Something happened and he’s stressed.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  He hung up before I could say goodbye, and it made me smile. He was even more devoted to Liam than he’d been before they mated.

  “He’s on his way,” I told Liam.

  Liam nodded, wiping his tears. “Thank you.” He sniffled. “Sorry, pregnancy hormones.”

  I shook my head. “You’re fine. Are your parents inside?”

  He nodded again. “Yeah. Mom’s on the phone with the fire department to get an investigator over.”

  “You ok if we leave you, or do you want us to stay until Alex gets here?”

  Liam shook his head. “I’ll be ok.”

  I studied him for a minute. “Ok. Call if you need?”

  “Yeah,” Liam replied, trying to wipe his stress tears away again.

  I waited for just a minute, then turned to Andrew. “Which
car is yours?”

  He pointed over the boardwalk at a small sedan with New York plates. I probably would have been able to guess from how packed it was. There even appeared to be stuff in the front seat.

  I nodded. “Ok. I drive a red pickup. I’ll get it and meet you here.”

  “Ok.”

  I smiled and walked down the boardwalk. I descended the stairs and headed back towards where I’d parked my truck behind Glen’s Diner.

  But every step farther from Andrew was increasingly torturous. My alpha side was convinced that if I allowed him out of my sight I’d lose my mate forever.

  The relief that flowed through me when I rounded the corner and saw his car waiting for me was palpable.

  I waved to Liam, and grinned when I saw Alex’s car waiting to take Andrew’s spot. Then we were off. My house was close, but I kept checking my rear view to ensure that the beautiful omega was following me.

  Finally I turned onto the normally quiet residential street, though it was just as busy as the rest of the town with people renting out rooms for the races.

  I pulled into the driveway, and motioned for Andrew to park behind me. My alpha side started to relax at having the omega in my territory.

  I stepped out, and noticed Andrew shivering as the cold air hit his wet pants.

  “Come on,” I said, offering a hand. “Let’s get you inside.”

  Andrew nodded, grabbed a bag from the backseat and followed me in.

  The most beautiful omega I’d ever seen was inside my house. Now I just had to keep my hands off.

  Chapter 5 - Andrew

  I had to control an erection the moment I stepped into Carlos’s house. His scent was everywhere, wrapping around me and making my omega side want to offer my neck for claiming.

  “This way,” Carlos said, breaking me from my desires.

  I followed him down a hallway.

  “You can change here,” he said, opening a bathroom door. “Then we’ll wash those pants.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  He grinned. “No problem. I’ll just be down the hall, changing myself.”

  “Ok.”

  I peeled out of the freezing pants, and quickly pulled some dry ones on. A minute later I stepped out, and saw Carlos on the phone. I held up my wet pants, and he pointed to an open door on the side of the hallway. I peeked into the room and saw the washer was open and waiting.

  I tossed in my jeans, noticed the soap ready and the cycle set. I closed the door and started it.

  Carlos was still on the phone when I walked out, so I took a moment to look around. The house was tidy, but obviously just moved into. Boxes stood in corners, and a stack of collapsed ones waited near the door.

  I took a seat on the couch and waited for Carlos to finish his call. A few minutes later he dropped into a chair across from me with a sigh.

  “I just got off the phone with the local bed and breakfast, after calling all of the hotels. Everybody is booked solid, though I asked for you to be waitlisted in case a room opened up anywhere.”

  I grimaced. “Everybody?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t try any of the room share services, but all the hotels are filled. Not that we have many. Four hotels and the B&B is it.”

  I pulled free my phone, opened the AirStay app and put Mountain Springs in, starting that night. I winced. Only one room was open in the entire town, and price-gouging was an understatement.

  I collapsed against the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. Looked like I was either going to the next town over, or sleeping in my car.

  “I meant it earlier,” Carlos said. “You’re welcome to stay here.”

  For a moment I thought about declining. I didn't know how long I’d be able to hold back my desires with an alpha like that, but the idea of being any further than necessary was almost physically painful.

  “Ok,” I replied before even fully thinking it through.

  The smile he cast at me was blinding. “Fantastic. I’ll make up the guest bed for you then.”

  He was up in a flash, and I heard rummaging through a closet upstairs. Then the sound of sheets being shaken out.

  It made me chuckle. Something about his attentiveness told me that he was just as affected by whatever it was between us as I was. But I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for me to stay. I’d just left an alpha, and was I really ready to have a new one in my life, no matter how friendly we were?

  I was still mulling over the wisdom of my acceptance when he reappeared, slightly sheepish look on his face. “I don’t have the best bed-making skills. But the fitted sheet shouldn’t pop off on you.”

