Chapter 14
Zira
Cuddled tightly to a warm chest, I listen to Barnes’s breathing as he sleeps soundly, his body wrapped around my back with his arms twisted around my stomach and chest. It’s beyond comfortable, and I feel safe in the circle of his arms, content and happy to remain here all night. I smile as I inhale his scent as it surrounds me more here than it does anywhere else in the house, his room a perfect reflection of him.
After watching several episodes of Lazarus’s favorite show, I found myself yawning more than I wasn’t, my eyes growing sore with tiredness. When Barnes caught me rubbing my eyes and doing my best to hide my yawns behind my hand, he asked me to stay the night. I didn’t even consider ‘no’ as an option, wanting to be right here, with them. So, while Alek and Laz took care of the dishes, Barnes led me to his room upstairs, the one opposite the room I woke in a few weeks ago that I’m told is Alek’s. I was offered a shirt to sleep in, though I would have been just fine sleeping bare, but, apparently, I’m too tempting to resist while I’m naked, so I was tucked into his shirt while I laughed like an idiot when Barnes blushed and shook his head at my amusement.
While Barnes was getting ready, I took in his room. The off-white walls littered with artwork, the bookcase filled with books and photo frames of the guys during their times in North Five at different stages, and the walk-in closet tucked away in the corner is all very Barnes. Everything is neat and tidy, though there are several frames of artwork leaning against the one wall where he’s yet to pin them.
We climbed into bed shortly after that, Barnes bundling me up against him before he fell into a sound sleep, leaving me awake and not at all tired now that I’m in bed. There’s nothing worse than when the couch sleepiness doesn’t transfer to bed sleepiness. I’ve been lying here for the most part of two hours, willing myself to finally fall asleep but unable to do so. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not sleeping in my nest, or because I’m too aware of Barnes suctioned to my back, but sleep evades me like a thief in the night and I sigh softly.
When the minutes pass and I remain wide awake, I decide to go in search of something that might aid in putting me to sleep for the night.
With very little grace, I unravel Barnes’s hold and do my best to climb out of the king-size bed without waking him. Of course, I fail spectacularly, and Barnes’s sleep-laced voice startles me when he asks, “You okay, Freckles?”
I turn and smile at him, his eyes squinting at me through the darkness. I lean in and kiss him gently, pulling back to whisper, “I’m fine. Just going to get a drink. Go back to sleep.”
He nods, his eyes already shutting before he sleepily drawls, “Hurry back.”
Huffing a silent laugh, I wait until he’s fast asleep once more before leaving the room, tiptoeing to keep my steps light. I shut the door after myself and slowly trail down the hall until I reach the stairs, wincing when one creaks as I descend.
“You’ll learn how to sneak around without making a peep soon enough, sweetheart,” I hear suddenly, and I flinch hard enough that I have to grip the stair rail to prevent a dramatic fall.
Slapping a hand over my chest, I lift my head and find Lazarus sitting in his armchair with the lights off save for the lamp just behind his chair. His glasses are perched on the end of his nose once more as he holds a book open on his lap, his free hand holding a cup of tea that steams to indicate it’s freshly made.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I breathe, quickly taking the rest of the stairs and heading to the kitchen.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he offers sincerely, and I send him a smile of acceptance before peering around for something to cure my insomnia. “What has you awake so late? I thought you’d be fast asleep by now.”
“As did I,” I agree quietly, sighing as I cross my arms over my chest before facing him once more with a smile. “Seems the tiredness didn’t transfer, and I’ve been staring at photos of you all for the past two hours with no signs of sleep claiming me.”
Laz chuckles lowly, and my smile grows as I lean against the kitchen counter, eyeing the book in his lap.
“You couldn’t sleep, either?” I wonder, gesturing to the book.
He lifts it from his lap, wiggles it, and says, “It takes me a little longer than the others to wind down from the day, so I usually read for a little while until my eyes start crossing.”
I nod in understanding, smiling over at him. “Reading anything interesting?”
“It’s a romance. Could be something you like.” he says, eyeing me for a moment before a slow smile forms on his lips. “Why don’t I make you a drink and you can come read it with me? Perhaps that might send you to sleep.”
Lazarus doesn’t wait for me to answer. He simply slips a bookmark between the pages of his book and stands, sliding his glasses from his face and placing them on the side table.
Once he’s in the kitchen, he goes about pulling down a sage-green mug and filling it with chamomile tea, the sweet, floral aroma wafting beneath my nose as soon as Laz is finishing up with my drink. All the while, I lean against the counter, watching him with a small smile, enjoying the quiet moment between us both.
