Chapter 46 Summer
SUMMER
I made a very deliberate and conscious choice to put on a dress for the first time in several weeks.
Floral, with a flippy little skirt. With the bakery back in business and my family easing back to normality, the stress and anxiety that weighed me down was lifting.
Instead of needing cuddles, I was starting to need… something else.
Mercer clocked me the second I wandered into the kitchen. The clink of his teaspoon stopped abruptly, and he set aside his tea.
“Nice dress.”
“Thanks!” I grabbed the coffee he had made for me and took a sip.
Strong arms braced me against the counter. “We gonna talk about this?”
“Talk about what?” I blinked up at him.
Mercer was never one to back down. He called my bluff, palming my ass roughly.
God, why was it so fucking hot when he took what he wanted without asking?
My core clenched instantly, and it was impossible to hide my arousal.
Damp panties, scent blown out, and nipples hard against the thin cotton of my dress.
“Good to know our agreement still stands,” he said casually.
The rush of blood was deafening in my ears. I wanted to let go. Trust how safe they made me feel. “I want new rules.”
“Tell me.”
“Whether I’m in a skirt doesn’t matter anymore. I’m yours. Anytime, anywhere, any way you want me.”
Every nerve in my body crackled with anticipation. Was he going to lift me onto the counter or bend me over it?
Instead, Mercer entwined my fingers in his. “I want to add a new rule, too.” His lips feathered across the back of my hand before his clear gray eyes captured mine. “Nothing about this is casual. Every time we’re together means something. Because we love you.”
Did he really just…
“I can’t believe you said you loved me for the first time while discussing our free-use agreement,” I said shrilly.
“Do you agree?” He started to kiss my neck, his grip on my jaw about the only thing keeping me upright. “I won’t fuck you until you do.”
“Yes, you psycho,” I said breathlessly. “I love you, too.”
Finally, he was going to—
“But I think it should be special, don’t you?” Mercer drawled. “Our first time now that we’re officially a pack.”
What the fuck was he talking about? “No, I want it to be filthy and not be able to walk afterward,” I pouted.
“You think we’re animals? That we see a flash of your panties and lose control?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”
“Noted. Don’t worry, I’ll pass on the message. We’ll take good care of your pussy. When we’re ready.” He patted it. Fucking patted it over the top of my panties. “You look very pretty,” he said with an affectionate squeeze of my waist. “Lucien’s been wanting to take you out, so keep your day free.”
Mercer picked his tea back up, took a sip, and left the room. I was horny, furious, and somehow even more excited for what they had in store for me.
“This edging better be worth it,” I muttered.
Lucien had never courted an omega before, and it showed.
“I would like to take you on a picnic,” he said formally. “Now would be best as I’ve already packed lunch.” He stepped aside to reveal a basket sitting on the kitchen bench.
Only a monster would say no to the ordinarily imposing alpha nervously shifting his weight, waiting for my answer. Especially when he looked so good in his casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose some very appealing forearms. “Yes, I’d love that, Lucien,” I said sincerely.
Even if Mercer hadn’t told me, I would’ve suspected something like this was coming after he spent a small fortune at Mariposa’s before barring me from the kitchen.
He took me on a short drive, right to the outskirts of town to a secluded bluff overlooking the sea.
A gingham picnic blanket was fluttered out onto the grass.
He opened the trunk of his car to reveal an excess of cushions, wanting me to be as comfortable as possible.
Then the chocolate-covered strawberries came out and he fed me.
Now that could really go to a girl’s head.
Being courted was the best. All I was missing was Jae and Mercer half naked with oiled chests, waving feather fans over me.
Maybe I could convince them to role-play this whole goddess scenario with me once they saw how fantastic my tits looked in a Grecian wrap dress.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing!” I offered him a sandwich before taking a triangle myself. “When do you go back to the office?” I asked tentatively. Between smuggling Tofu into the hospital and stress-planning picnics, Lucien had barely been seen in proximity of his laptop for days. Unheard of.
“Oh, that.” He chewed on his mouthful and swallowed. “I won’t.”
I sat up. “What do you mean you won’t?”
Lucien went quiet. “I quit. Soon after your dad went to hospital, actually. This summer really opened my eyes to the path I was on and forced me to decide what was most important to me.”
I slung my arms around his neck as he sat in the discomfort of his vulnerability. The smallest press of my lips. I’m here . The tension in him loosened, his fingers playing in my hair.
“Meeting you upended my world. I was scared of reliving history. Scared of not being able to tell what was real between us and what was instinct.” Lucien brought my wrist to his lips for a kiss. “Your scent drove me crazy, Summer.”
“Says the alpha who scent-marked me into a heat,” I countered lightly.
“That only scared me more,” he admitted, shamefaced. “When your heat was over, I thought the best thing to do was to return to my old life. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you by leaving the way Mom did. It would be easier for all of us to have a clean break.”
He’s here. He’s right here with you . I repeated it to myself even as my omega wanted to whine that we’d almost lost him.
“But then I got a taste of what that would be like. And I realized I could live with my fear, but I couldn’t live with knowing you were struggling alone. We should’ve been there. I hated that it came to that before I saw sense.”
A breeze washed over us and carried his words out to sea.
“Someone once told me,” I began carefully. “That we’re all human, trying our best with what we’ve been given.”
Lucien scoffed low, not meeting my eyes.
“I think you had to grow up too fast. And I know you took that on because you didn’t want Mercer and Jae to, even though they never asked you to.
” I began to trace the edge of his stubble lazily with my fingertip.
“Did you know I almost told you how I felt about you and then decided not to? That day you met with the real estate agent. I decided on my own that you would all be better off without me holding you back.”
His arms tightened, eyes flashing. “Summer . ”
“Your mess matches mine,” I told him tenderly. “Unearthing it hurts but now I can love all of it. I can love all of you , exactly as you are.”
