Chapter Fifteen
Riley
When Colin finally opened his eyes, it took everything I had not to leap across the room and hug him. He sat up and threw his legs over the ER bed as if he was going to try and stand.
“Whoa.” I rushed toward him. “Don’t get up yet.”
He rubbed his face roughly. “Where am I?”
“Baptist Memorial.”
He stared at me blankly, looking a little lost.
The urge to take him in my arms was almost overpowering. The alpha in me wanted to comfort him. “Remember that crazy girl injected you?”
He closed his eyes in a slow blink. “Oh, yeah.” His face tinted pink.
“I was so worried about you.”
He grimaced. “What did she give me?”
“Brevital Sodium.”
“Shit. She was like eighty pounds wet and she got the drop on me.”
“Just be glad she told us what she gave you. It made things a lot easier on all of us.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I deserve to be fired.”
“What?” I scowled. “Why?”
“She caught me completely off guard.” He began buttoning his shirt; the ER doctor had loosened it earlier to examine him.
“That’s because she seemed harmless.”
“I know better. No one is harmless.” His eyes were a stormy blue.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
He ignored me. “Can we go?”
“Doctor said she just needs to see you awake and she’ll sign you out.”
“I need to make some phone calls.”
“Be patient. There’s no reception in here anyway.”
A harassed-looking woman in a white coat came into the room. She had her glasses on her head and a deep line between her brows. She held out her hand to Colin. “Dr. Edwards. Pleasure to meet you.” She didn’t miss a beat before she tugged a little light from her pocket and flicked it up to Colin’s eyes.
He winced and gave an uneasy laugh. “I’m sure I’m fine.”
“I’m the doctor, so I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Okay.” He gripped the exam table, his fingers crinkling the paper cover.
“You’re lucky. Brevital Sodium clears out of the system fast.” She straightened, searching the top of her head for her glasses. She grabbed the clipboard on the counter and signed a form attached to it. “You’re all set.”
“That was quick,” I said.
“Just wanted to make sure the drugs are mostly gone.”
“Thanks, Doc,” he said.
“You got it.” She exited the room so swiftly, I was surprised the posters on the walls didn’t fly off.
“I think she’s busy.” I smirked.
He slid off the examination table. “I need to call my superiors and let them know what happened.”
We left the little room and handled the paperwork quickly. Several people asked me for my autograph, which struck me as odd seeing as we were in an emergency room. Once we were in the limo, he called his boss. The person on the other end was so loud, even I could hear them, but Colin’s face never showed an ounce of emotion. He tried a few times to get a word in but gave up after several failed attempts. He finally hung up and stared out the window, looking glum.
“Everything okay?” I asked tentatively.
“I still have a job if that’s what you mean.”
“Things happen, Colin.”
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “I have no excuse. I misread her. I knew she was odd, but she didn’t seem terribly dangerous.”
“I still feel safer with you than anyone else I know.” I leaned toward him. “I’m serious.”
“Thanks,” he said quietly.
He didn’t understand the terror I’d felt at seeing him incapacitated. There had been one truly horrible moment when Colin had been completely unresponsive to me and the paramedics. I didn’t even like thinking about it.
“What can you tell me about the girl?” he asked.
“Tom said her name is Hope Sinclair, and she’s twenty years old. I guess she’s had an obsession with me for months now. She quit her job so she could follow me on tour.” I shivered. “Creepy.”
“She was the person who slipped the note under your hotel door?”
“Looks like it.” I sighed. “She also admitted to driving the car that almost ran us over.”
“She admitted it?”
I shrugged. “Apparently. That’s what Tom said.”
“Why would she run you over if she supposedly loves you?”
“I don’t get the feeling Hope is playing with a full deck.” I studied him, hating how demoralized he looked. “She usually takes medicine for schizophrenia, but she’s been off her meds.”
He pressed his hands to his temples. “Jesus. What a night.”
I touched his arm, and he looked at me warily. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Damn, Riley. Thank God you’re okay. She could’ve had a gun. I really fucked up.”
“Bullshit.”
He widened his eyes. “In what way did I not fuck up?”
“You had the situation handled, and then I came out of my room. You were doing just fine. I distracted you.”
He shrugged. “Still. I’m used to distractions.”
“No. You have a very strict way of doing things, and I screwed it up. I could have got us both killed. I was drunk and she looked harmless.”
His jaw clenched. “I’m responsible for your safety. Period.”
The limo arrived at the hotel and we got out. He didn’t speak on the way up in the elevator, and the minute we entered our rooms, he moved to lie on his bed. I helped him pull off his jacket, and he lay down with a groan. It was hard to tell what hurt him the most, his pride or his head.
His eyes were closed, and his lashes rested on his cheeks. From his breathing, I knew he wasn’t asleep. I sat beside him, and he opened his eyes, watching me silently.
