Page 51 of Forbidden

Aksel froze.

Lifting his head, he looked at the omega under him. Lucien’s gaze was still unfocused, his pupils blown from the endorphins omegas’ bodies released after being knotted by a compatible alpha. Right. He was high on the hormones. Anything he said in this state shouldn’t be taken seriously.

“Darling,” Lucien slurred out, tapping between Aksel’s brows with a slim finger. “Why are you frowning? You’ll get wrinkles. You’re too young and handsome for that.”

Aksel stared at him greedily, soaking up the gentle, affectionate expression in Lucien’s eyes. A better man would ignore anything an omega said or did on his knot. He wasn’t a better man. He wanted more.

“You missed me?” he said.

Lucien’s lips folded into an endearing pout. “Always,” he muttered, sounding completely out of it. “Wish I could live on your knot, under you. Miss you. Miss us.”

Aksel’s heart started pounding.

He doesn’t mean anything he’s saying, he tried to reason with himself. But it was futile. His starved body and heart didn’t listen.

“You said you were disgusted by our relationship,” he said.

His gaze glassy, Lucien shook his head absently, touching Aksel’s lips with his fingers. “Love your mouth. Miss having it on my breasts. Need you always.”

Aksel groaned, his cock spurting another jet of come inside the omega.

“I need you, too,” he said hoarsely before he could stop himself.

Lucien’s sweet scent became bitter. Sadder.

Were his eyes wet?

“No,” Lucien whispered, his eyelids slipping shut. “You don’t.”

Aksel frowned. “What do you mean? Luce?”

But Lucien didn’t answer, his breathing evening out.

Aksel watched him sleep, his gaze fixed on his lovely face while his mind raced with hundreds of thoughts—and doubts and hopes.

But as much as he would have liked to spend the rest of the night on top of Lucien, he knew it was too dangerous. They were not in the privacy of their rooms. The hour might be late, but anyone might come across them.

So as soon as his knot went down, Aksel carefully withdrew and fixed Lucien’s clothes. His own clothes were ruined irrevocably by his shift.

He picked the omega up and headed toward Lucien’s bedroom, listening for any sounds. With his superior hearing, he was confident he would hear someone approach before they could notice who he was carrying in his arms.

But to Aksel’s relief, he didn’t come across anyone on his way to Lucien’s room.

He deposited the omega on his bed and looked at him for a long moment, fighting the nearly irresistible urge to climb into the bed, curl around him, and never let go.

But he needed to think.

He needed some distance away from Lucien and his mouthwatering pheromones to be able to think clearly, without his alpha instincts and alcohol clouding his judgment.

There was something off about Lucien’s words—about his behavior.

He needed to figure out what.

Chapter Eighteen

Aksel was staring at him strangely.

Lucien kept his eyes on the food, trying to seem oblivious and not flustered at all, but he was probably failing.