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If he keeps looking at me like I’m his midnight snack, then all of this beta bullshit will be over before it even begins.
I uncross my arms and crook a finger at him, beckoning him closer. He obliges, stopping mere inches from me, his breath hot against my skin. “First things first—lose the shirt.”
A wicked grin spreads across his face as he reaches back and yanks his shirt over his head in one smooth motion. I have to bite my lip to keep from groaning at the sight of his chiseled chest and abs. The man is a work of art.
There is even a little scar on his shoulder that I want to lick.
Honestly, I just wanted to see if he’d do as I asked. He did. Now what? I started this game, and I am going to have to finish it.
“Like what you see?” he asks.
I nod slowly, drinking in every inch of his sculpted torso. “It’s a start, but I’m going to need more than just a pretty view.”
Malachi leans in closer, his lips brushing against my ear. “Just tell me what you want, Aria. I’m all yours.”
His words send a shiver down my spine. I want him, all of him, in every way imaginable, but I also want to savor this and make him work for it.
“Sit,” I command, pointing to the salon chair. He obeys without hesitation, settling into the black leather seat.
I grab a cape and drape it around his shoulders, letting my fingers graze his skin as I secure it around his neck. His muscles tense beneath my touch, and I smile to myself.
“So tell me, Malachi, what brings you to my humble salon at this late hour?” I grab a metal comb and work through the section I plan to fade out.
He meets my gaze in the mirror, his eyes smoldering with an intensity that sends a shiver down my spine. “You,” he says, his voice a low rumble that I can almost feel vibrating through the air between us.
“Little ole me?” I look away, because I very well might fucking swoon, and then we are all screwed…mainly because I’m holding clippers in my hands that are worth more than my rent. I focus my attention on his hair, running my fingers through the strands, feeling the silk slide across my skin. “And what about me brought you here tonight?”
Malachi’s eyes meet mine in the mirror, a mix of determination and vulnerability in his gaze. “I know you might need some space, Aria,” Malachi says, his voice low and hesitant. “But I couldn’t stay away. There’s something about you that keeps pulling me in. Your beauty, your fire… You’ve awakened something in me, in all of us.”
His words make my breath catch in my throat. I set the clippers down, not trusting my suddenly shaking hands. “That’s a lot to put on a girl you barely know.”
“But I want to know you, Aria, in every way possible.” He reaches up and catches my wrist, his touch searing my skin.
I know I should pull away and put some distance between us before this goes too far, but I can’t seem to make myself move. “Malachi…”
“Tell me you don’t feel it too,” he murmurs, his thumb stroking the inside of my wrist. “This connection between us.”
My mouth goes dry, and I can hear my heartbeat echoing in my ears. I find myself leaning towards him, as if an invisible thread is pulling us together. My body seems to have a mind of its own, responding to his presence in a way I’ve never experienced before.
Take a chance, Aria.
Malachi’s words linger in the air, heavy with promise and possibility. My pulse quickens, a mix of excitement and trepidation coursing through my veins. This connection, this pull toward him, is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It both thrills and terrifies me.
“I feel it,” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the hammering of my heart. “But, Malachi, you have to understand, I’m not… I can’t just…”
He stands abruptly, reaching up to unfasten the cape. It slides off his shoulders, pooling at his feet as he turns to face me. His hands come up to frame my face, his touch gentle yet insistent. “Say you will allow us to court you,” he says, his eyes intense. I blink, momentarily thrown.
Do alphas even court betas in this world?
My heart beats so damn hard in my chest that I am pretty sure I’m having a heart attack and I’m about to keel over and die.
I meet his gaze, seeing my own longing and apprehension reflected back at me. “What if we crash and burn? What if we ruin everything?”
“What if we fly?” he counters, a small smile playing on his mouth. “What if this is the start of something amazing? Something real and true and once in a lifetime?”
His thumbs rub against my cheek, and his breath brushes across my lips. Unlike me, he smells like heaven and a dash of hell.
Cedarwood and amber.
