Twelve
Adair
The more I think about it, the more I know deep inside myself that what’s happening here is more than just three friends helping out one another. This was more than that the minute she opened her front door and let us inside. The second we locked eyes with Jess, we knew this was different.
I run my hands through the bubbles in the clawfoot bathtub, the smell isn’t dissimilar to Jess’s scent, which pleases me. Lavender with a touch of eucalyptus from the fresh bunch hanging below the shower. The last thing I ever want is to cover up her scent. I want to bathe in it. Want to rub myself all over her and have her mark me. So that every other person on this planet knows who I belong to.
Orion carries her through, her pale, naked body not dissimilar to the marble sculptures of Aphrodite. That’s what she is, a goddess.
“It’s not too warm,” I say, watching as Orion slips her into the warm water and rests her head against the towel on the edge of the tub. “Just a quick bath, mo chridhe. Then we’ll get right back to taking care of you.”
“You are taking care of me,” she sighs dreamily. “No one has ever run me a bath before. At least not as an adult.”
“Happy to be of service,” I smile, grabbing a loofah and loading it up with soap before I move to scrub over her shoulders. There’s a peppering of love bites from Orion across her neck and collarbone and it leaves me feeling hot and jittery. All I want is to touch her, make her mine in the same way as Orion did. But how can I?
I can be here for her, bathe her, feed her and hold her. The rest? I’m just not sure. After Katya, I’d sworn I’d never have another omega, that I’d never take the risk again. But how am I supposed to turn my back on Jess? Sweet Jess who’s been there for me all these years and now she’s asking for one thing in return.
“You’re getting in your head,” Jess whispers as Orion leaves the room to clean himself up. It’s getting hard to distinguish between scents at this point. We’ve all been so close to one another that they’ve started to meld and mix. It warms a part of my heart I thought had died years ago. Jess reaches a hand out to cup my cheek, running her soft thumb across the top of my cheekbone.
“I’m fine,” I reply, not wanting to worry her. “I think you’re getting close to the heat haze, your temp is back up.”
“Well, taking an alpha’s knot will do that to a girl,” she replies, sounding uncomfortable. “Yep, definitely close.” Her hands move to her stomach, her open palms spreading across her soft flesh and holding tight as if it’ll ease the cramping.
“Kito’s out picking up food so we’ll do bath and dinner and take it from there.”
“I don’t think I’ll last until then,” she mutters under her breath, moving to scrunch her body up as small as it’ll go. “Oh shit, no, I’m not lasting until then.”
“Just breathe,” I soothe as best I can. Orion is just in the other room, I could call him in and get him to-
My panicked thoughts are cut off when Jess grabs my hand and guides it to her centre.
“I feel like I’m on fire,” she adds, her hand on top of mine as she touches herself with both our fingers. “Please, Adair.”
Something inside me switches, my alpha calling out to help my omega on the most basic of animalistic levels. She needs to come. I can make her come.
“Lie back, mo chridhe.” The encouragement is all she needs. Jess lets go of my hand and lays back in the warm water. Rivulets of water run down her neck and chest, circling her perfect pink nipples and travelling further south where my hand is nestled between her thighs. I don’t move straight away, so frightened I’ll somehow fuck this up that I’m paralysed.
“You know what she wants, Adair,” Orion’s voice comes from the doorway. He’s shirtless, dark tattoos covering his entire body and his boxers slung low and tented. “Just give her what she wants. What she needs.”
My thumb starts to circle her clit, still swollen from her time with Orion just an hour or so ago and she starts to whimper. Delicious, small sounds hum from between her lips and my chest aches with the need to be close to her.
“Tell me what you need,” I say, gently pressing one digit inside her and curling it in a come hither motion. Her body goes lax as I tease her, circling her clit and fingering her pretty pussy simultaneously until she’s panting.
“I just need you,” she replies between shudders. “Please don’t stop.”
It takes all my mental strength not to panic, to calm my breathing and lower my heart rate. Again the alpha inside me screams, that part of me knows exactly what to do but it’s not in control right now. No, I have to keep a level head. Have to make sure she is safe, always.
