“Right. Going to need to scan your wrist, sir,” he says.
The Alpha who’s carrying me around like it’s no big fucking deal, who I still don’t know his name, carries me to my room. He doesn’t seem shocked by the suite, and I wonder if he purchased the same category. He brings me down to my bed, before disappearing to grab water out of the mini-fridge. The small amount of time he leaves me has my stomach flipping.
I groan, grabbing a pillow and clutching it against myself.
“Here,” he says gently, holding a pill in his hand along with the water. I take it, trying not to gag on the pill as I swallow.
He’ll be gone soon and I’ll be back to being miserable.
“My scent helps?” he asks, his dark brows furrowed again. I want to take my finger and drag it down his forehead and smooth them out.
I clear my throat, and think about how my parents would probably be filled with horror, knowing I have a complete stranger in my room. There’s no way I could ask him to stay? Right? That would be wildly irresponsible?
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” he says.
“Oh, you don’t have to. But I mean, if you want to. You should at least lie down and be comfortable,” I suggest, grateful that he brought it up and I didn’t have to.
Is it a ploy to get his scent all over my sheets, maybe? But he doesn’t need to know that.
I scoot over and he lies down, very stiff and almost uncomfortable. I consider rescinding my invitation, but the thing is, I don’t want to, so I don’t.
There’s a long silence before I lean over and put my white noise machine on.
He watches me intently and I know it’s going to take me a while to fall asleep.
“Thanks for helping me. My name’s Claire, by the way.”
“Forrest,” he replies and I shiver. “Are you cold?”
“Uh, yeah,” I lie. Because what am I supposed to say? I’ve been on the hunt for an Alpha for years now and on the first night of the cruise I’m the most affected I’ve ever been outside of the one Alpha who wants nothing to do with me?
No, because that would make me sound endlessly desperate and I think my first impression has already been pathetic enough.
He grabs the blanket and covers me even more. I wonder if we’re supposed to make small talk; I mean, I definitely didn’t think the first Alpha I brought back to my room was going to be comforting me to not throw up.
I definitely thought there would be a lot of slick and knotting involved, but something about this feels more real.
“Go to sleep, Claire,” he says while his big giant hand pats down my hair.
Maybe I perfume, maybe I don’t, I’ll never admit it anyway.
By the grace of his miracle scent, the medicine working its way through my body, and copious amounts of comforting petting, I fall asleep.
Chapter 5
Forrest
I consider stayingin her room until she wakes up, but something about that feels a little too intimate, too fast. I mean, fuck, I slept in her bed, night one of the goddamn cruise.
Her dark hair is splayed over her pillows, and she makes small whimpering noises when she sleeps. It has me wondering if her stomach hurts still.
She likes my scent. She said it was comforting.
It felt nice carrying her in my arms and taking care of her. I may only know her first name and her room number. But I also know that she smells like cinnamon apple cake and that she’s probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
When her bright blue eyes met mine for the first time, it was like I was locked in her orbit. When she scented me, it took everything in me to not walk around the ship with a hard-on.
But tonight was about doing the right thing, and fuck if it didn’t come naturally. Wells was right. I should have known he was. I do need an Omega. Every instinct in me felt alive when she let me take care of her.