16. Alejandro
Alejandro
L ast night came back to me in snatches. I was pleasantly sore, I lay on something softer than a cloud, and I had two warm bodies curled up next to me.
Yesterday I was doing inventory at the restaurant and then I was eating Ember out like it was my last meal.
After that, things switched to need. I needed her, needed all of her. She asked for her nest, and then I scented my other omega, but he looked at me with fear, and I almost left to hunt down whoever had put that look on his face.
But I had to woo him. I hadn’t courted either of them enough, but my alpha instincts were demanding I make them mine, that I pleasure them over and over until they knew the truth too, that they were mine to protect and pleasure.
Ember shifted next to me, squeaking and stretching, and I remembered.
I’d gone into a rut. I opened my eyes, seeing soft white-padded walls and a low, low ceiling. West lay next to me, not quite touching, his hair a mess but still in its braid.
Ember beamed. “Welcome back to the world of the front brain.”
I rubbed my face. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” I swore in Spanish. “Did I hurt either of you?” I looked between her and West. He was still giving me a side-eye, but his shoulders were relaxed. He reminded me of a feral cat I hadn’t quite tamed. I’d earned some leeway, but the trust wasn’t there.
“Nope.” Ember kept beaming like a ray of sunshine. She was so beautiful it stole my breath, and I could only look at her for a moment. She’d been so willing and pliant beneath me, the noises she made seared on my soul.
I glanced at West. And the way he’d taken me with such possessiveness. My cock got hard again at the thought. Like he was mine and he wanted to make sure my body knew it.
“Good idea,” Ember said, running her hands over my chest.
But then her stomach growled, and I raised an eyebrow. “Maybe food first?”
West was still eying me, like he wasn’t sure what to make of me. “Food sounds good.”
I crawled out of the nest first. There might be a predator. In her apartment. Yay, instincts were awesome. I froze. “Oh, damn, I left work.”
Ember wiggled behind me, and I stepped to the side. “I told Sunshine to tell Logan cover your shift.”
I rubbed my face. “I haven’t gone into a rut since I was…sixteen?”
“Really?” The redheaded omega sounded so pleased. She grabbed the white shirt I wore under my chef’s jacket and put it on. “I hope you know this is mine now.”
“Of course, carina.” The shirt did nothing to cover her shapely legs. I was not mad about that at all. “Everything I have is yours.”
I pulled my boxers on and then my pants. Ember had my shirt, and I didn’t feel like sticking my chef’s jacket on bare-chested, so I left it off.
West pulled a pair of sweatpants on and headed into the kitchen with Ember.
“I can make us breakfast?” The cottage was small, the living room one big space that led to the galley kitchen, with a small hallway leading to the bedroom and nest. It was decorated in a riot of blues, greens, creams, purples, and reds and I enjoyed the bright color.
The entire place smelled heavenly, a combination of lemon, vanilla, and honey.
I itched to figure out a dessert that would have both of their scents.
Ember wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think we have any breakfast stuff.”
“I could do a grocery order, and then cook?” I glanced between them. “Or leave? If you’re uncomfortable?”
“Stay,” West said immediately. Some of my tension released. The other omega was still giving me a questioning look, but he wanted me to stay.
“The whole day?” She looked so hopeful.
“Sure.” I sat down and pulled my phone out of my pants pocket. My wallet was back at the restaurant, but I had my phone at least.
I had a text from Logan. Even though I knew I couldn’t help it, I felt guilty missing work anyway. Logan’s text said I had Sunday and Monday off. I replied, thanking him and telling him I was feeling better and I’d see him tomorrow.
“I’m free today.” I looked between the omegas again.
West was brewing coffee, and Ember was sliding around him, putting her hands on his shoulders to reach the sugar.
They were so easy together; it was beautiful, like a well-practiced dance.
I took a seat in a small table in the alcove next to the kitchen, and put a basic grocery order in.
It was clear they’d had issues with alphas in the past. Maybe lesser alphas would see their bond and feel jealous, but all I could think of was how hot it has been to be between the two of them.
My scent grew stronger, and Ember smirked. She came over to the chair and straddled my lap. “When does the grocery delivery arrive?”