As soon as he’s done, Laz takes the mug and holds his hand out for me to take, twining our fingers together as soon as I’ve slid my palm against his. Without a word, he leads me back to his armchair and sits, leaving me to frown in confusion. Chuckling deeply, Laz gestures to his lap and teases, “Your throne awaits, m’lady.”
Huffing a laugh, I don’t fight him, deciding a cuddle might be nice while we read. So, with careful movements, I drop to his lap, sighing as soon as I’m enveloped in his warmth and pink pepper and pear scent that instantly soothes me.
Carefully, Laz hands me the steaming mug of floral tea and cuddles me close before retrieving his glasses, perching them on the end of his nose before he scoops up the book, crosses his ankle over his opposite knee, and rests the paperback on his knee. His other arm wraps snugly around my back, offering more warmth, and I sigh into my chamomile tea before taking a small sip.
“Comfy, darling?” he asks gently, scooping some of my hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear.
Nodding with a whispered ‘thank you’, I hug my tea to my chest before dropping my head to his shoulder, taking a deep breath of his scent just as a quiet but very distinct purr vibrates through his chest. Instantly, I’m lulled into relaxation, and my lips twitch with a content, little smile that expands over my mouth when Laz starts reading to me from where he left off.
I don’t bother asking questions about who’s who, where they are, and what they’re doing. I don’t ask for clarification when I don’t understand something. Instead, I listen to the smooth timbre of his voice, focus on the way his accent thickens as he loses himself to the words. I find myself focusing on the way his fingers start running through my hair, how his warmth wraps around me just as much as his scent, how my belly warms as I drink and finish the tea in record time.
Before I know it, my eyes are fluttering closed as I breathe in deep lungful’s of his scent. I tell myself I’m only resting my eyes, keeping the tired sting away while I soak in the sound of Lazarus reading, and that I’ll stay only until he’s tired and done with his book. I tell myself I’ll head back up the stairs and cuddle with Barnes as soon as I’m back in his room, sure I’ll fall asleep then. I tell myself… I tell myself that… I’ll…
I startle awake when a cloud of linens form a mold around me, and my eyes go to Lazarus as he brushes my hair from my face. “Ssh, you’re alright, sweetheart. You fell asleep, so I brought you back to bed.”
My eyebrows pinch and I look around, noting that I’m very much not in Barnes’s room. The walls are too dark, there’s more book-esque clutter everywhere, and there’s absolutely no sign of the art professor anywhere. Not him or his scent. In fact, the whole room is filled with pink pepper and pear, fruity and green, soft and soothing.
When my eyes go back to Laz, I find him smiling slyly, and he shrugs as he clarifies, “I didn’t say I took you back to that git. I’m stealing you for myself for what’s left of the night. If you’re willing, that is.”
Aww. He stole me away for a cuddle. Be still my heart.
Humming under my breath, I snuggle deeper into the sheets that smell like Laz, and he chuckles lowly before pressing a kiss to my forehead. I vaguely hear him undressing, already slowly drifting back off to sleep, when he climbs carefully back into the bed.
With zero prompting, I roll into him as soon as he’s horizontal, and Laz bundles me up against him without an ounce of hesitation. My leg ends up over his hips with his large hand wrapping around my thigh, my head finds a place beneath his chin, and my hand falls gently to his chest where I feel the first vibrations of his purr once more.
It’s all it takes before I’m lulled to sleep, only just hearing Lazarus speak moments before I drift away to la-la land. “Sleep well, my darling.”
***
“Wake her up and I’ll kick your bollocks into your throat.”
The quietly delivered threat makes me frown, and I nuzzle into the warm body cocooning me in a plume of pink pepper and pear, wanting to chase the dream I’d been having moments before. It’s already escaping my subconscious, taking with it all memory of what I was dreaming of to begin with, and I moan in disapproval. I might not remember what I was dreaming about, but I know it was good, and now it’s gone.
“Who stole my dream?” I grumble, frowning even deeper when I hear three sets of chuckles, the loudest coming from beneath me.
“Looks like I’m going to have to install a lock for my door, sweetheart. My room has been invaded by the Americans,” Lazarus jokes from under me, his chest rumbling with his words, and I snort without opening my eyes, content to remain here all day. I’m sure the alpha beneath me would have something to say about that, though the way his arms tighten around me offers hope that he might be willing to stay in bed with me.
“Whose balls are we kicking?” I grouch, lips twitching at the newest round of laughter that comes.
