Chapter 27
River
I'm losing my goddamn mind.
Bea's standing right next to me at the New Year's Eve bonfire, and all I can think about is bonding her. Making her mine the way Seth already has. Getting my bite on her throat, my mark next to his.
"You're staring," Seth says from her other side, grinning.
"I'm not staring."
"You're definitely staring." Grayson's on my other side, arms crossed, watching Bea with that intense look he gets. "And your scent is obvious."
I take a drink of spiked hot chocolate to avoid responding.
"Ten minutes to midnight!" Tessa announces.
Bea turns to look at me, and even in the firelight I can see the way her pupils dilate. She's thinking about it too. The bond. Us.
"Having fun?" I ask, pulling her close.
"The best." She leans into me. "This is a good night."
"Going to be even better," I promise.
The next ten minutes feel endless. She stays close, occasionally responding to Seth through their bond, laughing at something Grayson murmurs. But I can feel the tension building.
"Five minutes!" someone shouts.
"I've been thinking about your bond," she admits quietly. "About what it would feel like."
"And?" I need to hear it.
"I want it," she whispers. "I want you."
My alpha practically howls with triumph.
The countdown starts.
"Twenty! Nineteen! Eighteen!"
"Seventeen! Sixteen! Fifteen!"
"I'm ready now," she says.
"Fourteen! Thirteen! Twelve!"
"You're sure?"
"Eleven! Ten! Nine!"
"I'm sure. Bond me, River."
"Eight! Seven! Six!"
"Five! Four! Three!"
"Two! One!"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
I kiss her as fireworks explode overhead. Claiming, possessive, pouring everything into it.
When we break apart, Seth is there, turning her face to his. His kiss is gentler but no less intense, and through their bond I feel his love, his support.
Then Grayson, his hand cupping her jaw, his kiss deep and territorial—a promise of what's to come when it's his turn.
She's breathless when we're done, her scent pure honey-sweet arousal.
"Take me home," she says. "Now."
We barely make it through the door before she's pulling me toward the stairs.
"Nest," she says breathlessly. "Need you in the nest, River."
"Yeah, baby. That's where we should be." I follow her up the stairs to the nest and the second we step inside the room smells like pack. Like home.
She's on me immediately, pulling at my jacket, my shirt, desperate and wanting. I help her, grinning even as my hands shake with need.
"Someone's eager," I tease, but my voice comes out rough.
"You promised me this on New Year's," she says, shoving my shirt off my shoulders. "And I've been thinking about it all week. Your hands on me. Your mouth. Your cock. Your bond."
"Fuck." I capture her mouth in a kiss, walking her backward toward the nest. "Love when you talk like that. Love when my sweet omega gets filthy."
We strip each other with practiced ease—we know each other's bodies now, know what snaps, what zips, what needs to be pulled over heads. When we're both naked, I pull her down into the nest, surrounded by soft blankets that smell like all of us.
"This is where we should be," I murmur, pulling her on top of me. She straddles my hips automatically, and I can feel how wet she already is. "In our nest. Where we took care of you during heat. Where you're safe."
"Where I'm yours," she whispers, and the certainty in her voice makes my alpha roar.
"Ours," I correct, my hands sliding up her thighs. "But right now? Right now you're mine. And I'm going to make sure everyone knows it."
"I've wanted this," I confess, pressing kisses down her throat. "The bond. Making you mine permanently. Since the moment I first felt your pussy wrap around my cock in this nest. Since you trusted me enough to let me knot you."
"Me too." Her hands slide into my hair, holding me close. "Every time you touch me, I think about it. How it would feel to have your bond."
"Then let me give you what you want." My hand slides down her body, over her stomach, between her thighs. She's already dripping wet—slick coating her thighs, hot and ready. "Mmm, baby. You're already soaked for me. This pussy's ready for my cock, isn't it?"
"Always ready for you." She arches into my touch, spreading her legs wider. "Please, River, I need—"
"I know what you need." I slide two fingers inside her easily, and she gasps, her inner walls clenching around me. "But tell me anyway. What do you need more—my fingers getting you ready? My tongue tasting this sweet pussy? Or my cock filling you up?"
"Your cock. Your knot. Your bond." She's already rocking against my hand, riding my fingers. "Everything. Want all of you inside me."
"Greedy girl," I say, grinning against her skin. "I love it. Love how you take what you need from me."
I work her with my fingers, two becoming three, stretching her, getting her ready. I curl my fingers and find that spot deep inside that makes her see stars.
