Forbidden: Part One – Chapter 43

I wasn’t even trying to sleep. I knew I wouldn’t be able to when Josie was in her room, alone and upset. I wanted to do unspeakably horrible things to her mother for whatever she had said to my beautiful mate.

Cam and Theo had finally made their way to their separate rooms, and I was sitting in the library downstairs, a soothing record playing in the background, my hand gripping a large glass of whisky. I didn’t know how to make this better. Should I just go into her room and force her to talk to me?

The record stopped, and as I got up to turn it over, I heard a sound in the kitchen. My heart lurched—was it her?

I found Josie standing in the dark, illuminated by only the refrigerator light. She was hunched over the counter, quickly eating the chocolate cake I made this afternoon. Based on how much was left, it looked like she had already eaten two or three slices. Her eyes were glazed over, and she didn’t notice me standing in the doorway.

“Josie, precious, you okay?” I asked quietly.

She jumped and gave a little scream, throwing her fork at my head. I deflected it before it hit me.

“Damn, you have good aim. Although I think I preferred being hit with the brownie.” As I walked closer, I noticed her scent was burnt with fear.

“Gorgeous, why are you shaking?” I lifted my hand to touch her but hesitated when she let out a whimper and flinched away from me.

“Josie,” I whispered. “I would never hurt you.”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “You shouldn’t touch me. I’m dirty.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you say that?” I almost growled.

Her trembling increased, and I couldn’t stop myself from picking her up. I was relieved when she didn’t fight me—her arms and legs wrapped around me and I squeezed her tighter. A rumbling started in my chest as I began to purr. Everything about this situation was stressful as fuck, but satisfaction filled me as I purred for my mate for the first time.

I didn’t say anything, just held her close and rocked gently back and forth. Her trembling slowly stopped, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. I leaned back against the counter, one arm holding her up beneath her ass and the other cupping the back of her neck so her face was tucked into mine. I pressed my face into her hair, relieved to find her scent was settling down.

“You are my sweet, precious mate. You’re such a good girl. You just tell me what’s going on when you’re ready.” I kept up a steady stream of reassurance and praise, holding back my inner alpha pressuring me to push her to tell me everything so I could make it all better. I knew it was important to give her the time she needed.

Finally, she said, “I ate most of your cake.” Of all the things she could have said, I was not expecting that.

“What did you think?” I asked.

“What?”

“Did you think it was a good chocolate cake? It’s a new recipe.”

“Ben! You should be upset with me. I ate most of the cake.”

I placed her down on the island so I could see her better. I was missing something, but I wasn’t sure what. My legs spread hers wide as I stepped in between them, pushing up the tiny sleep shorts she had on. I placed one hand firmly on her upper thigh, and the other gripped her chin lightly.

“Why the fuck would I be upset? I made the cake because I thought you would like it. You didn’t eat nearly enough food today. I’m thrilled you ate some, and there’s still plenty left. I’ll feed you the rest if you’re still hungry.”

Josie’s eyes filled with tears again.

“Precious, please. I can’t handle it when you cry. Please tell me what’s going on.”

“I binge eat,” she whispered, unable to meet my eyes. “I try to control what I eat, but there’s something wrong with me. I can’t control it and I’m too fat and nothing like an omega should be.” Her breaths came faster as she worked her way into a panic.

“Take a breath for me, precious.” I pulled her in, resting her head on my chest so she could hear my heartbeat.

“I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to convince you how beautiful you are, but here,” I grabbed one of her hands and guided it down to my hard cock. “I shouldn’t be hard right now. You’re in distress. But my cock is an asshole and doesn’t know that. All it sees are your delicious thighs bracketing mine, your sweet little nipples poking through that tank top. I love your softness and your curves. I wouldn’t trade them for anything and certainly don’t want you to starve yourself to change your body.”

“But I should have more self-control,” she said, unable to meet my gaze. My heart was breaking, watching her so lost in pain.

“Says who? I’d be more than happy for you to lose control around me.” I brushed my lips down the side of her face and she shivered.

“It’s not easy when you three look like Greek gods or something,” she said. “Like, come on. Makes me feel hideous in comparison.”

“You think I look like a Greek god?” I asked in my typical teasing tone. Josie gave me a small, watery smile and looked away. I realized I had messed up. Josie was being vulnerable with me, and I needed to be brave for her.

