Chapter 1
Maggie
I wipe beads of sweat off my forehead with a sigh. “Okay, let’s go over this one more time.”
“C’mon, Mags,” Kip whines. “We’ve been over it a million times by now. We know this place inside and out.”
“Well, until Nik knows our omega mark inside and out, we’re gonna keep going over it.”
Kip’s twin brother, Kaden, snickers at my double entendre.
Nik, our alpha, smacks Kaden upside the head mid-laugh, which sends the dark-haired beta into a coughing fit.
That, in turn, causes Kip to laugh at his brother, which then gets the two of them wrestling, and I sit back to wait for them all to come to their senses.
I’m used to the twins’ antics; I grew up next door to them, after all, and Kip and I have been besties since we could walk. Nik’s a newer addition to my pack-for-hire, though he fits in well enough, and he doesn’t complain about anything as long as he gets his cut in the end.
“Could you two please concentrate? This omega’s family is loaded, and if we play this right, we could walk away with enough to last us for months.”
Kip blushes all the way to his hairline, Kaden grumbles under his breath, and Nik sighs.
Granted, I’ve been pushing them for days about this grift. Nik and I did the legwork, introduced ourselves to the omega’s family and offered our services, but Kip and Kaden still could use some instruction on the finer points of the arrangement.
“Sorry, Mags. We’re listening.”
Kaden grunts in affirmation of his brother’s comment, so I continue.
“As I was saying, this family needs an heir soon. Their omega daughter should be going into heat any day now, but they haven’t found any good matches as of yet with the local alphas.
That’s where Nik comes in: The parents have approved him as a, uh, donor.
He’ll do the deed—knot, lock, and done. Our job as betas, at least on the surface, is to provide whatever other comfort the omega needs during her heat.
Help her with her nest, pamper her, massage her, anything she wants.
” I narrow my eyes at Kaden. “The family has not approved any other mating besides Nik. They want to be certain that the kid is sired by a quality alpha.”
“Are you going to lord that over me every job? It was one time!”
Kip rolls his chestnut-brown eyes. “You’re just lucky we got out of that one before they realized you knocked up their precious omega princess.”
“There is zero proof that I was the father. It could’ve been Nik …”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and fan myself with my other hand. “You can’t be serious. Nik could smell the pregnancy on her before he even had a chance to do his job.”
“Well, it’s not my fault that omega was a Fertile Myrtle! Betas aren’t supposed to be able to—”
“Enough!”
Nik’s shout has enough of his alpha presence behind it to make both twins recoil, and even I’m tempted to cower before him.
“Mags knows what she’s doing. If you two would just listen for five minutes, we could already be in bed and getting some rest. I want to get this job started so we can have a few months’ leave before the next one.”
Twenty minutes later, we break for one final night of sleep before the job starts. We head off to our separate rooms, but it’s not long before I find myself knocking on Nik’s door.
He opens in a pair of loose pajama pants and nothing else. His long blonde hair, usually pulled back in a messy bun, flows free, and those emerald eyes gaze right into my soul as I stand there, sweating. “Yeah?”
“I, uh … I need your help before we do this job,” I say, wiping my brow.
Nik’s eyes flit from my hand to my mouth, and he licks his lips. “Your suppressant is wearing off. Again.”
I nod slowly, feeling a bit woozy. “Yeah.”
“Fuck, Mags, why didn’t you say something sooner? This job won’t work if there’s another omega around.”
“I know, I know.” I fan my face with one hand while pulling my mop of dyed pink hair off my shoulders. “Look, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t need it. It’s just one night, just to take the edge off. I’ll be able to take another suppressant dose in the morning, but it’s too soon right now.”
Nik frowns. “The doses aren’t lasting long enough. You need to think about other options, Mags.”
Though his pupils dilate with desire, the statement feels like a rejection.
“You don’t want to help me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He didn’t have to. “But you want me to find another way to get through the heats.”
His strong arm wraps around my shoulders and guides me into his room. Nik closes the door behind us, and as soon as we’re completely alone, I lean back into his broad, bare chest.
“Your meds aren’t working well enough anymore.
You know suppressants are only effective for a short time.
There’s a diminishing return on those drugs.
Eventually, they won’t stop your heat at all.
” He says all this while nuzzling my neck and rubbing my shoulders.
“I will never complain about helping you through your heat, but I’m trying to look out for you.
One of these days, the drug won’t help, and we’ll have to time our jobs even more carefully. ”
I’d argue, but one of his hands slides down to my waist and toys with the hem of my shirt, fingertips brushing my stomach and distracting me from logical thought. Combine that with his heady scent of pine and wood-smoke, and wording becomes hard.