I feel the bed dip before a heated hand runs down my bare spine, and I frown. Where the hell did my shirt go?
“We were just checking if you wanted breakfast, Freckles,” Barnes asks gently, tucking my hair behind my ear. “But if you’d rather sleep some more, I’ll make you something when you’re ready.”
“Mmm,” I humm, smiling when the alpha snickers. I feel him lean in and press a kiss to my mouth before pulling back and brushing a hand over my hair, lulling me into a drowsy state once more.
To Laz, he says, “Text me when she’s awake and I’ll get started.”
I feel Laz nod against my head before the bed jostles and the fragrance of neroli and basil fades the further Barnes goes. Silence follows shortly after the door shuts, Alek’s distinct voice grumbling about the injustices he has to suffer fading away as he leaves with Barnes, and I can’t help but chuckle.
With a smile in his voice and fingers trailing over my bare back, Laz asks, “Are you wanting to sleep a little longer, sweetheart?”
Pausing for a moment, I check myself, already feeling refreshed enough to start the day but not quite wanting to leave just yet. So, I shrug and murmur against his pec, “Can we stay here a little longer?”
His chest rumbles with satisfaction, his purr vibrating against my cheek, and he says, “We can stay here as long as you’d like.”
We fall into silence for a long moment after that, just existing together as he tickles my back while I listen to his steady breaths. Eventually, my curiosity gets the better of me, and I sigh and ask, “I remember wearing a shirt before I fell asleep in your lap? Did the clothes fairy steal it while I slept?”
Shocked laughter breaks free of his chest, his purr replaced by the sudden boisterous sound that sets everything inside me alight. I don’t think I’ve heard Lazarus Sharpe laugh with quite so much vibrancy, and I’m absolutely obsessed. I could bottle it and listen to it when I’m feeling down, cheering up exponentially at the first sound of his laughter, if only I had the ability.
“Apparently, you grew too warm while you slept and you took it upon yourself to remove your borrowed clothing. It’s on the floor if you’d like me to reach for it,” he sweetly offers, still sounding entirely too amused.
I shake my head. “This is better. I like feeling you against me.”
His purr starts up again, his hands pausing on my back to hug me tighter to his body, and it only serves to highlight the position we’re in. I have no idea how much I moved in my sleep, but it would appear I’ve taken to using another alpha as a body pillow. My head is resting directly above the stray beat of Laz’s heart, my breasts pressed against his ribs, while my arms hang loosely around his neck. My legs have parted around his waist, which leaves the apex of my thighs pressed snugly against something hard, long, and thick, and it certainly isn’t the alphas thigh.
Breath catching when it dawns on me that I can feel his stiff length against my panty-covered pussy, I still and swallow hard, knowing already that I’m perfuming. Hell, I could have been perfuming long before now, but I’ve only just noticed my scent mingling with his.
“Ignore it, sweetheart,” he chuckles deeply, the sound doing nothing to stave off the rush of desire that sweeps through my body with all the force of a tidal wave.
Shaking my head once more, I confess, “I don’t think I can.”
My voice has turned a little huskier than before, and I swallow hard when I realize how deeply the need I’m now feeling runs.
“Zira,” he groans through another laugh, his hands flexing on my lower back where they’ve stopped their exploration, the tips of his fingers accidentally teasing the waistband of my lace panties. “I’m trying to be good.”
I frown, confused.
I must make a sound to convey as much, because Laz explains, “I’ve slept with you against me all night, your body glued to mine, and I’ve spent the better part of the morning with you rubbing every beautiful curve against me in all the best ways possible. I’ve had your scent in my nose, on my tongue, and all around me all night and morning, sweetheart. I’ve been fighting every urge to claim you as thoroughly as Barnes did, but you’ve needed your sleep and Barnes is waiting to take your breakfast order.”
My body shivers and prickles with goosebumps, the beating of my heart speeding up as his words sink into my mind. The effect of his words is sudden, my body reacting instantly. Arousal hits me like a sledgehammer, and I perfume wildly while slick pools between my legs in a wet wave of sweet-scented liquid that Lazarus can likely feel from where his boxer-brief-covered shaft is trapped beneath me.
Laz’s arms band tighter around me on his next inhale, and a deep, rumbling growl batters through his chest as he witnesses just how much I like the idea that he’s been battling his need for me so I could sleep. That my rubbing against him subconsciously has left him hard and fighting the urge to take what he wants before I’m properly rested.
