17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Emma
T he warm spray beats gently against my bare skin, but all I feel is Asher’s hands cradling my face, tender and gentle, like he's afraid I might shatter beneath his touch. When our lips meet, my heart stutters. His kiss is careful. Achingly delicate. This isn’t a kiss born from domination or conquest. Instead, his mouth brushes mine as though I'm something precious, fragile.
Something worth treasuring.
Whole and total truth.
He opened himself to me. Unfolded layer upon hidden layer to bare every secret part of his soul and it’s breathtaking .
Emotions wash through the bond, pouring through me with striking vulnerability.
Above all is his protectiveness, raw and fierce.
A genuine promise that he will shelter me, fight for me, bleed himself dry before he allowed harm to find me again.
Guilt follows. Powerful, deep remorse floods my senses, laced with bitter self-loathing for the claiming bite I never consented to, yet carried on a current of determination to redeem himself. To heal me. To make it right.
My hands tremble against his chest as awe comes next, wrapped carefully around gentle admiration. He sees strength in my scars, courage in my survival, beauty in what I considered my shattered remains. And then, trembling at the very core of our connection... love .
The sweetness of him floods my senses. Something breaks inside my chest, cracking open with fierce longing at the gentleness of it. The world is too small for what he offers. A devotion that promises not just shelter, but acceptance, trust, patience, forever.
Asher's thumb strokes across my cheekbone as he deepens the kiss. There’s no force here, no demanding pressure.
Only patient exploration as his tongue gently traces the seam of my lips, coaxing, offering rather than taking as I clutch him tight.
And beneath everything something new forms, tentative, shining and clear.
Trust .
Slow, fragile, and precious—but there .
A soft, needy sound escapes me. Asher shudders beneath my fingertips tangled in his hair, and pleasure sparks through me at his answering groan. Behind him Phoenix inhales, and Soren’s hands tremble where he braces my back.
Fresh slick gathers warm between my thighs, my omega nature awakening fully beneath the careful tenderness they've surrounded me with. Heat, yes but also something deeper. Richer. More complicated.
Hope .
I break the kiss, drawing in a shaky breath as I look into Asher's eyes, finding reassurance and quiet awe in their depths.
“Alpha,” I whisper, the word spilling from my lips not as submission or surrender but full of wonder and recognition. My scent blooms, sweet and musky, my body understanding what my heart desperately wants to accept .
This alpha—these alphas—are different .
Asher rests his forehead against mine, his presence steadying me even as my heart races. The tenderness of his impossibly careful touch makes me ache for more, craving closeness I'd never dared to want before.
“I've got you, Moonbeam,” he murmurs, his smoky voice is a promise wrapped in silk. “We've all got you.”
In the next breath, my muscles clench tight, pleasure and pain twisting inside me so sharply I gasp.
My hips rock desperately against his thigh, instinctively chasing friction I can’t fully comprehend.
Fire burns beneath my skin, relentless and needful.
“I need…” The words shiver off my tongue, lost and pleading. “I need…”
Asher's thumb brushes gently over my cheekbone, his voice soft as he asks, “Can Soren and Phoenix help too? Can they kiss you, touch you…help you feel good?”
Phoenix and Soren shift closer, drawn in by my distress. Their strength and warmth spill like sunlight, sweetly protective and tenderly fierce. I turn my head toward my other alphas, breathing shaking as I meet their cautious, hopeful eyes.
“We’ll go slow. We’ll stop the second you want.” Phoenix’s summer-sky eyes hold infinite softness, gentleness woven with strength. I need his careful hands moving over my skin, his mouth slowly erasing my pain, piece by fragile piece.
“We’re only here to worship you,” Soren murmurs, his voice a soothing balm to my battered soul. I want his touch to trace every inch of my body, anchoring me with tenderness as he helps me discover the new parts of myself.
Desire throbs, matching the desperate ache I feel for Asher. My body yearns for all three of them, equally and fiercely, with no hesitation or reservation. For once, I don’t hesitate.
I want them.
I crave them.
I let the heady fog of heat pull me down into the clutches of my most base instinct. My fingers uncurl from Asher's shirt, pulse skittering wild beneath my skin as I reach out toward them. “Please. ”
Soren skims his hands down my arms until his fingers twine with mine. “Feel us, omega,” he breathes into my ear, warmth shivering straight down my spine at his words. “We’re here for you.”
He places tender kisses along the vulnerable line of my neck, lingering over every bruise, every faded scar until his warm breath huffs over a tender breast. A broken sound slips past my lips when his mouth closes around one aching nipple, warmth and wetness sparking pleasure through my entire body.
Phoenix cups my face, angling my chin up toward him. His lips brush mine before pressing in, deepening the kiss. His thumbs stroke along my cheekbones as he drinks down the tiny sounds escaping my throat, reassuring me without words.
Beneath the frantic pulse of my biology, there's something strong enough to overshadow my fear. Patience. Devotion. Kindness tether me to this moment.
This is right rather than dangerous.
Safe rather than forced.