My cock jumped against her nearness, and I slid my arms around her waist. “Soon? What do you two want for lunch and dinner?”
“Whatever you want to make.” She licked my bare chest. “You smell amazing. What is that fruit scent?”
“Uhhh…” It was hard to think with her mouth on me. “Guanabana. It’s like a strawberry mixed with pineapple.”
“I want that.” She looked over her shoulder at West, who was staring like he would devour us. “I want to eat you all up.”
I purred, rocking her in my lap and adding ingredients for lemon pound cake, almonds, and a tropical fruit smoothie.
Now that I had a little bit of their trust, I could show them I wouldn’t try to break them apart. Or turn them into something they weren’t. I looked at West again, remembering how he refused to be topped.
I knew in my bones they were my omegas. I’d court them, at whatever pace they wanted, and show them we were meant to be together.
“Are you going to spend the night?” Ember looked hopeful.
I glanced between them. “I’d love to. I should get my car today, though, so I don’t have to wake either of you up at oh god o’clock.”
Ember gave West an innocent look. “Do you want to go while I shower?”
I growled at the idea of her showering my scent off and she kissed my cheek. “You can put it back, alpha, and I don’t use scent cancelers.”
“That’s fine.” West tilted his head. “Let’s go.”
The quick change in plans made me reconfigure how the day would go, but I liked being kept on my toes. West handed me a T-shirt that smelled like him and a little bit like Ember. “We can swing by your place and pick up some clothes too.”
“Yes please!” Ember shouted from the other room. “This white T-shirt has an itchy collar.”
I smirked at West. “Guess I’d better step up my clothing.”
“If you want us stealing your clothes, you will.” West put a shirt on, his back flexing, and I noticed thin white scars in irregular lines.
I’d noted Ember’s scars without slowing down last night. Now was definitely not the time or place to ask. If ever.
West led me to his car and gestured at the passenger side. That was fine; I could be a passenger princess.
“So you’re a computer programmer?” I asked as soon as West pulled out of the driveway.
“You don’t have to do that.” West kept his eyes on the road, and his stone-faced expression was back, one that let nothing in and nothing out.
He’d brushed his hair and put it back into a braid and I wished I’d had the presence of mind to play with his hair last night.
His shoulders weren’t tensed, so I didn’t think he was uncomfortable.
“Do what?”
“Do the ‘getting to know you’ thing. We had sex, it was amazing, and you smell good. That’s good enough for me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. His entire face was closed off.
I knew I’d have to show him I wasn’t going to fuck around with him and Ember, but words were cheap.
Actions would take time. “Okay.” I looked him over, remembering how good it felt to take his cock into my mouth.
“Am I allowed to be nosy, though? Because I can barely get my email to open and you’re out here programming entire… programs…to do…stuff.”
Amusement flashed over his face, there and gone. “It’s actually not that hard. Just a lot of math equations.”
“Yeah, you lost me there, mi corazon.” I chuckled. “Math wasn’t my best subject in school.”
“Don’t you need math to cook?” He sounded incredulous, but warmth colored his tone that wasn’t there before.
“Sure, but measuring cups spell it out for me.” It was a gross oversimplification of cooking, but I got West to roll his eyes.
“Where do you live? We’ll swing by there first.”
My alpha instincts preened that he wanted to know where I lived, that I was going to bring him into my apartment.
West could have easily dropped me off at the restaurant and made me stop at my apartment on the way back to their cottage, but he didn’t.
My apartment building was near the coast, but no ocean view. I hadn’t bothered to go all out with my living space, considering I spent more time at work than I did at home.
I had a ground-floor apartment and unlocked the door. I was only a little bit taller than West, and his shoulder brushed mine as he went in.
“Pretty basic,” I said, gesturing around. “Mi casa es su casa, omega amour.”
I had a nice couch with a decent TV and a gaming setup. My kitchen was filled with all sorts of state-of-the-art equipment, though, because I had to be able to hold my head high, and I couldn’t stand cooking with shitty knives.
