he could bring this omega's two sides together and give the whole—give Jo—what she needed.
He'd already witnessed the crack in her defenses after just a tiny taste of pleasure. The more he pushed those boundaries, overwhelming them with sensation, the sooner they'd crumble completely.
Jo might hate him for it—at first.
But when she felt the sweet release that only an omega could achieve, when she understood how high she could take her and how completely she could trust him to be there when she exploded, she would understand.
That this was the only way. That they were meant for this, and this alone.
Aric freed himself, disentangling himself from her arms and legs while ignoring her whimpers of protest, and slid down her body. He shoved the dark, soft fabric of her dress up over her hips until it was bunched up around her waist. Her panties were already gone—he'd made sure of that—and he pushed her legs open roughly and stared, his mouth watering.
Fuck, she had a pretty pussy…all pink and plump and wet and glistening, with folds like flower petals opening to the sun. No: opening to him—to her alpha.
Flattening his palms against the smooth skin of her inner thighs, Aric pushed them further apart, so there was no way for her to hide any part of herself.
"Show me," he ordered her. "Use your hands and let me see all of it. Show me how you want me."
For a moment, she did nothing. The war between her head and her body had come to an impasse. So Aric joined the fight.
It didn't take much. All he had to do was clasp her hands and pull them down to her opening. They knew what to do from there.
Sure enough, her delicate fingers found her mound and parted herself for him. She teased her folds apart, catching her breath as she flicked her clit with her own thumb.
She gasped, as much in surprise as in pleasure.
Aric forced himself not to revel in triumph as her emotions began to shift, becoming more complex. More curious.
Her body was not what it was a day ago. It had been awakened to a new language, new abilities, and new responses that she could not even imagine.
But he couldn't wait any longer.
He tightened his fingers around Jo's thighs at precisely the same moment that he lowered his mouth to her pussy. Sweet slick coated his tongue as Jo cried out, plunging her fingers into his hair to hold him there.
Yes. That's what he fucking wanted to hear—the sounds of need and release, not more evasion and excuses.
He traced his tongue lightly—so lightly—along the length of her inner lips, retreating when she bucked against him, teasing her to a frantic state. Only when she was begging and keening did he stroke—just once—the tight bud of her clit.
One flick was all it took for her thighs to convulse under his palms. Aric gave a growl of satisfaction. Fate might have sent him an argumentative little omega, but she more than made up for it with her responsiveness.
And her taste—sweeter than honey, more complex than his special reserve whiskey in his prized centuries-old casks.
Aric went back for another taste, memorizing her, marking her. And then another.
Eventually, it was time to stop tormenting her. He seized upon her clit, laving it with his warm, wet tongue. Jo pulled him against her by the hair, whipping her head back and forth on the pillow, thrashing and bucking. It was all he could do to hold on.
But he had a few tricks left.
Aric used one finger to trace her opening where moments ago his mouth had been. Slowly, gauging his progress by the way she slapped at him, urging him on, he slid one finger inside her, relishing the warmth of her pussy tightening around him.
"Oh God," she cried above him, and Aric couldn't help but grin at how quickly her curses had turned to prayers. As he stroked his fingertip back and forth against her inner walls, those prayers just kept on coming. "Oh God oh God oh God…"
Another finger teased her opening, gently stretching, gliding inside. She shuddered around him, her back arching in response, her pulse as rapid as a hummingbird's wings.
Fuck, yes. This is was what Aric had never known he was waiting for—to feel his omega come. To taste her. To drink her in. To drown in her.
And she was so close…so fucking close.
"Oh God, Aric!"
A low rumble started deep in his chest. His mouth stilled, as did his