The perfect opportunity to talk to Knox never really appeared. Every stall we stopped at was incredibly crowded, and the few stores we'd dip into had other people in them. I didn't want our conversation to be public, so I continued waiting.
"Oh!" Knox's head turned towards a vendor who was smoking meat, and his mouth fell open slightly. Pft!
"Hungry much? You're about to start drooling." The sparkle in Knox's eye was too much. I couldn't help but giggle.
Knox glanced down at the watch on his wrist, and his eyes went wide. "Ah! I didn't even realize how much time had escaped us! Sorry! You're probably hungry too." I wasn't all that hungry, but Knox clearly was. "Let's get some late lunch." He started to walk off, but when I didn't move, he turned to look at me. "Aren't you coming?"
"You clearly want some. Why don't we purchase some of the chicken he has?" I asked as I pointed over my shoulder.
"You're okay with street food?"
I glanced over at the vendor as he started putting more meat on his smoker. It wasn't the world's cleanest, but all these people ate it and were fine. "Sure, why not? I'm open to trying new things."
"Okay! We'll stop by a few other vendors that sell good food and go to a park, how about that?"
I snickered, and a small smile formed on my face. "Sure." Maybe I could finally talk to him.
Pft! Knox was going overboard again as we went to five different food stalls to get food. He looked absolutely silly as he insisted on holding all the bags of food plus our bags from shopping bags. We should have brought an attendant with us. His family would probably die if they saw Knox holding all that stuff.
By the time we got to the park, I was exhausted. This was too much exercise for me. I was barely used to wandering around campus, much less the capital. We found an empty patch of grass next to a fountain in the small park, and I happily flopped down. "Sorry, we should have taken a break sooner." Knox looked a little down, but he didn't need to worry. I was fine.
"It's not a big deal, I didn't even notice that it was getting so late. Who knew that the trade district had so many interesting things in it?" Almost every stall was unique from one another, and there were so many things to see. Knox kept trying to buy me things at each of the stalls, but I managed to put a stop to it. Well, kinda. Knox did buy me a few things without asking.
"Yeah, I like sneaking over here every once in a while." He said as he went about setting out our food options.
"You must be hungry because I won't be able to eat even a quarter of this." And how much meat did he think he needed? He purchased an entire chicken for just the two of us! We weren't going to finish that!
"I'm one hungry alpha, remember?" Knox snickered as he passed me a fork. Surely he wasn't still growing, but the amount of food he was able to pack away told a different story. I wasn't all that interested in the chicken, so I started with the pasta salad. It looked like someone just threw stuff together, but when I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty good. "Here," Knox said as he passed me a chicken breast he cut off.
"You're funny," I mumbled as I pulled a piece off and ate it. Eh, it's not too bad either.
Knox glanced over at me, and a big smile formed on his face. "Today's been nice. I've missed spending time with you."
"Yeah, I've had fun…" I poked around at the pasta as I thought about the best way to approach the subject with Knox, but as I looked up at him, my eyes went wide in shock. "Are you trying to eat the bones?!" I asked as a bone snapped inside Knox's mouth. My nose scrunched up in disgust as more snapping and munching could be heard from Knox.
"What? Nooo, who eats bones, silly?" Knox nervously swallowed what was in his mouth, but it was really odd that he wouldn't look at me. "I just mixed the chicken with this." Knox picked up a snap pea and munched on it aggressively. He could try as he liked, but I wasn't stupid. There was no way in hell a snap pea made those sounds.
I narrowed my eyes and continued to judgmentally stare at Knox. "Mhmmm…"
"Have you tried any of this?" He asked as he pointed to some sort of fruit dish. I see what you're doing. You're trying to distract me from how weird you are.
"No, bone boy. I've been eating this pasta dish."
"I'm not a bone boy!" Knox scoffed under his breath. I chose to ignore him, though. He totally munched on that chicken's bones. "I've noticed that you've been eating a lot of pasta at the academy. You must like it."
"Hmm, oh." I glanced down at the pasta, then back over to Knox. "My father doesn't like pasta, so we never have it at home. I guess I just find eating it novel." My nose wrinkled at the mention of my father, and of course, Knox just had to notice.
"Are you mad at your father or something?"
As if my face wasn't sour enough. "I'd say his and my relationship has degraded the most." I snapped as I stabbed far too many squiggly pastas onto my fork.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Knox had resumed munching on the chicken, but at least this time, I didn't have to listen to him munching on bones.
"There's not much to say. He avoided me, he snapped my practice blade over his knee, and he growled at me twice." My pasta-filled fork hung in the air, not quite making it to my mouth.
"Sounds like there's a lot to say."
I gulped nervously and found it in me to keep speaking. "I won't forgive him for breaking my practice blade. I don't care if I can't use it anymore; he didn't need to do that." I wanted to take the fork in my hands and snap it, but it wouldn't bring my practice blade back.
"I'm sorry that happened, Arden. I wish I could shed light on why your father did that, but I can't…"
"I wasn't expecting sage advice…"
"I know, but I want to help in any way I can."
"There's nothing that can be done either. So, don't worry about it." I mumbled as I finally stuck the big forkful of noodles into my mouth. I already told myself that I'd keep moving forward. No, I wasn't going to forgive him. Especially not after he growled at me, but I wasn't going to dwell on that.
"I guess I'm not a very good pillar." Knox sadly bemoaned as he poked around at the almost perfectly cleaned chicken carcass. The hell? Was he listening to me, or was he gorging on chicken while I wasn't looking?
"I told you not to worry about it, bone boy."
"Stop calling me that." Knox gave me a perplexed look as he grumbled under his breath again.
"Oh yeah? Well, if you keep picking at the thing, you're going to end up getting a fork of bones. There's nothing left, give it up."
Knox poked his fork into a different dish and pulled it close, but I could see the weirdo still eyeing the bones. Were all alphas this weird, or just this one? "I won't give you any dessert if you're not nice."
"I probably won't have room for dessert because you bought too much food."
"Then you've gotta save space!" Knox reached over and grabbed the little white box that had a braided handle. "I bought eclairs!" Oooh, so that's what he snuck over and got without me noticing. I thought he was acting weird while we were shopping for quills, but I chose to ignore it.
"What even are eclairs?"
"Amazing!"
"Wow, thanks for the information. It's so helpful." I duly responded as I poked around at the food.
"You'll find out when we eat them! Don't be so grumpy." I was tired of eating the pasta dish, so I passed it over to the bone boy and sampled a few of the other dishes before he ate them all.
We continued to chat, but I was distracted by his eating habits the entire time. It's not like his manners were bad. He just gobbled stuff up, like a hungry caterpillar. Gosh, I just couldn't believe how Knox packed food away like it was nothing. How did he not get full?
