Chapter 57
chapter
fifty-seven
At this point, it honestly doesn’t matter if Serena never completes our bond. If she chooses to claim all of my packmates and doesn’t claim me. If she punishes me for all eternity.
That’s okay.
Because I’ll always have this .
Tonight has been the best night I’ve had… ever. When I think about the evenings I spent at presidential galas, state dinners, exotic, exorbitant restaurants—I’m angry . Furious at all that wasted time. When I could have just been here, with her.
Right in my own goddam n backyard.
That’s where we end up, after dinner and an impromptu driving lesson where I teach my beautiful baby how to drive her new toy. She truly does love it, despite feeling distinctly guilty about loving it.
Which only tells me I need to find more gifts to lavish on her. Until the last of that shame falls away—and she knows she’s worth it.
Once we got home, she asked if the plants she gave me were still alive. When I told her, miraculously, yes, she shyly led me out to her garden to see the rest.
After pulling me through rows of garden beds and pointing out all her favorites, she just keeps holding my hand. I watch the way she bites her lip, luminous green eyes gazing up at the moon.
“Tell me something,” she starts, speaking quietly. “You helped Avery get into the UFC. Got Jonah his shot in the NFL all those years ago. Made sure Spencer had his dream job…”
She trails off, turning to me with an arched brow. “What about you? What do you want?”
My answer is automatic. The one I’ve been giving reporters, my colleagues, and my pack for as long as I can remember. “I want to pass my Omega Workplace Protection Act.”
Serena’s face doesn’t move, but I feel a distinct thud of doubt in her middle. “Hmm… anything else?”
For a second, my mind reels. Aside from my work, and making sure everyone in the pack had what they needed, I’m not sure I’ve ever thought very much about what I want.
The first image that comes to mind is too much. I shake my head, immediately chucking the notion aside; unwilling to even mention it to the omega who’s already given up her whole life because of me.
For me.
Whatever she feels through the half bond makes her eyes soften as her brows lower. “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we’d met… some other way? ”
God . I’ve thought about that a thousand times. Agonized over it.
But at least I have an answer prepared, this time.
“I would have walked out of whatever room we were in,” I start. “To call the guys. I would have told them that I’d found our mate and asked them what they thought we should do.”
A smile tips my lips. “My money would have been on Jonah for a good date idea. Once we’d made a plan, I’d have asked you for your number and begged you to come out with us. Then I would have sent you flowers every morning and a gift every night until you agreed.”
Serena smirks. “And you think that would have worked on me?”
I flash a grin. “I buy very nice gifts.”
Her gaze warms as she reaches up to cup my jaw in her dainty hand. “Do you want to know a secret?”
I step closer, nodding. “Yes.”
Pure sincerity fills her features while trepidation beats through our bond. “You wouldn’t have needed any presents to win me over, Tristan.”
My heart cramps. Air quivers out of my lungs as I drop my forehead to hers and scent-mark her. A languid roll of need swoops between us?—
And I grab her.
She gasps as I sling her up into my arms, snapping her gaze to mine. I let my purr loose and bend to kiss her crown, murmuring, “I told you. Whatever you want, I’m going to give it to you. Even when you don’t know how to ask.”
Right now, she wants a knot. It’s taken me weeks, but I can finally differentiate between all her various strains of arousal. This kind—where there’s a skittish, desperate undercurrent—usually means her heat symptoms are melding with her general desire, but she’s too nervous to ask one of us for help.
Now that she knows we have this connection, I’ll make sure she never has to ask again .
The patio door falls shut behind us and we step into the still, silent living room. I don’t know where my pack is. I suspect they’re trying to give us privacy. I appreciate it, but my sweet baby needs to be knotted.
“Who should I get for you?” I rough out over my purr. “Anyone sound particularly good?”
Avery is out of commission, but I’m sure he could be tempted if she felt like a challenge. Or Jonah if she wants someone comforting and nurturing. My brother is arguably the most thorough and efficient, though, so if we’re going purely on her need , then?—
Her little hand lands on my cheek as her lips slant up in the sweetest half-smile. “Tristan.”
“Yes?”
