28. Vance
Even though we’d just spent a whole heat intertwined, part of me already missed Claire since she had gone back to work this morning. Thankfully I had gotten to spend the night sleeping between her and my handsome beta.
My bond with Riley thrummed with excitement as he finished getting ready, the two of us on our own for today, running last minute errands before the dance tomorrow.
I could feel the want coming from Adrien’s bond and knew he was struggling with the distance this soon after the heat too.
That didn’t mean Riley and I weren’t planning to steal them away for lunch already, or that we weren’t determined to tie up all the other loose ends so that all we had to do when they were off was relax.
“I’m a lucky alpha,” I said as Riley walked out, sliding his wallet into the pocket of his dark jeans.
His dark hair was still damp, and his dark blue dress shirt stretched across his muscles, the hint of his gold chain peeking out of his collar.
“Of course you are,” he said with a wide smile, coming over to me.
“This is where you say you’re lucky to have me too,” I teased affectionately.
“My entire body and bond know that,” he said with a laugh, giving me a peck on the lips. “I don’t think I’ll be able to wear a watch for a little bit until it’s fully healed.”
I loved the placement of Riley’s bonds, one on each wrist, and I made a vow right then and there to get him a new watch.
If it was going to cover part of my bite and be resting against it all day, I wanted it to be from me. Something special between him and me, maybe get an engraving on the inside too. I’m sure Adrien knew a list of good jewelers we could get something customizable through.
“I love you, Riley Ortiz,” I told him seriously, needing to express how much he meant to me.
“I can feel it,” he assured me. “I love you too, alpha.”
The two of us set out for our day, taking my SUV as we went and picked up our outfits from the tailors and the corsage we’d ordered for Claire from the florist.
Of course, when we went to pick it up, not only had that sneaky little beta prepaid, but he’d gotten us all boutonnieres to complement it too.
“I’m impressed,” I admitted a tad begrudgingly.
I couldn’t suppress the drive inside of me that made me want to provide for them, but I admired the quick thinking and smarts of my beta.
“I’m pretty impressive,” he said with a laugh, “Just not modest.”
“I’m one hundred percent okay with that,” I said, an easy grin on my face. “Where to now?”
“Can we stop by my mom’s before lunch?” he asked. “She’s off today and I want to pick something up before tomorrow.”
I could feel both his excitement and nerves through the bond and I quickly agreed. By the time I pulled up in front of his parents’ house, his leg had begun bouncing up and down in his seat.
“Should I be worried?” I asked, only half serious.
“Not about this,” he said, shaking his head as we climbed out and made our way towards the front door. “But I know she’s about to give me some grief.”
The door opened as soon as I’d lifted my hand to knock, Riley’s mother filling the doorway with a serious expression on her face.
“One would think you don’t love me anymore,” she said to Riley with a straight face. “You never visit the restaurant or come by for dinner anymore. You only call when you want something.”
“It’s only been a week, and Claire was in heat—”
“It’s a good thing I have a new son to take your place,” she said, opening the door wider and giving me an honest to god smile. “Come in, mijo.”
I wasn’t sure what I enjoyed more, Riley’s look of utter betrayal or his mom’s warm welcome and acceptance. They had already welcomed Adrien and me to the family before, but the smile I’d just received was next level.
“Vance,” Riley all but growled as we stepped inside.
“I’m sure I can get you an invite to Sunday dinners,” I said, trying to hold back my smile.
The roll of his eyes and following grin told me I was all but forgiven. While Riley’s sass was all his own, I could see where he might have gotten some of his dramatics from.
It was only when we were in the living room that his mom grabbed something off the mantel and turned back to us.
“For the record, you’ll always be my son,” she said, cupping Riley’s face with her free hand. “But I’m so proud of you for letting people in.”
Riley covered his hand with hers, his eyes going misty. “Thanks.”
