28. Chapter Twenty-Nine #3
By then Malek had moved close again, leaving me surrounded by all three familiar Alpha scents.
My own honey, jasmine, and warm vanilla grew stronger in response despite the blockers.
The glands beneath my jaw started aching, and heat gathered between my thighs as three months of faint scent trapped in fabric was replaced by the actual men.
My Omega wanted the nest with an urgency that wasn't remotely subtle.
“Inside.” I told Malek, Tavian, and Luca as I caught Tavian's wrist in one hand and Luca's in the other, turning toward the sleeping room with Malek close behind me.
“Best idea you've had since you got here.” Tavian told me as he linked our fingers and followed without hesitation, his usual energy returning now that he'd apparently accepted I wasn't disappearing again.
“She's been here less than fifteen minutes.” Luca reminded Tavian as he walked beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.
“Exactly. Very efficient.” Tavian replied as he squeezed my fingers and nodded with complete confidence in his own logic. I almost answered, but the words disappeared when I reached the sleeping-room doorway.
The soft shirt I'd deliberately left behind was still folded inside my drawer.
My old lens cloth remained near the nest, and Tavian's dark stone sat on the shelf beside my spare hair tie and empty memory-card cases.
Nobody had filled the open shelf space or decided the drawer had been unused long enough to take back.
Luca's blanket remained part of the nest. The bedding had obviously shifted during three months of use, but nothing of mine had been packed away or pushed into a corner.
I crossed the room and rested my fingertips against Tavian's stone.
“You really left everything.” I told the three men as I looked back and found all of them waiting outside the nest instead of assuming my return automatically gave them permission to enter.
“We said we would.” Luca reminded me as his attention moved briefly toward the shelf and returned to my face.
“You said you were coming back.” Malek added from beside him, his calm answer making my eyes burn more than a dramatic one would've.
“I did move the stone once. There was a bug under it.” Tavian admitted as he raised one finger, looking unnecessarily guilty despite the evidence sitting directly in front of me.
“And?” I prompted Tavian as I narrowed my eyes and glanced toward the stone.
“I put it back exactly where it was. Luca checked.” Tavian assured me as he pointed at the shelf with the seriousness of someone reporting a successful rescue operation.
“He made me check.” Luca confirmed as his mouth curved, clearly remembering the incident.
I laughed, but my eyes kept burning because underneath Tavian's ridiculous confession was the fact that they had believed me.
Three months had passed without a bond, a guarantee, or even a way for me to contact them directly, and they had left the space I claimed exactly that, mine.
I stepped backward into the nest and sat among the familiar blankets. None of them followed until I reached toward them.
“Come in.” I told Malek, Tavian, and Luca as my other palm ran over bedding I'd thought about on more nights than I could count.
They entered immediately. Tavian kissed me before he'd fully settled, Luca moved close on my other side, and Malek lowered himself behind me.
Three months of missing them became mouths, hands, familiar scents, and overlapping purrs until I was trying unsuccessfully to touch all three men at once.
Tavian's mouth traveled down my neck while Malek kissed my shoulder. Luca slid one hand beneath my shirt and spread his palm over my waist, and my body responded fast enough that we could've gone straight from reunion to sex without another conversation.
I couldn't let that happen yet.
“Wait.” I told all three men as I put one palm against Tavian's chest and caught Malek's wrist with the other, feeling Luca stop the second the word left my mouth.
Nobody argued. Malek loosened his hold, Tavian sat back, and Luca started removing his hand from beneath my shirt until I kept hold of his fingers.
“Something wrong?” Luca asked me as the heat disappeared from his expression and concern replaced it.
“No. I just need to say something before we keep going.” I told Luca as I kept his hand in mine and shifted until I could see all three of them.
I'd practiced parts of this conversation while trying to sleep, cleaning equipment, and sitting through long stretches of travel.
None of those rehearsed versions sounded like something I actually wanted to say now.
“I loved Patagonia.” I told all three men as I looked between them. “The work was good, I got photographs I'm proud of, and I met people I'd happily work with again. If I had the same choice tomorrow, I'd take the assignment again.”
“Good.” Malek replied immediately as he rested one palm on the blanket beside my leg, his expression making it clear he meant the answer without qualification.