The water swishes and sways as I move, pressing another finger inside Jess while my thumb keeps moving. The bathroom floor, my jeans and my T-shirt are soaked. I want nothing more than to tear off my clothes and get in the tub with her, feel what her naked body feels like against mine for the second time. The way she’d press her arse against my cock as I finger her, bringing her to the edge again and again and again with my hands.
“Adair, oh God, Adair,” she huffs, eyes slipping closed in ecstasy. “I’m going to come, don’t stop. I need this, I need it.”
Within seconds her walls clam around my fingers, holding them deep inside as if searching for a knot to make her whole. How I wish I could give her that.
She comes down from her high as the bathroom is filling with the scent of lavender and tonka bean. An oaty undertone fills my nose, like homemade oatcakes sweetened with honey. I lay my head on the edge of the bath, watching her pussy milk my fingers time and time again while the thumb keeps up the rhythm of making circles around her clit.
“You’ve got one more to give me, mo chridhe.” And she does, her pretty pink pussy holds my hand deep inside, pulling me further and further in with each squeeze.
When Jess finally comes down from her high, I lift her out of the bath as carefully as I can. Orion moves away from the doorframe where I’d forgotten he’d been standing and passes me a warm towel from the radiator. I wrap it around Jess’s shoulders, rubbing my hands up and down her arms to keep her cosy. Without warning she slumps forward, her face buried in my chest. She’s so small she only comes up to about my pecs. She effortlessly fits against my body and I can’t help but wrap my arms around her and hold her close. It’s like she knows how difficult this is for me, even in the middle of her heat.
“That’s Kito home, princess,” Orion says, stepping closer and running a hand back through her wet candyfloss pink hair. “We need to get you some food.”
Not wanting to break the contact, I lift her up against me and wrap her legs around my waist. I carry her gently back through to the living room where Kito is laying out a selection of fruit, meat and cheese on the small coffee table beside Jess’s nest. There’s a jug of orange juice and one of ice water, a selection of mismatched glasses and plates piled up at the side.
I get her dried as best I can before Orion passes me a t-shirt for her to wear. It’s the same one Orion was wearing earlier and smells distinctly of him. She seems to like that, wearing his clothes, as she lifts the collar and presses it to her nose. Inhaling deeply, her eyes roll back in her head and she smiles.
“This is perfect,” she sighs, interrupted only by the growling of her stomach. “I have to take meds.”
“I’ll get them,” Orion replies. “Where are they?”
“I have a pill dispenser thing in the kitchen. I skipped this morning’s, but I can take the afternoon ones.”
My brow furrows, annoyance clouding my vision. We should have thought about this earlier and asked her about medications and what she needs to do during the day to stay on top of her symptoms. Kito takes Jess’s hand and leads her into the nest where she settles against a selection of purposely positioned pillows to keep her sitting upright. I watch how Kito effortlessly lifts a strawberry and brings it to Jess’s lips. She bites down, red juice running down her chin. Without a second to waste, Kito leans forward and licks the juice from her jawline.
“All better,” he grins animatedly, his brown eyes wide.
“Okay, here we go,” Orion mumbles, walking back into the room at the same time as Jess perfumes. He just about melts, long legs buckling beneath him just in time for him to collapse beside her in the nest. The pill box is still sitting in his palm and he pops the little afternoon compartment open. “Do you need to eat before you take them?”
She shakes her head, eyes glued to Kito. Or at least, Kito’s mouth.
Orion pops the pills into Jess’s mouth one by one while Kito lifts a glass of fresh orange juice to her lips to help swallow them down. I never thought taking fucking meds could be sexy.
It seems when it comes to Jess, I just can’t control my urges, my thoughts. It’s a dangerous game, one I’m not sure I can risk playing.
Flashes of disjointed memories flood my mind, making it difficult to concentrate. I press my thumb and forefinger into my eyes, willing Katya’s face to disappear and let me stay in the moment but it’s nigh on impossible. It might have been four years ago but it feels like yesterday.
I can’t let anything happen to Jess. I could never live with myself if I destroyed the one good thing I’ve found since Katya died.