“I … I …”
Nik’s lips ghost over my neck. “Bubblegum and cotton candy. For someone who’s so jaded and sour, you sure smell sweet.”
“I-is the nest ready?”
His wandering hand finds my breast under my shirt, and with the way he strokes and squeezes it, I quickly forget what I asked.
“Always ready for you, Mags.”
“And Kip and Kaden don’t know?”
“Not a clue. They’re idiots, but they know not to go in my room.”
Strong fingers pinch my hard nipple, and I moan. “N-nest … please …” I hate that heats do this to me. I can’t focus, can’t think, and, if Nik’s giving me any kind of attention, can’t even move without his help.
Before Nik joined our little pack, I suffered through my heats alone. I could have asked Kip or Kaden to help me through them, but as betas they lack the one thing that satisfies me most: a knot. Besides, they’re my best friends. I’m sure they don’t want to complicate that with sex.
Without another second of delay, Nik lifts me up and carries me to the walk-in closet where he hides my nest. It’s not ideal, but it works for our purposes.
With Nik’s help, I’ve stocked the space with enough cushions, pillows, and blankets to smother a small army, along with a used mini fridge for water and an old cooler for snacks.
With any luck, we won’t need the food tonight, but hydration is always important.
By the time he lays me in the center of the fluff, I’m a quivering mess. I tremble and shake while he removes my PJs, only calming when he settles between my legs and strokes my needy clit.
“Easy, Mags. Take it easy. I’m right here. We’ll get you through this, okay? Just relax and let me take over.”
His soft litany of soothing words reaches into my soul, and the effect is as if he hit a button to shut off the anxiety.
My muscles relax, my legs drift open, and I let out a contented sigh as he gently fingers my throbbing pussy, running them through my slick before returning attention to my clit.
He could be like other alphas and take what he wants, but Nik always makes time to ensure my comfort before he starts.
“You good, Mags?”
I nod slowly, caught up in the sensations he’s giving me, and Nik repositions himself, lining his hard cock up with my entrance. As always, the initial breach is tight, but soon my walls adjust around him, grateful for the relief of friction.
“Have you been taking your other meds?” he asks as he slowly thrusts into me in a steady, even rhythm.
I know what he means. If this gets me pregnant, it’ll ruin our plans. Beta women, like I pretend to be, aren’t supposed to be fertile; if I wind up with a kid on board, our grift is as good as dead.
“Yeah,” I drawl, wrapping my legs around his waist and plunging my hands into his silky hair. “Never miss a dose.”
“Good.”
Pulling Nik’s face closer, I reach up and meet his lips for a steamy kiss. He palms my breasts while we make out, hefting them as if testing their weight. His hips move faster and faster, pounding me harder, and I’m grateful for the cushion of the nest beneath me.
“Kn-knot me … Please …”
“Shh … Patience, Mags.” He nibbles at my neck, stopping just shy of marking me.
One thing about Nik that’s both irritating and amazing is his desire to actually please me. Despite the frantic pace he’s fucking me with, he won’t let his knot inflate until he’s certain I’ve gotten off at least once. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he gives a shit.
This isn’t a relationship, though; it’s an arrangement. A contract of sorts. He knots me when the heat suppressants wear off, and I let him play alpha-for-hire in our grifts.
It’s been a good arrangement so far. Nik’s not one to complain, and his easygoing nature allows me to feel comfortable in my own omega skin. I can let my guard down around him without worries of being exposed or dealing with unwanted mating attachments.
As Nik pounds me harder, my back arches beneath him, and I hastily grab a nearby pillow to stifle my screams. I bite down on the soft, fluffy corner, screaming so hard my throat hurts.
Nik twists his hips in a move that’s new to me, and I almost come clear out of the nest. The squirt of fluid from between my legs is something new to me, too, though from the way Nik grins when it coats him, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
He slows to a more reasonable pace, giving me time to come down from the orgasmic high before he allows his knot to inflate.
My pussy walls are still fluttering from the insane climax when he fills me, and the sudden fullness when I’m still so sensitive makes my eyes roll back in my head.
I grip his hair tighter, so tight I worry I might wind up with fistfuls of blonde locks at the end of this, but I need something to hold onto.
Nik groans and engulfs my mouth with his, driving his tongue inside and probing needily.
As soon as his knot reaches its full width, our bodies lock together. Now we’re bound until he comes, until his knot shoots his cum through his cock, until I’m overflowing.
We writhe for an hour like that, entangled in the nest. Finally, Nik shudders and stills, biting my shoulder gently. For a second, I worry he might leave a mark, which is the last thing we need the night before a job, but thankfully he holds back.
Before I sneak back to my room, Nik checks the hallway for any sign that the twins are awake. Kip may be my best friend, but I don’t want him to know about this.
No one can know.