Chapter 30
chapter
thirty
I fundamentally disagree with just about everything I’ve ever heard people say to justify poor behavior.
Most of it is nonsense, or outright untrue. I didn’t mean to. It just happened.
And then, my least favorite:
You never know how you’ll react in a situation until you’re the one in it .
Well. I thought I knew how I’d react to this, but here I am.
Jonah knows I’m here. He looked at me when he stood up and took his shirt off. I heard him ask the omega, too, pressing her about one of us watching until she admitted she liked the idea.
Serena .
I never expected to like that name so much. Never thought it would randomly slide through my mind while I was supposed to be busy with other things.
Like now.
I’m supposed to be reviewing applications for my student research team. Instead, I’m looming at the back door of the pack house, watching Jonah show his dick to the omega.
Serena , my brain unhelpfully supplies.
Miss Swanson , I correct internally.
Though, I admit, it does feel a little bit ridiculous to stand on ceremony when she has her tits out.
Beautiful tits. Jesus.
My cock pulses along my inseam, straining as those ripe, rounded breasts bounce. They’re perfectly formed, tipped with dark nipples that stand out so clearly on her golden-brown skin.
Fucking hell.
I really should go back to work…
Jonah holds his cock out for her. I’m sure I saw it a few times when we roomed together in college, but it never occurred to me how large he is.
It seems like it should be physically impossible for someone so small to take anything that large inside of her. I know she’ll be able to, though. Omegas are built to take their alphas all the way to the root.
Gushing and clenching around our cocks and knots, and ? —
I force my body into stillness, snapping my eyes closed and breathing through my mouth until I feel like I have control. It’s pointless, though. This close to them, Serena’s real perfume carries along the breeze.
I can taste it.
Coconut cream and pineapple paradise. My knot swells, the beast inside of me snarling .
Watching her cup his length and gently skim her fingers down it doesn’t help.
He groans, pushing his hips forward for more. She adds her other hand, touching him all the way down to the mass of hard flesh inflating at his base.
Jonah touches her, too. Running his large hands over her back, dipping his touch into the lacy panties spread over her rounded ass.
I should leave.
But I can’t.
Especially when Serena suddenly flashes him a smile so beautiful that I lose my breath. It gusts out of my lungs, leaving me with an aching twinge in my chest as she backs toward the pool. She turns away from Jonah, flashing him her backside before she slides out of her lacy scrap of underwear.
His eyes drop right to her ass, which I think may be her intention. Because when I keep my gaze on her face, I see the fear there.
For a moment, I don’t understand. My Alpha lurches forward, trying to snap his binds and run to her. Comprehending before I do that?—
She’s never been swimming before .
I’m about to launch into motion when she visibly inhales and steps over the edge. She’s smart—going for the shallow end, feet first, close enough to the wall that she can grab it if she needs to.
Still, my mind is blown by the notion of just… jumping into something. I’m sure I’ve never done that. Usually, people who do seem stupid to me.
Right now, though, all I see is bravery.
And beauty . God.
Naked, with the water lapping at her luminous skin and her hair spreading over the water like ink, Serena looks like a goddess.
Jonah must agree. He stares at her with his mouth ajar, his big body heaving on deep breaths just like mine is.
Her green eyes sparkle knowingly. Sharp in a way that makes my blood burn. “You coming in, big man?”
My packmate growls softly, sliding into the water without pausing to take a breath. The second he starts plodding a path to her, she shrieks a giggle and darts the other way, making him chase her.
Or, maybe, letting him.
It’s part of alpha biology, wanting to hunt down our mates. A current cracks through my limbs while I watch her dodge his hands, weaving through the water much more quickly than he can, even though she can’t go under.
Jonah clearly loves it. The grin on his face just gets wider and wider, until they’re both laughing, sloshing water onto our deck while they play with each other.
That’s what this is.
They’re playing . Having fun together.
Why does that make my stomach drop?
Finally, Jonah has enough. He opens his arms and sweeps Serena right up, carrying her to the pool steps and settling her over his lap. Totally naked and unbothered, he pulls her face to his and sinks his tongue into her mouth.
Damn it. Why doesn’t this seem messy and senseless to me, the way sex usually does? Why am I watching and throbbing and what the hell is this burn in my gut?
Envy , my mind supplies, factual as ever.
And it’s correct. That’s what this feeling is.
I’m jealous . Seething desire flares hotter and higher while Serena keens, rolling her hips against Jonah under the cool, blue water.
He lets her use him, groaning and grunting gentle, encouraging sounds even when he manhandles her ass, her breasts, her hips. Murmuring to her about how they need to go slow, let her practice before she tries to take him inside her.
It makes sense. I know he promised Tristan he wouldn’t try to fuck her until she’s better prepared for everything he has to give. Serena must agree to behave herself, because she nods and presses her mouth back over his, her hands grasping at his shoulders as he gentles her.
A sick sort of sadness joins the burn below my diaphragm.
Because—dear God— I want to kiss her.
By the time Serena starts to rub herself against Jonah’s length, I’ve accepted that I can’t walk away. So, instead, I watch even more carefully. Wanting to know what will please her. Trying to see how she might feel.
The way she falls into him, trusting him, letting him guide how fast she goes with his iron grip on her hips…
Fucking hell.
We really have a mate.