Chapter 28
Pack life was like tripping into the deep end of the pool. Shockingly, I found myself quite able to stay afloat. Boisterous sisters had prepared me for having a pack, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time.
Speaking of, sooner or later I would have to tell them of these new developments.
I only refrained because I knew my family would have questions.
Too many. In a loving way, but overwhelming all the same.
Before I opened that particular floodgate, I needed to assure myself that Madison was fully settled.
We navigated the next week awkwardly. Leaping around the various pack obligations made things difficult, but luckily, I owned the company I worked for, so when I announced I was changing my work hours to match Leo’s, there had been minimal fuss.
Madison thrived. Between the constant affection, the new bond, and throwing herself into her new job, she was blossoming.
Watching her grow and succeed fed a contentment I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt before. I was only part of providing that, but dammit, it was a pretty good part.
She tilted, letting her head rest on my shoulder. “I need a nap. Would it be bad if we went home early?”
I still adored each time she called my apartment home. “I suppose that would only depend on how you’ll feel if Leo isn’t with us.”
The bond had calmed, but not much. They could handle more than a few minutes apart now, though hours this early would still be a stretch.
“I was going to steal his shirt and leave mine just in case. He won’t be home too late today.”
Jax, bless him, had recruited a few friends he knew from the Renaissance fair circuit and they had stepped up so Leo wouldn’t have to do as many shows on top of all of his other duties.
They were still training, getting the feel of the rest of the team, but to my uneducated eye watching their practices during lunch, they seemed to be progressing nicely.
Their first show last night had gone off well, according to Leo’s update.
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. You and I have hardly spent any time together yet without everyone else around. We could take advantage of the quiet apartment.”
We let Leo know, so he and Madison could exchange shirts. She drowned in his and he tied her tank top in a loose loop around his neck to keep her scent close.
“I’ll be home soon.” Leo kissed her thoroughly, her sugary raspberry scent shooting straight to my cock. Luckily, I was able to strategically angle my laptop bag to hide the evidence.
Madison held onto me the whole way home.
Poppy and Pepper perked up their little heads when we arrived, but neither bothered leaving their spots at the window to come greet us.
Apparently, we hadn’t been gone long enough for them to miss us.
I moved automatically to give them each chin scratches and Madison kissed their heads before we diverted to the nest.
“Should I put on pajamas?”
Madison shook her head, already stripping on her way to the bed, the various clothing items flinging overhead into her laundry hamper, or, in the case of Leo’s shirt, straight into the nest. I quickly set aside my laptop and washed up before dashing to join her, shedding my clothing on the way.
She laughed, smiling brightly at me. “Are you excited to cuddle?”
“Perhaps.” Settling next to her among the blankets and pillows had my alpha instincts singing.
She wedged herself into my arms, purring steadily. I tried to keep my hips angled away, but she was determined to be close.
I earned myself another of her sweet giggles. “I see one part of you isn’t as ready to nap as the rest.”
“Ignore it. You need your sleep.”
Her soft lips pressed against the hollow of my throat. “What if I didn’t want to ignore it?”
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. Craving a moment like this had done absolutely nothing to help me emotionally prepare for it.
“What if I wanted you to tire me out?” She walked her fingertips over my chest and up into my hair. “You can sleep if you want to, obviously, but I’m putting the offer on the table. A girl can only be curious for so long.”
“Curious?” I choked the word out.
“You’re not curious about what it would be like with me?”
“I am, I just didn’t want to pressure you.”
“You’re kind of doing the opposite of that. If you don’t want to—”
“No, I want to. Really fucking badly.” I captured her mouth, gratified at the moan she made and the surge of buttery raspberry that filled the air.
Madison melted into my touch. I wanted to devour every gorgeous inch of her, and maybe today would be the day she let me. I already knew what her mouth felt like on me and I wanted her to know the same about me.
Taking my time to explore her was a test of patience for both of us.
She rose to every touch and whined as I worked my way down until she could wrap her thighs around my head.
The world disappeared. Only her cunt rocking against my tongue, the tug of her fingers in my hair, and the plush hold of her thighs existed now.
I groaned as I lapped up her slick. How was she even sweeter than I imagined? I ate her out with no hurry so I could savor the tremble of her legs and indulge in her muffled whimpers.
The sharpness of her nails on my scalp and the unruliness of her squirming told me she was hovering on the edge.
I hadn’t even gotten inside her yet. Maybe it was selfish of me to want my cock to be the first thing on my body that felt the squeeze of her coming.
Madison flung her head back, her whole body shaking as I sucked on her clit.
She broke apart with a sob and collapsed onto the nest, breathing hard as I slowly climbed up to remind myself what her mouth tasted like.
“Fuck me.” Her words were far more desperation than demand, and who was I to deny her such a request?
I hooked one of her knees over my elbow and planted my hands on each side of her, adoring my omega flushed and spread open. “I can’t get over how beautiful you are.”
She let out a broken laugh and tried to use her free leg to nudge me closer. “Admire later. We can talk all about how hot we think each other are after you rock my world.”
Fair enough.
I watched her face as I lined up and carefully eased into her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, panting, rocking her hips to help me along.
Each little whimper she made propped up my precarious belief that I could give her what she needed.
