Chapter Twenty-Two
Rhea
I wake to warmth.
And not the feverish, you-might-actually-spontaneously-combust kind of warmth I’ve been drowning in for days now. No, this is… steady. Solid. Safe.
A slow, heavy heartbeat under my ear. Strong arms curled around me like a promise. The scent of cedar and spice and alpha male sweat in a way that really shouldn’t be hot, but is.
Ash.
I asked him to stay, and, against all odds, the human brick wall said yes.
He didn’t touch me. Not like that. He just… held me. Let me curl into him and soak his shirt and sob into his neck without judgment or complaint or any of the other things I was bracing for.
He even told me I’d made a strong nest, which was both wildly validating and maybe the nicest thing anyone’s said to me since the heat started.
Lexi would murder me if she saw me like this. Or worse, she’d say I told you so , which is much more painful.
But seriously: w hy the hell did I think I had to handle it alone?
Because I’m used to doing things alone.
Because asking for help still feels like a weakness.
Because I didn’t think I’d want them - these alphas with too much power and not enough chill.
But I do. I want them so badly it makes my skin too tight.
I shift slightly, and Ash’s arms tighten instinctively. Protective. Possessive.
I go still.
Something presses against my lower back. Something hard. And warm. And… oh.
Well, hello.
He’s asleep, but apparently not that asleep.
I bite my lip.
Okay, Rhea - you’ve made it this far. You’ve survived a heat haze, a hostage-style getaway, and a government manhunt. You can handle this.
Even if there is a lot of... well, this .
I rock back, just a little. Just enough to confirm what I already know.
Yep. That is definitely his cock.
It twitches in response, heavy and hot and aching against the curve of my ass.
“Oh no,” I whisper, entirely not sorry.
Ash grumbles low in his throat, eyes fluttering open.
I rock back into him again.
“Rhea,” he murmurs, voice gravel and restraint as he quickly wakes. “You don’t -”
“I want to,” I whisper. “ Please . I need more.”
His breath stutters.
I shift, twisting in his arms until I’m facing him. Then I press my lips to his neck, his jaw, his chest.
There’s a beat. A moment where I can see it in his eyes - the shift. The instinct sharpening under the surface.
And then he nods, once.
“Okay.”
I try not to whoop in delight as my fingers clutch at his bare shoulders.
“Lie back,” I tell him. “Let me.”
He shifts, easing onto his back, one arm still curled behind my waist, guiding me gently as I straddle his hips, settling over the hard ridge straining against his sweatpants. My slick is already soaking through the thin fabric, my clit screaming as I grind myself right down against it.
A gasp tears from my throat.
The friction - god, it helps .
And it’s so much better than the pillow.
“God, you’re soaked,” Ash comments, his large hands gripping my thighs. “Sweetheart, this is the most fucked-up sleepover I’ve ever been to.”
I laugh - actually laugh - and it cracks something open in my chest.
Then I grind harder.
His cock slides along the slick heat between my folds, and I whimper. My clit pulses against the fabric, my slick soaking further through the cotton between us.
Ash groans, fingers digging into my thighs. Not to stop me - just to anchor himself.
“That’s it, Omega,” he says, voice tighter. “Take what you need. Use me .”
I do.
I rock against him; slow at first, then faster . I press my hands to his broad, muscular chest, feel the taut flex beneath my palms as I build up the speed and the pressure, chasing relief.
I ride him like it’s the only thing keeping me alive, dragging my soaked cunt along the thick line of his cock while he curses under his breath and fights to stay still. He’s so much bigger than me - taller, broader, solid in that alpha way - but he lets me be in charge. Lets me chase it.
But it’s still not enough.
“I need -” I choke. “More. Please .”
His eyes flash.
“Oh, you’ll get more.”
In one smooth move, he flips us.
I yelp, then moan as he settles between my legs.
He leans down and kisses me softly, slowly, then peels the flannel shirt - the one that was already covered in his scent - from my body. I arch to help him, shivering as the air hits my damp, overheated skin.
He drags his mouth down my throat, over my collarbone, then back up - worshipping me inch by inch.
I tug at his waistband with shaking hands, and Ash doesn’t hesitate. He lifts his hips, peels the sweatpants off, and kicks them away -
A nd then his cock is right there.
Big. Heavy. Veined and glistening with precome.
I moan at the sight of it.
“Like what you see, sweetheart?” he rasps.
“Oh my god,” I breathe. “You’re huge. Like… weaponized .”
