Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(37)
I nodded, swallowing as the space between us seemed to grow hazy. Caleb’s effect on me was almost like a sedative drug, and I fought not to swoon into him.
“Odette’s around somewhere,” Caleb said, standing up straight and staring over the heads of the crowd. “We’ll keep her out of your hair.”
It was Leo who stiffened, not me, at the mention of the female alpha, and I twisted in his arms to catch his stiff expression.
“She used to be…I was part of her collection,” Leo said in my ear.
His dark eyes locked with mine and I recalled all the moments he’d read me so easily, empathized with my anxiety regarding alphas, known exactly the right thing to do or say as I fell to pieces. He’d been through his own version of trauma with an alpha. And now…
I glanced at Caleb, at Cyrus and Rake shimmying their way to the dance floor, Wes waiting at our backs with a hawk’s gaze on the crowd. He had an alpha. He had a pack.
Maybe…
I shook the thoughts out of my head, leaving a brief kiss on Leo’s jaw and then sliding under his arm against his side as we followed the others to the dance floor. Nearly there, Caleb’s eye caught on a couple at the bar, waving them in our direction.
It was Matthieu with a woman I assumed had to be Carolyn. She was lovely. Stunning and tall and curvaceous, with billowing red hair, and the kind of graceful beauty that came on with maturity. She smiled indulgently at Matthieu and sighed as he stepped away from the bar, allowing him to pull her in our direction. Matthieu looked so totally different I might not have recognized him on my own. He was in a simple white t-shirt and torn up jeans, the opposite of the dress-to-impress looks we were surrounded by, and his hair was a little wilder than what I’d seen at the office. He looked less like a CEO and more like a former model or designer. No, he looked like a musician, I realized, like he had been before starting his own music magazine decades ago.
“We won’t keep you long, Carolyn,” Rake called to the knockout redhead.
She smirked at Rake and narrowed her eyes. “If you want to wear these heels on the dance floor, we can trade and then I’ll be happy to join you for as long as you please, Rakim.”
Rake’s chin lifted at the challenge, and a moment later I laughed as he stepped out of his shoes and lifted them to hold in front of Carolyn’s nose. “As a matter of fact, I’m amazing in heels.”
Carolyn’s smile hardened, and I looked past her to see what Matthieu thought of the aggressive teasing between his omega and his girlfriend. His eyes caught mine and there was laughter creasing the corners that I answered with a smile. Carolyn pressed one hand to Matthieu’s shoulder for balance and unbuckled her stilettos, taking Rakim’s short boots and sliding into them with a sigh.
They looked like clown shoes on her, and the heels didn’t fit Rakim at all, but he strutted away in them with a slight wobble that made me snort. Carolyn followed him in an awkward stomp, lips quirked in a smile that seemed more determined than sincere. I caught the first whisper of her soft floral scent as she passed me. She was a beta, and I was a little shocked that she was willing to challenge her boyfriend’s omega.
“Matthieu’s girlfriends never like Rake,” Leo said in my ear.
Matthieu trailed after the two, hands in his pockets and shoulders sliding between flailing dancing models. His head turned and his eyes caught mine again, head tipping in question. Was I coming?
“Does Rake ever like Matthieu’s girlfriends?” I asked Leo.
Caleb caught the question and he smiled at me. “He tries,” he said, shrugging. “Come on. We’ll have to put ourselves between them before Rake gets it in his head to challenge Carolyn to a dance battle.”
I checked behind me and Wes was still there, bringing up the rear from a close but not crowding distance. I offered him a smile, and he looked so startled by it that I’d almost turned around before his cheeks twitched in answer. Leo pulled me along by my hand, the music growing louder as we worked our way to the heart of the crowd. It was a low tempo groove, one that was easy to raise your arms and swing your hips to without having to worry about impressing anyone.
Leo’s hands found mine in the air, his chest against my bare back as we swayed closer to his pack. Rake broke out from between Caleb and Cyrus, framing me at my front. He paused a few inches away and raised his eyebrows. He was even taller than usual thanks to Carolyn’s heels, and he waited in front of me, matching the beat of my twisting hips easily as he waited for permission.
I nodded, stepping in with Leo at my back, and Rake met me halfway, his hips barely grazing against mine. One of his hands settled on my hip, the other slipping back to Leo to pull us closer together. Leo took my hands and draped them around Rake’s shoulders, holding them there with one touch while his free hand cradled Rake’s hips. The three of us moved in liquid unison, and with one deep breath I was drowning in Rake’s perfume, my head back against Leo’s shoulders where I fit perfectly.
“Sin,” Leo said in my ear, kissing my pulse.
Rake watched my eyes as his head dropped, resting his forehead against mine, his grip firm on my hip. I could see the alphas out of the corners of my eyes, Caleb and Cyrus dancing together on one side, Matthieu spinning Carolyn on the other. I smiled as I thought of Wes looming behind us all, serving glares to anyone who tried to join our close cluster.
Rake’s scent drowned out any others, and if I closed my eyes I was alone with him and Leo. I relaxed in their holds, and Rake’s cheek brushed nearly to mine. I leaned into him, letting him mark me. His breath puffed against my skin.