I took his hand in mine, and his mouth tensed. “There was a moment there where I thought she’d killed you.” I swallowed hard. “You were barely breathing, and even the paramedics looked nervous.” I stopped and shook my head. “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to talk to you again.”
Instead of pulling his hand away, he wrapped his fingers around mine. “I know. I thought the same thing.”
“Yeah?”
He licked his lips, his eyes brimming with unspoken emotions.
I pulled in a shaky breath. “I had regrets.”
He narrowed his eyes.
I gave a stiff laugh and brought our clasped hands to my mouth, brushing my lips over his knuckles. “I really like you.” I sighed. “But then, you already know that.”
“I uh… I had regrets too.”
Excitement fluttered in my stomach. “Really?”
He nodded. “Definitely.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I laughed. “I just kept thinking we’d wasted so much time. I thought I might never have the chance to tell you how I feel about you.”
“Me too.” His face flushed and he looked embarrassed, but he continued. “I’ve avoided alphas most of my life. They just rubbed me the wrong way.”
I bit my lip, hoping there was a “but” coming.
“Then I met you.” He grimaced. “That sounds so sappy.”
“I like hearing how you feel.”
He frowned. “I’ve never wanted or needed an alpha.”
My heart beat faster as his gentle words sank in. “But you feel different now?”
His fingers squeezed mine so tight it hurt. “I know it’s wrong and that I should keep my distance. But it’s so fucking hard sometimes, Riley. I just want—”
“What?” I asked breathlessly. “What do you want?”
He shook his head and dropped his gaze.
“Look at me, Colin.” He slowly did as I asked, his wary gaze locking with mine.
“I’m not being professional.”
“You’re professional when it matters. This is personal. We’re allowed personal time.”
“I knew I should have turned down this assignment.”
“Is that really how you feel?”
He let go of my hand. “If I’m just thinking about my job, then yeah.”
“Is your job enough?” When he didn’t answer, I said, “Because my career isn’t. I love my music, but what the hell is the point of it if I’m alone all the time? I sing about love and relationships, and meanwhile my life consists of occasional one-night stands and gut-wrenching loneliness.”
His gaze softened.
“I know you value your job, but it’s frustrating as hell that your work keeps us apart. How am I supposed to handle the fact that the one guy I really want doesn’t want me?”
“I do want you.” His voice was hoarse, and he sat up. “Wanting you has never been the problem.”
I took his hand again. “Seeing you on the ground tonight and fearing the worst… it’s made me less willing to wait. I know it’s a cliché, but life really is fucking fragile. That was so clear to me tonight. I don’t want to tiptoe around how I feel about you even one more day. I want you in my life.”
He dropped his gaze. “Riley—”
“That’s what I want.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I haven’t been with anyone since you spent the night with me. Do you know why?”
He shook his head slowly.
“Because I don’t want anyone else. I can’t get you out of my head.”
He flared his nostrils.
“I think about our night together, and I want more. Give me more, Colin.”
“Riley… there are things you wouldn’t understand.” His eyes seemed a brighter blue.
“Like what?”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“What’s so important that it would stop me from wanting you in my life?”
“It’s not easy to explain.” He grimaced.
“Are you a Russian spy?” I teased. “Do you secretly enjoy watching water ballet?”
He winced. “No.”
“Then nice try.”
“I’m serious. There are things about me you don’t know.”
“So what? You think you know everything about me?”
“This is different.”
“Then tell me.”
“God.” Rubbing his face roughly, he groaned. “I’m here to watch over you. Not fuck you.”
“Why can’t you do both?”
“Because I just shouldn’t.”
I scowled. “What I feel toward you isn’t just lust. It’s way more and I know you feel it too.”
He groaned. “You’re torturing me.”
“Yeah?” He seemed to be on the edge of giving in, and that pushed me forward. “Spend the night with me.”
“Riley.”
“You said you had regrets.”
“I did.”
His expression was uneasy as I moved to lie down beside him. “Prove it. Don’t give in to your fear. Take what you want.”
His face was rigid with worry, but his eyes buzzed with lusty heat. “You’re making this so fucking hard.”
“Yeah?” I slowly unzipped my jeans and wiggled them down my hips. I kicked them off onto the ground. “What about now?”
His eyes roamed over my bulging briefs. “This isn’t fair.”
“I don’t care about fair. I don’t want to waste any more time.” I slipped my fingers under the waistband of my underwear and slowly slid them off. My cock bobbed against my stomach, and he breathed out a lusty sigh. “See how much I need you?” I whispered.
“You bastard.”
I touched myself, holding his heated gaze. “Come on, give in. I know you want this as much as I do. I don’t want to ever regret not trying with you.”
