“I’m almost done. And the bacon is going to burn—”
“I don’t think you heard me. I didn’t ask how close you were to finishing, or what else needs mindin’. I told you to sit. And if you don’t do it in the next ten seconds, I’m gonna make sure you sit and stay sat.”
Delilah straightens as I push the tiniest bit of my alpha voice into my words. Not a bark, by any stretch of the imagination, but it works to get her attention. I’m slowly counting in my head, waiting for her to make a choice. But by the time I reach the end, she’s still staring at me, not budging an inch.
I let out a sigh in mock disappointment, shaking my head again. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, baby doll.”
“What—”
Lunging forward, I cut off whatever protest Delilah might have been about to raise, pulling the mixing bowl out of her grip and setting it on the counter behind her. Before she has a chance to react, my hands are on her waist, hoisting her up over my shoulder.
“Put me down!” she yelps, beating her little fists against my back as I take a few steps.
“If you insist,” I reply with a chuckle.
She weighs nothing, so it’s almost laughable how easy it is for me to lift Delilah up over my head by her waist, and deposit her directly on top of the fridge. It’s not a very tall appliance, as most of us in the house stand head and shoulders above the top of it, but for a little thing like Delilah, there’s really no escape. It’s either the hot stove to one side, or jumping down and over the garbage can on the other side.
When I step back and admire my work with my hands on my hips, Delilah crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.
“Very funny. Now get me down before the whole house goes up in flames,” she snipes, more fire in her words than I’ve seen in the weeks since we brought her here.
I step close again, spreading her thighs with my shoulders as I look up at her, a wicked grin on my face. I can smell her better when I’m this close, and there’s no mistaking the chocolate and jasmine aroma drifting up from her core.
“How about I leave you here, and I’ll take care of the cookin’. And if you’re a good girl and stay up here, I’ll give you a nice reward? How’s that sound, baby doll?”
I nuzzle my cheek against her inner thigh, locking eyes with her as I turn my head. Her breath catches in her throat, a faint blush blooming across the bridge of her nose. And just to underline my point, I turn my head and nip at the soft skin beside my face, not hard enough to even leave a mark. But the soft gasp, and the shiver that I feel run through her are enough for me to step back and not feel like I have to immediately keep my eyes on her.
We’re quiet for a few minutes while I slip an apron on before addressing the bacon. It’s only a little carbonized, but Joker would eat clumps of coal covered in bacon grease if we didn’t stop him. Thankfully, there’s another batch of uncooked strips so the limp-bacon lovers can get their breakfast protein too.
“How did you all meet?” Delilah asks once the bacon calms down a little.
I glance up and see that she’s pulled one leg up to her chest to rest her chin on, her arms wrapped loosely around it. What she doesn’t realize is that position alsolifts the hem of her shirt, and I catch a good look at the scrap of purple cotton covering her pussy, and the wet spot at the center. I clear my throat and turn back to the bacon, trying to remember the question, my name, and, hell, anything else to stop my cock from tenting my boxers.
“Uh…it’s been so long now. I met Bones in basic, though. We were battle buddies. But we didn’t meet the others until we left,” I start, keeping things intentionally vague.
It’s too early to explain everything that happened between meeting Bones and both of us going AWOL. Seeing the corruption, the lies, the abuse we had to watch at the hands of our superior officers? Better to be out and on the run than have to answer to monsters.
“Cross said he was in the Navy. Was that your branch, too?” Delilah asks conversationally.
I nod, swallowing. “Almost a SEAL, just didn’t finish the certification.”
“Why not?”
I close my eyes for a moment, turning my back on her as I reach for the bowl of pancake batter. Memories burst forward unbidden, of being on my way to the final test when I got the call that my sister had been taken without a trace, of begging my SO to give me time to find her. But I was told it was either the SEALs or my family. It shouldn’t have been such an easy choice, and despite everything that happened, I don’t regret it for a single second.
“Something more important happened,” I state simply, fishing a ladle out of the drawer before turning back to the stove to pour the first batch of pancakes.
Thankfully, Delilah doesn’t push. She’s remarkably gifted in her ability to recognize the moods and emotions of those around her, beyond any other omega I’ve met before.
“How did you meet your old pack?” I ask, spitting out the first question that comes to mind before I can stop myself.
Delilah sucks in a sharp breath and doesn’t answer right away. I turn and open my mouth to apologize, but the words die in my throat as I realize she’s smiling.
“My car broke down on the side of the road. I wasn’t quite in the middle of nowhere, but you could definitely see it from there,” she starts, laughing at her own little joke.
I chuckle along with her, minding the food even as I give her my full attention. Her voice is so pretty, light and girlish without sounding too infantile. I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like when I finally get a taste of–
Cool it, Connor,I scold myself.You don’t want to pitch a tent this close to bacon grease.