“You should.” Luca told me as his fingers closed around mine, a small amount of tension leaving his shoulders.
“I still hate three months.” Tavian admitted as he rested one forearm over his knee, his mouth flattening even though there was no accusation behind the words.
“I don't want three months to become normal either.” I told Tavian as I reached for his free hand and linked our fingers. “That doesn't mean I'm done taking long jobs. I just have more to consider now than how much equipment fits in my luggage.”
Tavian squeezed my hand.
“We'll figure it out when there's an actual job to figure out.” I told all three men as I looked around the nest. “Short jobs, long jobs, coming back between them, maybe dragging one of you with me occasionally. We don't need a five-year plan tonight.”
“That sounds reasonable.” Luca told me as his thumb rubbed over my knuckles, his usual practical calm returning.
“I should warn you that Tavian will be terrible in an airport.” I added as I glanced toward him, remembering that particular thought often enough during the assignment to deserve saying it aloud.
“I would be excellent in an airport.” Tavian argued as he straightened, immediate offense appearing across his face.
“You would buy six unnecessary snacks, wander away from the gate because something caught your attention, and somehow end up in a conversation with security.” I told Tavian as Malek's purr deepened behind me with obvious amusement.
“I wouldn't wander away.” Tavian replied as he paused to reconsider the claim, his confidence noticeably weakening. “Probably.”
“That last word ruined your argument.” Luca pointed out as he shook his head, a smile appearing around his mouth.
“We'll deal with the airport when someone actually puts him in one.” Malek told Tavian as he rested his hand briefly against my hip, ending the imaginary problem before Tavian could make it worse.
I laughed with them, but when the humor faded, the nerves returned.
“I didn't spend three months trying to prove I could live without you.” I told them as I looked down at Tavian's fingers threaded through mine. “I already knew I could. I went because I wanted the job, and I waited because I didn't want to make a permanent decision a few days before leaving.”
Malek grew quiet behind me, and cedar strengthened around my shoulders.
“There was no bond pulling at me while I was gone, no heat making me desperate for familiar Alphas, and nobody telling me where I had to be.” I continued as I lifted my eyes to them again. “I worked. I liked being there. Then the job ended, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go.”
Tavian's fingers tightened around mine.
“I missed you because I missed you.” I told them as I looked from Tavian to Luca and finally Malek. “Not because I couldn't function without you. I did fine. I just kept having things I wanted to tell you, wanting you around when something happened, and thinking about coming back.”
My throat tightened, but I kept going.
“So I came back.” I told all three men as I sat straighter in the nest. “And I want to be your mate. All three of you. Permanently.”
The silence afterward was almost funny. Tavian's eyes widened. Malek's purr stopped completely, and Luca's grip tightened around my hand.
“You can stop staring at me like I've announced I'm moving in with the capuchins.” I told them as nervous laughter escaped me, mostly because Tavian being speechless for this long was starting to feel unnatural.
Malek recovered first.
“You've had three months, but I still need to ask. Are you sure?” Malek told me as he shifted closer and rested one hand against my thigh, his golden-brown eyes holding mine.
“Yes.” I answered Malek as I covered his hand with mine. “I've been sure longer than the boat ride here.” Malek watched my face for several seconds before I took his hand and placed his palm over the gland on the left side of my neck.
“I want your mark. And I want Tavian's and Luca's.” I told Malek as my pulse beat beneath his thumb.
“I want you as my mate.” Malek told me as his purr returned rougher than before, his fingers curling carefully along my jaw.
Tavian had gone quiet again, so I turned toward him.
“You're worrying me.” I told Tavian as I cupped his face, feeling the tension in his jaw beneath my palms.
“You're really choosing this?” Tavian asked me as his hands closed gently around my wrists, his voice so much quieter than usual that my chest tightened.
“Yes. I'm choosing you.” I answered Tavian as my thumbs moved over his cheeks.
Moisture gathered in his eyes.
“All of me? Including the airport problem you invented?” Tavian asked as a weak smile finally appeared.
“Unfortunately. You're a package deal.” I told Tavian as my own eyes burned. Tavian gave a rough little laugh and closed his eyes long enough to kiss my palm.