He smirks. “I do my best.”
He drags his cock against the outline of my cunt instead of sinking in. The head of it brushes again my clit, all slow and deliberate, and I nearly sob at how good it feels.
I arch my back, bucking my hips up toward him, silently inviting him inside; but he tuts, then shakes his head.
“Not yet,” he rumbles. “I’m gonna grind this cock on you until you’re screaming. ”
He starts to move - slow, filthy strokes that coat him in my slick, the swollen head of his cock dragging over my clit with every pass. The sensation is maddening: not enough, never enough, but building. Each glide sparks something low in my belly, a slow-blooming heat that curls and tightens with every pass.
“You’re fucking dripping ,” he mutters. “All that slick... all for me. You want to be split open, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I gasp. “Please, Ash - just - fuck, please -”
He leans in, breath hot on my cheek.
“I’ll wreck you,” he snarls. “You let me in now, Omega, and you won’t be walking right for days.”
I grind harder against him, my pussy slick and needy, catching the ridge of his cock just right.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” I pant. “I want that. I want to feel it for days. I want your cock deep, Ash. Now. ”
He pulls back, dragging it over the dripping outline of my cunt slower this time, like he’s memorizing the feel of me.
“You’re killing me,” he growls. “I should make you come just like this. Rub you raw on my cock until you beg to be filled.”
“I’m already begging,” I breathe, tears stinging behind my eyes. “ Please , Ash. Make me come. Make me scream .”
He chuckles deeply as his cock grinds just under my clit again, and my hips buck up like they have a mind of their own.
Honestly, they probably do. They’ve gone rogue.
“You feel that?” he growls, voice all grit and sex and danger. “You’re so close I can feel your cunt fluttering. You gonna soak me, sweetheart? Gonna come all over my cock without even taking it?”
I let out a sound that could probably get me arrested in public.
“I’m trying, okay?” I gasp. “It’s not a performance issue. It’s just - holy shit - your cock is like a sentient weapon.”
“Tell me what you want, then.”
Truthfully, I want to ride this thing like a cursed amusement park ride and scream until I lose consciousness - but I don't quite know how to say that to him, so -
“I want to come !”
He grinds again, hard and precise, and my soul just... exits .
My body locks. Back arches.
A scream rips out of me that’s probably shaking the chandelier in the foyer.
“Ash - fuck - Ash!”
I come like I’ve been launched into space.
Slick everywhere. Body shaking. Moaning like a woman possessed.
And he doesn’t stop.
Not even for a second.
He keeps grinding - slow and cruel now - dragging the thick head of his cock over my clit again and again, even as I twitch and shake and sob beneath him.
“That’s it,” he breathes, voice ragged, eyes locked on mine. “Fuck, you’re so beautiful like this.”
His cock is soaked now, slippery with my slick, hot and heavy as he presses down harder, dragging through the mess he’s made of me. The ridged vein along the underside of his shaft catches my clit again and I shudder, hips bucking helplessly.
“Oh my god,” I croak. “Ash. ASH. I can't handle it. I... This is illegal in at least six provinces.”
“You can take more,” he growls, dragging his cock through the mess he’s made of me, all slippery and smug and alpha. “I know you can. Don’t make that face - you begged for this.”
“I didn’t know it came with a bonus round!” I wail.
He slows, leans down until his forehead’s pressed to mine, eyes all stormy and dangerous.
“What are you asking me, omega?”
I whimper, unable to answer, lost in the steady rise of sensation, the sparks turning to fire, the fire roaring into something savage and sharp.
“You're gonna have to say it,” he smirks. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you inside,” I whisper, breathless and wrecked. “ Please .”
I mean it: I need the whole damn thing. I need the deluxe package. Balls, knot, regrets, everything .
Ash growls - like an honest-to-god, big-cat-in-a-zoo kind of growl.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he says, breath harsh.
“Yes, I do ,” I snap, dragging my nails down his back like a woman possessed by her own libido. “I want your cock inside me. Deep. Now.”
He snaps.
One large hand hooks under my thigh, pulling it high against his waist, and the other fists in the sheets beside my head. He lines up with me like we’re reenacting a slow-motion movie trailer, and then -
Sweet. Merciful. God .
He thrusts in.
All at once.
I let out a noise that could shatter wine glasses as my body wraps around him like he’s the missing piece I never knew I lost. There’s no thinking anymore. Just sensation. Pressure. Stretch.