It takes little else before I’m worked up and needy, my core clenching as my heart thunders in my chest. I already know I want Laz. I want them all, and I’ve made a promise to myself not to hold back. I don’t want to hold back. I want this pack. I want all they have to offer, want their time and affection, their laughter, sexy looks, and caring touches.
So, taking the same leap as I did with Barnes, I push myself up until my upper body hovers above Lazarus’s, my hands pushed into either side of the pillow he rests his head on. I’m met with smoldering, mossy-green eyes as he peers up at me, a serious expression on his face that holds more intensity than it does its usually calm patience.
Running my gaze all over his face, loving the crinkles in the corners of his eyes that tell me he’s laughed a lot in life, the pinch between his brows that tells me he’s holding himself back, and the way his jaw clenches tightly as he watches me back, I whisper, “I’m awake now.”
Heat fills his eyes like a wildfire soars through them, and his hands slowly glide up my naked back as he rasps, “What are you saying, sweetheart?”
“I’m saying, why are you holding back if my resting was the only thing stopping you?” I push, adding conviction to my voice.
A rumble of approval rattles his chest before he suddenly flips our positions, my back landing in the cloud-like comfort of his bed as he slots his hips between my thighs and presses into me. I gasp when I feel his length press against my center, only two thin strips of material separating us, and I’m panting for air as he leans in and intensely asks, “Tell me what you want, darling, and I’ll give it to you.”
“You.”
The word slips free as easily as breathing, and there’s no mistaking the desire within the one syllable word that has more of an effect than anything else I could have uttered.
Laz groans suddenly, clenching his teeth as he roams his gaze all over my face before they dip low and trail over every bit of my bare body his eyes can reach. When they come back to me, they’re nuclear with arousal, and I gasp when a new wave of heat washes through me.
“You want me, Zira?” he checks, dipping the lower half of his body to gently grind against me, almost like he’s testing my conviction. Like he’s confirming my words. Jokes on him, because wild horses couldn’t tear me away from this alpha. I’m already wet enough that it'll take little resistance for him to bottom out as soon as he sinks inside me, and I want that. I need it, more than I need oxygen to fill my lungs.
To prove it, I wrap my legs around him and yank his body to mine, moaning when his length drags over my pussy. I’m thickening the air with my perfume, our scents bleeding together, creating a heady concoction of sweet, soft, and earth that soothes and riles me up all at once.
My voice is breathy and lust-filled when I say, “I want you, Laz.”
A slow, sexy grin breaks out over his face, those laughter lines crinkling and swooping my belly with butterflies before he drawls, “Then the princess must get what she wants. On your belly for me, sweetheart. Present for your alpha.”
My alpha. Oh fuck, I like that. I like it a lot.
Doing as I’m told as soon as Laz frees my body, I roll to my belly and raise my lower half off the bed, tucking my knees into the mattress with panting breaths of anticipation. Lazarus groans behind me, and I startle as his hands grip my hips with a fervent touch, gasping when he leans in to press a kiss to the curve of my ass. It’s distracting enough that I don’t even realize the sneaky alpha has hooked my panties over his thumbs, tugging my body free. It’s only when his heated breath fans over my slick folds that I realize I’m bare to him, and I moan loudly when he leans in to lick a long, languid stroke of his tongue through the slick pooled at my entrance.
“You taste like fucking heaven, sweetheart,” Laz growls against my folds before delving in for more, licking me from clit to entrance and back, driving me out of my mind already.
“Laz,” I pant, mewling into the pillow when he sucks my clit into his mouth and sparks of pleasure ripple over my skin.
Laz growls harshly against my body, sending vibrations through me before he pulls away and grits, “Saying my name like that should come with a warning, Zira.”
I flash a grin, still breathless and trembling with arousal, and I moan, “Lazarus.”
“Fuck. Fuuuck ,” he growls in turn, and I have little warning before I gasp into the pillow when he spanks my ass swiftly and sharply, my gasp quickly turning into a haggard moan as he rubs the flesh of my ass. It’s clearly not the reaction he was expecting, because he curses colorfully before muttering, “Does the princess like a little spanking?”
Turning my head, I pant, “You should check.”
Chuckling darkly, he does, swiping his fingers between my folds and finding me soaked and desperate for him. The groan that leaves him this time is filled with hunger, and I moan when he presses his fingers inside me slowly, the slick sound of him penetrating my body, adding to the heady atmosphere.
“You’re tight, darling. So tight,” he rasps, his voice strained like he’s still holding back.
Before I can urge him on, however, he starts pumping those fingers in and out of me, fucking me slowly at first before picking up the pace. It takes very little time before I’m moaning and gasping into the pillow, already feeling the first licks of my climax gaining on me.