“If you would have asked for this for anyone else, I would have said no,” she said, pulling away to open the small box she’d gotten off the mantle. “But you two have been meant to be since you met. I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law.”
Sitting inside the box was a gorgeous ring. The sides had delicate twirls of filigree with a few pavé diamonds before they twirled up to form a nest, where the metal formed a quatrefoil shape that had more stones with a large gem in the middle. It had the faintest hint of peach coloring, and I shook my head at the serendipity.
“She’s going to love it,” I said.
I didn’t need to ask what it was for, it was as clear as day and my own excitement joined Riley’s at the prospect.
“You should come to the Sweetheart Swing tomorrow night,” Riley said. “Convince Blaire and them that they should go too if they weren’t planning to already.”
“We’ll be there,” his mom promised, sending us on our way with a casserole for dinner.
Riley was lost in his thoughts as we ran home to drop off the clothes, flowers, and food. He kept staring at the ring with a content smile on his face.
“Do you want to put it in the safe until tomorrow?” I asked. “Or do you want to have it on you in case you change your mind and want to do it sooner?”
“The safe,” he said with a groan, thrusting it at me. “I asked for it before the heat, but then dad took it to be resized for me. I can barely stop looking at it now and imagining it on her finger. If I would have had it then I probably wouldn’t have been able to wait either.”
I took it from him and went about securing it in the safe. We’d given the two of them the code, but the likelihood of Claire actually using it and finding the ring versus getting handsy with our beta and finding it in his pocket was way better.
“So tomorrow night?” I asked.
“I thought about bringing her to our spot at the lake and doing it, but this felt more right,” he said. “Having our families there…having both of you there, the more I think about it, the more I know it’s what we both would want. Plus, I get a redo.”
“A redo?”
“Of prom. We both totally took lame dates instead of going together like we should have. I mean, we ended up ditching them to dance with each other, but I didn’t realize I was in love with her until later, but it was the first time that I acknowledged that she meant something more to me, that she was way more than my best friend,” he said. “Now that I’ve finally got my act together, not only will I get to tell her I love her and spend the night dancing with my alphas and her, I’ll get to go down on one knee too.”
“I don’t think you’ll be needing that nudge from me this time,” I told him, bringing him in for a kiss.
“I might not, but what about you?” he countered. “When are you going to bite our omega?”
“Immediately was the answer that raced through my head, but she just finished her heat,” I said, shaking my head. “So whenever she’s ready.”
My mouth began to water at the thought, and I had to swallow the phantom ache. The hardest thing I’d done in my life wasn’t the shitty system I lived in growing up or the bias I’d felt from others. It wasn’t Adrien’s parents turning us away either, though it did hurt deeply to see him distraught.
No, the single hardest thing I’d done was not bite my omega when she was asking for it. When she was clenching on my cock, dripping slick everywhere with that pretty little neck turned up and begging for me to do it.
“Fuck,” Riley cursed. “I can feel your want through the bond right now. We need to go get them now, or else we’re going to skip lunch altogether.”
It was exactly the right thing to say to me to snap me out of my thoughts. I wouldn’t let any of my mates go hungry. Ever.
Within twenty minutes we had picked up Adrien and Claire and were being seated in a booth in the diner. Claire spent most of the time snuggled into my side. She’d scent marked me a few times too, which helped settle me more than I liked to admit.
“I don’t know what mom put in that disgusting tea, but even I can admit that I feel better today than I ever have this quickly,” she said with a sigh once we’d finished eating.
“Seriously, don’t let Blaire hear you say that, or she won’t stop,” Riley said with a laugh as he tried to take the check. “I thought we agreed to attribute it to the fact that you have a pack now.”
“You’re right,” Claire said, turning to kiss my arm. “My pack tastes way better than that tea. I’d have them any day.”
She turned those sweet eyes up at me, and my heart started beating quicker as a shot of her peaches and cream scent hit me. Was she suggesting what I thought she was?