The ocean crashed against the rocks far below.
“I love you,” Lucien said fiercely. “Not because of your scent. Because of this, right here. Your kindness, your fight, how big you love the ones around you. It’s a privilege to be in your light, Summer.”
To love and be loved . It was liquid gold, filling every crevice of my being.
I kissed him first, but Lucien took over the moment my lips touched his.
My back landed on the blanket, hair spilling behind me.
His broad frame covered me completely as our kisses grew hungrier.
Breathless. Desperate hands began to drift lower.
His thigh nudged my legs open and my skirt rose dangerously high.
“Mercer has…plans that I’m not supposed to spoil.” He made an agitated, desperate noise that was half growl, half purr against my skin. “But god, I want you.”
“You need me to take control? I won’t get us in trouble, I promise.”
“Then yes. Fuck.”
I liked the fluidity of the roles we could play with each other. Exchanging power and surrender, leaving behind the expectations of our designations to be with each other in all the ways we wanted.
“Lie down,” I ordered him, pressing back his shoulders.
He shuddered and did what I asked. There was something so delicious about having this big alpha waiting expectantly for me, evidence of my kisses all across his mussed hair and reddened lips.
I tossed my panties casually onto the grass beside us and he followed the arc of the lace fabric with darkened eyes.
“If you’re good for me, I might let you touch yourself,” I said as I positioned myself over him, one knee on either side of his head. I grasped him by his jaw hard, forcing him to keep his eyes on me. “Depends on how many times you can make me come.”
Lucien’s lips were already parting, impatient to taste me. “I’ll be good. I’ll give you as many as you want.”
I let my entire weight settle on his face, and my bare pussy landed directly on his waiting tongue. Lucien’s alpha scent spiked, hot and immediate, his desire spiraling upward with mine.
“Lick me all over, get me really wet,” I instructed him, breathily.
His clever tongue got to work immediately.
Fuck, so good . I bit back a shudder. It had been too long since I’d come, and all my nerve endings were extra sensitive.
“Yeah, just like that. Now go around my clit.” I guided his hands to my ass.
His groan vibrated against me as his flicking strokes ramped up.
“God, I’m almost there,” I panted. “Fuck my pussy with your tongue. I want to ride it.”
He spread me wider, guiding my hips as I ground against him recklessly. Everything was wet, slippery, his tongue lips mouth all over me. The building orgasm was laced with an intense pressure, and I knew I was about to drench him.
“Lucien, I’m gonna—”
I lost all control, moaning and writhing above him as I came, my slick soaking him. His throat flexed, swallowing me down. Zero fear over drowning in my orgasm or being suffocated by my thighs. Then I felt him moving my hips to rock against his face, the swirling of my clit starting all over again.
He really was such a good boy.
After he brought me to a second and then a third shattering orgasm, I collapsed forward, breathing hard. Jesus, I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. But it was nothing compared to how wrecked Lucien was, lips blushed bright red, eyes black with arousal, and my slick dripping down his chin.
“Get back on.” He was absolutely delirious. “That was fucking heaven.”
I laughed when he let out a disappointed huff when I swung my leg off him. His whole body jerked as I traced the long, distended shape in his shorts. I carefully plucked open his button, revealing the wet spot of precum on his boxers. His shaft throbbed against my palm, huge, hard, and thick.
Since he had clearly not gotten enough, I sat my ass back down over his face, moaning as I enjoyed the new angle of his tongue sliding into my pussy.
“You can touch yourself now.” I took his hand and wrapped it around his cock. “Put on a good show for me, alpha.”
Lucien obliged immediately, thumbing his glistening head before working his length steadily in his fist. I could feel his moans, ragged and hot against me, the muscles of his abdomen twitching as he brought himself closer to release.
His knot was partially swollen, hard and ready at the base of his cock.
I imagined the stretch as it locked inside me and I whimpered, coming again.
God, Mercer better not let his plans for delayed gratification go on for too long.
Lucien tensed beneath me, his strokes growing unsure.
Aww, he didn’t know if he was allowed to come or not.
I saved him from his indecision by taking him in my mouth, my tongue tracing the thick vein pulsing along his length.
A strangled “fuck” left him, his hips kicking up involuntarily and pushing him deeper.
I hollowed out my cheeks and sucked, rewarded moments later with a groaning, bucking Lucien spilling his warm release down my throat.
We lay on the blanket completely spent, staring up at the lazy drift of clouds overhead. Lucien finally hoisted himself onto his elbow over me, kissing my cheeks, nose, and lips. “I like picnics,” he said.
“Can’t imagine why.”
“Is it always this secluded up here?”
“Yes, unless we tell people about it. Thinking of planning more picnics ?”
Maybe I could recreate that half-naked fanning scenario after all.
“Definitely.” His lips found that spot on my neck that made me scrunch up and giggle. “Anything that makes your scent brighten and puts this smile on your face. All I want to do is spoil you.” Lucien nuzzled me, purring gently.
“Say…more things like that,” I said, holding him close.
“I should probably get a job soon so I can keep doing that, though.”
There it was. That sense of duty, the brain that wouldn’t shut off. “Lucien,” I said gently. “I want you to find what makes you spark. Even if that means being a slug on the couch for a while as you figure it out.”
“A-a slug?”
“Yep.”
“Hmm. Doing nothing?” He frowned adorably, seriously considering the ramifications of this. “I don’t think I could do that for very long.”
“I know.” I laughed softly. “Wherever your feet land, know that I’m right beside you.”
“That’s all I need to succeed. All I need in this life.”
Whether scent matches were real or they weren’t didn’t matter. I tucked a stray lock back into the swoop of his hair and kissed him, knowing that his heart was always meant to be part of mine.