Chapter 18 Lucien
LUCIEN
The omega in my arms squirmed on my knot. I let out a drowsy noise of displeasure, pulling her back against me where she belonged. Kisses on her shoulder and lazy strokes of my fingers on her bare stomach until she melted.
My scent was blended with hers in the nest, the way it should be. I found the spot on her neck where her perfume was the strongest and breathed it in. A pleased purr thrummed out of me.
“Lucien.”
A coy turn of her head and my mouth slotted against hers.
I fucked her slowly, as much as my knot would allow.
Supple breasts in my hands, grinding against the sweet spot that made her whimper and rock back against me.
I was rewarded with a gush of her slick, squeezing my cock as she came.
My own climax wrecked me, but I had to give my omega everything. She was perfect and deserved it.
I grasped her hip bone, my forehead against her shoulder, breathing hard. The dull ringing in my ears grew as a rushing momentum hurtled toward me. Impact . Reality collided, sudden and ice-cold. I didn’t have an omega. I had a guest in my home. Entrusted to me by the entire town. Summer .
Who I had just ridden out an alpha rut with.
“Oh, fuck.” My cursed knot stopped me from slipping free, leaving her stuck with me. “Did I hurt you?” I demanded. Her breasts were still in my palms, and I released them in a panic.
Summer stretched lazily, giving me a perfect view of her peaked nipples rising and falling with her contented sigh. “I take it you’re not in rut anymore.”
I wasn’t sure how she was taking this so casually. The morning light revealed love bites all over her golden skin, reddened marks in the shape of my hands and mouth. Fuck, how rough was I with her last night? And why the fuck did I like it so much?
“Hey.” Her steady voice cut through. Summer’s hand reached back to cradle my cheek. “I’m always disoriented coming out of a heat. Are you all right?”
“Am I all right?” I had flashes of fucking her. Barely giving her time to rest before needing her again.
“Do you remember much about last night?”
Enough to know that she was in my bloodstream now.
“I scented you,” I rasped. “Damn near lost my mind. And you…”
“I invited you in.”
Her sweetness on my tongue and the sound of her begging for my knot seared through my memories.
“You should’ve told me to go so the pull dissipated,” I said, even as I clutched her more possessively.
“Is that what you would’ve wanted?” she asked.
The little waver of uncertainty in her voice killed me.
“No,” I confessed.
“Me neither,” she said quietly. “I wanted it, Lucien. I knew what I was getting into.”
“C’mere.” I kissed her. Greedily. Still unsure if this was real.
All my good intentions of not monopolizing her flew out the window. I could only hope that my alpha would not see Jae and Mercer as threats. They were clearly happy with how things were going with Summer.
All I had to do was not ruin it.
It was embarrassing how long it took for my knot to go down and finally slide out of her. Her fingers played in my hair absentmindedly as my heart raced the entire time.
Summer’s nest suited her perfectly. Bright and playful patterns, just like the cute outfits she looked far too good in.
I was a little more unsure of why there were objectively hideous little plush cats lining one side, though. Were they…key chains? They were dressed in food costumes—a burger, a taco, a stack of pancakes complete with a butter pat on the head.
“Friends of yours?” I asked.
“They’re collectibles,” Summer explained quickly. “Don’t be mean to them.”
I was a decent-enough alpha to know that omegas were very particular about their nests, but there was an extra layer of vulnerability in her tone.
Had someone said something to her in the past?
I wrestled with the urge to strangle this possibly nonexistent person and only spoke when I knew something homicidal wouldn’t come out of my mouth.
“Collectible, huh? Do you have them all?” I asked lightly.
“I’m missing one.”
Interesting.
Summer squealed and wriggled away. It took me a moment to realize she was lying on top of my phone, buzzing with email notifications.
“Fuck, sorry.” I grabbed it, scanning them out of habit. One of the general managers was being difficult about his budget.
“Work?”
“Mm-hmm,” I said distractedly.
“Do you like working there?”
A new email came through from one of my direct reports. Good. It was being handled without me having to step in. “My team is great. I get positive feedback and above-average performance reviews,” I rattled off easily.
Summer propped herself up on her elbow. “Yeah, but do you like it?”
I stalled. Did I? The question caught me off guard. I was good at it, well paid, and offered career advancement. Liking it was not something I had ever prioritized.
Summer’s long hair was cascaded in a messy tumble down her shoulder, framing her breasts perfectly. Sunlit eyes and pink lips, waiting patiently for me to answer. What the fuck was I looking at my emails for?
“Not right now I don’t.” I tossed my phone into the pile of cushions and lunged. Summer giggled as I pinned her, nuzzling my scent into her neck.
“I have to get ready to go to pottery class with my friends.”
“Okay.” I kissed down her chest and guided her pert nipple into my mouth. “That sounds fun.”
Summer arched, her legs wrapping around my hips.
My cock flexed involuntarily as her slick pussy nestled against me.
“Yeah, it should be. Apparently the dude running it is famous? I dunno. All I know is that Lucy said his name was Giancarlo and there was going to be mimosas, and I didn’t really ask any more questions. ”
I didn’t intend to fuck her again. My alpha roiled and I filled her with a hard thrust, crashing my lips to hers.
“Is it too much?” I smoothed her hair back so I could watch her take me. “Have you had enough of my cock inside you?”
“No,” she whimpered. A breathless cry slipped out as Summer squeezed my bare ass, urging me to move.
In a way, it was good to confirm that my instincts did not see Jae and Mercer as threats.
Giancarlo , however, was a different story.
I wanted Summer to have a wonderful time with her friends.
I also needed to give Giancarlo a firm enough handshake to break several of his fingers before shoving him off a nearby cliff.
“Don’t knot me. I’ll be late.”
My hand roamed down to her clit, and she clamped down on me like a vise. I purred, wanting more of her pleasure. “Then come for me before I fill you up.”