“Why the hell does this check already say paid?” Riley said, outraged. “I made sure that both of you were on the inside of the booth, and you couldn’t get out.”
“Raspberry cream,” Adrien said simply.
“What does raspberry cream have to do with anything?” Claire asked curiously.
“Raspberry cream is Beatty’s favorite kind of truffle,” he said with a smile. “I simply agreed to keep her in stock and she agreed to keep my card on file for all future pack purchases.”
Claire and I turned towards each other, trying to smother our laughter as our beta sat there aghast, his mouth open wide.
“It’s so brilliant I can’t even be mad at it,” Riley said finally.
“Of course you can’t, mon feu,” Adrien said, giving him a quick kiss. “Just like I know you won’t be mad that Claire and I have the rest of the day off. Apparently, my sous is more than useful and so is Claire’s team. There wasn’t much slack to pick up from being gone.”
It was such a simple thing, seeing Adrien give Riley a quick kiss, but it made my heart so damn full. It was something we’d never had dared with each other in the past, but we’d both come so far.
The smile on my face wouldn’t go away as we headed out of the cafe and back towards the car, and I doubted it would any time soon.
Strong hands turned me towards him as I unlocked the car, his lips meeting mine a moment later. There was so much in that kiss and I could feel everything pouring down our bond.
“Je t’aime,” Adrien said.
“Always, Ady,” I said, the two of us breaking apart our little moment just to see our omega and beta grinning at us.
Claire even had her hands clasped in front of her excitedly.
It was only the heels on the pavement that broke us out of the moment, Adrien’s parents staring us down as they looked over us. Adrien and I moved on instinct, pulling Claire and Riley closer and tucking them behind us. Of course neither of them were really having that.
“I thought I made it very clear that your offer was not welcome,” Claire said, her head coming up behind my shoulder as she stood on the curb.
“Yes, when you disappeared for a week that might have clued us in,” Adrien’s father deadpanned.
“You bonded them,” Adrien’s mother said, throwing her hands in the air. “No one will accept you now if you already have a bonded omega, beta, and alpha. That’s way too much baggage for us to try to negotiate.”
“They’re not baggage, they’re my pack,” Adrien said. “I wish you could respect that.”
Before Adrien’s mother could have a hissy fit, his dad stepped forward, cutting her off. “I’m assuming that there’s no chance of you moving back to France then?”
He seemed more grounded than I remembered, as if he’d recognize a fight he’d already lost and had accepted the outcome. He wasn’t happy with it by any means, more resigned.
“Our home is in Holiday Hollow,” Adrien said with a nod of his head.
His mother stormed off, pulling out her cell phone and demanding a flight be arranged as soon as possible.
“You’ll call if you change your mind?” his dad asked.
“I won’t.”
His dad nodded, turning away to follow his wife without another word.
It wasn’t the resolution I’d hoped for him. You always want people to be redeemable in your life, to be able to change their minds. But some things don’t work out that way. Some people, despite your best efforts, are not meant to be in your life.
Instead of dwelling on it and expending your energy on people who don’t show you the same respect in return, you can focus on the ones that do.
Which is exactly what Adrien did.
Right there on the sidewalk of Main Street, he pulled us in one by one, his thumb running across where he’d bonded us and whispering words of love to each of us before we loaded up the car and headed back home.
We ended up as we often did, cuddled and kissing on our couch, this time with a vinyl I had put on instead of the TV. I didn’t break away until my glasses ended up being smudged beyond repair from a wayward cheek turn. When I came back downstairs from grabbing my lens wipe, the three of them were conspiring, their heads pressed together suspiciously.
“Ahem,” I said, resting my hands on the back of the couch. “What are you up to?”
“I was just telling Claire she should go take a bath with those salts we got her,” Adrien said.
Claire nodded, grinning up to me. “Help me?”
“Of course,” I agreed.