Laz must feel it, too, because with only a swift spank and a growled, “Come for me, Zira,” I’m obeying like a good little omega. I bite down on the pillow as a flood of arousal washes through me, my release stealing my air and coating Laz’s fingers with slick and cum in an instant.
Before I’ve even come down from one orgasm, Laz positions himself between my legs, and I feel the wet head of his shaft press against my entrance a moment before he sinks in hard and deep, sheathing himself to the base of his knot easily.
“Oh, shit, Zira. Fuck, you feel good,” he growls, his large hands gripping my hips as he pulls back and thrusts harshly back into my body, jostling me as I cry in both relief and arousal, only vaguely noting that he’s thicker than Barnes, filling me to bursting with every drive of his hips.
He only allows me a moment to adjust to his size, my body accommodating him well enough that when he pulls back, I miss the sensation of fullness instantly. A feeling that’s rectified when Laz pounds into me once, then twice, before he’s fucking me hard and fast and so fucking good that I lose all control of my voice box. I’m crying out, moaning and mewling, and damn near screaming as he sinks into my pussy over and over, his own grunts joining my sounds of pleasure.
I’m already so close to the edge at the feel of him, being driven out of my fucking mind, when he smacks the flesh of my ass so suddenly that my walls tighten around him and pull his length deeper inside me. I’m bearing down on him, his knot teasing my entrance as I start coming when he rubs the sensitive spot within me, sending me over the edge with his maddening pace and stroking hand over where he spanked me.
“Good girl, sweetheart. That’s it, come for me. I want to be covered in your slick by the time we’re done. I want everyone to know how well you shattered for me,” he roughly demands, fucking me through one orgasm, and sending me headfirst into another, his dirty words fueling the pleasure that rocks through my body. “Ah, shit. Just like that, Zira. Just like fucking that.”
I’m screaming into the pillow as I lose myself to the pleasure Laz wrings out of me, my walls pulsing around him as my legs tremble with the force of my climaxes. My screams turn silent when he fucks me harder and deeper, his knot testing the tight ring of muscle before he leans over my back and growls, “One more. I want one more, sweetheart, and I want you gushing around my knot.”
“Oh, fuck, yes,” I cry, gripping tightly to the sheets beneath me just in time for Laz to thrust his hips and slide his knot home. In an instant, my body locks down on the fleshy bulge of his shaft, knotting us together while another rippling orgasm steals my breath and turns me brainless.
I’m only vaguely aware of Laz cursing, growling, and grunting through his own release, spilling jets of cum deep in my pussy as soon as he sinks his knot inside me, his bare chest pressed snugly against my back as he comes enough that my pussy is overflowing with our combined release.
We’re both breathing hard by the time we come down from the blissful high, and Laz chuckles before tucking his face into the nook of my shoulder and mutters, “That was better than I ever dreamed it would be.”
“You dreamed about this?” I tease breathlessly, acting as though I haven’t done the same.
“Every single bloody night since I finally met the beauty that smelled like bananas, cream, and caramel, sweetheart,” he confesses before pressing a kiss to my sweat-slicked skin.
“Mmm,” I moan, tilting my head to offer him better access, rolling my hips from under him and feeling the fullness of his knot buried inside me. “Can’t say I haven’t done the same.”
Laz groans and laughs at the same time, his chest rumbling with the sound. “Yeah? And what’s the verdict, my little omega? Did I live up to expectations?”
Hiding the teasing grin in the pillows, I shrug and blandly mutter, “Eh. I think we might need a redo.”
That boisterous, vibrant laughter spills out of him in a rush, and I screech with my own laughter as he tickles my side while he says, “You cheeky little shit. You’re lucky I’ve grown rather fond of you, otherwise I’d spank your arse red raw.”
“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t like it,” I flirt back, cackling when he grumbles into my skin and bundles me against him as he laughs, turning us on our sides.
I gasp as he jostles inside me, my walls clenching around him, and he grunts before he says, “Give me a moment, and I’ll give you a redo with all the spankings you desire.”
“Promises, promises,” I sigh, right before I burst out in peels of laughter when he growls, cups my face, and kisses me until my laughter turns into moans.
It’s safe to say we don’t come down for breakfast until it’s no longer morning, spending the morning knotted and intimately tied together while we make a mess of Lazarus’s bed. By the time we do emerge, I’m wrangled into Alek’s lap as he playfully glares at his fellow alphas while he feeds me the most delectable pancakes known to man. What a way to start the day. An omega could really get used to this.