CHAPTER THIRTY – LILY #2
“Can I keep this?” I ask when I’ve stripped him out of his shirt.
At his nod, I turn to the bed, my nesting instincts kicking in.
The bedding is beautiful – all eggshell blue and pale bronze fabrics, with a mix of silk, linen, and velvet cushions – but it’s freshly laundered and doesn’t smell like us yet.
I place Otley’s shirt in one corner of the nest, warming up the fabric with my hands until the pheromones have soaked into the bedding.
But my smile wobbles a bit when I turn around and take in the other three naked chests.
“Here you go, sweetheart,” Ellis says, and I sigh with relief to find that he grabbed the rest of their clothes from the trailer. I hold his sweat-streaked shirt against my nose, making no effort to hide how much I need his scent.
It smells so good, I’m tempted to wear it myself, but Otley walks to the closet and brings me over a basket of rumpled clothes.
A mixture of scents, colognes, and the fresh sweat of exercise make my nose twitch in anticipation.
“I’ve been switching this out every couple of days,” he tells me, “just in case you went into heat a little early.”
“You really like to cover all the bases,” Logan muses, his eyebrows raised as he fishes one of his training tanks out of the basket.
I get a whiff of the earthy, masculine scent that has beguiled me since I was a teenager, and snatch it from his hand, burying it under a hefty cushion.
He grins at the look on my face, grabbing another wrinkled shirt from the pile and tossing it to me with a smirk.
“Say anything about feeding time at the zoo and I’ll put you at the end of the line,” I warn him, but he just steps forward and runs a soothing hand along my spine.
“Watching you nest is about the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he murmurs as I place another couple of shirts exactly where I want them. “When I knew you were alone in your trailer, I was always tempted to dump a pile of my clothes on your doorstep.”
My hands keep kneading and tucking the shirts, but I look at him curiously. “Why didn’t you?”
He shrugs, rubbing his jaw. “I guess I was worried I’d come back and find them floating in the lake.”
I laugh, but a big part of me mourns the lost opportunity. I’d probably have washed and folded them instead of weaving them into my nest, but at least I would’ve had Logan’s scent with me through my heat.
When I’m done with the last shirt, I sit back on my heels and study the finished effect. Pheromones surround me, more potent than a field of summer roses. To my omega’s eye, the guys’ clothes blend perfectly with the neat linens and expensive fabrics of the nest.
“Good girl,” Otley says when I catch his eye, and a shiver works its way from my core to the tips of my breasts. “Are you ready to invite us in?”
I nod, because now the nest smells like pack, I need them to mark me on the inside, like Logan promised. I can still feel his release on my thighs, but I ache for the pressure of his knot, and I reach for him as he slides into the nest.
“I still can’t believe I’m here,” he mutters as he pulls me into his lap, my back to his thick chest. One hand goes to my breasts, while the other tickles over my belly. “Are you feeling good, LeeLee? Is this everything you want it to be?”
Everything and more, but the words slip away as he dips a finger between my thighs, gently probing my channel. The pleasure is enough to make me gasp, but it’s the way the other guys watch us that makes my thighs fall open, my shameless need on display.
Logan chuckles, and I expect him to roll me onto my back, to fill me with that dark pleasure he takes from being watched.
I think he’s a bit of an exhibitionist in bed; or at the very least, he likes to show the other guys how desperately I crave him.
But instead of thrusting inside me, he cups my thigh, running teasing strokes over the trembling skin.
“I think it’s about time you gave Ellis more than a taste, don’t you, mate? ”
He almost purrs the last word, and I feel the glow of our bond burn brighter in my chest. It’s still new enough that the novelty of our connection fascinates both of us, and I wind an arm around his neck as I look at Ellis.
I feel like an offering, from one alpha to another, and something about that makes my limbs weak with need.
“Do you want me, Alpha?”
I’ve never been much of a seductress, but I feel almost irresistible as Ellis crawls towards me over the nest. His gaze doesn’t seem to be able to settle on any part of me, and I can see the pulse hammering in his throat.
He licks his lips, a flush high on his cheeks as he reaches my feet.
He doesn’t pull me towards him, just resting his hand on the arch of my ankle.
“I looked for you for so long, Lily. I can’t believe we’re finally here, in your nest.”
A throb of heat burns through me, and I reach for him with shaking hands. “Claim me, Ellis, and you’ll never have to look again.”
He nods, his gaze resting on my scent gland before flicking to Logan. I’m still sprawled in his arms, and I expect Ellis to pull me away, but he crawls up between our legs, his hands resting lightly on my knees. “Thanks for taking care of her,” he tells Logan. “For being there when we weren’t.”
Logan nods, but I can feel the hitch in his chest as he says, “Lily mostly looked after herself. I wasn’t there as much as I should’ve been.”
A look passes between them – shared regrets, maybe – but I squirm impatiently. “We’re here now,” I remind them. “Are we going to make up for lost time, or not?”
Ellis smiles at my sass, planting his hands on either side of Logan’s hips as he studies me. Charisma oozes off of him at the most innocent of times, so having him loom over me, half naked and pupils blown, is doing crazy things to my libido.
I arch my back on reflex, a purr rattling from his chest as he runs his lips along my temple.
His caramel scent is thicker and richer than I’ve ever smelled it, and as he nuzzles his way down to my mouth, I expect him to fall on me, smothering me with his hunger.
But as he draws slow, sensual kisses from my mouth, I realize that this is his version of worship.
