Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Briar
N o matter how hard they try to convince me that it’s not a bad sign we’re leaving town in the middle of the night…I still worry.
My head is a mess, torn between feeling guilty and fretting that they’ll get blamed for the disaster I got us into while also trying not to act like an omega who’s gone off the deep end.
Being in such a small area with all three of their scents has my instincts overloaded to a level I’ve never experienced. I ache to nest and wallow in blankets and pillows with soft fabrics while being surrounded by the three of them. Maybe I’ve done something horrible to offend the universe, because I get half of my wish.
They’re all here in a confined space… Too bad it’s a moving vehicle, and I’m miserable.
“Oh, sweetness,” Keir murmurs, kissing my forehead as I lean against his chest. “You are warm.”
I nod. “And I need a bathroom break. Easton didn’t even offer before we left.”
Keir stretches forward and whacks the back of Easton’s head, then frowns, nuzzling his cheek to my hair. “I’m sorry. I forget sometimes that he doesn’t understand even the basics of human decency.”
It’s an eleven or twelve-hour drive from Vermont to the town we’re headed to in Virginia.
There’s no way I’ll last that long.
Not without a bathroom break, and probably not without embarrassing myself when I break down and beg one of them to knot me.
“I feel awful,” I admit. “I just want to hide in a nest and snuggle… Why did I have to come?” Shit, I sound whiny even to my own ears, and I bite my lip to keep more complaints from spilling free.
“Find somewhere I can take her to the bathroom without needing to completely change her clothes,” Keir growls.
He must be speaking to Calder, because that’s who is driving.
“I’m sorry I’m sweating all over you,” I say, pulling the blanket over the back of my head.
“No more apologizing,” Keir says firmly. “You don’t need to feel guilty over your biological reactions any more than I let myself feel guilty for wanting to fix all your problems. Nature dictates the relationship between alphas and omegas, it’s that simple. More than that, sweetheart, caring for you isn’t a burden.”
My lower lip wobbles, so I bury my face in his shirt to keep from bursting into tears. I’m not used to anyone being as kind and genuine as Keir and Calder are. If I’m not careful, I’ll start crying, and I think that would be the one thing worse than being trapped in a moving vehicle with Easton.
“You may take the front seat, Keir,” Easton says as Keir opens the back door of the SUV. That man must have a super-sized bladder, because I was basically floating by the time Calder found this rest stop.
My head shakes against the massive alpha’s chest. I’m not sure when Easton moved to the middle row, but I don’t want to sit by him. He won’t rub my back and let me sweat all over him like Keir will.
“We need to make another stop. Maybe a twenty-four-hour pharmacy? Briar’s fever is concerning. We need to be able to monitor it. Hell, we might need to stop if it gets too high.” Keir shuts the door, walks us around to the other side, opens that door, and flips the middle row forward. “Climb all the way in the back, I’m right behind you.”
I scramble to follow his instructions and snag my pillow on the way by. I would grab my blanket, too, but it’s trapped in the seat Keir had to put down to access the third row.
“You know that seat can be completely flipped into the floorboard,” Easton says conversationally. “This entire row can be.”
“Yeah, then do it while Calder goes in for water and a thermometer.” Keir grunts, pulling the door closed behind him as he climbs into the back row.
“I was hoping you would snuggle with me for a change.” Easton twists around in his seat. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for a nap. Enjoy the next three hours, Keir. You’re up for the next driving shift.”
“You said I could keep him,” I snap.
Oh yeah, because that was a completely rational sentence for a human being to say. Then again, I’m an omega, and I intend to start acting like it. Our society says the omega is the center of the pack. We get free will to pick our partners as we see fit. I’m not going to let Easton and his bossy ways keep me from doing exactly that.
Easton chuckles, popping up the seat and handing me my blanket. “You may keep him for the next three hours. Then it’s his turn to drive. By my estimation, he hasn’t been to sleep yet. I thought you might like to allow him to get some rest, but far be it from me to stand between an omega and her chosen alpha.”
“There’s a good chance I’m going to stab him in the very near future,” I mutter.
Keir carefully slaps his hand over my mouth, shaking his head. “Don’t bait him, pretty girl.”
Yeah, that’s not bad advice.
At some point during the next half hour, Keir steals my pillow. He places it down over the buckles and lies sideways across the back row. He’s so large he has to keep one leg hanging off the seat, and I end up sitting on the edge between his legs as his foot rests on the floorboard.
He pats his chest, and I move to lie right on top of him. My knees end up on the seat, but that’s good so the bony appendages don’t squish him. His pelvis pushes against my stomach, but my tits rest just below his pecs, so we’re probably even. I nuzzle my face around his T-shirt, but it smells like my sweat.
Why can’t it just smell like Keir?
Ugh.
I need as much of his scent as I can get. He yanks the blanket over me, tucking it over my back and pinning me down with the weight of his arms.
It helps a little, and I get drowsy.
I wake an undetermined amount of time later to a whine slipping from my lips. It echoes around the confined space as my whole body jerks. If I was dreaming, I can’t remember it. While I slept, I scooted all the way up to bury my nose in Keir’s throat. My tongue flicks over the skin just under where his beard ends.
“You’re awake now. Aren’t you?” he asks in barely more than a whisper.
I nod into the crook of his neck and inhale as his hands tighten on the globes of my ass. He’s got his hands down inside the sweats Easton put me in, and he grinds me over his extremely hard shaft.
“You’re burning up. Calder is keeping an eye out for a pharmacy, but we haven’t passed one yet. I think we need to consider ways of bringing your fever down. Based on touch alone, I can tell you this…” He nuzzles his cheek to the side of my face. “You’re hotter than I’ve ever felt another person. I’m surprised you’re not screaming in agony.”
A muffled moan vibrates against his neck at the feeling of his swollen length rubbing against my pussy.
He knows what he’s doing.
“Omegas are very heat resilient,” I mumble, sucking on his skin. “I also don’t feel great, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to take care of me just?—”
The material of the sweats I’m wearing is very stretchy. I know because Keir’s hand leaves my ass and finds it again with a firm crack.
I jolt, and an embarrassing moan slips from my lips, radiating against his skin.
“I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it to believe my words are true. Caring for you isn’t an obligation. It’s a gift,” Keir says close to my ear. “Now, how do you feel about letting me lock my knot inside you?”
“Don’t you need to sleep before your driving shift?” I ask, swallowing thickly. My hands still maneuver between us, sliding down the front of his jeans. He opted for no belt during the trip, but that’s perfect. The material is tight, but my hand moves under his boxer briefs, and I’m able to squeeze his shaft.
“I’m not even at the twenty-four-hour mark of being awake. I’m fine. I would never put your safety at risk just to get my dick wet.” Keir stares straight into my eyes as he speaks.
I didn’t know they made men as sincere as he is, but it’s addicting.