A Guardians Passion (12 page)

Declaring Benna and her kin to be the evilest curs to ever walk the earth would be a hollow claim. Freya rolled her eyes shut and pretended to ignore the petite were.

Benna didn’t seem to be fazed. “Contracts can be made for omegas too. I did tell you, right? Many a female walks away from this event with a little something extra.”

If only
. “Fenris would fuck this whelp senseless,” Freya said aloud, peering down at Ezra. “But then that could be fun to watch. Rayne would be just as bad. And then the poor thing would barely be able to walk around the lodge with the kind of brutes that patronize us.”

“True, but then he could be into that sort of thing.” Benna surely hadn’t shown any signs of having issues at the lodge, but then she wasn’t an omega. Rafe, one of Fenris’s brothers, had gone out of his way to impress the nubile workaholic and had failed so far.

Freya considered it, even though Benna giggled. “You like males, Ezra? Big ones? Really big?”

Ezra glanced up, worrying his juicy bottom lip with a fang. His scent grew stronger, giving Freya all the answer she needed.

Freya pushed her foot into Ezra’s bare chest. She brushed the ball of her foot over the nub of Ezra’s hard nipple. “Fucking Christmas is what you are,” she growled with wild plans for the future.

A moan escaped lips that tried to purse closed and failed.

“Oh, Freya,” Benna whined in a fit of laughter. “You’re making him shake. Stop it.”

“That’s what omegas do best other than serve. You want to visit Borgarnes, Iceland?” she asked Ezra.

Benna’s laughter faded as she looked between Freya and Ezra’s silent communication. “You’re serious? I wasn’t. Those brutes would terrorize him.”

And he looks like the type that would love every second of it.

Freya raised her foot along the center of Ezra’s breast up to his collarbone. She could feel the quickened pace of his pulse and the rise in his skin temperature. “Not so much if he had Fenris’s scent on him.”

“That would depend on Fenris, who I might remind you wasn’t too enthusiastic about you coming here in the first place. You returning with an extra distraction might be a bit much. And while we’re good at preparing you for the challenges of handling an alpha male, I don’t think we’re that good.”

“Screw you,” Freya replied in the face of Benna’s doubt. “I learned a lot from Helena. Techniques. She even mentioned omegas. It could work.”

“Oh, so now you’re singing the praise of my aunt?”

“She’s not such a bad woman, and neither are you for that matter.”

Benna craned her neck to the side, perhaps to avoid the scent of bullshit, Freya supposed. She didn’t voice another doubt. Instead, she simply looked out to the rippling black sheet of the ocean, where others were floating and enjoying the gentle tide. “You’re only nice when you need us.”

“I’m not even going to lie. You’re right.”

Benna groaned, starting toward the ocean as well. “I’m going for a swim. Try not to molest the omega too much.”

“I won’t. Intimidate a bit maybe, but nothing too lewd.”

Ezra smiled at that, working over her ankles. He added more oil before gently pushing up the hem of her maxidress to get at her legs and calves.

Entertaining the idea of presenting Ezra to her males, Freya had to admit that Fenris’s and Rayne’s jealousy could be an issue. Yet with the benefit of Helena’s lessons, she could also see many ways in which the dark omega could occupy Fenris’s and Rayne’s time. Ezra could possibly even aid her once the cub was born and after. Even if for a short time, the idea of Ezra promised more than just relief to her.

It was a boon if she had ever encountered one. “So, Ezra, is this all fate or a fluke? Were you really assigned to me, or did you choose to be?”

His grip paused around her left calf, finger stroking gently in delicate, suggestive swirls. “I chose you.”

“You chose me, even though I’m mated to some badass motherfuckers.”

“But I’m harmless. They wouldn’t see me as a threat at all.”

“Possibly.”

“Do they serve you?” he asked, bowing down to boldly place a kiss upon the top of her foot, just a wisp of wet tongue touching her flesh.

Freya’s breath stuck in her throat. Rayne could be submissive, but nothing like what an omega promised. If she commanded Ezra to sleep on the floor, he would do so without question. He wouldn’t scowl if she went out to chop wood or spent an hour in the weight room. He wouldn’t attempt to feed her after the first time she declared that she wasn’t hungry. And most importantly, if she asked for a foot massage, then she was sure she could get one without too much damn fuss.