Bliss. Regret. Bliss again.
I clamp down around him, gripping like I never want to let him go. Ash lets out a long, low sound against my shoulder, inhaling my scent deeply, his voice rough and ruined.
“ Fuck . Tight. So tight,” he mutters, breath hot against my neck. “Like your body was made for me.”
Honestly? It probably was.
Jury’s still out on whether it was a group project or a design flaw.
“You’re mine now,” he rasps. “First one in. First one to fuck his Omega.”
And fuck - I feel it. That stupid, primal part of me that purrs at the claim.
It shouldn’t feel like this. This good. This right .
But it does. It feels like coming home with a concussion and still knowing exactly where the key is.
His cock pulses deep inside me, and I swear, I can feel it echo in my bones. My legs wrap around his waist, heels digging into his back, needing more, more .
“Move,” I sob. “ Please. I am literally vibrating.
He moves, and I ascend.
Every thrust is pure chaos in motion; raw, filthy, and perfect.
I claw at him like a wild animal.
My slick is everywhere.
His cock is driving into me like he’s trying to exorcise a demon.
Which is fair. I might be possessed.
Especially when he pulls back, then slams back in with a growl that vibrates against my skin.
The bed jerks beneath us. The headboard slams the wall.
“Fuck me, ” he pants, teeth gritted. “You’re squeezing me like you’re trying to keep me forever.”
“I am, ” I sob. “I want to. Ash - god - ”
Every thrust shatters through me like lightning - harder, deeper, faster. My slick coats him, gushes down my thighs, wet and obscene and perfect.
And it feels so good.
Not just the friction. Not just the stretch.
But the way it f ills something I didn’t even know was empty.
“Ash - god, yes, fuck me - ”
He pants against my mouth, hips pounding into me, eyes dark and wild.
“You’re gonna come again, aren’t you?” he growls. “Already. My perfect fucking Omega. Can’t even take her first alpha cock without falling apart.
“Shut up and wreck me,” I wheeze, which is apparently the magic phrase.
He pounds into me, and it’s like fireworks are going off in my skull. My body short-circuits. My vision whites out.
And in the haze of it - the heat and slick and blissful, devastating pleasure - I think of the others.
Theo, his hands gentle, his voice warm as he held me close.
Kai, laughing, wild-eyed, watching like he wanted to worship and devour all at once.
Lucian, cruel and cold and commanding, whispering filth through steel.
And Ash - my first. Beautiful, brutal Ash.
But he won’t be the last.
I want them all.
Their teeth. Their hands. Their knots.
I want to be filled, again and again, until I don’t know where I end and they begin.
Is it sick? To think of the others while I’m pinned beneath this one?
And is it selfish? To want them all for different reasons?
Maybe.
But I don’t care.
Because this isn’t just instinct. This is right.
And I will take every single alpha, starting with the one whose cock is buried inside me now.
Ash’s cock hits just right, again and again, dragging over that swollen, aching spot inside me until my body snaps .
My second climax slams into me like a freight train - deeper, sharper, more unforgiving than before. I seize under him; legs locking, back arching, throat raw with the sound that rips from me.
“Ash - Ash, I’m - fuck - ”
My hands scramble over his skin, searching, clutching, offering .
I bury my nose into his throat and inhale deeply, breathing in his scent. The bond stirs, rising like smoke in my blood, something wild and bright and full of want.
My whole body pulses with it - an unconscious plea, a flare of take me, take me, take me .
And I know he feels it, because his rhythm falters.
He gasps - breath broken and rough - his hand tightening against my thigh like he’s fighting his own body.
“Rhea -” he grunts. “ Don’t. ”
It’s not a command - it’s a warning. A plea.
I cry out again, body clenching hard around him as I soak his cock in wave after wave of slick. I can feel the bond reaching, pushing toward him like a living thing, like instinct itself trying to snap into place.
He grits his teeth, growling low.
“ Fuck - Omega - you’re trying to bond -”
His cock twitches inside me, knot swelling. But just when I think it’ll happen -
He yanks himself out at the last second; rough, deliberate, and shaking with restraint. His knot flares wide and unused, cock jerking in his hand as he fists himself with a guttural growl -
And then he comes in thick, hot ropes across my stomach, painting my skin in messy, primal lines as his face twists in a mix of ecstasy and agony.
My chest rises and falls like I’ve run a mile.
I did that. I pulled him apart.
