“Could it have something to do with the fact that she’s the Omega?”
Gabe felt everything in him still. For the third time that night he was stunned. “Excuse me?” Omega?
She’s the Omega? Since when?
Then something else occurred to him. But that means… He turned, glaring at his mate as she danced with Jim. That means she knows exactly how I feel about her being with Jim. Omegas were the heart of the Pride. Just as the Marshal could feel the physical well-being each Pride member, the Omega could sense their emotional state. Together they allowed the Alpha to zero in on individual problems within the Pride that he might otherwise overlook.
His grin was feral as he caught her eye and held up three fingers. Oh, baby. That’s three. He wasn’t surprised to see the hint of wariness on her face before she turned her attention back to her dance partner.
“Yeah. It’s been informally confirmed. We all agreed to hold off on the formal announcement until after you got back from your training.” Simon shrugged, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“Really.”
“Gabe.” He turned back to Adrian, who was frowning at him. “You weren’t here. From everything we saw and heard you were pursuing Chloe, not Sarah.”
“What?” His jaw clenched. Sarah had leveled the same accusation at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Simon began ticking things off on his fingers. “The bracelet you gave Chloe for Christmas when you didn’t bother giving Sarah a gift.” Gabe flushed. He had a present for Sarah, he’d just wanted to give it to her in person. “You talk to Chloe almost every day, but don’t call Sarah at all.”
“Sarah stopped answering her phone.” Gabe was becoming pissed. Even the Pride leaders thought he’d betrayed his mate with another woman?
Things were worse than he thought.
“And Chloe constantly talks about you and what you’re doing, while Sarah knows next to nothing.”
He frowned. That wasn’t what he’d intended at all. Chloe was supposed to befriend Sarah, keep her company. When she’d stopped answering the phone he’d become worried about her. And from what Chloe had said Sarah was spending a lot of time with…
Aw hell. Please tell me that Chloe didn’t deliberately sabotage my relationship with Sarah. “Christ, what a mess. I have to fix this.”
Simon pointed with his chin towards the dance floor. “Go dance with your woman. Sounds like they’re about to start a slow song.” The big artist winked, grinning. “And with all those bodies dry-humping out there no one will even care if you give your mate a bite, will they?”
Gabe watched as the lights dimmed and Sarah stepped into Jim’s arms. “I think you may be right.”
It was past time to claim what was his.
Sarah knew the moment Gabe stepped up behind her. His heat and masculine scent enveloped her, despite the fact that she was in another man’s arms. He reached around her and tapped Jim’s shoulder.
“May I cut in?”
Jim made a great show of reluctantly letting Sarah go, scowling at Gabe before giving her a light peck on the cheek and stalking away. She almost stopped him, terrified of what Gabe had planned for her. His emotions beat against her back, anger and remorse mixed with a primal need to stake his claim on her.
His hands slipped around her waist, cradling him to her. His erection pressed against her lower back, the heat from his cock and the savage satisfaction that broke through at his touch making her weak in the knees. With him touching her there was no way she could completely shield herself from his emotions.
She searched frantically for a distraction, the thought of those three fingers he’d held up worrying her.
She found it when Jim got stopped by Chloe. The two spoke for a moment and, with a shrug, he pulled her into his arms and onto the dance floor. The lust pouring off both of them was incandescent.
“Sarah.”She shivered as he licked the mark on her neck, her attention suddenly riveted to the man behind her. His teeth scraped the sensitive juncture of her shoulder and she twitched. “Hold still, baby.”
Oh, no you don’t. Not that easily, and especially not in public. She pulled away, hunching her shoulders against his fangs. “No.”
“No?” A feather-soft kiss caressed the nape of her neck. “Why no?”
She growled. “Gee, I don’t know. Should we start with Chloe?”
“I told you I didn’t sleep with her, Sarah.” She turned in his arms, not surprised when he pulled her firmly against him. He patted her rear. “Or do I need to remind you of that conversation?”
She sniffed, her irritation growing when he smiled down at her lazily. “Fine. How about we talk about the fact that you’ve basically been ignoring me?”
“I called and you didn’t answer. Or when you did, we fought.” His jaw worked, the tension rolling off him almost nauseating her. “You couldn’t come to me and I couldn’t go to you, and it was driving us both insane.”
“So you turned to another woman?”
He shook his head. “Chloe was supposed to make friends with you, to help you. Damn it, Sarah! I was worried bout you.”
He had an odd way of showing it. “You’re joking, right?”
“Chloe wasn’t supposed to give you the impression we were dating. She was supposed to make sure you were all right. That’s all. I promise you, the only thing I feel for Chloe is…God, she’s like the sister I never had and now I’m glad I didn’t get.”
If it wasn’t for the sincerity she could feel coursing through him, she’d cry bullshit. One of the things she’d discovered since becoming Omega was that it was damn difficult to lie to her. The guilt most people felt when lying tended to bleed through. Still, if he’d actually been that stupidly gullible she’d have to make sure he never, ever did something like that again. “If that was your plan, I have two words for you. Epic fail.”
“I’ll talk to Chloe. I promise you I will straighten this out.”
She sneered. “Sure you will.” And she would spend that time with Jim. At least he didn’t leave her senses reeling.
“Sarah. You’re my mate. You. Chloe is just a friend.” His shoulders slumped, his head landing on her shoulder with a weary sigh. “I should have told James to fuck off and marked you before I left. You have no idea how sorry I am that I didn’t.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. She couldn’t see anyone who wasn’t Pride stopping Gabe from doing what he wanted to do unless he didn’t want to do it.
He lifted his head. Whatever he saw on her face had one brow rising arrogantly. “Don’t you think I regret not marking you before I left?”
“Not really, considering you’ve been free to get a fucking girlfriend.”
His expression darkened. “That’s five.”
“Five?” She pushed back against his chest, straining against his hold. She just wanted to put a little space between them, but he wasn’t allowing it.
“One for sitting next to Jim. Two for agreeing to go dancing with him. Three for doing it knowing exactly how I felt about it.” His hand curved around the nape of her neck, holding her possessively. “Four for turning away from my mark. And now five for thinking I would ever betray you that way.” The hand not caressing her neck smoothed down her back, landing to rest just atop the curve of her ass. “Care to make it six?”
She scowled up at him. “Care to get your ass kicked?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I thought so.” His hand landed against her ass, smacking her right there on the dance floor. “Go ahead, baby. Keep pushing.”