This woman has my whole fucking heart. I could look at her forever and never get over the gold woven into her irises, the way her smirk teases while still feeling so soft and kind. And those silver half moons branded into her flawless golden skin. Calling to me like a beacon.
As our gazes connect, she runs her thumb along my cheekbone. “No, I mean you . Tristan. That’s who I want right now. The only alpha I want tonight.”
When she feels the way shock bottoms out in my stomach, she laughs quietly. When I just stare at her, not daring to believe she could possibly be serious, her expression softens again, though she raises one arched brow.
“Whatever I want, right?”
Suddenly, it feels like I won’t live if I don’t find out what that is.
I start striding toward her bedroom, but her hand drops to my collar. She tugs at it, shaking her head. A balloon of nervousness expands under her diaphragm as she hesitates.
She’s changed her mind , I think. Which is completely unders tand?—
“No,” she whispers, interrupting my thoughts. “I want you in the nest.”
I still can’t believe how fortunate I am, even after Serena finishes removing all of my clothes and pulls her dress over her head. In a pair of ivory lace panties and a matching strapless bra, she looks like an angel. Especially when she smiles gently and tugs me into her nest.
Her perfect nest.
It’s every bit as gorgeous and mysterious as her. Smooth purple velvet on the walls, matching silk cushions in every shade of violet, lavender, and the deepest plum. All laid out beneath a beautiful canopy of greenery.
The soft lights woven through the leaves glow off her skin as she sinks to her knees and crawls to the middle of the round mattress built into the floor. When she hugs her knees and looks up at me, tenderness pierces my heart.
I drop down to her level, immediately going to her, cupping my hands around her uncertain face. “This is the most beautiful nest I’ve ever seen, sweet one,” I tell her, letting our bond echo my complete sincerity. “I’m honored that my pack will be in here with you for your heat.”
She blinks up at me, her eyes impossibly big and full of the fear I feel creeping up her throat. “A-and you? Will you be here, too?”
Fuck, the relief . I’ve never felt any so strong. I pick her up and hold her in my lap. She closes her eyes while I rub her back, hiding her face against my purr.
“Yes,” I reply, hoarse and hard and so goddamn hopeful . “My sweet baby, of course I’ll be here. I’d never let you hurt. And I couldn’t stand to be away from you when you need me. ”
Serena whimpers, squirming in my lap. “I—I think I need you now.”
I know she does. She’s still covered in de-scenter, but now that she’s down to her panties, I’m starting to pick up the edges of her luscious perfume.
It isn’t enough, though. I want to taste her, right from the source.
“Let me make you come,” I rumble, suppressing a growl. “Then you can have my knot if you want it.”
She rolls her lips together but nods. “How do you?—”
I raise a brow at her, and she freezes, then flashes a smile. “Oh. Right. Whatever I want, right?”
So smart, our omega. I pet her satin-soft hair back, watching the way light glimmers off it while she thinks. She’s so goddamn gorgeous, and the cute pensive scowl on her face only makes me happier. And harder.
Finally, she lightly pushes at my shoulders until I’m lying on the padded floor of her nest, gazing up at her. She clearly isn’t confident, but determination steals across her face as she reaches behind her and unclasps her bra.
Fucking hell. Her tits are glorious. Round and tight, tipped with dark nipples that match her pussy lips. My mouth waters as she hooks her thumbs into her underwear and nods down at mine.
By the time we’re both bare, her perfume is permeating the air, thickening it with that lush scent of paradise. When she shuffles closer, I see why—her thighs are absolutely coated in slick.
I groan, dropping my hand down to fist my raging cock. It’s already purple and roped with throbbing veins. When she sees me strangle it, Serena licks her lips.
“What are you going to do to me, little omega?” I ask, kneading my knot so she can see it swell. “You want to watch?”
She nips her lower lip again, nodding. “But… I think I need a good seat.”
Holy God .
I grab her hips and yank her on top of me in one breath. She squeals, but the sound quickly drops into a moan as I settle her glistening lips over my mouth and run my tongue between them.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I didn’t realize I’d been walking around— starving —for weeks until I have her in my mouth. She tastes better than I ever could have dreamed. Better than anything, surely, that has ever existed.
