Chapter 18
Piper
My heat. It’s here.
It fought through what remained of my suppressants after my alphas bonded with me.
It fought through every chemical trying to keep it at bay.
It. Is. Here.
It starts with a burning and a set of stairs. Or rather, me falling down them.
My visions doubles as I try to make my way to the safety of my alphas’ arms. I don’t quite make it that far.
Instead, I crash down the last four steps of the grand staircase with all the grace of a baby giraffe on ice skates.
My knees give out on the marble. The heels of my palms catch the worst of it, but the rest of me follows and presents to anyone watching a study in ragdoll physics.
“Jesus!” Elliot rounds the corner at the same moment I collapse in a heap, one arm cradling my ribs and the other clutching the spindly railing. His shadow hits me before his hands do.
And then his scent. His cinnamon scent washes over me and my knees buckle further. A whimper escapes my lips as heat floods between my thighs. My fingers curl into fists against the marble as I try—and fail—to stop trembling.
He drops to a crouch and assesses my face, then my body, then—oh, god—my scent. The whites of his eyes go wide. “Are you okay? What happened?” He looks up the stairs as if someone pushed me and decided hanging around afterward would be a smart idea.
My mouth tries to work, but nothing comes out. All my words are locked away behind a too-big tongue and dry mouth. I wipe my sweaty palms on my leggings which are very slick in the center. “I’m, um. I think I’m not okay, actually.”
Elliot’s eyes flick down my body, assessing. Then he realizes. “Oh.”
I let out a dry chuckle. “Yeah.”
Elliot collects me in his arms and carries me back up the stairs to my nest. Once he lays me inside it he presses two fingers to his earpiece radio. “Code: Sun.”
Two words. That’s all he needs to sum up my situation.
A few moments later Elliot appears with a water pitcher.
“Drink,” he says.
I obey as the room tilts. “I’m so hot.” I start peeling off my shirt.
“I know.” Elliot helps me with the top, then removes my bottoms for me. His pupils go wide the longer he’s near me and he actually steps back and flexes his hands when he sees how much slick has built between my thighs.
“Don’t go,” I beg.
His face turns serious. “Never.”
The door to my bedroom swings open. Kellen and Nolan rush in, their bodies silhouetted against the hallway light.
My back arches involuntarily as their scents hit me, swirling together with Elliot’s cinnamon warmth.
My thighs clench and my skin prickles with goosebumps.
A whimper escapes my throat before I can stop it.
Nolan reaches my nest first. “Estate’s been locked down. No staff will be here until her heat passes.”
Kellen sits on the edge of my bed. “We’ll take care of you, angel.”
I draw all three of them into my nest. “Good. I’m burning up.”
Elliot leans in to kiss me. “You’re okay.”
“I want you.” My voice pitches higher with each breath.
My fingers clutch at sheets, at arms—anything solid while my hips rise off the mattress, seeking contact.
Their pheromones blend into something that makes my mouth water and my spine arch.
I can’t even form their names anymore, just broken syllables that dissolve into gasps. “All of you. Now. Please.”
Elliot blinks, and Kellen’s mouth forms a perfect O of surprise. Nolan’s eyes go soft, then hard.
“Are you sure?” Elliot asks, his hand covering mine.
“Please.”
Nolan sits next to me on the bed, close enough that I can feel the heat rolling off him. Elliot slides up behind me, sitting so his chest is pressed against my back. His arms bracket my shoulders, solid and safe.
Kellen kneels at the end of the bed. He slides his hands up my calves with warm palms, taking his time like he’s unwrapping a very delicate present.
When he gets to my hips, he pauses, meets my eyes. “Can I?”
I nod, unable to trust my voice.
He presses a kiss to my thigh, just above the knee. It’s so gentle that it makes my eyes water.
Nolan’s hand rests on my waist. Not demanding, just there, anchoring me to the mattress.
Elliot’s hands are on my shoulders, massaging out the knots, tracing every tense muscle. He bends down and brushes his lips to my ear.
“You’re doing great,” he murmurs.
I nearly laugh because what is this, an obstacle course? But then his hand slides up my neck, cupping the base of my skull, and everything relaxes at once.
Kellen kisses his way up, slow and thorough, each press of his mouth turning the ache inside me a few notches hotter. In a flash, my alphas have the remainder of my clothes off and Elliot’s mouth is at my ear.
“We’ve got you,” he whispers.
Nolan dips his head. His lips brush my skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps before his mouth closes around my nipple.