"There it is," I say, watching her face light up with pleasure. "God, you're so responsive. Look at you, fucking yourself on my fingers. So beautiful. Can't wait to feel this tight pussy squeezing my cock. My knot."
"River, please—" She's close already, inner walls fluttering around my fingers. "Need more. Need you."
"Come on my fingers first," I encourage, my thumb finding her clit. "Show me how good you feel. How badly this needy pussy needs to be filled and knotted. Come on, baby. Let me see it."
She shatters around my fingers, crying out, her slick flooding over my hand as she clenches down hard. I work her through it, praising her the whole time.
"That's it. So good. You're so fucking perfect when you come." I withdraw my fingers slowly, bringing them to my mouth to taste her. "Mmm. Delicious. Could eat this pussy all night, but I know what you really need."
"Need your cock," she gasps, pulling at me. "Please, River. Fill me."
"Yeah, baby. I've got you. Always."
I position myself at her entrance, the head of my cock pressing against her slick heat. "You ready for me?"
"Yes. Please. Want to feel every inch stretching me."
I push inside in one long, slow thrust, and we both groan. She's hot and tight and absolutely perfect around my cock.
"Fuck, there we go," I breathe, bottoming out inside her. "Your pussy feels amazing wrapped around my cock. So tight. So wet. Made for me, weren't you?"
"So full." Her legs wrap around my waist. "You're so deep. Love how you fill me."
"Good. Want you to feel me everywhere." I pull out slowly, then thrust back in. "This what you need? You want it slow and deep, or hard and fast?"
"Both," she gasps. "Everything. Just move. Please."
I start moving, finding a rhythm that makes us both gasp. The wet sounds of my cock sliding into her slick pussy fill the nest, mixing with our breathing.
"That's it. Take my cock. Fuck, you feel so good." I can feel my knot starting to swell already, catching at her entrance with each thrust. "Feel that? My knot's swelling. Gonna lock inside you soon. Fill this perfect pussy so full you'll feel it for days."
"Want it," she sobs, meeting me thrust for thrust. "Want your knot. Want everyone to know I'm yours."
"They will, baby. Gonna knot you so deep, pump you so full of cum. My scent in your pussy, my bite on your throat." My rhythm gets more urgent as my knot swells larger. "And this bond—fuck, Bea—this bond means you're mine forever. You sure you want that? Want to be stuck with me?"
"Yes," she gasps. "Want you forever. River, please—I'm so close—"
"Touch yourself," I say, my hands on her hips, helping her meet my thrusts. "Play with that clit. Make yourself come on my cock. Want to feel this pussy squeeze my knot when I bite you."
Her hand slides between us, and within seconds she's trembling, gasping, right on the edge.
"That's my girl. Come for me. Let me feel it."
"River—I'm—"
"Do it. Come now, baby."
She breaks apart, her pussy clamping down on my cock so hard I see stars. The sensation triggers everything at once.
"River—" Her voice breaks. "Please. Need your bite. Need your bond. I love you—please—"
The words break me. My sweet, brave omega, choosing me. Trusting me with this.
My orgasm hits like a freight train. My knot swells rapidly, popping inside her, stretching her wide and locking us together as I start to come. At the same moment, my teeth sink into her throat, right beside Seth's mark.
The bond explodes into existence.
It's like lightning striking every nerve ending at once—but warm lightning, bright and joyful. Her emotions flood into me—love and trust and desire and joy and rightness. I can feel through the bond that she meant every word. She loves me. She wants this. She's choosing me.
And god, she's happy. So happy it makes my chest ache.
I'm still coming, wave after wave, my knot swelling to full size as rope after rope of cum floods her pussy. So much of it—weeks of wanting her, needing her, loving her—all of it pumping into her, marking her, claiming her.
Through our new bond, I feel her orgasm too—she's coming again from the bite, from the bond snapping into place, her pussy clenching rhythmically around my knot as she milks every drop from me.
The feedback loop is incredible—my pleasure amplifying hers, hers amplifying mine, both of us drowning in sensation and emotion and love.
When awareness returns, we're both shaking, gasping, and I can feel her through the bond. Not just her emotions—I can feel the physical too. How full she feels with my knot. How my cum is still pulsing into her. How satisfied and claimed and loved she feels.
"Holy fuck," I manage, laughing breathlessly. "Bea. Baby. That was—"
"Yeah." She's crying happy tears, and I can feel her joy through the bond. "River—I can feel you. Everything. Your love, your happiness, your satisfaction—oh god—you're still coming."
"Can't help it," I say, grinning even though I'm trembling. "The bond—fuck—I can feel what you're feeling too. How good my knot feels inside you. How full you are. How much you love this."