A/N I have a feeling everyone will enjoy this chapter. Lyle and Blaze's personalities are really clear and you finally get to see them interact again. Also, I LOVE all the comments. Sometimes I post just because some of the comments make me super happy. Enjoy!
Hayden gave me an irritated look as I approached him, but I could tell his feelings weren't directed towards me.
"Your mate is very inquisitive, and even in heat, his Alpha aurora is very commanding," he murmured, rolling his eyes. He looked exhausted, probably from standing outside on guard all day and dealing with Lyle's nonsense.
With a small reassuring smile, I handed him a container of lemon pasta, his favorite. His eyes perked up, and he didn't waste a second snatching it from my hands.
"You're off duty. Go home. I'll call you if I need anything," I ordered, but kept a friendly tone to my voice. He smiled thankfully, quickly standing straighter to prepare to leave.
"You don't have to tell me twice! Good luck with the cranky Alpha!" And with that, Hayden was scrambling away down the hall.
Gulping, I stood at the door. He knew I was here, if not from me talking, from my scent. I could smell him the second I got to the floor. I was surprised I didn't really feel the need to have him sexually, I just felt worried about him. It was a weird toss up in my mind.
I knocked lightly and waited patiently for Lyle to answer the door. I held my breath as I tried to keep my eyes from grazing his almost naked body. He was only in some basketball shorts and his hair was wet. He probably needed a cold bath to help with the heat.
Keeping a small smile on my face, I held back Apollo from trying to get to his mate. It wasn't an extremely hard task considering we both knew Fallon was currently present with the lack of golden eyes.
Lyle shamelessly raked his eyes along my body before meeting my eyes, then glanced at the food. "I brought that shrimp scampi thing you really like," I spoke up, lifting the bag up.
Lyle snorted, opening the door wider. "You fucking reek of death. Where the fuck were you? A cemetery?" He walked into the room, allowing me to enter and close the door.
"Yeah, something like that. I didn't realize your nose would be so sensitive to the smell," I replied slowly, taking a moment to look around the fancy room. The bed was a little messy and some clothes and towels littered the other furniture, typical Lyle.
Lyle snatched the food as soon as I placed it down. He was being as sassy as usual, but didn't seem upset at me.
"I'm not gonna ask questions, but thank god you smell. It's the only thing holding my heat back," he blabbers as he ripped off the container of his food to start devouring.
I blinked a moment at him, before taking out my own meal. We just sort of stared at our meals and glanced occasionally at each other as we ate.
Finally, Lyle broke the silence. "So you are this all mighty alpha, huh? I can really feel it now. Fallon is begging me to submit to Apollo. In both a sexual and no sexual way." Lyle never had much of a filter.
I stared blankly at him, not sure how to feel about it. "Yes, Apollo is quite powerful and also head over heels for Fallon apparently," I stated, not sure what else to say.
Lyle cocked his head at my words, as if he was trying to decipher my words. Then, he leaned back in his chair as if he was over it. We finished our meal in silence. I threw out the garbage and started cleaning up the dirty clothes.
"Touch, right? Like physical contact?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion before he continued. "That's gonna help with this whole heat situation?" Realization swept over me. I blinked at him before nodding, not finding my words in this awkward situation. Lyle rolled his eyes and he fell back on the bed. "You don't even like being touched let alone touching other people," he mumbled into the sheets. I could smell another heat wave rising.
I stood awkwardly by the bed before I decided to take my shoes off and sit next to him. "I asked mom once why you didn't like anyone touching you. I asked after a time you fell and wouldn't let me heal your cut. Even when you were hurt, you were always insistent on being left alone," he paused, looking up at me instead of the sheets. "And she said that you have a complicated past and not to push you. I guess she was right." He buried his face back into the sheets as the heat continued to worsen.
Sighing, knowing he was right, I got off the bed and fetched him a wet washcloth. He didn't even look at me when I shifted onto the bed again. Gently, I placed the wet cloth onto the back of his neck, brushing my fingers along his bare skin. He shivered at first but quickly relaxed under my touch. I began lightly petting his hair to soothe him, which did work well for a while until the heat wave increased. Now he was cursing and squirming on the bed.
"How do all the omegas handle this? Like this is awful!" He groaned, flipping over so he was laying on his back now. His abs on full display did not help the overwhelming sense of arousal I was feeling. From an outsider's perspective, Lyle would be the assumed dominant since he had a bulkier body.
I pursed my lips as he waited for my response. "Well most of them mate before this happens. We are just a special case in many ways." Lyle peered up at me with a combination of exhaustion and annoyance.
"Just touch me more," he grumbled, taking his wet hair back. I wasn't sure if it was still wet from the shower or if his sweating was keeping it moist.