Lightning shoots through my body, my back arching involuntarily as a moan tears from my throat.
My hips buck upward, but Elliot’s strong hands catch me, pulling me back against his chest. Nolan’s tongue circles and flicks, while his thumb grazes my other nipple with just enough pressure to make my toes curl against the sheets.
“That’s a good girl,” Elliot whispers in my ear.
Kellen’s breath ghosts over my inner thigh.
His palms press my knees wider. His tongue draws a hot, wet line from my inner thigh to my center.
Electricity shoots up my spine. I lift off the bed as if pulled by invisible strings.
Kellen remains relentless. He moves in slow circles at first, then quicker motions that pull gasps from my throat.
Then there’s the press of one finger, then another, curling upward inside me.
My spine arches and my toes curl so hard they cramp.
The room disappears. My fingernails dig into Elliot’s forearm as wave after wave of crashes through me, each one higher than the last until my throat burns raw and my lungs forget how to pull in air.
Sweat slicks every inch of my skin, my pulse hammering so hard I feel it in my jaw.
Then there’s the slick that coats my thighs and the sheets below.
Elliot’s fingers thread through my hair and he turns my face toward him. His lips capture mine, tasting of pine and salt. Nolan’s calloused fingertips trail down my ribs, feather-light now, each touch sending aftershocks rippling through me.
The room eventually spins back into focus but my heat is far from satiated. My muscles go liquid as I melt against Elliot’s chest, his heartbeat steady against my back.
“More,” I beg. “Please, your knots.”
A thunderous silence resounds as my three alphas strip within arm’s reach of me, all pretense gone.
Shirts and belts peel away, exposing pale torsos and dark swathes of hair and muscle.
My skin sings with the nearness of them, every cell screaming for more.
Kellen kneels first, and the sight of him naked—so eager he’s trembling—makes my mouth water.
He crawls up the bed on his hands and knees, eyes locked on mine like he’s stalking prey. My thighs part helplessly. I want him in every sense of the word and I don’t care who knows it.
Kellen’s hands find my knees, fingers digging in to pull me wider. There’s a low, almost terrified sound from him, something between a groan and a prayer.
“God, Piper.” His voice is thick as he admires the slick pouring from me. “Look at you.” He drags the backs of his knuckles up my thigh, stopping just short of my slicked heat. I arch my hips, desperate for contact, but he just smirks and drags his knuckles away.
Behind me, Elliot’s chest is solid and reassuring. I lean into his lap and his hard length grinds against my ass. His hands bracket my hips as he presses a kiss to my spine.
“We’re here,” he murmurs. “You’re safe. You’re ours.”
My head tips back against his collarbone, the sensation grounding and dizzying all at once.
Nolan sits at my side. His gaze is locked on my face. His hand strokes himself in slow, measured pulls, all the while watching for any flicker of discomfort or hesitation from me.
The only thing in me is hunger.
Kellen’s mouth is at my center before I can process the shift.
He licks into me with a sweetness that borders on reverence, and my vision whites out for a moment.
The mattress lurches as Kellen’s hips rut against the bed, desperate for friction.
My nails dig into the sheets, clutching at anything, everything, because I will come apart if I don’t.
Elliot’s left hand slides beneath my jaw, tilting my face toward him.
He claims my mouth with a kiss that tastes of cinnamon and heat.
His other hand slips around my torso, thumb stroking circles over my ribcage, until he finds my nipple and pinches, rolling it between finger and thumb until I whimper into his mouth.
Nolan leans in to kiss my temple, his lips surprisingly gentle.
Kellen devours me, tongue and lips and finally fingers curling inside until my hips buck off the mattress for a second time. The moan I loose is animal. But this is not enough—it’s not what I need.
As if he can read my thoughts, Elliot’s hand slides up my throat, thumb pressing lightly at the hollow. “Ask for it, Piper. Beg for it again.”
I moan softly. “Knot me, please. All of you. I need it—please.”
Kellen shifts. His breath catches as he lines himself up.
The blunt pressure sends sparks through my core.
He pushes forward and my mouth falls open.
I grip his shoulders, nails digging into his skin.
His knot pulses against me, already swelling, catching on sensitive flesh as he works himself deeper.
My body yields, stretches, claims him inch by burning inch.
When I clench around him, his pupils blow wide and a vein stands out along his neck as his whole body trembles against mine.
Restraint. He’s still trying to keep control and is barely doing so.