"Éclair time!" Knox said as he held the box up to the sky. He scooted closer to me and excitedly opened the container. I thought he was going to hand me the supposed eclair, but instead, he held it up to my mouth.
I leaned away and stared at the thing. "What even is it?!" It seemed like some sort of bread with chocolate on top.
"Just try it!"
"You're not feeding it to me!"
"But I want to." I scooted away, but Knox scooted closer to me with a big grin. Ugh! No, no, no! I tried to grab the eclair away from Knox, but he was too fast and pulled it away from me. "Eat it, it's yummy!"
"It's embarrassing!"
"Who cares? It's not like we know anyone around, and the park is pretty empty." Knox wasn't taking no for an answer, and before I knew it, his pheromones started to become thick in the air.
"Cheater!" I tried to scoot away, but Knox grabbed my leg and pulled me back over to him. I let out a yelp, but of course, Knox used that to his advantage. He managed to get it into my mouth, so I took a bite of the damn thing. Oh… It was… actually delicious. The bread was rather sweet, and there was a ton of cream on the inside. The chocolate on top added the perfect touch of flavor to the relatively basic base.
The smug bastard had a massive smirk on his face as he stuck the half-eaten eclair into his mouth and ate it. "Sooo, how is it? Good, right?"
"Shut up," I grumbled as I folded my arms.
Knox's grin became even wider as he offered me another one, and I willingly accepted the bite. "See, you got worked up over nothing," he teased.
"I said shut up-"
I became distracted as Knox wrinkled his nose and glared over at a woman who seemed to be approaching us. A strange, gross yet sweet scent drifted over to us. It wasn't strong, but strong enough to annoy me. I glanced over at the woman, and my top lip slightly curled. She wore a rather tight dress with a far too short hemline. If she bent the wrong way, we'd get quite the disgusting sight. She had a fan in front of her face as if that was alluring or something. Oh… that scent. As she got closer, I realized that it was the scent of an omega. It was so faint, though. Maybe she was one of the recessives Knox was telling me about. "Please stop producing pheromones in our vicinity; we're trying to eat." His verbiage was nice, but his tone was blunt. Knox was even grimacing, which attested to how much he thought she reeked.
"Aw, honey! Don't be so uptight. Surely you don't want to spend your evening with this little beta. That's selling yourself short, honey." Ewwwwwwwww! Was she trying to seduce Knox?! She even leaned forward as if her breasts were going to impress him. He wasn't even looking either. He had his head pointed my way with quite the scrunched-up face.
Knox wasn't buying what she was offering. His voice was ice cold as he addressed her again. "Let me rephrase that. Take yourself and your pheromones elsewhere. They smell horrid."
"Don't act coy, just because you're in front of your girlfriend." Huh?! Was she daft? "No man can resist me." Her gross smile peeked out from underneath her fan, and honestly, she looked like an old hag to me. Her caked-on makeup was doing nothing for her. I even wanted to gag. You'd have to be drunk as hell to fall into her bed, alpha or not. Knox scooted closer to me, and his scowl slightly lessened. "What's the problem, sweety? I take payments, but based on your clothes, you could easily afford me."
I shuddered in disgust. Gross. Too gross. She took a step forward, and irritation coursed through me. What the hell did she think she was doing? Can't she obviously tell that Knox wasn't interested?
"I can tell it's taking everything in you to resist. Give up, honey." The air around us got just a touch sweeter, but something inside me snapped.
The pungent smell of her pheromones disappeared as mine flooded the space. "Arden! Wait-"
I let out a feral snarl and glared up at the woman. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY ALPHA!" I snapped. I did my best to growl, but it sounded pathetic compared to an alpha's growl. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. My instincts were telling me to go after the woman. Had I been wielding a sword, I would have taken a swing at her, but since I didn't have one, I was willing to use my nails to scratch her eyes out.
The woman stumbled backwards, looking rather stunned as my pheromones assaulted her. Yeah! Get lost!! I started to get up, but before I could move, Knox wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back down into his embrace. "Calm down. It's okay. I wasn't interested in her in the slightest. Her pheromones smell like rotting fish." My breathing was rather ragged, but Knox patting the top of my head was helping to distract me from my anger. "Yeah, that's it. Calm down." Knox's pheromones started to take the place of mine in the air, and I finally felt calm again. "Your alpha, huh? I like the sound of that."
"I ugh… What I meant was…" Shit! Why the hell did I say that?! That was the exact opposite of what I wanted! My face was turning a deeper shade of scarlet by the second, and Knox, chuckling behind me, wasn't helping. I tried to squirm, but Knox held onto me tightly. Gosh, he was freaky strong.
My attention returned to the idiotic woman who stumbled backwards as Knox glared over at her. "Leave." He snarled, and a rumbling started to grow in Knox's chest as he prepared to growl.
Too bad between mine and Knox's outbursts, a crowd had started to gather. They kept their distance, but I was all too aware of all the eyes gawking at us. The woman managed to stumble to her feet and rushed over to a man carrying a weapon. "They tried to attack me! You need to help me!" Huh?! She did not just try to accuse us of attacking her. If anything, she was the one who should be arrested!
"Calm down," Knox whispered into my ear.
I barely blinked, and multiple guards started to appear from practically nowhere. They weren't guards of the city either. They were Knox's guards. At least, I assumed they were because of the imperial crest on their uniforms. I thought he was joking about having guards follow us, but apparently he wasn't. The moment the woman saw the guards, her eyes went wide, and she high-tailed it out of here. Yeah! That's what I thought!
"What an awful end to our date." Knox quietly grumbled to me. He wasn't even kidding. The crowd had increased in size, and whispers were starting to be heard.
"Sir." One of the guards approached us and saluted. "I'll have one of my men deliver your things to the palace. For now, you must leave." Gosh! Why'd you have to talk so loud?! The moment he said palace, people started to go nuts.
Knox let out a dramatic sigh and released me so he could stand. "So we must." He grumbled.
"You've drawn far too much attention. Please be quick." Both Knox and I gave the guard a side eye, but he was completely oblivious. We might have started it, but you made it worse.
"I'm sorry our date has to come to an early end," Knox said as he leaned down and picked me up into his arms. Gah! No! Don't pick me up! I'm not some oversized toddler for you to pack around!
I didn't even have time to squirm around or voice complaints because Knox took off running at his ungodly speeds. The way he zipped through alleys, busy streets, and quaint neighborhoods was crazy. It's like everyone else was moving in slow motion. He didn't even hesitate to zip past the gate guards that he had made a big deal over sneaking past. Holy shit, this isn't natural. I nervously gripped onto his shirt as my stomach started to churn. "Knox! Knox, you've gotta slow down!" The world was spinning, everything was- "Hurk-!"