“No, sorry, that’s not what I meant to say.” I cupped her cheek and gently urged her to look at me. “I don’t know exactly what you’re going through. But I know a little bit of what it’s like to feel pressure to look a certain way.”

Her eyebrows crinkled and her lip jutted out in adorable confusion.

“I’m not saying it’s the same thing as what you’ve gone through. Fuck, it makes me want to cry thinking of how people have treated you. I can’t imagine being starved or repeatedly told that something was wrong with my body. It’s not the same, but I do feel pressured to be really buff. I was always told alphas had to be the strongest and most muscular. I’ve been working out daily since I was a kid. And I actually pretty much hate it. I was always told an omega wouldn’t be attracted to me if I didn’t have a six-pack and wasn’t solid muscle.”

“What? You don’t like working out?”

“No, I would much rather spend the time doing other things like baking or spending sleepy mornings with you. Alpha biology means that I’ll probably stay pretty muscular and reasonably strong even without tons of intense workouts, but I wouldn’t look like this if I slowed it down,” I said, gesturing down my torso.

“But that would be okay,” Josie said, her eyes shining earnestly. “You don’t have to be super muscular or have a six-pack. You should do what makes you happy.”

“Ahh, but you won’t be as attracted to me if I gain some fat.”

“Says who?” Josie said, crossing her arms in indignation. “I totally would be. You would still be one of the three hottest alphas in the world.”

“So fucking cute.” I placed a gentle kiss on my mate’s rosy lips. “You could just be saying that, though, and not mean it.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I don’t care what you look like, Ben. I love all of you, and I’m always going to be attracted to you.”

“Then it shouldn’t be hard to believe I feel the same way about you.” I raised my eyebrow at her.

She opened her mouth as if to argue and then paused. Her nose scrunched again as if she was trying to figure out a complicated math problem.

“It’s going to take me a while to believe that,” she finally said.

“That’s alright, beautiful. We have time. Until you believe it, I’m going to make sure you eat regularly, okay? And if you want to come down and eat more at night, you don’t have to hide it. I’m never going to judge you for it. In fact, I rather like our late-night kitchen tradition.”

She leaned against my chest and I purred again, pulling her close. I realized how at ease I was feeling having my mate in my arms and knowing that I was the one who had soothed her.

“It made me sad when you all left this morning,” she said, breaking the silence.

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused. “When did we leave?”

“Never mind, forget that I said anything. It’s fine. I’m being stupid.” She tried to wriggle away from me.

“Wait, none of that. I want to know why you were sad. Please explain, beautiful.”

Her eyes shone with tears, and her lips trembled. “When you left the bed this morning. I just… I felt like you didn’t want me, like you were rejecting me, which is so stupid because you were just going to work out, and I shouldn’t be so needy, and I just need to get over it.”

I took a deep breath. Fuck, we messed up.

“Precious, I need you to listen to me. You have three alphas who are completely obsessed with you. You do not have to get over anything. You need to tell us when we do something to upset you. Of course, we weren’t rejecting you, but we should have realized that you weren’t expecting us to all leave before you even woke up. I can imagine that felt jarring. Good thing we’ve already established that it’s literally the last thing I want to do, so we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”

“But I’m being unreasonable.”

“No, you’re not.” I gripped her chin firmly, forcing her to make eye contact. “I’m not saying there won’t be mornings where we have to get up early or you’ll be in bed on your own. But we’ll do a better job communicating and ensure you’re feeling okay. Before you protest, let me be clear that I want to do this. Beautiful, you’re my mate. I’m completely taken with you. I love you.” Saying the words felt like a huge fucking relief. I needed her to understand how I felt about her.

“You love me?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Yes, precious, I love you. You have my whole heart, and that’s not going to change.”

“I love you, too,” she blurted out, almost like she couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

“Don’t know how I got so lucky,” I murmured, smiling widely.

I ran my hands slowly up and down her bare thigh, getting closer and closer to her sex with each pass. She perfumed and I heard the slight hitch of her breath.

“Are you still hungry?” I asked, placing gentle kisses on her nose and across her cheeks. She shook her head, closing her eyes and leaning into my touch.