West glanced around, not hiding at all that he was checking everything out. “I expected more of a bachelor pad. Sexy single alpha with a fancy chef job? You could have a different couple every night.”
I headed down the short hallway to the bedroom. West followed me and I grabbed a duffel bag. I picked out clothing for work and relaxing. “I did when I was younger. Kinda got old, and my work hours don’t help.”
“How old are you?” West leaned against the doorframe.
“Thirty.” I grabbed my softest T-shirts in case they became fodder for the omega nest. “Why, how old are you and Ember?”
“She’s twenty-four and I’m twenty-six.”
“So I’m old enough to be experienced.” I winked. “But not quite robbing the cradle.”
“Nope.” West stalked into my bedroom. His scent was soft today, warm milk and sweet honey. It was delicate, like a French pastry. The almond undertone felt like a dream, and I wondered what sort of teasing I’d have to do in order to make it come out.
“Last night,” West started.
“Yeah?” I kept putting clothes into my duffel bag, not wanting to spook him. “I hope I didn’t upset you, being in a rut.” Heat flushed my face. I hadn’t lost control like that in years.
“We liked it. I mean about being topped.”
It took me a minute to catch up. “When I tried to climb you like a tree? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
He shook his head impatiently. “No. I mean, I don’t want you to top me, but I’m fine telling you no.”
The thought was sexier than I’d thought. I let out a little purr. “I like it when you tell me no.”
The omega let amusement crack his expression for two seconds. “Point is, that’s not changing.” His face got serious again, like he was carved from stone. “I am never going to let you top me, and I very much doubt I’ll want to be knotted.”
“Good to know. Any other boundaries you’d feel comfortable sharing?” I straightened up. “I’ll ask Ember about her boundaries, when we get back, so I’m not asking in the heat of the moment.”
He frowned. “I’m serious. I’m not going to change my mind in the heat of the moment and beg for your knot.”
I tried to figure out what was going through his mind. West acted like he was breaking bad news to me, like I had a terminal disease and not just stating his sexual preferences. But I didn’t know him well enough to guess. Something I’d have to change.
If he gave me the time to change it.
I nodded. “I’m okay with that.”
He snorted, derision on his face. “All alphas want to knot omegas. You’ll have Ember for that, at least.”
It felt like the conversation was on thin ice, and I was skating close to the end. Some brittle edges poked through, and West sounded like he was talking from bitter disappointment.
“If Ember wants me to knot her, I’ll be happy to,” I said carefully. “But my role isn’t to use you or her for my sexual pleasure. My role is to make sure you two are happy, however that happens. If knotting wouldn’t make you happy, I don’t want to knot you.”
He watched me like I was telling the biggest lie of the century. Maybe it sounded like a lie to him. All the media ever talked about was alphas knotting omegas. Everyone acted like that was the be-all, end-all of sex.
“Last night, we figured out we can have amazing, mind-blowing sex without knotting.”
He swallowed hard and gave a sharp nod. “I was shocked you listened even in a rut.”
I shoved another shirt into the bag, if only to prolong the conversation. “Ruts are pure instinct. My instinct isn’t to dominate you or Ember. It’s to pleasure you as much as I can, however that happens.”
“Okay.” West’s shoulders relaxed. It felt like I’d managed to skate over to ice that was thicker.
“Anything you want to bring from your kitchen? I’m not sure what Ember and I have to cook with. We weren’t kidding about cold cereal for dinner.”
“Mi amour, amour.” I clutched my chest. “You’re killing me. If you don’t feel like it’s presumptive, I’ll bring some stuff.” Like the good cooking knives.
“Have at it.” West gestured at the kitchen.
I grabbed a few essential tools, and we headed over to the restaurant. West was still reserved but he no longer seemed like he was waiting for a shoe to drop.
We got my car, and I followed him back to the cottage. Ember jumped on both of us when we walked through the door, and we spent the day snuggling on the couch, eating, having amazing sex, and watching nature documentaries.
It was heaven. I wasn’t sure what I did to hit the jackpot, but I would do everything I could to make sure I didn’t screw it up.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to leave them alone if I fucked it up somehow. They were mine. My alpha instincts knew it.