I didn't know where we were, but I sure knew what was all over mine and Knox's clothes. No! Not his fancy cloaks! "Sorry! I didn't think it would bother you!!" Knox quickly sat me down and let me finish emptying my stomach all over an awfully well-manicured lawn. "Gods, I'm so sorry! I just wanted to get us out of there!" Knox squatted down and pulled my hair out of my face despite it already having plenty of chunks in it. "I can't believe I didn't think-"
"Shut up already!" I sadly whimpered. The best I could do was plop down onto my butt and wipe my mouth with my sleeve. I didn't want to look at Knox and all the vomit on him. So much for all that food we just ate… What the hell did I do to piss off all the gods and goddesses?!?! I was feeling happy for a split second, and then this had to happen?! First, the gross woman selling her body flirts with him, and now I'm barfing our lunch onto him?! Not even the smell of pheromones could cover this up!
"Ah! Don't cry! Please no!" Big tears welled in the corners of my eyes and spilled down my disgusting face. Stupid body with no control over its stupid functions. "I know we're both dirty, but come on!" Knox picked me up, despite my trying to force him away from me. He started to run, but this time at a human pace. "Is this bothering you?"
"I said shut up!" I blubbered. I couldn't even hide my face in his shoulder or my hands because both were covered in vomit. The only thing I wanted right now was to spontaneously burst into flames. At least then my ashes would help dry up the vomit.
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I was grateful to be sitting in a warm tub of water, vomit-free, but Knox had snuck me into the palace, which made me uncomfortable. Clearly, Knox snuck out rather often because he whipped our cloak's hoods up and wound his way through the place while running into very few staff. The few staff we did see only seemed puzzled by the smell in the air. I can't believe I fucking vomited all over the two of us. I'm never going to live that down.
I was mortified enough, but Knox insisted that I use the bathroom in his bedroom. I told him to let me into a guest bathroom to get cleaned up, but nooooo. Now I was sitting here in the bathtub that Knox uses all the time. Talk about fucking awkward. Yeah, I used to come to his room all the time when we were kids, but it felt weird now that we were older.
Maybe I should drown myself in the water. My face was super puffy from crying, my stomach still felt queasy, and I definitely wasn't back to my dorm by nightfall. If someone made a list of all the ways to screw up while spending time with someone, I sure marked off quite a few boxes. I wasn't even sure what the hell was going on between Knox and me. He obviously saw that as a romantic date, and I even called him mine. Fuck! I should just smash my head into the side of the tub! I'm so dumb! Why the hell did I blurt that out?! Knox was far from mine.
A knock on the door jolted me from my self-deprecating spiral. "Arden, I sent an attendant over to explain the situation to Rinley. I figured you wouldn't want him worrying about you. He sent a fresh set of clothes over." Great… Just fucking great. The door to the bathroom opened slightly, and I flinched as Knox entered with my clothes.
"Hey!" What the hell did he think he was doing?! There might be a screen, but it was lattice! I can see Knox perfectly fine, which means he can totally see me! I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, as I tried my best to hide myself. We might both be guys, but embarrassment coursed through me.
"I'm not peeking, and it's not like you can change without clothes." Knox approached the long counter that had a sink and cupboards on either side of the large mirror. "I'll set them here for you. You're welcome to use that towel; it should be fresh." Knox pointed over to a towel that hung next to his robe. His attention returned to the mirror, and our gazes met. "Ah, oops… I peeked." Knox's cheeks started to go pink at the top, and he darted back over to the door. "I'll leave so you can change." He said as the door closed behind him.
I let out a long sigh and pressed my face into my knees. Shit. I need to set things right between us…
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Why the hell did Rinley send over pajamas?! I wasn't sleeping here! My hand hesitated to grab the handle of the bathroom, but it wasn't like I could hide in here all night. I needed to be returned to my dorm. As much as I hated my ruffly, pink bed comforter, I wanted nothing more than to bury myself under it.
As soon as I exited the bathroom, Knox popped off the bed. "You can't leave your hair wet like that. You'll catch a cold." I couldn't even bring myself to look up as Knox approached me and grabbed my hand. He guided me over to the bed and forced me to sit. His feet sounded kinda sticky as he walked across his bedroom and into the bathroom. When he returned, he started drying my hair with a fresh towel. "Silly, silly, Arden." He snickered.
"I guess it didn't occur to me…" Rinley was usually the one who dried my hair, and it's not like I knew where Knox kept the smaller towels. I was so mortified that it didn't cross my mind.
"My omega is so needy." Knox chuckled. My face instantly soured. No… don't sound so happy…
"We… need to talk." Knox's hands pulled away with the now-damp towel, and tears stung the corners of my eyes as I looked at his crestfallen face.
"About what?" He smiled, but I could see in his eyes that he was a little concerned.
"About us, obviously. Look, this isn't going to work. Today was fun, sorta, but-"
Knox dropped the towel from his hands and cupped my face. His thumbs slid over my lips, preventing me from talking. "Arden… Why are you so against everything? I know you had a good time today." His thumbs moved away from my lips and gently brushed my face. "I can tell from the way you kiss me and how your pheromones shift with your mood. I'm not dumb. You enjoy being around me. Why are you so deadset on forcing yourself to be miserable?"
The tears that were swelling in my eyes finally managed to spill down my cheeks. Knox looked pretty upset as he wiped them away. "You need a real omega by your side. Not me."
"You're the realest omega I've ever seen in my life."
"I am a mutated freak-"
Knox obnoxiously covered my lips again with his thumbs. "I won't tolerate that kind of talk. You are Arden Amaurri Rainaldus, my only friend from childhood, an amazingly rare male omega, and the person whom I want to spend all day, every day with."
"But-"
"No buts." Knox stared down at me with eyes full of sadness. "I won't listen to your negative talk. If you can come up with a legitimate reason as to why you so desperately want to push me away, then I'll listen, but I won't listen to crappy excuses. I'm going to do everything in my power to make you happy again. To make you realize that you're being silly. Oh, and nothing is going to stop me either. I'm going to drown you in my love, remember? Before you know it, you'll love yourself again, too. I just know it." Tears were spilling down my cheeks like crazy, and I couldn't stop them. Knox leaned in, gathered me into his arms, and toted me further onto the bed with him. Eventually, he flopped down and pulled the blankets up. "Mhmm, let all those negative feelings out." He mumbled into my hair as he held me close.
I don't know what possessed me, but Knox's words struck a chord deep inside me. I wanted to deny everything that he was saying, but I couldn't. The reality was, I had fallen into a pit of despair, and the walls were too slick for me to get out on my own. He was right. I had spent the last year and a half absolutely despising myself to the point that I felt like an imposter in my own skin. It's not that I didn't like Knox; it's that I didn't want myself to like Knox. I felt like such a tangled web of emotions that I didn't even know how to respond to Knox and his very apparent feelings.
