37. Talya
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
TALYA
I woke up gasping for breath. There was a weight on my chest, and I couldn’t inhale. It felt as if there was something over my face again, trying to kill me.
“Colby!” I choked as I fought with the restraints around me.
“I’m right here,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Shh, beautiful. I’m right here. You’re okay.”
As soon as he pressed my face into his neck, I could take a deep breath. The dream fell away while I struggled to regulate my breathing and pounding heart.
How long was I going to keep dreaming of my murder? How long was I going to be forced to relive it when I was trying to fucking sleep?
I shivered, which felt stupid since I was burning up. Why was the room so hot?
Peeking through my hair at my surroundings, the world came back to me. I was safe in my nest. My stupid heat was coming any time now. That’s why I was so dang hot!
“What do you want, honey?” Colby asked.
“I’m hot, but I want to wrap up in my blanket,” I whined. “Can we turn on the air or open a window? Is there a fan?”
“Yes,” Colby said. “How about we take off your clothes, hm?”
I nodded but made no move to do so. Colby kissed the side of my head and gently pulled me back. Ronan was opening one of the windows while Colby peeled my clothes off until I was down to my underwear. They were sticking to my skin with sweat. Ew.
Emerald moved a fan so that it was pointed in my direction. It felt great. Blowing the cooler air against my skin made me shiver in appreciation. As soon as I was settled with a blanket over my shoulders, Ainsley handed me a glass of icy water. I smiled at him thankfully before I greedily drank half with big gulps, trying to cool down my body. My heat would be here soon. The fever wasn’t going to lessen. The hunger in my gut was but a phantom right now, but it wouldn’t be long before it was consuming.
Colby took me back in his arms again, but his shirt felt itchy. “You undress too,” I said.
He gave me an amused smile but did as I demanded, stripping right down to his underwear. Had I ever said how hot my alpha was?
“Better?” he asked, settling in around me again. I leaned against his chest and sighed.
“Are you hungry?” Colby asked.
I shook my head, though it was a bit of a lie. In the days leading up to my heat, I could always eat. Colby usually tried to make me pack on at least five pounds because I was about to lose ten between the cardio, sweat, and my metabolism kicking into overdrive for four days.
Hopefully I’d keep my usual four days and not do something stupid like five or six. Four days was more than enough, thanks.
“Will you eat anyway?”
Sighing, I nodded. A minute later, Ainsley was arranging a collapsible tray over my lap while Ronan set a plate of spaghetti on it. I stared at it before looking at Colby. “I thought you meant like a granola bar.”
My alphas and beta chuckled.
“No. This’ll likely be your last meal, so we need you to stock up,” Colby said, brushing a strand of sweat-dampened hair from my forehead.
I pouted for no reason except that I was feeling pouty. Whiny. Ugh, if there was something that I’d change about being an omega, it was this incessant drive to be needy right before a heat. It annoyed me, yet I couldn’t help it. Everything inside me felt unsettled, borderline miserable, as I hovered in limbo. Not quite in my heat but too uncomfortable to live normally.
“How about if we feed you?” Ronan suggested as he sat on my other side and picked up the fork.
Huffing, I nodded. He twirled spaghetti onto the fork and brought it to my mouth. I met his eyes as I accepted it. My cheeks pinkened at his small, sexy, satisfied smile.
Ainsley crouched down with a cloth napkin and wiped up the extra red sauce from the corner of my lips. Colby continued to brush my hair from my face while Emerald offered me a sip of water.
Not going to lie, a girl could get used to this.
Once I’d swallowed my third bite, I said, “Why are you all still dressed?”
I was thankful that they found my obnoxious whiny voice amusing. Ronan set the fork down and stood, and I watched, transfixed, as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his big, sculpted chest. He tossed the shirt aside, and my eyes followed his hands as he undid his jeans and stepped out of them, revealing thick, hairy legs, a luscious round ass, and the most amazing big dick trapped inside his underwear. I couldn’t wait to see that thing hard. I bet his knot was as big as my neck! I shivered at the thought, unsure if I was nervous or exhilarated.