“Tired?” I slipped my hands under the bottom of her shorts, my fingers teasing the edge of her panties. She shook her head again and squirmed against me, trying to get my fingers to move where she wanted them.

“Are you feeling needy, precious?”

She let out a soft whine and tugged at my shirt. I quickly helped her pull it off me and groaned in pleasure as she ran her hands up and down my bare chest. I moved to strip her of her tank top. She made an anxious little noise and tried to pull away from me, but I held her firm.

I gripped her chin and nipped at her bottom lip. “Let me see you, gorgeous. I’m so hungry for you. I need to have you sprawled before me, naked, so I can kiss, lick, and bite every inch of your sexy body.”

She hesitated before finally nodding. I moved quickly before she changed her mind. I pulled off her tank top before gripping the waistband of her shorts.

“Lift,” I commanded gruffly. My cock was straining so hard against my boxers that I thought I was going to explode. I stripped her bare and ran my eyes up and down her delicious body. Josie sat stiffly, her eyes wide and breathing fast. I knew this was hard for her, but I had to show her that there was absolutely nothing about her body to be ashamed of.

“I think we need a new rule in the house,” I murmured, pulling her in tightly and resting her head on my bare chest. It was torture holding myself back from touching every inch of her, but I knew she needed some reassurance right now as I rocked her gently in my embrace. “No clothing for you when we’re home. It’s a crime to cover up this body.”

I moved one hand down to her dusky nipples and started teasing and pinching until she softly whined. She tilted her head back, searching for my lips, and I kissed her. Her mouth tasted so sweet, and her little moans and whimpers almost took me over the edge. I shifted her even closer so she rubbed against me, her core right against my hard cock, leaving a wet patch on the front of my underwear. I took a deep breath, needing to get myself under control so I could make this good for her.

“You’re going to be a good girl and let me do what I want with your sweet little body, aren’t you?”

Her eyes were glazed with lust, her cheeks flushed and mouth parted. “Yes,” she breathed out.

“Of course you are. You’re my good little mate, my perfect omega. Now, lie back for me.”

I helped her lay down on the island, pulling so her ass was right at the edge. I placed kisses down her stomach, causing her to tense up. She tried to cover her stomach, but I gently moved them aside. I continued kissing her soft skin, murmuring praise, and running my hands all over her soft curves. When she finally relaxed, I moved further down. I gripped her calves and kissed up her thigh, teasing her by getting close to her sweet pussy but not touching her there. I wanted her so overcome with need that she couldn’t think of anything else.

“Ben, please,” she whimpered.

“What, precious? What do you need?”

“Touch me,” she whined needily.

“I am touching you,” I said as I nipped her inner thighs. I was trying to draw this out, but the sweet scent of her overwhelmed me. She had the prettiest fucking pussy I had ever seen. I blew softly on her pink folds, causing her to jerk her hips.

“Please touch me there.”

“Where, beautiful? Use your words.”

She growled at me in frustration. “Touch me down there.”

I chuckled, amazed at how she could still be so shy when my face was an inch away from her. “You want me to touch your plump little pussy? To lick your slick off your sexy cunt?”

“Yes, please.”

“Look at my good girl using her manners. So adorable.”

Without warning, I buried my head between her legs, breathing in her scent and licking along her slit. I threw her legs over my shoulder, holding her thigh in a bruising grip as my other hand parted her folds. Her soft whimpers fueled my own enjoyment. I had never felt this overwhelmed with desire. Her taste was exquisite as I circled her clit with my tongue. I plunged a finger into her tight channel, groaning as I imagined my cock sliding into her. I added another finger, stretching her and getting her ready for me. Her breathing grew heavier, and she clenched on my fingers.

“What a perfect omega, so beautiful. Are you going to come on my tongue?”

I curled my fingers to hit the pleasure spot omegas had inside of them and sucked on her clit. She came with a scream and whimpered as I continued to lick her, devouring her slick.

“You’re going to come again for me, beautiful,” I said, adding a third finger and continuing to pump into her.

“I can’t, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Just relax and breathe into it.”

I banded my arm across her hips, keeping her in place as I built up her orgasm again. When she came a second time, her scream was louder than the first.

I pulled back and took her in. She lay on the island, looking relaxed and sated, her cheeks rosy. She met my eyes as I brought my fingers up to my mouth and sucked her sweet juices off them.