Chapter 22 #2
“Tell me if anything doesn’t feel right,” I said, positioning myself at her entrance. The head of my cock brushed against her slick heat, and we both gasped. “Tell me if you need me to stop or slow down.”
“I need you now.” She wrapped her legs around my waist, trying to pull me closer. “Please, Jace, I need you inside me.”
I entered her slowly despite her urgency, giving her body time to adjust. She was impossibly tight, her inner walls gripping me as I pushed deeper. The sensation was overwhelming, heat and pressure and perfect friction that made my vision blur.
“Okay?” I asked through gritted teeth, holding still when I was fully seated inside her. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to move, to thrust, to take. “Too much?”
“Not enough.” She rolled her hips experimentally, taking me impossibly deeper. A breathy moan escaped her lips. “So much more than okay. Move, please move.”
I started with slow, shallow thrusts, letting her adjust to the stretch and fullness.
Her heat made everything more intense. I could feel every flutter of her inner walls, every clench and release as her body responded to mine.
The scent of her arousal grew stronger, mixing with my own until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
“That’s it,” I murmured against her ear. “Take what you need. I’m here for whatever you need.”
She was making small sounds with every thrust, breathy little gasps that drove me crazy. Her nails dug into my shoulders, not quite painful but insistent. Claiming me the way I would soon claim her.
I picked up the pace gradually, finding a rhythm that made her cry out. Every time I thrust deep, I ground against her clit, giving her the friction she needed. Her legs tightened around my waist, heels digging into my lower back.
“More,” she gasped. “Harder, Jace, please.”
I gave her what she asked for, snapping my hips harder, faster. The sound of skin meeting skin filled the room, punctuated by her moans and my own harsh breathing. Sweat slicked our bodies where they pressed together.
“Touch yourself,” I said, shifting my weight to one arm so I could watch her. “Show me what you need.”
Her hand slid between our bodies without hesitation, fingers finding her clit.
I felt the movements through where we were joined, felt how her inner walls clenched tighter as she touched herself.
The sight of her chasing her own pleasure while I was inside her was almost enough to make me come right then.
“That’s perfect,” I groaned, adjusting my angle to hit deeper. “You’re so perfect like this. Taking what you need from me.”
“Jace.” My name on her lips sounded like a prayer and a plea. “I’m close, I’m so close.”
“I can feel it.” And I could, through the way her body was tensing, through the way her scent had shifted to something even headier. “Come for me, Talia. Let me feel you.”
I thrust harder, deeper, grinding against her on every stroke. Her fingers moved faster on her clit, and I felt the moment she tipped over the edge. Her inner walls clamped down on me like a vice, rhythmic pulses that dragged me toward my own release.
But this was more than just an orgasm. This was a bonding, a claiming. This was forever if we both chose it.
“Talia,” I gasped, feeling my knot beginning to swell. “The bond. If I bite you now, we’ll be bonded. Permanently. Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Her eyes met mine, clear despite the heat. “Yes, I want this. I want you. Bite me, Jace.”
My knot swelled fully, locking us together as my orgasm crashed through me. At the same moment, instinct took over. I lowered my head to where her neck met her shoulder, that sacred space meant for bonding, and bit down.
Not hard enough to truly hurt, but firm enough that my teeth broke skin. The taste of her blood hit my tongue, copper mixed with her inherent sweetness, and something inside me snapped into place with an almost audible click.
The bond.
It roared to life between us, a connection that went soul-deep.
Suddenly I could feel her, not just physically but emotionally.
Her pleasure echoing through me, amplifying my own.
Her relief at not being alone. Her joy at choosing this, at choosing me.
And underneath it all, the bedrock certainty of trust.
She cried out as the bond formed, her body arching against mine as she came again from the sensation of being claimed. I held my bite, feeling her pulse flutter against my lips, tasting the life of her while my knot kept us locked together.
When I finally released my jaw, I licked the wound clean, my saliva already working to heal the bite and seal the bond. The mark would scar, a permanent reminder that she was mine and I was hers.
“Jace?” Her voice was wondering, trembling. “I can feel you. Not just physically, but in my head. Your emotions.”
“Pack bond.” I kissed the fresh bite mark gently, feeling her shiver. “It’s complete now. We’re bonded.”
“It feels like you.” She pressed her face against my chest, and I felt her awe through the connection. “Like I’m wrapped in your presence even though you’re just you. Your protectiveness and care and how much you want me to be okay.”