I wanted to satisfy her. I wanted her to crave me the way I craved her.
Buried deep, I set a pace that allowed me to watch her. “Hands over your head, treasure.”
She obeyed, staring up at me with wide eyes as she did so. I laid one hand between them so I could tangle our fingers together and keep her right where she was.
“That’s it. You look so perfect taking me.”
Her pussy spasmed, another moan sneaking out of her. “I’m not—I’m not used to being looked at this much.”
“Maybe not used to noticing, but the others are certainly as fixated with watching you as I am. You were able to let go with them, to close your eyes and let it all carry you away.”
“No eye closing here?”
“You can if you really want to, but I would prefer you don’t.”
She squirmed. Was she uncomfortable being observed?
“What’s going through your head?”
“I don’t think I fully know how to have sex with this pack. All of it is so different.”
“Different how?” I paused my hips, but kept her gently pinned.
“I, um, when I was with Tyler before I couldn’t come without a knot unless I was in heat, except he didn’t always like to knot me because of how long he had to stay in bed after.”
“Did he know you wouldn’t come without it?”
“I told him once that I was struggling with it and he got so upset, I started to fake it so he could get up and leave when he was done.”
Fury simmered in my gut. “I don’t want you to do that with me. If I can’t force every perfect sound past your lips because you’re so overwhelmed with pleasure, then I don’t deserve to hear them. Only give me what I give you.”
She nodded, but her gaze darted away.
“I’m serious,” I insisted. “My ego is not that fragile. If I can’t give you what you need, then I’ll learn how. I haven’t waited for you my whole life to give you a mediocre experience. Have you been pretending with me?”
Her throat bobbed with a swallow and she drew her eyes back to me. “No, I…I couldn’t stop thinking about how different everything was. Once I started thinking about it, then I spiraled.”
I lowered carefully and kissed her forehead. “I’m happy to stick to cuddling if that would make you more comfortable.”
Madison shook her head and tipped her face so her mouth was closer to mine. “I like where we are right now. Kiss me?”
I indulged her until she was rocking against me once more. Madison curled her fingers over mine, holding tightly as I resumed a smooth pace, every beautiful inch of her shaking.
She broke away with renewed whimpers. “Harder.”
I obeyed instantly. Keeping my pace the same, I boosted up the force and earned myself one of her ragged cries.
“Yes,” she gasped out. “Just like that. Don’t stop.”
I put all of my focus into doing exactly that.
Her sounds shifted, pitching higher with each thrust until she was arching so hard her chest met mine while her head stayed on the bed.
Her nails dug into my hand, a litany of whispered curses tumbling from her lips, the tension of her body ratcheting tighter and tighter.
I growled, my skin sweating as I held the pace. My experience outside of her, while technically existent, paled to every moment with her, and muscles burning from disuse protested the movements.
Madison shattered all at once with a feral growl that ripped her whimpers apart.
The pulsing squeeze of her cunt and the weight of her heel digging into my back forced me into stillness.
She surged up and locked her teeth onto my arm, but I had the foresight to clap my hand over my own mouth as the pleasure of her claim had me emptying into her.
My knot swelled between us and we both collapsed onto the bed, breathing hard.
Quiet and unmoving, we stayed like that until she retracted her bite.
She looked at me curiously. “You didn’t bite me?”
“I wanted to.” I groaned and dropped my forehead to rest on the blanket next to her. “If you hadn’t already bonded Leo, it would’ve caught me completely by surprise.”
“But you didn’t want to enough to do it?
” She freed her hands from my grip and cupped them on the back of my head.
“I don’t know why I bit you. I mean, I know on the side of omegas and scent matches and all that, but on the logical side, it’s a lot more complicated.
It would be stupid, wouldn’t it? To bond on purpose so early? ”
How was I supposed to answer that? I wanted her forever, but she was also still in a vulnerable position. She hadn’t settled from the chaos of her previous life, and no matter how much I might want her to be mine, I couldn’t push to claim her yet.
“Why would you want to?” I asked carefully, and clarified. “Outside of the instincts.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and warm salt water slid down her cheek. “I want to feel if it’s real.”
I lifted to look at her better. The shine of her eyes broke my heart. “If what’s real?”
“If you really do care that much. It’s dumb. Ignore me.”
“It’s not.” Balancing my weight, I reached to stroke my knuckles over her cheek. “You spent years being unsure of your partner’s affection. It’s natural to want to know for certain.”
“The bond with Leo is so nice. It’s like a cast on all my broken bits, holding me together so I can start healing. I guess that’s a selfish reason to want more. It’s so much easier to trust everything when I can feel it.”
“Next time,” I promised. “If you still want me the next time you bite me, I won’t stop myself.”
“Really?”
I nodded.
Madison looked at me shrewdly before tugging me back down. She sank her teeth into the curve of my neck, sending a fresh burst of pleasure through me.
Clever little omega.
I gave in. If she wanted to be mine that badly, I wasn’t strong enough to keep denying her. She was sweet on my tongue as I bit her in return, her body convulsing, bowing up as she unraveled. My omega burst like firecrackers at the core of my being. Bright, beautiful, loud, and chaotic. Mine.
All. Mine.