As my tears started to slow, I was left pondering a question. Why? Why was Knox willing to go so far for the likes of me? Yeah, we were friends, but… that didn't make a ton of sense. I used to consider Tael a friend, and if he was going through a major personal crisis, I'd be there for him, but not to the extent that Knox was trying to be there for me… "You're crazy," I mumbled into his chest.
Knox snickered, and he gave me a bit of a squeeze. "Yep. Absolutely nuts."
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I was feeling a lot calmer after crying for a few hours and taking a short nap, but the emotion that I couldn't get to go away was my overwhelming embarrassment. I pushed away from Knox and started pulling the blanket over myself when he grabbed my arm. "Whatcha doing?" Shit! I thought he was asleep! He let out a big yawn, showing off his rather sharp-looking teeth, before peering over at me with his blue eyes.
I let out a soft whine and burrowed my head into the pillow. "Don't look at me!"
"But I like looking at you, you're cute."
"Nooooo!" I whined into the pillow.
"What's wrong?"
What's wrong? Did he have some missing marbles? I rotated my head just enough so that my words wouldn't be quite as mumbled. "I said embarrassing things, barfed all over you, and now I've cried all over you." My gaze wandered to the obvious tear stains on his shirt before wandering away. I'm nothing but a mess.
Knox snickered and scooted closer to me. "And yet, I'm not all that bothered." My face scrunched up in disgust. How is he not bothered that I puked all over him?! It was revolting. "Which reminds me, do you want to eat something light? We didn't exactly have dinner, and I'm rather hungry." Knox sat up in bed and did a stretch. Since he didn't have hold of my arm anymore, I quickly pulled the blanket up and over myself.
"No! I need to go back to my dorm!"
"Your dorm? Umm… it's too late for that…" I poked my head out of the blanket, and he pointed over to the window. Yeah… so it was dark… What was he getting at?
"What do you mean by too late? Surely a carriage could take me back." It's not like I was going to walk back to the campus.
"First off, it's too late for you to go back. If you go anywhere near the campus this late in the evening, you'll get in trouble. Second off, I can't get you a carriage." Knox held up one finger and then another as he spoke.
"Huh?" Why was he being so weird about me returning?
"Did you not pay attention during orientation?" Umm… not really. I was too busy dying inside… "There's a strict 9 pm curfew. Anyone found on campus grounds past nine will receive a permanent mark on their record. Three of them, and you get kicked out of the academy. Any aspirations you had will be gone like dust in the wind."
"Won't I get in trouble for not being in my dorm?"
"No. I literally never stay in my dorm. I've gone there once or twice, but I normally stay at the academy house or here. Besides, I'm pretty sure that rule only exists so alphas don't prowl at night and omegas are safely locked away in their dorms." Oh… That makes sense.
"So… I have to stay here?"
"Yep!" Knox seemed a bit too pleased about the circumstances. I started to sit up, but he quickly pushed me back against the bed. "Where are you going?"
My brow furrowed, and I glanced over at him, but my eyes kept getting drawn to the stupid wet mark on his shirt. "Shouldn't I head to the guest rooms for the night?" It had been a while, but I probably could find them, or Knox could guide me to one.
"About that…" Knox pulled his hand away from me and scratched the back of his neck.
"No one knows I'm here, do they?" I grumbled.
"My attendant knows… but he isn't going to say anything to anyone… I think…" Knox's cheeks started to go pink, and he stared up at his ceiling. "I'd be in a lot of trouble if anyone were to find out…"
I wasn't following his logic. Was it that big of a deal for me to use a guest bedroom? Did they have an envoy here or something? "Why?"
Knox's eyes darted over to me and creepily narrowed. He started leaning in until he threw his leg over me and pinned me to the bed. His hands pressed down on either side of me, and I felt like a bug in a trap. A massive grin spread over Knox's face as he leaned down to gruffly whisper in my ear. "The big, scary alpha brought this innocent little omega into its lair. If my father knew, he'd beat me into a pulp." Knox sat up a little, and the pure joy he radiated was honestly scary.
Him sitting on top of me was too much. I was absolutely horrified and didn't like it one bit. "Get off!" I squeaked.
Knox's eyes went wide, and he scrambled off me. "Shit! Sorry! I keep fucking things up! Why can't I get anything right?!"
Knox hadn't been pressing on my lungs, but having him off me made breathing feel easier. "You?" I breathlessly asked. I'm pretty sure I've fucked things up the most.
"Well, duh! We were having a good time, and I screwed things up. I should have been firmer with that woman. I didn't realize she thought I was leading her on until it was too late… Then I wanted to get you out of there, but I made you puke by running too fast. I can't believe I forgot that people aren't used to moving like that!" Knox brought a hand up and smacked himself in the forehead. It wasn't gentle either; he hit himself rather hard. "Then I made you cry… I said I was going to beat the shit out of Claren for making you cry, but now it's me who needs my ass kicked." Knox smacked himself in the head again, which I didn't like. "And then I go and get too excited again! I really am an idiot!" He brought his hand back to smack himself again, but I quickly sat up and grabbed his hand before he could. Knox seemed rather taken aback as I pulled his hand over to myself, but hitting himself wasn't fixing anything.
"Yeah, you're kinda dumb…" I nervously fiddled with his hand that I had hostage and peeked over at his pink face. "Also… don't hit Claren…" I returned my attention to Knox's hand and continued playing with it. "Claren might be cowardly and is being a big jerk face, but… he's at least tried. His attempts were always poorly thought out, and they ended up annoying me, but he's the only one in my family who reached out to me repeatedly." I lined my hand up with Knox's and noticed just how big Knox's hands had become compared to mine. His were always a bit bigger than mine, but now my hand dwarfed his. "Well… he's not the only one who's reached out to me anymore…" My eyes drifted over to Knox, and I saw him watching me intently. Don't fucking stare. Talking is embarrassing enough. I wanted nothing more than to bury myself in the bedding and never see the light of day.
Knox popped up off the bed and quickly tugged me over to him. His lips pressed against mine, and his excitement was palpable. I didn't say that to get you riled up! I wanted to smack him, but couldn't bring myself to do it. This is why I'm so confused-
A knock on Knox's door rang out, and Knox jolted away from me. I felt startled, too, but Knox was acting like we had been caught doing something truly shameful. "That's probably food." He said as he scrambled off the bed in a panic. "I'll go check!"
After a second, Knox returned with a large tray loaded to the brim with food. I blinked a few times and furrowed my brow. "When did you request food?" I never even answered his question about whether I wanted food or not.
"Ugh…" Knox froze for a second with a dumb look on his face. "When you fell asleep, I quickly popped my head out." His lack of eye contact and awkward body language were too obvious, but nothing else made sense…
I let out a little sigh and rolled my eyes. Whatever. Maybe I was reading too much into it. "I'm not really all that hungry…"
Knox set the tray down between us and joined me on the bed as he spoke. "I had a feeling you would say that, so I had them prepare some porridge." Knox pulled the lid off a medium-sized bowl, revealing a very mellow-looking rice dish. "If you want something else, I can let my attendant know, or if you don't want it at all, don't feel forced."