“I can feel you too.” I ran my fingers through her sweat-damp hair. “Your relief. How scared you were before I got here. How safe you feel now.”
We stayed like that for long minutes, my knot gradually softening as we adjusted to the new reality of being bonded. I could feel her heat starting to build again, her body already preparing for the next wave. But for now, in this moment, there was peace.
“The others,” she said softly when my knot had released enough that I could shift positions. “They’re waiting.”
“They are. But only if you want them here.” I traced her jawline with my thumb, marveling that I could touch her like this, that she was mine. “This is your choice, Talia. All of it.”
She was quiet for a moment, and through the bond I felt her working through something. Fear and want and the slow, tentative unfurling of trust expanding to include Hollis and Cassian.
“I want them here,” she said finally. “I want all of you. I choose this. I choose all three of you.”
Relief flooded through me, echoing back through our bond until I couldn’t tell if it was mine or hers or both. “Then I’ll call them in.”
I kissed her forehead and called out, “You can both come in. She wants us all here.”
Hollis and Cassian stepped into the room from where they’d been waiting in the hallway, and I watched Talia’s expression as she took them both in. No fear, just relief and want and the beginning of trust.
“Hey,” Hollis said softly, moving to crouch beside the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” She reached for his hand. “Will you stay? Both of you?”
“We haven’t left,” Cassian said from where he stood near the dresser, supplies already organized with his characteristic precision. Water bottles, energy bars, fruit, electrolyte drinks from the pharmacy. “We’ve been here the whole time, just giving you and Jace space.”
“Jace did good?” Hollis asked, squeezing her fingers gently.
“So good.” She looked up at me with eyes that were clearer now, more herself despite the heat still burning through her. “He was perfect.”
Pride and affection swelled in my chest. “Team effort now. We’re all here to take care of you.”
“I made tea before we left the house,” Hollis said, producing a thermos from the supplies Cassian had organized. “Raspberry leaf and nettle. Good for heat symptoms and keeping your strength up. Cassian had the foresight to grab a thermos.”
“Just playing to my strengths,” Cassian said with the faintest hint of a smile. “Someone had to think ahead.”
The three of us coordinated without needing to discuss it, falling into a rhythm that felt natural despite being new.
Hollis helped Talia sit up enough to drink some tea and eat one of the energy bars.
Cassian refreshed the warm washcloths. I stayed close, one hand on her leg so she could feel my presence through the bond we’d just started forming.
“Your turn soon,” I said to Hollis, watching the way Talia’s scent was already shifting toward him, her body recognizing the next alpha she needed.
He nodded, and I saw the mix of anticipation and nervousness in his expression. This would be his first heat, first time bonding with someone. But he’d be perfect for her in completely different ways than I had been.
“She’s going to need you next,” I said quietly to him while Talia drank some tea. “Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready since the day she walked into my bookstore.” He met my eyes. “Thank you for taking such good care of her.”
“That’s what pack does.” I clasped his shoulder briefly. “Now go show her your version of gentle.”
I pulled on my jeans and caught Cassian’s eye, tilting my head toward the door. He understood immediately, standing from where he’d been organizing supplies.
“We’ll be in the living room,” I said to Talia, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Right here if you need us. But you and Hollis deserve some privacy.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and I felt gratitude through our new bond, mixed with anticipation for what came next with Hollis.
Cassian and I left the bedroom, closing the door most of the way but leaving it cracked in case they called for us. We settled in her living room, the scent of her heat still permeating the cottage but manageable now that we weren’t in the same room.
“That went well,” Cassian said quietly, pulling out his phone to check something. Probably making notes about timing and supplies needed, because that was how his mind worked.
“Better than well.” I leaned back against the couch, feeling the echo of the bond I’d just formed with Talia. “She trusted me. Trusted us.”
“She did.” He looked up from his phone. “You were good with her. Patient. Exactly what she needed.”
“Hollis will be too. Different, but just as good.” I smiled slightly. “And then it’ll be your turn. The three of us, all bonded to her. Actually building a pack.”
“If she wants that with me too,” Cassian said, and there was uncertainty in his voice I didn’t often hear.
“She will. She already does.” I met his eyes. “You’re part of this, Cassian. She chose all three of us.”
We sat in comfortable silence, two alphas waiting to support our omega and our packmate. The heat would cycle for days, and we’d all be needed before it was over. But the hard part was done. She’d let us in, accepted our help, started forming bonds that could become permanent if we all chose it.
We were building a pack. Messy and complicated and absolutely perfect.
And I was exactly where I was supposed to be.