  I smiled. “It’ll be more comfortable than my car, even if it does.”

  He took his seat on the chair opposite me again, slight frown on his face. “About that. You said it wouldn’t be your first time sleeping in a car, but the way you said it makes me think it was a fairly common thing.”

  I took a deep breath, then nodded. “I’ve had to do it several times since I ghosted on my family.”

  Carlos’s eyes cut to me, concern swirling in them. “What do you mean you ghosted your family?”

  I shrugged. “Just that. Granted, I had to. If I hadn’t pulled a disappearing act I’d likely have a mark on my neck and be on kid three or four.”

  A low growl cut through the room, and the possessiveness of it made me shiver. The alpha side of Carlos obviously hated the idea of me with anybody else.

  I wanted that growl in my ear as he slammed into me.

  “I grew up in a small town back east,” I said, trying to keep my own reaction under control. “My family was good, but very conservative. Omegas were supposed to be obedient, devoted caregivers. But they were also infantilized. It wasn’t uncommon for families to arrange matings, claiming that young omegas needed guidance to get the best alphas.”

  I paused. “I’d known for a while that my parents had their eyes on a particular alpha for me. His family was slightly better off, and it would have been a real feather in father’s cap to marry off his omega son to a more prominent family. So I used that to my advantage. I convinced my parents that to be the best possible mate, I needed to be able to understand the stresses of business. They finally allowed me to go to college and get an Associate’s degree. Then, instead of heading home after graduation I filled up my car and left. I was in New York the next day.”

  “Wow,” Carlos replied.

  I laughed. “Oh it gets better. One thing they didn’t know was that I had a part time job between classes. I’d opened a bank account and socked almost everything into it. When they called, demanding I go home, they told me they’d only left enough for gas in my ‘allowance’ account.’” I used air-quotes to emphasize the point.

  “So what did you do?” Carlos asked.

  I shook my head. “I went to the post office, turned off my phone, which they paid for, and mailed it back to them. I didn’t want them to gripe that they were paying for anything after I left.”

  “And your car?”

  “They thought I was borrowing it from a friend as they’d only seen it for a couple days before graduation. It was the one thing I’d bought from my side-job.I’d picked it up cheap, and a friend in the automotive classes sweet talked a professor to include it as a project car. I had to pay for parts, but labor was free in exchange for letting students do the work. By the time they’d finished it ran like new.”

  Carlos chuckled. “You really thought everything through, didn’t you?”

  I nodded. “I had one chance to escape. I was absolutely not going to mate the alpha my parents wanted me to. He’d been a couple years ahead of me in school, but his voice carried. I’d heard more than my fill about how his omega father was treated, and how he wanted his omega to be just as subservient, if not more so. He used to joke with his buddies about how fun it would be to break in his mate.”

  The growl was back as I explained what trash I’d been expected to mate.

  “When I left I
knew I couldn’t go home again, or I’d end up mated to that garbage, or worse. So I had to make it work, no matter what. I spent about two months living in my car while I found a job and saved up enough for a deposit on the crappiest apartment I could find.”

  “What made you leave New York then?” Carlos asked. “Did your parents come looking?”

  I shook my head. “It was fun when I first got there. There was so much to do, but the city really does never sleep. Eventually I missed the quiet of a summer’s night spent on the porch, or looking up and seeing stars. So I left.”

  “That’s it?”

  I laughed. “Well I left a trash alpha in my wake too. I’d been with him just over a year, and watched him slowly slide from nice to stereotypical lazy alpha who expects the omega to do whatever he says. My New Year’s resolution was to put myself first, which meant getting away from him, and going somewhere that would make me happy.”

  Carlos smiled softly. “What made you choose Mountain Springs?”

  I laughed. “Totally random. Opened my map app, closed my eyes and jabbed at the screen.”

  Carlos stared a moment, then burst into laughter. “I love it!”

  I grinned. “So tell me about yourself.”

  He leaned back in the chair and smiled. “My story isn’t nearly as interesting. I was born and raised here. Studied architecture in college, and went away for a few years.” He paused, frowned and sighed. “My Papa got sick last year. I found a job in Mount Sable, and was there for most of the past year, but Papa needs me closer than my apartment there. So I bought this house to be in town at night. I only moved in last week.”

  “I thought I spied a few boxes,” I joked.

  Carlos smiled again, and the expression made me melt.

  Being near him was so easy. Even with the trash I’d left behind I’d had to work to have some sort of natural conversation.

  A phone rang in the kitchen.

  “Excuse me,” Carlos said, standing.

  I nodded, and couldn’t help staring at his ass as he walked away. Oh how I wanted to grab it and pull him against me so he could feel my erection while I begged him to fuck me full.