"Thanks…" I quietly mumbled as I picked up my spoon. My cheeks felt kinda warm as I avoided Knox's gaze. I guess I owe him a lot of thanks… When he told me that he'd be my pillar, I didn't realize the extent he was going to go for me. I didn't deserve it, but knowing Knox cared so much made me happy. Maybe relying on him wouldn't be so bad…
An odd grumbling sound drew my attention, and I looked up to see Knox with a massive smile. Ugh… was it me that was making him so happy or the plate of lamb chops? It was totally the lamb chops, wasn't it… "You don't need to thank me, but I'm happy nonetheless." This dork…
"Just eat your food, bone boy."
Knox's eyes popped open, ruining the happy look he had on his face. "I don't eat bones!" He snapped. "You're not going to let that go, are you?!"
"Nope." I snickered as I brought a small spoonful of porridge up to my lips.
Knox puckered his lips for a second before taking a big bite of his lamb. "You used to be so sweet." He whined before taking another bite. "Now my cute little Arden has such an attitude."
My expression soured as I looked up from my porridge. "Stop saying such embarrassing shit." He was making my face go red again.
"Heh. It's rather adorable how you get embarrassed when I call you cute. Your pheromones get a rather sharp note of tartness to them."
Yeah, my face was damn red now. "I thought you were going to teach me how to control them!" I snapped. I didn't like how Knox was so aware of everything I was feeling. It made me kinda uncomfortable.
"I've got to talk to my mother first. There's a chance it could be different for omegas. Also, it's not something that you're going to be able to master instantly. It will probably take you a couple of months, and if you want to get really good like me, it will take a few years."
"You do have pretty good control over them, don't you…" Rinley mentioned to me that Knox usually contained my pheromones when he was around me. Like a protective bubble.
"Yes, I do!" Knox proudly stuck out his chest for a second, but ended up snickering into his bowl of mashed root veggies. "I totally wasn't prepared for your outburst today, but I don't even know if I could have stopped it. You released so many pheromones all at once. Like a furious shockwave. The only other person I've seen do that is my grandfather." Knox chuckled again, as I uncomfortably shifted. "Heh… I've never heard of an omega protecting their alpha before."
"Will you shut up already?" I grumbled. I couldn't even bring myself to keep eating. The more he talked, the hotter my face got. "I already told you that was an accident. I didn't mean to say that!"
"Mhmmm." He sarcastically responded. "Are we sure I'm the one who's crazy?"
"Yeah, you're insane." I snapped.
"Okay, if you say so." Knox obnoxiously responded. Yes, I do say so.
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For the third time today, I was astonished by Knox's eating habits. I barely touched my food, and he ate enough to feed five omegas. There was no way that was normal… I pondered how strange Knox was as I settled down in his bed. I wasn't super comfortable with the idea of staying here, but I didn't have many other options, nor did I want Knox to get into trouble after everything he's done for me.
Knox returned to his bed after giving his attendant the dirty dishes. I thought he would have given me space, but he plopped down right beside me. There wasn't even an arm's space between us, and to make things worse, he snuggled even closer. "Knox…"
"Yeah?" He asked as he snuggled under the covers with me.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting comfortable." Knox finally looked over at me, and he had this annoyingly puzzled look on his face.
"Why are you so close?"
His eyes trailed down and then back up to my face. "It's not like we haven't slept like this before, and once again, I'm just getting comfortable." Oh, so my comfort meant nothing to him?! I don't care if we slept close once! I was in heat! I wasn't in my right mind! "Why are you so embarrassed?" Knox chuckled as he leaned in and sniffed my shoulder.
Knox seemed pretty surprised as I quickly sat up. "I should just go to a guest room."
I started to crawl over Knox since he was blocking my escape, but he snagged my arm and stopped me. "Calm down! If you leave this room, we'll both be in hot water." Why are you lumping me in with you?! If it were up to me, I'd be in my dorm right now! "Just lie down." Knox pulled me back down unexpectedly, but whatever he was trying to do really backfired. I ended up sprawled, not next to him, but on top of him. I thought my soul was going to escape my body as Knox's free hand came up to grip my waist. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you."
Gah! This position was… too awkward! It was like my brain forgot how to get my body to move, though, because all I managed to do was stare up at Knox. I was touching him way too much, and his hands shouldn't have been touching me! My eyes went wide in horror as I realized something else was starting to press against me, too.
"Pft, Arden." Knox rolled to the side, allowing me to be slightly free of him, but apparently, Knox had other ideas. He kept my waist gripped in his hands as he pressed his body and especially his hips against me. I wanted to freak out and scream, but Knox's pheromones distracted me. We were inside, but his pheromones made me feel like I had been caught in a warm summer day's squall.
To my horror, Knox rolled even further and sat up. He was completely between my legs and didn't even seem bothered as he pressed my knees out to either side. This… this was… far too intimate! My brain was going haywire as it tried to process what was happening. "Knox!" I managed to nervously squeak.
He leaned down and aggressively sniffed my neck. His breath was hot, and his pheromones shifted slightly in smell. Was he annoyed about my collar? "You smell… so damn good." He grumbled between sniffs.
"Knox!" Was he conscious or not?! He needed to get off!
Knox let out a rather loud grumbling sound as he kissed the soft spot under my ear and behind my jawbone. I let out a loud squeal because it tickled, but that only drew his lips to mine. His kiss was so rough and rugged that it drew the air from my lungs and made me gasp for air. "Say my name more." He demanded as he leaned in for another kiss.
"That's not why-" Knox kissed me again, preventing me from speaking, and he ground his hips rather hard against me. I swore to never have a guy touch me, and yet, I've let Knox repeatedly touch me. I wasn't sure why, but Knox didn't make me feel repulsed. If anything, I liked him touching me. A moan escaped my lips as Knox let me gasp for air, and all it did was get Knox riled up more. His hands kept rubbing up and down my sides, all the while tugging on my pajamas. I… I… "Knox." I wasn't complaining this time as I called out his name. My pheromones joined his, adding a tart sweetness to the air, and Knox happily answered my call by giving me another kiss.
"Omega… My omega." Knox happily cooed as his kisses drifted back down to my neck. "Mine, all mine." The rumbling in his chest felt rather strange, and the more Knox kissed me, the more my brain turned to mush.
Knox's greedy hands finally found the hem of my shirt, and he began tugging it up and off. I felt rather exposed to the cool night air, and the overwhelming feeling that it was raining, even though it wasn't, didn't help. Like curious spiders, his hands returned to my torso and started exploring. I wasn't bothered until his fingers managed to find my nipples and clamp on.