Hesitantly, I peeled off my own shirt with Lyle staring at me in confusion. I tried to ignore his lingering eyes on my scars. I moved to lean against the headboard now. "Come lay on my chest. Maybe that will help," I suggested, but I couldn't help but use my Alpha voice. I was still learning to control it.
Lyle didn't need to be told twice because in a second he was practically hugging my chest with his almost naked body. He relaxed and his breathing became less raged. I continued petting his hair as his hands death gripped onto me.
We settled there for what felt like an hour before arousal was thick in the air. It was hard to ignore his raging hard on pressed against the side of my leg. He began squirming uncomfortably, obviously aware of his problem.
"I swear to god, you better not tell anyone about this," he seethed, but it was an empty threat.
"The downside of touching to calm heat is that it, um, makes you hornier. I don't know which you prefer..." Lyle was now scowling at me, but the desire in his eyes was thick and glossy.
He breathed heavily as he detached himself from me. "Fallon is just making this way more difficult. By the way he's talking, I'm surprised they didn't mate yesterday," he exasperated, sitting next to me.
I frowned, knowing something that he didn't. My ass didn't hurt this morning for no reason.
"Uh, I think they had sex but didn't, um, fully mate with marking each other," I admitted, looking anywhere but him.
"What?! How do you know that?!" Lyle's eyes were wide now, clearly concerned.
"Apollo refused to tell me anything, but my ass suspiciously hurt this morning," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment.
Lyle stared at me with an expression I couldn't understand before cursing under his breath. "It makes me uncomfortable knowing they used our bodies." I was a little surprised by his comment, but I couldn't help but agree. Lyle and I can barely touch, but last night our bodies were violating each other in ways I couldn't imagine.
Lyle chuckled in an awkward way before looking back at me. "Want to watch a movie? Maybe something with gore to turn me off?" His amusement was strange but inviting.
"What about one of the Saw movies?" I suggested, providing a small smile to my normally stoic face. My comment instantly lit up his face.
"Hell yeah!" He quickly grabbed the remote and started setting the movie up. "Alex and I used to try to watch scary movies when he'd sleep over. But mom used to yell at us. She was afraid that you'd walk in on it playing." I narrowed my eyes at Lyle, but he was too focused on the T.V to notice. He really doesn't have a filter.
"I'm not really bothered by scary movies," I admitted, a bit curious on what his response might be.
He glanced at me, then back at the screen. "That's what bothered her, I think. If you aren't afraid of a movie like Saw, then what you've gone through must've been worse." The sincerity in his voice was what startled me. It's like he was finally putting all these puzzle pieces together.
"Not necessarily worse, and not necessarily better. Just different," I commented in my usual emotionless voice.
Lyle turned to me, fully facing me now. I can never tell what he's thinking. I wondered for a moment if he was getting another heat wave, but I could tell he wasn't.
"I know you don't like talking about it, or maybe you don't remember, but are you okay? Like seriously?" I was taken back by the question, and he knew it. I blinked at him, opened my mouth to answer, then closed it when I knew I couldn't. Lyle's face softened a little bit, but his gaze was just as intense. He patiently waited for an answer.
"Um, no, I'm not really okay. I was beaten, tortured, raped, starved, and left for dead," I confessed blantantly while managing our eye contact. His frown grew deeper at each word. "But I know who did it. I know how to find them. And I know I'm not going to do pleasant things to them," I continued.
I glanced away from his gaze to take a breath. "I am going to kill them, Lyle," I said plainly, looking back into his brown eyes. Eyes that didn't back down. "I don't want you to mate with me until I have. I don't want you to mate with me until you know the real monster that is lurking in me." I couldn't help my voice from cracking at the end.
I could feel Lyle's anger tugging at our mating bond, but it wasn't towards me. "You are not a monster for saving the world from true monsters. Hell, I wasn't even the one being tortured, but now I want to kill them. Fuck them!" Lyle threw his arms up in exasperation. "I'll help you kill them! Give me a list and they will be dead by the end of the week!" He was riled up now, his eyes glowing slightly to warn of Fallon's presence.
Cocking my head to the side, I hesitantly watched his outrage, but said nothing as he rambled a bit more about killing them.
"I don't need help, but I appreciate the support," I finally butt in with an amused tone. Lyle snapped his head toward me, narrowing his eyes before cracking a small smile himself.
He rolled his eyes and situated himself under my arm so he was laying on my chest. He was still grumbling a bit under his breath about all the ways he'd kill them. My heart tugged watching his outburst of emotions, and I couldn't help but feel happy that he reacted in such a way. It made me feel oddly loved.
Lyle turned on the movie and watched it intently while I pet his hair. But he ended up falling asleep in my arms half way through.