“Riley,” he muttered.
“Tonight was a turning point for me. I’m living my life from now on. I want you. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”
“You just won’t quit, will you?”
“No.”
Something seemed to let loose in him, and he began to unbutton his shirt. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.” My excitement ramped up as he dropped his shirt onto the ground and undid his belt.
“I’ll lose my job if anyone finds out.”
“This is our private business. I just want to touch you, hold you, and not be afraid all the time.”
He shivered at my voice, and once he was naked, he rolled toward me, his eyes filled with carnal hunger. His dick was erect and his breathing elevated. I reached out for him, and he slid against me, our cocks nestling together. I rolled my hips, and we both groaned at the delicious friction.
“I’ve wanted this so bad,” he muttered, rubbing against me with a sigh. “God, it feels so good to touch you again.”
“It’s been way too long.” My heart pounded against my ribs as need and adrenaline flooded my body.
We kissed each other as if we were desperate, our teeth clashing and our tongues tangling. My alpha slowly took control, and it felt good to just let go. I’d started to think I’d never get to taste him again, but he was back in my bed where he belonged. His omega needed me as much as I craved him.
“Get on your stomach. Let me pleasure you,” I whispered.
He obeyed and I ran my hands over his beautiful, smooth skin. His body was perfection, muscle on muscle and not an ounce of fat anywhere. He was all man, and my cock ached to get inside him.
He arched his back and moaned, offering his rounded ass to me. I spread his firm cheeks and dipped my head to taste him. He smelled like soap and musk, and I licked his puckered hole, as my cock leaked against his thigh.
I pushed my tongue into him, and he gripped the pillows, his knuckles white. “Oh, fuck.” His voice shook.
His taste and scent drove me nuts, and I lapped at him and sucked his flesh until he was humping the bed desperately. I grabbed the lube from the nightstand drawer, noticing there were no condoms. I was too into the moment to get up and search my suitcase for rubbers right that second. I figured I’d get one after I got Colin nice and turned on.
I slathered my fingers with lube so I could pleasure him. He cried out as I slipped my fingers deep into his ass, caressing his prostate gland. He gasped and pushed back against my hand, begging me to fuck him. I ignored his pleas for a while, working him into a lusty frenzy, until I couldn’t take waiting any longer.
I pulled my fingers from him and started to get up to get a condom.
He grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going?” he asked. His eyes were a strange blue, and his voice rumbled in his chest.
“I’m getting a condom.”
“No. Just fuck me now.” There was a desperation in his tone, and his heady arousal made the alpha in me feel reckless.
Instinct told me to go for it and claim him. I sighed and rubbed my dick over his opening, dragging the head of my cock along his crack. It was so tempting to slip inside him bare and just take what I wanted.
“I shouldn’t. Not without a condom,” I said, clinging to the last shred of self-control in me.
He moaned and writhed. “Fuck me,” he pleaded.
The aching need in his voice spoke to the alpha in me. Arousal and instinct shot through me, urging me to claim what I felt was already mine. My cock throbbed against his naked ass as I battled the desire to mark him as my own.
“I want it. I need it.”
I groaned. It was hard to ignore the impassioned pleas of an omega you wanted to claim. “I shouldn’t.”
“You should,” he breathed, rubbing against me. “Please. I know you want to. Take what you want. Take what’s yours.”
“Colin—”
He lifted his ass, whimpering. “Alpha, please.”
His trembling, yearning voice connected to my baser side, and I lost control of all logic. Like a puppet with no will of my own, I lubed up and positioned myself between his thighs. I pressed into him, the tight squeeze of his ass making it difficult to not pop the second I entered him.
“Oh, God, yes,” he whispered as my cock slid in. He reached back and clamped his trembling fingers on to my leg. “So perfect.”
I covered his body with mine, holding him down. I groaned while rocking against him, sliding my cock in and out of his ass. “You like feeling me inside you, omega?”
“Fuck yeah,” he moaned.
I kissed the nape of his neck, tasting his salty skin as I drove into the tight heat of his ass. He dug his fingers into the flesh of my thigh as he groaned and opened for me. His body trembled and shook as my cock bottomed out, completely swallowed by his tight hole.
He whimpered, “Oh, fuck.”
“So tight.” I flexed my hips, and he moaned louder.
“Oh, God.” The muscles of his back flexed as he took me deep.
I pushed my hips forward forcefully, and he cried out and begged for more. I obliged, pumping into him relentlessly as he groaned and writhed beneath me.
I felt connected to him in a way I’d never experienced with any other omega. I knew he didn’t completely trust alphas in general, but the fact he’d wanted me this much, showed some small level of faith in me. I wanted to prove to him there were good alphas in the world too—alphas he could count on. He was mine now, and there would be no going back.