I let out a rather loud squeal as Knox rolled my nipples back and forth in his cold fingers. "Heh. Cute."
"K-Knox! Ah!" He resumed kissing my collarbone, and my knees clamped onto his sides. My toes even curled from the sensation. Why was my chest so sensitive? I could go nuts with this sensation alone.
Knox sat up and stared down at me, but I instinctively moved my arms to cover myself. The light might be dim, but I didn't want him looking at me. I was a ghost of my former self. All soft and squishy. Not muscular or toned like I used to be. I lacked any definition, like the body of a doll. It was embarrassing.
"Holy fuck, you're cute," Knox mumbled. Cute?! How the hell did he think I was cute? His vision had to be blurry from being overstimulated. He grabbed my wrists and started pulling my hands out of the way of my chest. I tried to resist, but it was no use.
It wasn't his hands that explored me this time, but his lips. They started at my collarbone and slowly made their way down, leaving a trail of kisses as he went. I shuddered as I realized where his lips were headed. I tried to resist, but Knox had my hands laced with his to either side of me. Wait… "Ngh!" A rather loud moan escaped me as Knox ran his tongue across my sensitive skin. He didn't stop there either. The more sounds I made, the rougher he was with my poor nipple. There was probably not going to be anything left after he was done with it.
Knox sat up with an all too satisfied look in his eyes and gazed down at the mess that was my left pec. I struggled to breathe as I watched his hungry eyes dart over to my untouched side. I let out a loud yelp as he lunged back down to tease me. "Knox!" I pathetically whined as he sucked as hard as he could. With a loud pop, Knox sat up and grinned.
"Even better than I had dreamed," Knox mumbled as he released my hands and squeezed my chest. I shuddered slightly, and Knox's smile grew. His gaze drifted downwards for a moment, and he snickered. "Someone must really like his chest being teased." Knox's comment brought me back to my senses, and I tried to close my legs. Knox, however, grabbed my knees and prevented me from hiding myself. "There's no need to hide. I feel the same." As if to prove his point, Knox rubbed his own embarrassing erection against me. He didn't need to do that. I was already far too aware of what was excitedly trying to escape his pants. "Do you… want to continue?"
Continue? So now he cared about what he was doing, huh? My attention got drawn to Knox adjusting the strings to his pants, and I froze. Just how big was he?! Wait…
I flinched, and Knox nervously grabbed my knees as they snapped together. "Arden?"
My brain was in absolute panic mode. It was only just occurring to me that Knox was the alpha and I was the omega. That means that Knox wants to… Knox wants to…!!!
Knox forced my knees apart so he could lean forward. He cupped my face and gazed down at me with a gentle gaze. "Don't be scared. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, and I'm doing everything in my power to rein myself in." He rubbed his forehead against mine, and even our noses touched. His gentle actions did help calm me down a tiny bit, but I was still in a panic as I thought about what Knox wanted to do to me. "We should probably stop things here."
He started to pull away, but I instinctively grabbed his arm. "I… I…" What did I want? Him? We're both guys, though… My head was such a mess, and I was so turned on. "Damn it… d… don't go." I pathetically whimpered. Knox treated me like I was normal. I didn't want him slipping through my fingers, and yet, I was rather nervous about his intentions.
I didn't want to acknowledge Knox after saying something so embarrassing, but I noticed out of the corner of my eye that his expression turned warm. "Okay." Knox enveloped me in an embrace and kissed my neck. Gah! He knows that spot is ticklish, doesn't he? "What would you like me to do?" He asked between kisses. Do?!
How the hell was I supposed to answer that sort of question?! I don't fucking know! I wish my voice had sounded half as confident as my internal one. "I… I don't know." Why did I even ask him to stay when he made me this nervous?
"Then let's take things slow." Knox sat up and pushed my bangs from my face. No! I don't want you looking at my red face! "I might be a beast, but I'm not uncontrollable. If you don't like something, say so, and I'll stop." All I could do was nod in response. His gaze was too much, and my mind couldn't stop spiraling.
My mind finally stopped thinking as Knox reached a hand down and pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it across the room, but my eyes didn't watch where it landed. Instead, they were glued to Knox's figure. Every one of his muscles were perfectly defined as if the gods had carefully carved each one. What the hell?! He gets to look like that while I'm all soft and squishy?! Why fate?! Why?!
"Arden, if you keep staring like that, I'm going to get embarrassed." Despite his comment, Knox was all grins. He loved me looking at him.
My eyes darted away as my face continued to burn. "Wh… what are you doing? Lifting carriages in your free time?" I grumbled as I tried to hide my face with a hand.
Knox chuckled as his hands gripped his knit pants' waistline. "No, but I should try now that you mention it." Huh?
I was about to snap at him about being dumb, but the words never made it past my lips. He pulled his pants down to reveal not only his lack of underwear, but his massive, throbbing dick. I didn't even know how to react. How… was his so big? Surely all alphas aren't that big… He started to move closer to me, and I flinched. What did he think he was going to do with that thing?!
I pulled my knees together and tried to use my feet to block my bottom. Knox grabbed my knees, though, and wiggled them about. "Don't be shy. I wasn't going to go all the way with you… My parents might really kill me if we did…" Knox looked a little bashful, but his words didn't help calm me down. I was terrified of what was lurking behind my legs.
Despite my apparent fear, Knox didn't stop as he reached his hands down and started pulling off my pants. "Wait! No! It's too embarrassing!"
"Nothing is embarrassing about you, Arden." He said as he managed to tug my pants down a few inches.
No, no, no! I'm so embarrassingly small! "I'm a guy too!" I yelped.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm aware?" I tried grabbing my pants and pulling them back up, but Knox wasn't having it. He tugged with enough force that not only did my hands slip off my pants, but he was able to get them off my hips and down to the top of my thighs. I squirmed around in an attempt to hide myself, but Knox wrangled my legs under an arm. Knox leaned over and nibbled on my sock. "I didn't realize that you wore women's socks." His eyes looked me up and down for a minute before a big grin formed on his face. "It's so hot, Arden."
I thought my brain was going to melt out of my ears. "Shut up!" I squeaked. Why the hell of all days did Rinley not have any clean men's socks for me to wear?!
Knox only snickered, though, and held onto my squirming legs. "Stop being embarrassed. Look, you're as turned on as me." Noooooo! Don't look!
To my horror, Knox reached his free hand over and poked my tip with his finger. "Don't touch it!" I squealed.
"What? Do you want me to stare?" Knox teasingly lowered his head, which only made me thrash about even more. I thought he was going to listen to me!
"No! Knox- Ah!" I went to complain, but a loud squeak escaped me as Knox lunged down and engulfed me in his mouth. My body shuddered as his tongue swirled around and around. His mouth is so warm, it's making my eyes flutter.
