me, through the crowd.
Yes, I was actually an earl.
Yes, dual citizenship was a real thing, and yes, so fun.
Yes, lots of property, in America and England. All over the globe, actually. Loads of it, acres and miles of it.
No, it was a sapphire in my lapel pin, not a blue topaz. One was darker; might want to look that up.
“Mind the sarcasm, please,” Kat reprimanded under her breath.
Yes, born a cyne; it was that pesky birth-order bit.
“Really?” she asked, sounding pained.
I could feel my right eye start to twitch.
Yes, yes, actually an earl—again with that one. I had the paperwork and everything.
“Don’t be glib,” Kat warned, shoulder-checking me.
“I need a super-secret earl decoder ring to show everyone.”
Her groan was long-suffering. “Just c’mon,” she prodded. “They want you to stand in a certain place.”
Of course they did.
“Don’t grind your teeth,” Kat reminded me. “It’s a terrible sound, like nails on a chalkboard, and it scares the omegas.”
“What about me, pray tell, does not scare the omegas? Perhaps make that list instead, as I’m certain it would prove shorter and easier to compile.”
“And stop growling,” she stated painfully. “They faint when you do that.”
I would do my best.
More omegas stopped me to chat. A few of them were so young. One girl swooned when she met my eyes. Her chaperone shot me a dirty look, as though I glared on purpose to see if they’d run. That didn’t even sound like something I’d do. It would have been naughty.
And now there was a line and…and…
I was cold. I was never cold. What in the world?
The hair on the back of my neck stood up; then there was a prickly flush of heat on my skin that unsettled me because I was shivering just moments before. I glanced around for Kat, but she was nowhere in sight.
Gentle throat clearing, and I focused on the woman in front of me, with her platinum blond hair and long-lashed blue eyes. She bowed low, and when she straightened and offered me her hand, I took it quickly because there was a scent, a flutter of something in the air that was…different. Since anything different could only be qualified as good, as in the opposite of this crushing boredom, I was intrigued.
“And you are?” I stared at her, inhaling deeply, trying to catch the scent again, the faintest trace of agarwood? Sandalwood? It was like the still-smoking embers of a fire, of oud and vetiver and musk.
It was sublime. I wanted it all over me.
“Bridget Mills,” she announced herself, smiling at me, lashes fluttering, eyes downcast before lifting, releasing pheromones at the same moment and filling the air with apricot and vanilla, caramel and a rush of fresh strawberry.
I dropped her hand and took an instinctive step back. I didn’t want her smell to have a chance to replace the faint trace of the other alluring, tantalizing aroma.
“Sir? Are you well?”
I would be as soon as I found the origin of the scent I wanted to roll in, or on. It was lingering on her clothes or in her hair and was released when she moved.
“I’m…fine,” I managed in response. “Where did you––”
“Sir, may I––”
“I’m sorry; there’s quite a line,” I explained, calming, collecting myself and my thoughts. Clearly, I was confused. There were too many layers of perfume in the room, even as large as it was. What I needed was some fresh air to clear my head and nose, but to do that I had to greet and dismiss all the waiting omegas, and this one was standing in my way. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Her eyes widened, and I saw the flare of anger but couldn’t have cared less. Then I turned and suddenly found myself face-to-face with a truly stunning man. His rose-gold hair and jade-colored eyes were a remarkable combination. Along with his flawless porcelain skin, he was nearly blinding. He was perfection, and for a moment I was enthralled…because the smell, it was his. It had been coming from him. His scent was heavenly. It was warm cedar and wild black spruce, and the musk was back, with the aged leather and that same vetiver smoke. It was rugged and wild and—
The disappointment was crushing, almost painful, and it took everything in me not to reel as though from a blow. My chest tightened with defeat even as I faced perhaps the most beautiful omega I had ever seen in my life. He was grace and beauty incarnate, a man who should