Having Ezra was an easy thing to envision and an even easier notion to become aroused by. Freya shifted upon the lounger, squeezing her thighs together, clenching her muscles in delight.

Ezra raised his brow, looking at her with concern. He rose but remained on his knees. “You’re not comfortable? I could massage your belly as well. I…I will not be forward. We are
thoroughly
professional. I have been trained.”

The offer was enticing. Several of the expectant mothers had even raised their dresses to allow access, but Freya did not. First it would be her stomach, then her breasts, and then… She declined. “I can’t say I wholly trust you, sweet thing. But I definitely don’t trust myself. I can be one uncouth bitch.”

Ezra shuddered and sank back down upon his haunches. This time it was he who squirmed.

Freya took in his scent and knew that he was wet, that his precum had begun to flow. She closed her eyes, savoring his touch, the rich salt of his desire, and her imagination, full of all the positions she could put him in. It occurred to her that she could probably get Ezra off without so much as a touch, and she reveled in her power until a stronger, familiar musk was brought to her nostrils upon the wind.

Her eyes snapped open. She noted the perimeter of the Sohon beach property and saw a group of Sohon deltas on guard at the edges, some several hundred feet away. They were all gathered together, and towering above them was the subject of their concern.

Freya dislodged herself from Ezra’s grip and came to her feet, beyond furious. “I can be
really
fucking uncouth,” she sneered beneath her breath. Straightening out her dress, Freya promised Ezra that she would return before charging off to deal with her alpha male.

* * * *

“Alpha Fenris, you cannot stay,” pleaded one of the guards, a very brave one indeed as Fenris easily loomed over him. “I assure you that everything is fine. Your mate and cub have the highest luxury and security here.”

“And I assure
you
I will see my mate.”

Well, at least he’s not growling—for now, Freya told herself. While the Sohon guards may not have been able to deal with an incensed Luna, she didn’t doubt that they did have measures to exact punishment, namely kicking her out of the retreat entirely.

As she came up behind the group, another were was trying the soft-touch approach. “Alpha Fenris, your presence is against the rules. We do not wish to disturb the other mothers or cubs. Please. If we allowed you into the complex, then we would have to allow other alphas in, and the mothers would be upset.”

Fenris’s eyes reflected silver as they found and settled upon Freya. “That is not my concern. She is.”

The guards had been so attuned to Fenris and his dominant scent that they hadn’t noticed Freya’s approach. They turned and opened a pathway directly to her beaming giant.

“Excuse me, guys. I’ll take care of this.” Freya gestured for the guards to move aside, all the while staring daggers at her smug mate.

Fenris waited until the guards moved away before revealing a confident, toothy grin. “So, are you having fun?”

Freya was so mad her teeth and throat hurt, one from grinding and the other from the number of curse words she was keeping prisoner. She let out a long sigh instead, trying to cool her anger down at least a fraction. “What in the name of hell are you doing here, Fen?”

Her anger had no effect on him. “Rayne and I came over to visit Cole, and well, since I was in the States, I thought I would stop in and make sure that you were safe, that you and Bun were doing okay. Were you enjoying your foot massage?”

She didn’t buy a damn word of his excuse. He and Cole had never been the chummy types, not since Fenris had accused her former beta of being too weak to act on a crush she hadn’t even known he’d had. “Hell yeah. I was enjoying my foot action a lot before you showed up.”

“I could have given you one. Rayne could have.” There was only a foot and a half of space between them before Fenris easily lessened it, the steel mounds of his abs pressed against her chest despite the ribbed cotton shirt he wore.

Freya moved quickly. She grabbed hold of the hand that had stealthily made its way around to her ass. She swatted Fenris’s paw aside and stepped back. “I remember you
trying
one time. And oh, my foot ended up in your crotch, and it was me doing all the work for your ball massage.”

“You liked it,” he growled as if he were still in the process of having her toes tickling the fur and flesh of his scrotum.

“So did you. And my feet were still in need of a good rub, not my ass.” Her body warmed as he reached for her again, reeking of arousal she couldn’t help but acknowledge. She attempted to sidestep his hand, reaching for her once more, but ended up a prisoner of his other arm.

“I apologize for not being a dickless omega, but I am what I am, my warrior. My love.”