Knox released me, and a little tendril of drool stretched out between his tongue and my dick before breaking as he sat up. Knox smacked his lips a few times as his gaze hungrily looked at me. "Guess that counts as touching, doesn't it? Oops." Despite his vile actions, Knox was all smiles. He didn't seem to care one bit that he put my dick in his mouth. "Arden?" Knox released my now limp legs and teasingly poked me. "Are you alive?" He continued poking me, but I didn't react as I lifelessly stared at the ceiling. "Heh, your pheromones are leaking out. You liked it, didn't you?"
My breathing was terribly shallow as I tried to restart my brain. I… liked it? I guess… it wasn't that bad… Knox used my sedated state to his advantage and tugged my pants the rest of the way off. He was moving around quite a bit, so I assume he managed to get his pants off, too. Though… maybe he was doing something else because he opened his bedside drawer.
"Remember, all you have to do is say stop, and I will." Knox repositioned my legs as they had been, and his behemoth of a dick pressed mine flat against my torso. It completely smothered mine and made me feel a little pathetic. As if I wasn't already struggling to breathe, Knox leaned down and kissed me. I felt like a melting block of ice. Little by little, my tongue and lips started to respond to Knox's kissing. It was probably thanks to his pheromones that were drowning out my excessively nervous ones.
Knox wasn't kidding when he said he was going to drown me in his love, because it honestly felt like he was trying to convey all his feelings to me through his obsessive kissing. I squirmed around underneath him, and Knox finally let me come up for air. He apparently wasn't satisfied because his kisses drifted back down to my neck. He's… going to make me lose it at this rate. It didn't help that Knox had started to swing his hips. My poor dick was getting aggressively smushed by Knox's and I… kinda liked it.
Knox sat up, and he leaned over to grab something. "I… might have bought this a while ago… It should make things even better…" Knox brought the small bottle up to his lips and bit down on the cork that sealed it. Knox's gaze wandered down to me as he tilted his head up and shot the cork across the room with a strong exhale. Was he… trying to impress me or something? I was far too concerned about said liquid to feel anything else. I flinched as he started dousing our dicks in the sticky stuff, and Knox reached a hand out to grab my hips. "Don't worry. It's just an oil to help get things slippery." Knox's face was turning a little pink at the tops as he tried to justify his purchase. "Hold these." Knox tossed the now-empty bottle to the side and grabbed my fidgety hands. He forced me to wrap my fingers around our shafts, but my small hands couldn't handle such a task. Even using my thumbs, I could barely get my fingers to touch. Knox guided my hands up and down our shafts. The pleasure was far too much! That oil made everything so slippery, and Knox knew how to squeeze my hands in all the perfect spots. I thought I was going to burst just from this, but Knox looked absolutely fine. I was the one struggling to hold on. Knox pulled his hands away from mine and gripped my knees. He started to lightly swing his hips, so I stopped moving my hands and held them still. "Don't let go."
He started to swing his hips with more vigor, and I thought my brain was going to melt. Each vein along his dick tickled my fingers, and the sheer force he was inflicting upon my dick made my eyes want to roll back inside my skull. My hands were the first thing to start shivering, but after a moment, my entire body was shuddering. Even my breathing was shaky as I used every fiber of my being to prevent myself from bursting.
My efforts didn't help, though. All it took was one solid smack of Knox's balls against my butt, and I completely lost it. I tried to stifle the loud moan that escaped my lips, but it didn't help. I cried out as my body lurched towards Knox's and shivered slightly. I felt the warmth on my abdomen and knew I had lost the battle. "That's not fair. You're supposed to wait for me."
"Too… much," I mumbled as my blurry eyes tried to focus. Knox snuck down and stole a kiss from my overwhelmed lips. It's not like I had never pleasured myself before, but this was completely different, and my body reacted far stronger than it ever had before.
Knox chuckled and kissed my forehead before sitting back up. "I'm glad you liked it." He sat on his haunches and pulled my legs together. He shifted my feet to one shoulder and tightly bound my knees in his arms. "You'd better put those hands to good use and hold on to the bed." He teased as he leaned over and nibbled on my ankle's sock.
Huh? I was about to question Knox, but I got my answer as he started aggressively thrusting into my thighs. His dick was big enough that the tip kept squishing mine every time he plunged forward. The feeling wasn't even remotely similar to using my hands. If anything, it felt far more intimate. Oh my gods, is he trying to make me burst again? I… I can't handle this feeling!
Apparently, I wasn't the only one getting worked up. Knox kept making feral growling sounds between sharp inhales. It was like he was trying to break my body, though. He had way too much strength and was really going at it like a horny dog. My poor legs were starting to feel like jelly, and my toes were starting to curl. To my horror, I kept making embarrassing sounds, though Knox seemed to like them. He'd make his funny growling sound every time I moaned.
My whole body was starting to shake like a leaf. A different sort of feeling was starting to build inside me, but I wasn't familiar with it. What I did know was that I was struggling not to burst again. I can't cum twice when he hasn't even done it once! He'll be even cockier than he already is!
I didn't have to worry too much, though. As the tip of Knox's dick slid across mine, he shuddered for a second, thrust his hips as far forward into my thighs as they would go, and burst. Warmth spread not only across my abdomen, but clear up onto my chest. His eruption set me off. My back arched off the bed, and my whole body quivered as I added my load to his.
I struggled to pant for air as bathed in our sticky warmth. Knox released my legs and flopped down next to me. "Holy shit. That was great. I can't even imagine how amazing it would be had we gone all the way." Maybe it was just my head playing tricks on me, but Knox's pupils were elongated again. They looked me up and down like a hungry predator, and I shivered. He wants more, doesn't he?
I'm not sure I was feeling the same. After walking around the capital all day, I was exhausted. My legs felt like jelly, and my body was sore from how rough he was. I was still struggling to breathe because of him. I let out a defeated whine, and Knox chuckled.
His lips gently kissed my forehead before coming down and giving me a gentle peck on the lips. "Don't fall asleep yet, we've got to go shower again." Knox popped off the bed like he had simply done some light exercise and started to wander the room. I wasn't sure what the hell he was doing until he returned with our clothes. Oh yeah, the weirdo flung them around the room like a wild animal. After collecting them all, Knox crawled back onto the bed and started helping me take my socks off. Well, it was less helping and more doing. I just lay there lifelessly as the weirdo mumbled under his breath about how hot he thought my socks were.
Knox was right about one thing: I was incredibly tired. My eyelids were feeling rather heavy, and it was taking a generous amount of effort not to fall asleep. However, as Knox scooted me over to the side of the bed and carefully picked me up into his arms, the desire to fall asleep faded. "I can walk…" I grumbled into his chest.