Ronan retook his seat. His smile was still amused when he reached for me, closing my mouth with gentle fingers under my chin. My cheeks burned. Well, fuck, I’d been staring as if I’d never seen a naked man before.
Blinking out of the moment, I looked expectantly at Ainsley and Emerald while I obediently accepted the next proffered bite from Ronan.
“We should have had Ronan undress last,” Ainsley said.
Emerald snorted.
I watched, just as mesmerized, as they undressed and stood before me in their underwear. Emerald even shifted to give me a profile view, waggling his eyebrows at me with humor. I grinned as the two of them retook their seats too.
This was much better. Everyone was in their underwear and all attention was on me.
Silently, I finished my plate of spaghetti. As they took the dishes and tray away, there was a knock at the door. Colby wrapped me a little more as Ronan answered. I was sitting at such an angle that I could see our visitor.
Kasen’s eyes widened when he took in a mostly naked Ronan in all his alpha glory. He stared, unable to speak.
“I think we should all be getting that reception,” Ainsley said.
Kasen’s eyes flicked away so he could peek into the room. He took us all in, his cheeks flushed, then he pouted. “That’s not fair! How come we never have slumber parties like this?!”
“You can join us,” I offered.
Kasen met my eyes, and his flush turned pale. “Uh…”
Chuckling, Ronan took the tray he’d been holding and turned back into the room while Emerald took his place and pulled Kasen into his arms. “I promise we’ll have a slumber party when Talya’s heat is over.”
“With everyone in their underwear?” Kasen asked.
“Yes. Everyone will be in their underwear. We’ll have a pillow fight and a family cuddle pile. Promise.”
Kasen sighed. “Okay.”
“Right now, I need you to protect this nest, okay? And make sure those alphas out there behave. Think you can do that?”
Kasen rolled his eyes. “No. But I’ll try.”
“Good.” Emerald kissed him, and it was the first time I’d seen them kissing. I’d seen them cuddling and sharing other sweet moments, but I’d never seen anything intimate or personal between them.
“Love you,” Emerald murmured. “Be good, okay?”
Kasen sighed. “Yeah. Love you.”
Reluctantly, Kasen turned away and Emerald shut the door. He faced the room as Ronan handed out the bowls of ice cream sundaes that Kasen had delivered. “He’s both terrified of being in here for your heat and hating not being in here.”
“This one was abrupt and very soon upon our arrival,” Colby said. I had no problem feeding myself this ice cream. “Maybe in the future he’ll be comfortable being here, so at the very least, he can see what it’s about.”
Emerald nodded, accepting his dessert from Ronan with a smile. He turned back to Colby. “That might help. I know he and Talya have had several conversations about it, but I think he’s still under the impression that it’s just a lot of fun and he doesn’t want to be left out.”
“It’s not as glamorous as he’s imagined,” I said between mouthfuls.
Emerald grinned.
We ate the rest of our sundaes in silence. Finally, with the window open, the fan blowing on me, and my consumption of a big bowl of ice cream, I was cooling down.
Colby forced me to take a shower so I was clean, then Ainsley insisted I drink one more glass of water. Eventually, they let me lie down again. This would probably be the last time I was awake and lucid. The next time I opened my eyes, it would likely be in my first throes of heat.
Colby tucked me against his chest, massaging my head with his fingers while I yawned and snuggled in to get comfortable. Someone wrapped blankets around me, tucking me in, and I began to doze with a smile.
Not quite asleep, I could hear their voices when they started to talk. Quiet. Soothing.
“I need to ask,” Ainsley said. “Are you really going to be okay sharing your omega during her heat?”
“I’ve been sharing her,” Colby pointed out.
“Yes, but you’ve also had Lohtus, Blakely, and Kasen to entertain you. That’s not the case in here.”
Colby sighed. “I took care of Talya’s heats on my own for years,” he said quietly. “I think I did okay. When it became apparent that finding a pack wasn’t going to happen, I did what I needed to do to make sure my omega was always taken care of. Heats were by far the most difficult part because I’m one man and it was four days where I needed to push beyond my exhaustion to make sure my omega was satisfied. When her heats finally broke, I slept for a solid sixteen hours. Every. Single. Time. Which meant she had to use her toys to take care of the first few letdowns.”
