Once Upon A Pack (Royalverse #1)

Chapter 40

forty

By the time Asher bursts into the Omega Suite, my fingertips ache from clinging to him instead of tearing his clothes off the way I want to. He sets me down before the doors even swing shut, as intent on undressing me as I am to strip him.

My Omega pokes at me, but I can’t register anything other than the way Asher’s hands feel as they glide up my sides, lifting my sopping dress to my breasts before whipping the whole thing off. It hits the marble floor with a wet thwack .

His soggy shirt follows, then his pants. Until I’m shivering in my panties and he’s completely nude.

We’ve been undressed around one another before, but never like this. Never alone. With intent . And time for me to fully appreciate him.

My mouth falls open, eyes roaming to absorb the cut perfection of his tall, lean form. All pale muscles and burning eyes. And one tattoo.

His heart… wrapped in ivy .

I whine at the sight of it, practically leaping into his arms. He hauls me off my feet, stringing kisses along my cold skin, burying his face against my shoulder.

He turns for the stairs to the nest. My insides somersault.

My Omega seems completely set on having her alpha in her nest. She seems to have forgotten that I have no idea what I’m doing.

What if I mess this up somehow? What if the tests are wrong and he doesn’t fit? Or if the tests were right, but I’m malformed, somehow, and I can’t ? —

Asher feels me shaking and hugs me closer. “Are you sure?” he murmurs. “There’s no rush, Ivy. I can put you in your nest and spend the rest of the night with my head between your legs. We don’t have to do anything… new.”

His meaning is so obvious, a blush scalds my cheeks. So far, Asher and I haven’t done anything outside of him getting me off. Dair has exiled himself from my bed. And Bast has had me a dozen times, but he insisted on saving this for Asher, knowing I’ve never taken a knot.

Jasmine said I would know when I was ready, which seemed trite… until this moment. Because she’s right—I know this is the right time.

My alpha seems to know, too. He reads my pause and answers with a bone-melting purr. His teeth slowly scrape at the side of my throat like he’s marking his spot. Slick slips out of my bare pussy.

“We’ll take our time,” he promises. “I want to be in you all night. As long as you’re sure.”

I cling tighter, unable to put into words what I feel so keenly. It needs to be Asher. It has to be now . For my Omega, but also for me.

“Okay, darling,” he soothes, quelling the desperate sound scaling my throat. “I’m here. I have you.”

He rounds the landing at the top of the carved stairway. I hold my breath, remembering the last time we came up here. The shining glass, the thin gossamer curtains, and thicker, powder-blue ones.

It’s different this time. For one, the shades are drawn, enclosing the circular platform in a bubble of icy velvet. They’re clearly high-end blackout drapes—and they work perfectly. The only light in the nest spills through cracks between the panels.

Asher pulls one of the shades aside and steps into the darkened cave. Our rumple of perfectly scented sheets are still piled on the round, recessed mattress, the walls I built entirely untouched. The pillows have moved, though.

That strikes me as odd for a few seconds— none of us have been back up here, right? —before I’m distracted.

The tart freshness of Dair and Bast’s warm, rich toffee hit me hard enough to steal my breath. A knowing chuckle warms Asher’s expression as he picks his way over my carefully arranged blankets and takes me to the stack of silky cushions where their scents are the strongest.

He lowers me with enough care to bring tears to my eyes. Diffused light fills the planes of his body, highlighting how tall and strong he is while he kneels between my legs.

The erection straining toward me is just as impressive—but nowhere near as mind-boggling as the thick swell at its base. Growing wider and fuller by the second.

Oh Lord.

How am I going to ? —

My prince smiles fondly, cupping a hand around my cheek. “It will fit,” he promises, eyes molten with want and tenderness. “My queen.”

Heart bursting, I reach for his forearms and pull him over me. Some foreign feeling snags in my throat. When I try to breathe around it, the tiniest omega purr escapes.

He groans softly, lowering his face to nuzzle the noise. Looking so vulnerable in his bliss.

“I don’t need to be your queen,” I whisper, wanting him to understand. “I just want to be your…”

Mate? Partner? Best friend?

Sincerity fills his features as he bends to skim his nose along mine. “Everything,” he finishes, settling his weight between my thighs. “You’re everything, Ivy.”

Asher’s mouth melds into mine as he moves, carefully pressing the full length of hard heat along my pussy. Gently shifting his hips until the swollen head rubs at the top of my clit and I gasp.

“There you are,” he whispers, scent-marking my forehead. His arm stretches alongside my head, his hand finding my damp bangs and sifting them back. “I’m going to go slowly. Enjoy every second of you.”