"You could, but you're a bit of a mess, and I don't want anything to drip anywhere." Ah… right… I was sorta covered in cum… I can't believe I did that… with Knox… "Stop being so embarrassed." Knox laughed as he hauled me into the bathroom. "I know you liked it." I gulped nervously and tried to hide my face. He didn't need to address how I was feeling.
Knox carefully held onto me as he sat down in the tub and got the taps going. I was rather embarrassed about sitting between his legs, but after what we just did, I guess there was no point in feeling embarrassed. That didn't mean I didn't feel awkward, though. Knox grabbed my shoulders and forced me to lie against him. "Hey!" I squeaked.
"Relax, I don't bite. Besides, didn't we just do a lot more than cuddle?" Knox firmly held me against him, and I didn't disagree with what he said, but it was hard to ignore his erection poking me in the back. He hadn't calmed down one bit.
"It's all too much…"
Knox was silent for a moment, and I watched the water in the tub rise. "I know… and I'm here for you… Sorry… I probably should have controlled myself a bit better and waited to get intimate…" He gave me a bit of a squeeze, and his warm breath tickled the part of my neck that wasn't covered by my collar. "You're not upset with me, are you?"
"No…" To deny that I didn't like it at this point felt silly… "I'm just… confused…" Knox reached a foot up to shut off the tap, so I reached over and pinched his thigh. "I could have done that."
"Yeah, but I want you to relax. Is the water temperature okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine." It could have been warmer, but I wasn't going to complain.
Knox started bringing little handfuls of water up my chest to help wash me off. I felt a little silly having him clean me off, but I doubt he'd stop if I complained. "Do you want to talk?"
"About?"
"Obviously about your confusion." Oh… "I'll do anything in my power to help."
I sat there for a moment, watching Knox's hand glide across my skin. His touch made me feel oddly comfortable… "Why?... Why would you go that far for me?" I just couldn't fathom why he'd do so much.
His hand that was washing me off paused, and snuggly wrapped around me. Knox snuggled his head against my shoulder and stifled a snicker. "Arden, are we sure it's not you that's dumb? I obviously like you. Like a lot. I wouldn't be intimate with someone I don't like or just thought of as a friend. I want you to be my omega, and I, your alpha. Mmm, just thinking about how you shouted at that woman makes me happy. You should say that I'm yours again," Knox released me just enough so he could rub his thumb over my bottom lip.
He… likes me? "I'm a guy- Ack!"
Before I could finish talking, Knox sank his teeth into my shoulder. Pain coursed through me for a second before intense satisfaction took its place. "Are your ears attached?" Knox said as he leaned close to my ear. "I don't fucking care what your first gender is, nor your second. That hardly matters to me, Arden. I like you, because you're you. Even if you were an alpha, I'd feel the same way." What? That wouldn't even be physically possible… Alphas hated the smell of other alphas.
Knox kept licking my shoulder where he had bitten me while I processed what he had said. "You… act as if you liked me before our secondary genders manifested…"
"That's because I did. I've liked you ever since I met you. I remember the day your mother brought you to the palace, like it happened yesterday. You hid behind her leg in fear, and as you nervously peeked out, our eyes met. I was overwhelmed with the desire to protect you. You looked scared as I grabbed your hand and hauled you away from your mother, but I just had to keep you to myself." It felt a little strange hearing that moment told from Knox's perspective. He was definitely right about something; he scared the hell out of me as he hauled me away from my mother. I remember looking back at her for help and seeing her giggling. It turned out not to be that bad, though, Knox doted on me like crazy… as we… grew up… Oh… He always goes out of his way for me, doesn't he?
"That just means we're close friends-!"
Knox bit down on my shoulder again, this time a bit harder. An embarrassing moan escaped my lips as Knox let out a grumbling growl into my shoulder. "Stop making excuses. You might be in denial, but I'm very confident about my feelings." Knox slowly dragged his tongue along the new bite mark before speaking again. "Get it through your head. I like you a whole lot more than friends."
I knew in my gut he was speaking the truth, but I was scared. Scared to accept something I was definitely unworthy of. I wasn't a normal omega. I didn't deserve Knox's attention. "You're the crown prince…" I quietly muttered.
Knox let out a defeated sigh and lightly chewed on my shoulder. He didn't bite down this time and instead sat up after a moment. "Arden, Arden, Arden. You say the same excuses over and over like a broken magic device. Instead of worrying about feelings, why don't we get some sleep?"
"But…" I felt horrible about leaving Knox without an answer. My mind kept telling me to push him away, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.
"But nothing." Knox leaned in and kissed me gently behind my ear. "Don't worry about me. I'll keep patiently waiting while you figure things out. I've waited this long, I can wait a bit longer."
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You would have thought I ate an entire bowl of worms for dinner and not a bowl of porridge. My stomach was nervously swirling around as I crawled back into Knox's bed. Denying Knox's feelings felt a little silly. The more I thought about the past, the more obvious it became that Knox liked me more than your average friend. The big weirdo even insisted on towel drying me after getting out of the tub. I felt rather mortified, but it's not like I could stop him.
"Must you always lie so close?" I complained as Knox practically lay on top of me.
My complaint must have landed on deaf ears because Knox proceeded to wrap his arms around me. "Am I not allowed to cuddle my omega?"
"I'm… not yours," I grumbled under my breath. "Your bed is massive, go lie over there!" I had to close my eyes. Knox's gaze was intense, and the way he was intertwining the two of us was completely unnecessary.
Apparently, Knox was picking and choosing what he did and didn't listen to, because he completely ignored my first comment. "Mmm, I could go lie over there, but I'd much rather be on top of you right now. The sound of you moaning was something I'll never forget." I let out a loud squeak as Knox ground his hips against me. How could he still be worked up?! "Heh, your reactions are funny."
"Stop screwing around with me!" I squealed as I tried my best to hide my red face.
Knox gave me a squeeze and chuckled. "I'm not screwing around. I'm being completely serious." Knox brought a hand up and started stroking my hair. Was he… petting me? "You're like a feral cat. Happy when fed and being loved, but terribly cautious and quick to growl."
"Stop petting me!" I grumbled. I am not a cat!
Knox did indeed stop petting me, but it was only so he could continue teasing me. He held my head in place as he stole a kiss, and as he pulled away, his gaze was so incredibly warm. "Goodnight, Arden." He snickered as he snuggled his head into the top of my hair. I squirmed around uncomfortably, but it was clear that he wasn't going to let go. "Are you not going to tell me goodnight?"
I let out a long and angry huff. "Goodnight, Knox." Despite my obvious irritation, Knox chuckled and squeezed me.
"Best day ever." Knox sleepily mumbled into the top of my head. Yeah, he's officially nuts. How was my puking on him the best day ever? I couldn't even respond to him and his feelings in the tub. They just made me even more confused… Ugh… What am I going to do?