Ripe sweetness, tangy and bright, bursts over my tongue while I gently kiss each of her lips, sucking and nipping at them. Fresh slick pours out of her, dribbling down my chin, filling my mouth with absolute heaven.
I fist my dick with a white-knuckle grip to keep from spilling, but a jet of pre-cum still shoots out, the hot release splattering over my abs.
Serena goes rigid as she watches before gasping and moaning louder, sinking herself down onto my face with an intensity that makes me want to grin as much as it makes my knot pound.
From her position, she can balance her hands on my chest and reach down to swipe her fingers through my pre-cum. When she brings it to her own mouth and sucks me off her fingers, my balls tingle, begging for relief.
I ignore my body’s demands and focus on the gorgeous cunt riding my mouth. Working my tongue into her opening, sucking at her swollen nub, letting her work herself against my face until she’s trembling.
My hands roam her body, petting her sides, caressing her thighs and her ass, reaching up to roll her nipples. When I finally skim my touch over the claiming mark I left on her neck, she bucks into my tongue and comes all over my face.
“ Tris-tan! ”
She squirms, begging me for more. “You want my knot, baby?” I grunt, wiping my lips against her thigh and coming up with even more of her sweet slick. “Is that what this pretty pussy needs?”
Serena gives a true omega whine. The sound breaks my brain. Before I can think, my hands snatch her hips again, turning her to face me and sinking her right on top of my cock.
Which is when I realize I must be dead. Assassinated maybe, or perhaps I simply dropped from the broken heart that’s been slowly killing me. I don’t know how or when it happened, but there’s absolutely no way I’m not in heaven right now.
Serena’s pussy is too good to be anything but some sort of eternal reward. Smooth and so slick, but tight and textured enough to tug at my pulsing cock until my knot fills with burning blood.
She screams as she takes me all the way to the top of the thick swell, her head falling back until her long hair brushes my thighs. For a moment, neither of us can move.
Then I feel her , inside. A little whisper of self-doubt. Like maybe this isn’t the very best moment of my entire life.
I push myself upright and wrap my arms around her, shifting so she can feel how swollen I am for her. “Sweet baby,” I whisper, kissing the mark on her throat. “I love you.”
She trembles in my arms. “Y-you do?”
I’ve never felt so certain. Sending that steely assurance through our bond, I nuzzle into her hair. “Yes. And I want you so much I can barely breathe. Will you show me what you want? What you like?”
When another niggle of apprehension worms through her, I know she isn’t sure what to say. “Here, sweet one,” I murmur, leaning back onto my palms and swallowing a grunt as she shifts on top of me. “You work that pretty cunt all over my cock. Do whatever feels good. And when you’re ready to come again, I’ll knot you so deep, I’ll be in you until morning.”
Her eyes light up, and my heart flips . Goddamn it. I would do anything to put that look on her face. She’s completely correct—I’m going to spoil her beyond all reason.
And I’ll love it .
Moving carefully, she starts to bounce on my pounding girth, squeezing me in slick clenches that have me panting praises to her .
“That’s it. Good girl. So fucking beautiful while you take what you want. Does my knot feel good rubbing against that pretty, throbbing clit?”
Within minutes, she grips my shoulders and grinds up and down my length. Our mouths brush in a filthy, fucking sort of kiss. Licking and nipping at each other.
A burst of want soars through her and I pull back, cupping her chin to force her to look into my eyes. “Anything. Ask me.”
She moans, her eyes bouncing between mine. “I—I want you to bite me again. On your mark.”
Fuck . My balls draw up as my abdomen clenches, right on the edge just from the thought of tending her mark while she comes.
But I nod, gliding my hands down to palm her breasts and letting her stretch to give me access to the side of her throat. The second I latch onto her skin and start to suck, her pussy echoes my pulls, drawing me in hard .
“Tristan, yes! Oh God—please!”
With one rock of my hips, my knot is buried in her sweet heat, surrounded by slick, kneading muscles. Pleasure explodes through my base, up my back and down my straining thighs.
Serena comes, her inner walls fluttering and flexing while I spurt into her depths and clamp my teeth around her neck.
Absolute rightness flashes through my entire being. As if my entire life, every breath and every step has been for this . To get right here .
The same sensation reverberates through our bond, so strong the emotion doesn’t feel frayed at all.