And still…
The bond hovers in the air between us - glowing, humming, waiting to be claimed.
But Ash just breathes hard, fists the sheets beside my head, and doesn't touch it. Doesn’t take it.
His restraint is brutal. Admirable. Maddening.
And I love him a little for it.
We lie there, both of us slick and panting, like survivors of a very specific natural disaster.
My muscles twitch in aftershock, nerves still humming, but I don’t feel dazed anymore.
Not undone. Not broken.
I feel… clear .
“Better?” Ash rasps.
I tilt my chin up, catch his eyes. They’re blown wide, jaw clenched like he’s still holding something back.
And yet - he’s here. With me.
I grin, ruined and smug.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “God, yeah. So much.”
Ash lowers his head and presses a kiss to my temple. It’s soft. Gentle. Almost reverent.
Honestly, it would’ve been sweet if I weren’t currently lying in a puddle of post-orgasmic slick with my legs still shaking like I just ran a marathon and got hit by a lust truck on the way.
He lingers there - nose in my hair, breathing me in like I’m some sacred relic instead of the deeply unhinged omega who just screamed his name like I was auditioning for a metal band.
But beneath the soft, there’s something missing.
Or maybe not missing - just... withheld.
The bond.
I offered it. I felt it rising between us like a tidal wave of instinct and want.
And he didn’t take it.
Not out of cruelty, I don’t think. But still, there’s a quiet kind of hollow in my chest where something could have settled.
Should have.
I lift my hand and rest it against his chest. His heart’s pounding like he just won a bare-knuckle street fight, which is fitting, really; since that’s kind of what this felt like.
“You didn’t accept it,” I murmur.
A beat passes before he answers, voice low and rough. “No.”
I nod. Slowly. Unsure of what I feel.
Not rejection. Not anger. Just... confusion. Curiosity.
An annoying little ache like a missed line in a song you really wanted to hear.
“I offered,” I say.
“I know.”
I glance up. “You planning to elaborate, or is this the part where you just do the strong, silent thing and emotionally repress me into a coma?”
His mouth twitches. “You’re not subtle, are you?”
“Nope. You tried subtle once and I’m still recovering.”
He sighs, deep and bracing, like he’s gearing up for a confession -
Or a root canal.
“I didn’t accept it,” he says, “because I wasn’t sure if it was really you offering. Or just the heat talking.”
“It was both ,” I blink. “What, you think I hallucinated your dick because I was sweaty and hormonal?”
Ash’s expression cracks slightly, but it’s there: the beginning of a smile.
“I mean, I wouldn’t blame you.”
“But you didn’t say no,” I say quietly. “You just didn’t say yes.”
“I want to say yes,” he says, finally looking at me fully. “But not when your body’s doing the talking. Not when it might be biology and not you.”
My heart does a little awkward flop.
“And what if it was me?” I ask. “Me, knowing it would make things easier. Calmer. Less hellish. What if I chose to trust you with that?”
He leans in again, thumb brushing my cheek, his voice soft.
“Then I’d still wait. Because I want it to mean something.”
God. Of course the big scary alpha with the haunted eyes and the combat boots is also a closet romantic. Figures.
I kiss his jaw gently, grateful.
“ Fine ,” I whisper. “But if I lose my mind again in two hours and try to climb you like a tree, I’m blaming hormones.”
He chuckles. “You can blame whatever you want, sweetheart.”
We stay like that for a while; warm and sweaty and tangled. And somehow, even though I’m half-naked and slicked in everything short of divine intervention, I don’t feel gross. Or guilty. Just... steady.
It’s later - when I’m nestled against his chest, mentally negotiating with my uterus not to combust again - that it hits me.
That feeling.
Low in my spine. Prickling at my skin. A presence .
My eyes snap to the door, and I sit up, Ash’s come half-dry on my skin, heart suddenly thundering.
“Someone’s there.”
Ash stiffens instantly, instincts kicking into high alert. “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Like... emotionally certain. And also spiritually unsettled.”
He doesn’t even blink, just nods. “Want me to drag them in by the neck?”
“Tempting,” I admit. “But maybe start with the door. Let’s keep the violence to a medium - at least until we know if they brought snacks.”
Ash glances toward the entrance, jaw tight, and then nods once - calm, controlled, murder-ready.
I exhale into his shoulder, already bracing myself for whichever alpha is lurking in the hallway like a creep with impeccable timing.
I hope it's not Lucian.
(Who am I even kidding?)