It’s just as deep and intense as Otley’s, but it’s also softer and sweeter, like he plans to savor every moment.
He’s not a famous movie star now, I realize, unless he’s following the script where the guy finally gets the girl he's loved from afar.
What can I do but surrender to his gentle adoration?
His hands are busy holding him up, so he’s limited to his mouth, which he drags over every inch of my skin.
The slight rasp of his chin makes me gasp, his teeth and tongue doing things that make me shake and strain.
It’s almost painful in the way he draws his touches out, taking delight in every discovery.
It shocks me how fascinated he is with every bit of me, stroking and kissing parts that I never even think about.
He spends what feels like forever on the dip of my belly alone, tracing his tongue along the faint stretch marks from Leo’s birth.
He’s not just tasting me, I realize, but mapping every inch of my body, and I’m a quivering, conquered mess by the time he treks back to my mouth.
I can feel the satisfaction radiating off Logan, but Otley finally takes pity on me and places a hand on Ellis’ back. “She’s still going to be here tomorrow, brother.”
Tomorrow.
It’s rare for Otley to put that hint of command in his voice, but it seems to draw Ellis out of his trance.
He finally eases me out of Logan’s arms, Tristan settling beside us as Ellis presses between my thighs.
I shiver at the brush of Tristan’s peppermint scent, but it’s his fingers raking through my curls that makes my eyes roll back.
I’m a flushed, aching ball of nerves, and Tristan makes it both better and worse when he murmurs, “I think it’s time you knotted her, Alpha, and made her ours. ”
Ellis sucks in a breath as he finally presses inside me. Despite Tristan’s encouragement, it’s a slow, gentle glide, his thick cock stroking my nerves with a whisper of friction. I jerk my hips, trying to draw him in deeper, but he changes his angle and I have to bite my lip to hold back a scream.
“Surrender to the process, LeeLee,” Logan says from somewhere behind me. There’s a hint of gloating in his voice, and if I could coordinate my limbs, he’d earn a kick for being so damn smug.
Instead, I wrap my legs around Ellis’ hips, locking my ankles in the small of his back. “Please, Alpha,” I whimper, looking up at him through damp lashes. “I need your knot.”
But Ellis just hums and smiles down at me, his inky hair falling into his eyes. “I’m just warming you up, sweetheart.”
I’m not surprised Logan is chuckling, since they’re the same words I murmured to my old truck when she refused to turn over in winter.
A growl slips free, and I rake a hand over Ellis’ ribs, my breath coming in frustrated pants. “If you keep this up much longer, I’m going to combust,” I whine.
“Good things take time,” he smirks, capturing my hands and pressing them into the bedding beside my head. “The payoff will be worth it, I promise.”
I have no doubt about that, but right now I’m leaking slick and vibrating with need. Clenching my teeth, I dig my heels into the bed and buck up against his hips. “Bury your knot in me, Alpha, or I might just go looking elsewhere!”
Words I never expected to leave my lips, but the haze of my heat is starting to take over.
Usually, by this time, I’m growing frustrated with my toys, thinking about the hours ahead with a sort of grim detachment.
But it’s a thousand times worse when I have a living, breathing alpha inside me, and I’m still not getting off.
But my threat seems to have an effect, because I catch a hitch in his next thrust, his thick cock twitching against my walls.
He pauses for a second, and when he resumes that same careful, torturous rhythm, Otley cups the back of his neck.
I’m guessing it’s one of his most sensitive zones, because he groans as Otley leans in and says, “Faster, Ellis. Stop edging her and give our girl what she needs.”
I almost sob as I throw Otley a look of pure gratitude. “Yes! Faster, Alpha. I want it. Knot me now.”
Ellis’ next groan is one of defeat and he rocks against me before he sits back on his haunches.
The new position pulls deliciously at my pussy, and he pants as he rubs his fingers over our swollen joining.
I twitch, my channel pulsing, and his thumb presses my clit hard enough to make me shudder.
I’m right on the edge of coming as the flush on his cheeks darkens, and his eyes glitter like emeralds. “I don’t want to finish.”
He sounds exactly like Leo in a sulk, and I’d laugh if I wasn’t about to lose my mind.
“I’ll still be here tomorrow,” I remind him, gripping the bedding as I circle my hips. Coaxing… Begging… “I’m not going anywhere, Ellis. I’m here. I’m yours.”
He nods, but he still holds my hips tight as he pushes his knot inside me. Instead of a quick thrust, it’s a slow, throbbing stretch. I’m slick enough to take it, but I’ve never been so aware of an alpha’s invasion.
“I love you, Lily,” he tells me, as he pushes in the last throbbing inch. “Will you take my bite and my heart?”
I’ll take anything. Everything. I nod, too strung out to answer, but as his teeth slide into my throat, I find my voice with a tear-filled shout. “Ellis! I love you, Alpha!”
His body shudders, sending me into a soaring climax. Wave after wave of euphoria crashes over me, and when I finally come down, Ellis is purring against my throat, already licking away the sting of his bite.
I collapse on the bedding as his knot pulses inside me. I’m too boneless to move, so he follows me down, kissing away the few tears that have leaked into my hairline.
“Happy tears?” he asks, cupping my damp cheeks.
“The happiest,” I murmur back, staring up at the skylight as the others cuddle in close.
Arms surround me, stroking and soothing, and as my eyes begin to close, I feel Tristan nuzzling my new bite.
Maybe there's no starlight shining down on us, but as exhaustion overwhelms me, my heart is bathed in it all the same.