Steady strength leeches away fear, urging my barriers to lower to accept what my body screams for. I lose myself in sensation and sink into the warmth and sweetness, and the promise of everything they offer me until there’s nothing left in my head except pure, exquisite sensation.
Asher’s touch moves along my body, gentle fingers tracing every sensitive curve, igniting nerves I didn’t even realize existed.
My senses narrow to his hands on me, reverent and careful as he maps each hollow and dip of skin.
My pulse races, breath hitching as his palm slides downward, skimming my waist, slipping across my hip bone until he finally cups my thigh.
His palms feel shockingly good against my sensitive skin, grounding me even as pleasure sweeps me away.
“Would you like me to touch you where you need it most, omega?” His voice is deep, roughened with restrained need.
My breath sobs out in a helpless moan as desire coils hot within my belly, my hips rocking toward his touch in silent invitation. “Please, Alpha. ”
My thighs part for him, a gesture of raw, uncertain trust, as terrifying as it is hopeful. Vulnerability spirals through me but they’ve made me safe, shown me only tenderness.
They won’t harm me.
Not these alphas.
Not my alphas.
Asher’s fingers drift upward, feather light. I tremble with each inch of skin he explores. Every careful stroke leaves a burning, aching trail behind. When his fingertips finally find my sensitive heat, I gasp, muscles tightening, my entire body rigid with anticipation, and raw want.
Agonizingly he begins to stroke me, those fingertips sliding easily through my slick folds before he presses inside. The sensation tears through me, overwhelming and perfect, too good to be real. My hips buck helplessly into his touch, and a cry escapes me, high and shocked and desperate.
“So good, Moonbeam,” Asher murmurs, his voice pure warm encouragement. “Take what you need. We’re here.”
Soren’s mouth skims down my neck, trailing kisses that soothe away lingering aches, while Phoenix carefully cups my breasts. His thumbs brush light circles over my aching nipples. Their care floods my senses, mingling irresistibly with Asher’s touch until pleasure steals all rational thought.
Pleasure mounts higher. A pressure builds deep and strong. My thighs tremble. Slick heat flows freely, coating Asher’s hand, proof of my arousal, proof of my readiness, my need. My muscles tighten and flutter around him, sensations coiling tight, ready to snap.
I grasp at his wrist, my gaze snapping to his, seeking clarity as pleasure threatens to pull me under. Confusion flickers beneath the rising pleasure, uncertainty warring fiercely with desperate need.
“I…” My voice trembles, the words barely making it out, choked by sensation and tentative embarrassment. “I don’t…”
I don’t understand what I’m feeling .
Realization flashes through his eyes, a mixture of heartbreak and restrained fury, even as his touch remains perfectly steady, perfectly gentle. Tender sadness flickers through our bond, replaced quickly by determined resolve.
“What you’re feeling is good, Emma. It’s right. Your body is chasing the pleasure you’ve always deserved but were denied,” Asher says.
I can’t tear my gaze away from him. His words anchor me, soften the sharp edges of fear, give me permission to let go and trust what my body whispers to me.
His voice wraps around me. “Just let it happen, sweetheart. Let yourself take what you need.”
Soren tightens his arms around my waist, steadying me as my limbs begin to tremble. His deep voice brushes across my ear, “You’re doing so well, Emma. So perfect for us.”
“Just like that, beautiful,” Phoenix encourages, his hands gentle on my breasts. “Ride it out. We're right here with you.”
My eyes find Asher’s through the haze of pleasure, seeking his steady grounding. His intent gaze holds mine, dark and tender, as I spiral dangerously close to an edge. The confusion clouding my mind fades, replaced instead by an astonished sense of wonder.
“Alpha,” I whimper, my voice breaking on a sob as sensation rushes towards a peak. “I'm… I'm…”
Gathering heat low in my abdomen tightens to an unbearable crescendo.
Pleasure floods every nerve, every muscle, consuming me in pure, blinding ecstasy.
My body arches, pleasure splintering me apart.
My vision goes bright, blank, colors exploding behind closed eyelids as my mouth opens with a silent scream at the overwhelming release.
My inner muscles clench hard around Asher’s fingers.
The slick from my release floods embarrassingly hot, coating me and soaking his hand.
From somewhere deep inside me, a low, desperate sound rises.
A sob of relief, a moan of pleasure, a cry of liberation.
It's a sound I've never made before, a sound so raw and real that it shocks me even as it leaves my lips.
Boneless. Trembling, I sag into their embrace as sensation subsides, leaving behind a tender, fragile ache.
Gentle and careful, Asher eases his fingers free, leaving me empty but so beautifully, perfectly sated.
The burning heat finally recedes leaving a deep, bone-sapping exhaustion that wraps around me.
I sink down, down, down into heavy warmth.
A languid wave pulls me down, past relaxation, past sleep, into somewhere deeper.
I can’t pull my eyelids open. Can’t move a limb.
Fear, trauma, heat has taken its toll as a soft, dreamless oblivion sucks me down whether I want to go or not.
Voices float above me, distant and muffled and I can't claw my way back up to them. Everything fades. Their whispers, their warmth, the soft circle of safety they’ve given me until all that's left is a quiet, dreamless abyss pulling me into oblivion.