I snatched Claire off the couch, carrying her upstairs amidst her giggles, only setting her down on the master bathroom counter so I could prepare her bath.
Checking to make sure the temperature was just right, I filled the bath, adding a scoop of the salts Adrien and I had ordered from an omega specific site. When everything was ready, I turned back to Claire, raising her arms over her head before I pulled her shirt off, placing a kiss on her shoulder as I took off her bra and set it aside before placing her on her feet. I did the same as I helped her out of her pants, keeping my touch soothing.
She’d taken a long soak yesterday, but I imagined she was still feeling the residual effects of her heat.
I moved to pick her up to lower her in the bath, but she just shook her head at me, looking me up and down pointedly.
“You can’t join me if you’re still wearing your clothes.”
“Forgive me, Peach,” I said, quickly shedding them. “I wasn’t aware this was a full service bath. I planned to help you wash your hair from the side of the tub if you’d let me.”
Gathering her into my arms once again I stepped in and sank down, grateful once again that we had the large bath that we did.
“My hair is already clean. I washed it yesterday. But there is this one spot that has been bugging me,” she said, resting her head back against my chest. “Maybe you could help?”
“What spot?” I asked, roaming my eyes over her.
She tilted her head to the side, running her finger down the length of her neck before stopping and tapping the junction at her shoulder.
“You see, I have this amazing bite on the other side, but I’m missing one from my other mate on this side.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I had to clear it before I could speak again. “You said it was bugging you?”
“Terribly,” she confessed. “I feel this ache deep inside me and I need you to fill it up, alpha.”
My cock thickened at her words, pressing against her ripe little ass and wanting to fulfill our omega’s needs.
“I’d love to help you with that,” I confessed. “But you always come first, omega. I wouldn’t want to hurt you if you’re sore.”
“Didn’t you hear? I’ve had some magic tea and attentive alphas the past two days,” she said, turning herself on my lap and straddling my thighs. “I’m a little tender, but that’s nothing compared to the ache I feel without you there.”
She ground down against me, the head of my cock slipping through her heat.
I pulled her to me, unable to resist as I rested my forehead against hers, needing to see her eyes the entire time. Reaching down between us, I lined myself up to her entrance, her breath catching slightly.
“Slow,” I demanded.
Following my words, she sank down an inch at a time, her eyes never leaving mine, until we were flush together, her juicy cheeks resting against my thighs.
We breathed together for a minute before she raised up again, sinking down slightly faster this time. My hands sought the globes of her ass, and I guided her up and down my length.
It wasn’t long until she was clenching and gasping on my lap.
“Knot me, Vance,” she said with a groan. “Please.”
She keened as I worked my knot inside her, grinding down on me harder until I was fully seated inside. Her mouth parted, her head thrown back as I felt her tighten around me.
My lips found her exposed skin, trailing down to the very spot she’d tapped before.
“You’re mine,” I said, placing an open mouth kiss on the spot as my knot swelled inside her, that coil of pressure inside of me bursting in the most exquisite pleasure. “Ready, Peach?”
“If you make me wait one second longer I’ll cry,” she said, arching her neck further.
My teeth struck home, the feeling sending both of us spiraling into another crash of pleasure as we clung together.
Nothing could have prepared me, our bond so different from my others. Adrien’s always burned steadfast, his love and support unwavering and unyielding. While my bond with my handsome beta rang through my body with soulfulness and sass. But Claire…Claire was sweet and consuming. Her love wove her way throughout our bonds and my heart, making me see parts of myself I didn’t know existed.
She would be the inspiration for every heroine I wrote from this point on. I would immortalize our love on pages, pen our pack in the liner notes, and cherish this moment for years to come.
I held her tight in my arms, soothing the fresh mark on her delicate skin with my tongue as we came down together. The water had grown tepid, and only half of it remained in the bath, but we were both content to revel in our bond.
It was stronger than before, all of us now intertwined, and it would only grow stronger each day we took care of and loved each other well.