“We don’t have many toys in here,” Ronan said. I could hear the frown in his voice.
“We don’t need toys because I’m not doing this alone this time. She needs a pack. She deserves a pack. I couldn’t give that to her before. I’m not sharing her with you. She’s already yours too.”
Their voices drifted off as I fell deeper into sleep.
This time, I slept peacefully as the temperature rose. Higher and higher until I felt like I was running in the desert. So hot. It was probably the extreme heat that had me waking up next.
The world around me was dim. The air thick. The pain in my core was intense, screaming at me to alleviate it. A whimper fell from my throat as I curled in on myself.
Arms tightened around me, but the scent said it wasn’t Colby. Not my alpha. At first, the thought brought tears to my eyes as a distant fear burst brightly in my head. But the purr that came with the embrace was comforting. The scent was familiar—freshly mown grass under a rainstorm with a citrus field in the distance.
This wasn’t Colby, but it was still my alpha. “Please,” I whined.
“What do you need?” he asked.
I wiggled, trying to root my ass back to him. My body throbbed with need. A long whine filled the room before a storm of my perfume followed. Around me, a series of groans hummed in the air, filling my already needy body with even more arousal.
“Please, alpha,” I begged, my voice breaking in a tearless sob.
The arms released their firm hold, and my sob nearly turned real. But he gripped me by my shoulders and turned me onto my face, putting my ass in the air. “Please,” I begged again, then yelped when I felt a face between my legs. Licking. Sucking.
Fire burned through me, teasing my arousal without making it spill over. I whined loudly.
“She’s not too much into foreplay during her heat.”
That voice I knew. I turned my head, trying to find him. My alpha. My Colby. But I couldn’t see anything but shadows in the dim light.
The mouth left my pussy, and a blunt object replaced it. Big.
“Spread your legs, omega,” the alpha said, his voice deep and gruff and sexy as hell. I moaned as I wiggled, trying to do as he instructed.
The thing at my pussy pressed in, and I knew it was a big dick. It felt like a dick. I tried to look over my shoulder, but the alpha was just a large, dark mass hovering over me.
“You okay?” he asked, pausing the pressure to enter my body.
I nodded. “Please,” I whimpered.
He leaned over me, kissing my lips at this awkward angle. “Please what, omega?” he asked, layering soft kisses along my jaw.
I wiggled my hips again. “I need to come. Please, alpha. Please put your dick inside me.”
His growl filled my head, sending the fire dancing as it reached for the sky. His cock entered me, spreading me wide. Thick. So thick. It rubbed all the right places, and my heat-rattled body was ready to explode.
So it did. He had my first orgasm out of me as I buried my face into the soft pillows under me and cried out with it. The walls of my pussy throbbed. His growl grew in my head. Grew in volume, deepened in pitch.
Then he was fucking me, shoving my body deeper into the pillows, driving my orgasms through a series of small bursts. But I needed more. As good as it was, I needed more.
“Knot!” I cried. “Please. Please, alpha. I need your knot.”
His teeth skimmed my shoulder as he gripped me tightly and buried himself deep. His knot still teasingly rested outside my body, making me want to cry because I needed it. Why wasn’t he giving it to me? Didn’t he want to?
He rocked against me, pressing that hard swelling against my opening. Pushing harder and harder, coaxing my body to make room.
“Please!” I begged, the need in my core making tears fall. It hurt. I needed his knot. “Please. Please.” My begging became a chant until he managed to get that massive knot inside me.
My body immediately locked him in place which was fortunate because he began rutting into me with hard, almost painful, reckless thrusts that didn’t go anywhere because he was locked into place. Somehow, it sent my orgasm spiraling out of me, delivering me deep within my heat to that place that knew of nothing else but need and pleasure.
It was all a blur now. A series of endless orgasms between moments of exhausted, short hibernation. My heat took over, and I was nothing but a mindless omega at the mercy of her alphas.