Chapter 18 #2
“Hi.” I settle between her thighs, brush hair from her sweaty forehead. “There you are.”
She laughs, watery but real. “Hi.”
“I want to see you.” I push back inside slowly, watching her face, watching her eyes roll back with pleasure. “Want to watch you when I knot you.”
“Ben.” Her hands come up to cup my face, and my heart stutters at the look in her eyes. She’s looking at me like I’m everything. Like this means as much to her as it does to me.
I start to move. Slower this time, gentler. This isn’t about chasing an orgasm anymore. It’s about connection. About showing her, with my body, everything I’m not brave enough to say with words.
I love you. I’ve loved you for years. I used to joke just to see you smile, and I never realized it was because your smile made everything else bearable.
I can’t say any of that. So I kiss her instead. Put every feeling, every thought, every hope I’ve been too scared to acknowledge into that kiss.
She kisses me back just as desperately, her legs wrapping around my waist, pulling me deeper.
“Ben.” My name is a prayer in her mouth. “I feel—”
“I know.” I cut her off with a kiss. I don’t want her to finish that sentence. Don’t want either of us to say something we might regret when the heat clears. “I know, sweetheart.”
My knot is swelling faster now, catching at her rim with every thrust. The pressure is building, inevitable, and I know I’m not going to last much longer.
“I’m close,” I warn her. “Gonna knot you. You ready?”
“Yes.” She pulls me down for another kiss. “Want to feel you. Want all of you.”
I thrust hard one last time, forcing my knot past her rim. The stretch makes her gasp against my mouth, and then we’re locked together, sealed tight. My orgasm hits like a freight train.
I come so hard my vision whites out. I can feel myself pulsing inside her, filling her with jet after jet of release, and her pussy is milking me, pulling every drop deeper. She’s coming too, I realize distantly. Coming just from the feeling of my knot inside her.
Mine. She’s mine. They’re mine. We’re pack.
The bite urge hits me like a punch to the gut.
Her neck is right there. I could sink my teeth in and make this permanent. Make her ours forever. My whole body trembles with the effort of holding back.
No. She asked us not to. She trusted us.
I bury my face in her shoulder instead and just breathe. The urge recedes slowly, one agonizing second at a time.
“Ben?” Her voice is soft, concerned. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I lift my head, look into her eyes. “More than okay.”
Her expression softens. She reaches up, traces her fingers along my jaw, my cheekbone, my brow. Like she’s memorizing my face.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For all of it.”
“Thank me after the heat’s over.” I try for a grin, but it comes out shaky. “When you’ve got a clear head and you still want me around.”
“Ben.” She cups my face, makes me look at her. Her eyes are soft, searching. She opens her mouth like she wants to say something, then closes it again. Instead, she just pulls me down for another kiss.
It feels like a promise. I hope it’s a promise.
We stay like that for a long time, locked together, breathing each other’s air. My knot pulses lazily inside her, and every few minutes her pussy clenches around me, making both of us shiver.
“The heat’s almost over,” she murmurs eventually. “I can feel it. This was the last wave.”
“How do you feel?”
“Tired.” She laughs softly. “Sore. Like I’ve been thoroughly fucked by three alphas for the past day and a half.”
“Because you have been, and it’s been more like three days but who’s counting.” I grin, and this time it feels real. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
She rolls her eyes, but the smile stays. “There’s the Ben I know.”
“What, you thought I’d get all serious just because we had mind-blowing sex?” I kiss the tip of her nose. “Baby, I’m going to be making jokes about this for years.”
She laughs softly, but there’s something uncertain in her eyes. Something I can’t quite read.
My knot finally starts to soften. I ease out of her carefully, and we both hiss at the sensation. The sight of my come dripping from her pussy has my cock twitching with interest, but I’m too exhausted to do anything about it.
“Come here.” I pull her against my chest, tuck her head under my chin. “Sleep. You’ve earned it.”
“What about Milo and Elijah?” She’s already half-asleep, her words slurring together.
I glance across the nest. Milo is watching us with a soft expression, and Elijah is already asleep—one arm reaching toward us like he wants to touch her even in his dreams.
“They’re right here.” I stroke her hair, feel her relax against me. “We’ve all got you. Sleep.”
She’s out within seconds. Her breathing evens out, her body goes heavy and limp, and I hold her and watch the candlelight flicker across her face.
The storm has stopped. I can tell because the constant howl of wind that’s been background noise for days has finally gone quiet. Outside, the world is probably buried in snow—roads blocked, town cut off, everything frozen and still.
But in here, in this nest, with this omega in my arms and two other alphas close enough to touch, everything is warm.
Milo catches my eye. “She okay?”
“Yeah.” I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face. “Yeah, she’s perfect.”
“The heat’s over?”
“I think so.” I tighten my arms around her. “She said that was the last wave.”
Milo nods slowly. “What happens now?”
It’s a good question. What does happen now? We’ve spent the last three days in a bubble, focused entirely on taking care of Tessa. But the real world is still out there. The blizzard will end, the roads will clear, and we’ll have to figure out what this thing between us actually is.
Four people. Three alphas and one omega. In a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business.
It should feel terrifying. It should feel impossible.
Instead, watching Tessa sleep in my arms, feeling Milo’s steady presence beside me and Elijah’s warmth at my back, it just feels right.
“We figure it out,” I say finally. “Together.”
Milo smiles. It’s the first real smile I’ve seen from him in hours, and it transforms his whole face.
“Together,” he agrees.
I close my eyes and let myself drift toward sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll face the real world. Tomorrow, we’ll have to figure out what comes next.
But tonight, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.