Her pulse was singing hymns to the greatness of her male, his hard body, and the enormity of his sex as it nudged her belly, but the warnings Helena had given in her lecture had never been clearer. All she had asked for was a week, yet Fenris was behaving as if he hadn’t seen in her in a year: eyes dilated, softly panting, giving off pheromones like a fucking furnace.

She punched him in the arm, grinning inwardly when he winced. “Fuck you. You need to leave. I have four more days, and I intend to enjoy them.”

“Please, love. I can buy you fancy things if that’s what you want.”

Fancy things?
Freya only had a moment to wonder what he was talking about when his free hand began to play with the strap of her maxidress. “Didn’t think that you were into them, but I like it. A lot,” he added with a wink. Fenris used one of his claws, dipped it under the thin strap, and pulled it away from her skin.

The caress of a breeze touched her breast before Freya could slap Fenris’s hand away and punch him again. Seductive, syrupy looks aside, there was no way she was letting him off the hook. Sure, he smelled like a tall, sexy, mouthwatering feast, but wrong was wrong. She had told him the moment they had met that she wouldn’t swoon for him and had failed to keep that vow ever since. With Bun’s arrival, she would have to start, and there was no better time to deal with her mate’s manipulation than now. Both of her mates, she thought, as her beta surely had to be around somewhere on the premises.

Freya scanned the beach behind Fenris and then looked back to the resort. She didn’t see a slender Icelandic male with yellow-blond hair anywhere. “Where is Rayne?”

Fenris chuffed. “Around.”

“Around where?”

Fenris shook his head as if it were his secret to possess. With a snarl, he leaned down to her throat. His lips pressed against her skin before the length of his tongue coursed hot and wet up to the lobe of her ear. Despite her squirming, Freya felt weak, grasping the barrels of his forearms. She was in dangerous territory.

“Wanna go on a moonlit walk? A run? Maybe we might find our wily beta on the way.”

“No.” Freya panicked as she considered what a good idea that would have been. Pushing away from Fenris and breaking his hold, however, required enough force for him to consider her seriously and then to release her.

She stepped back and crossed her arms over her heaving chest, grateful that her Luna wasn’t crazy enough to persist.
Breathe. Relax. Remember your goals
. “I said no, cur,” she snapped. “I want to go back to sipping fruity nonalcoholic beverages, listening to the waves, and enjoying bite-size food. If you think I’m just going to lift my dress, drop my drawers, and let you live in me whenever you get brick hard, you’re going to learn. I’m about to be a mother, and you will respect my command.”

Fenris tossed his white-blond head back and groaned. “Ah, the Sohons. Worked their magic on you already, did they? When is the whipped male retreat? Maybe I need to attend that.”

“Like you’d fucking go.” Truthfully, Benna had mentioned an attempt at such an event, a new fathers’ retreat. She had also mentioned how it was a massive failure resulting in several broken limbs and jaws, and irritable dispositions. “You do want me to be sane, right? All I’m asking for is a week, Fen. This girlie shit ain’t bad, and I really need it. You want me to be a selfless wreck? You, Rayne, and Bun…you’re smothering me now. Just let me finish out this week. ”

Showing at least a hint of remorse, Fenris muttered, “Let you return to your foot massage by that dark little morsel of a wolf?”

Reminded of Ezra, Freya decided to broach the subject carefully. While alphas didn’t purposefully attack omegas, not all were so willing to accept them. “I was thinking about bringing him home actually. He seems eager.”

“All omegas are eager.”

“He could be of use, though. When I’m not in the mood, when Rayne isn’t.”

Fenris’s nostrils flared at the suggestion as he was probably thinking of the times when Rayne simply wasn’t in the mood. Freya wondered if Rayne’s willingness hadn’t had a thing or two to do with the surprise visit.

“Is he sturdy?” Fenris asked. He sounded doubtful.

“He’d obey me. He’d help me with Bun without trying to dick me down.” Considering the addition more and more, Freya wasn’t about to pretend that the acquisition of an omega would be totally effortless. “I mean, a little tickling and petting might be needed, but he’d
definitely
obey us, I think.”

“And give you foot massages,” Fenris drawled sarcastically. “He could give me one. Rayne doesn’t like his feet to be played with, however.”