I nod, the motion a bit too fast to be casual. His stern lips crack into another smile. “Not too slowly,” he adds, casting a heated look at my breasts. Then lower, to where he slides his cock against my spread lips. Not teasing, the way Bast would—but genuinely wanting me to feel every inch. Showing me how he feels.

Scorching. Long and wide. With that knot swelling more on every roll of his hips.

He isn’t like Dair, either. There’s no demand—no edge of impatience. Asher moves like he’s treasuring every single moment, skimming his hands along my curves, panting as he watches my reactions to each little action.

We kiss until the nest swirls into a dizzy blur, and a puddle of slick pools under me, dripping from my slit and his pulsing knot. Even then, when he starts to lose control, Asher only hangs his head against my shoulder and breathes through his lust, exhaling rough praises into my collarbone.

“Jesus, Ivy, you’re so beautiful.”

“Good omega. I can feel your pussy getting ready for me.”

“Sweet darling, slicking our nest. Such a perfect girl.”

My fingernails scrabble against his broad back, marking the rain-cooled skin. He takes my lips with a serrated groan. His arms bundle me closer, and he lowers his body over mine. Every hard line melts against my soft smallness.

Hips churning, I wrap my legs over his thighs, squeezing. Asking without asking. Because even though I’ve done this part dozens of times with Bast, and I know Asher wants me as much as I want him, some part of me will always be the starstruck sixteen-year-old who can’t quite believe he would ever want me .

Asher reads my face and hums, the sound a soft reassurance. “I’m right here.” He rubs his nose over mine in the sweetest gesture. Hazel eyes burn with entreaty. “Can I have you, now?”

He doesn’t need to ask again, but this is Asher. He probably knows, somehow, that hearing him beg helps raze the last of the self-doubt rooted in my belly. The thorny weed curls into dust as he shudders through another plea. “Please, darling?”

The moment feels cosmic . Like the second Asher’s body lines up to push into mine, every star aligns, too.

The feel of the silky blue sheets cocooning us, the gold swaths of light streaming over my prince. My friend and first love and tormentor.

And, now, just… mine.

Ours .

Because as his cock gently presses past the muscles clamped at my core, my Omega writhes. Elated and relieved and finally whole . He’s her missing piece. Or she’s his.

Maybe both.

I blink up at his face. The handsome, regal features set in fierce lines, green-gold eyes glowing with emotion. He pushes all the way into me, pausing with the throbbing heat of his knot pulsing against my pussy’s opening. Letting me feel it—or perhaps just giving me a final chance to prepare.

It doesn’t help. Couldn’t help. Because nothing on Earth could possibly ready me for how it feels when he bears down, seamlessly popping his body into its rightful place.

The world splits into strands. Sensation, sound, color, feelings. Fullness, pressing into every screaming nerve sizzling in the slick muscles of my center. A bellowing alpha roar, climbing up to the canopy with a high-pitched omega keen. Blue and gold, swallowed by a sudden burst of sparkling white.

How can I feel so complete and so desperate at the same time?

How can I possibly have everything and need more ?

“Ivy,” Asher snarls into my throat, working his hips in shallow circles and sudden, scorching plunges. Stretching me, rubbing each aching tingle as his cock carves so deep , I swear I feel it low in my belly. “ Goddamn it . You’re perfect .”

That last word is nearly a sob; one I mimic when he tilts his hips and somehow manages to hit the bottom of my clit. Just barely grazing it.

A sharp rush of pleasure impales the tension pulling at my depths, unraveling it. I thrash and shriek, almost afraid of how good this feels.

Asher growls, eyes flashing darker as he presses his knot into a spot that vibrates for more, giving my body the perfect counterpoint for its clutching. The tender muscles sing, slick gushing from my slit as I tip over the edge and fall.

“Fuck, Ivy. Yes .” Asher bucks and groans, finding the side of my neck with his teeth as his cock erupts. Thick washes of molten cum glaze the deepest parts of me, his warmth somehow soothing the tingling spasms echoing there. Melting them into a sort of euphoria I’ve never felt before.

I try to inhale, but air catches on the lump in my throat as fresh tears dribble down to my temples.

Asher huddles over me, his body locked within mine. He licks at the indentations his near-bite left behind, whispering, “Shh, my love. I know. I’m here.”

He is. Sealed with me.

Mine .

He somehow hears the thought, gathering me into his arms and turning us onto our sides. I cuddle against his broad chest, my cheek rubbing over his tattoo. “Yes,” he agrees. “Only, always yours.”