Chapter 21
SKY
I woke up groggy, my face smushed against something warm and firm. As I blinked myself awake, I slowly realized I was pressed flush against a sleeping man. A very naked sleeping man.
Shit.
A glance down at myself filled in the missing pieces. I was naked too, and my body ached all over. Memories of my heat slammed into me, hazy and hot, of hands all over, grabbing and groping, lips kissing and biting, nails scratching and digging.
River? No.
Oh no.
My stomach jolted. I jerked back, and when I saw exactly who the naked man was, ice filled my veins. No, no, no…
Adam. I slept with Adam. I slept with a married man. I just potentially ruined someone’s entire life. Despair choked me as I rolled out of bed as carefully as I could, desperate not to wake him and face whatever we’d done. Shame filled my gut with hot, spiky rocks.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I yanked on the closest pair of pants and a shirt that reeked of heat hormones, and backed out of the bedroom. Tears pricked my eyes. What had I done? God, what had I done? They’d shown me nothing but kindness, and I’d paid them back with debauchery?
I took off down the hall. Maybe I could leave before I had to face their disgust. Unfortunately, I had to pass the kitchen in order to get to the door, and my bare feet slapping over hardwood alerted Fletcher of my presence.
“Sky, wait!” he called out, but I didn’t stop. My heart hammered in my throat, and I tripped over my own feet in my mad dash to escape. I couldn’t stand the thought of Fletcher hating me for what I’d done, even if I deserved it.
“Sky!” His fingers curled around my arm. I stumbled to a stop and shook my head, turning pleading eyes on him.
“I-I need to go.”
“No, wait. We need to talk about things,” Fletcher insisted, but what was there to talk about? I’d slept with his husband!
“No, we can’t—” I barked back, but he cut me off.
“I know you’re scared, but I promise we took care of you.” Fletcher’s voice took on a gentle, reassuring tone, but his words felt like a slap.
“Wh-What? I woke up in bed with your husband!” I cried out, clenching my fists at my sides. “He’s cheating on you, Fletcher! With me! I’m a monster!”
“Sky, please.” He grasped me by the shoulders so that I was forced to face him. My face burned with shame, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. I felt awful. Sticky and shameful and disgusting, but Fletcher’s gaze only softened. “Would it make you feel better to know you slept with both of us?”
“What?” I gaped at him. What was he talking about?
“You went into heat. Don’t you remember? We talked about it. You agreed. You came willingly to our bed.”
Did I? I rubbed at my pounding temple. “I… I don’t know. I think I blocked it out.” I peered up at him from beneath my shaggy blond bangs, feeling my cheeks warm up. “Did we fuck?”
Fletcher smiled. “Yes. Many times.”
“Oh, god…” I covered my face. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? I should be the one apologizing to you. I thought you understood what we were doing.”
“I mean, I probably did, in the moment? I don’t know. Fuck…” I chewed on my lip, sawing it between my teeth. “Are you upset with me?” I finally asked, daring to look up at him once more.
“Sky, sweetheart. Come here.” Fletcher stepped into my space, his sweet elderberry scent enveloping me as he wrapped me in a hug.
“Everything is okay,” he assured me. “We took care of your needs, and you were wonderful, so don’t worry about that. Adam and I used to share partners when we were younger.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah. There was an…incident, though, that almost tore us apart. That’s when we moved to Greymercy and got married. You were just the one who broke our dry streak.” He cracked a grin.
“So…what you’re saying is you and Adam are on the same page?”
Fletcher nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay. And I’m not… No one’s upset with me?” I squeaked out, my heart still in my throat.
“No, sweetheart. Relax. Everything is just fine.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, something that both surprised me and oddly grounded me. “Why don’t you go take a long, hot soak in the tub while I make us brunch?”
I nodded slowly, too shell-shocked for much else. Glancing back at the front door, I turned away and headed for my room to grab some fresh clothes to change into after my bath.
Later that afternoon, after everyone had showered and no longer smelled of sex, Adam and Fletcher sat me down at the kitchen table and explained their past situation a bit more in detail.
I listened quietly, trying to imagine a reality in which Adam willingly shared his Omega with other Alphas.
Adam had always struck me as quite a possessive wolf.
He used to glare daggers at me back when I’d first started working at Bixby’s.
His golden eyes warned me that if I dared get too close to Fletcher, he’d tear me limb from limb.
To imagine him sharing his mate sexually was kind of hard.
And yet, it’d just happened. Adam’s scent clung to me like a rich cologne, and my heat covered my body in bite-marks and hickies. They were marks I didn’t remember receiving, but both Adam and Fletcher wore some of their own. Had I been the one to give them those?
“We have a proposition for you,” Adam said, steepling his fingers over the table. His expression was calm, curious. Watchful. “And you don’t have to decide today or even this week, but I want us all to be on the same page, alright?”
“Okay,” I murmured, glancing over at Fletcher. He reached over and placed a hand atop Adam’s, as if encouraging him to go on.
“We’d like to court you,” Adam announced. “For you to be the third in our relationship. Not just for sex, but as our partner.”
I wasn’t expecting that. I paused, tilting my head. “Like, your boyfriend?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Fletcher said. “We’d both date you, and you’d date both of us.”
“Exclusively,” Adam added, a hint of a growl to his voice.
“Yes,” Fletcher agreed. “I don’t know what it is about you, but my inner-cat purrs when you’re near. I’ve felt this way for a long time, like a tugging at my soul.”
Adam’s lip twitched in a smile. “And I’ll admit, I’m fond of you as well. We can go as slowly as you need. We can start with you simply sharing a bed with us at night. It doesn’t have to be sexual. Just comfort.”
For a moment, I sat there, staring at them. Letting their words sink in. I had to admit that I was attracted to both of them. Fletcher for his soft-hearted kindness, and Adam for his gentle strength. Plus they were both good-looking men…
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, I’m me. I’m a mess.” I let out a soft laugh.
“Sky, we’ve seen you at your worst and at your most vulnerable,” Fletcher said. “Don’t you think we deserve to be with you at your best?”
My cheeks warmed at that. They wanted me at my best? “I guess you’re right. So what now? What changes?”
“Nothing, really,” Adam said. “We’ve already been functioning as a pack of three for months. We just get the bonus of being able to kiss you now.”
With a wink, Fletcher blew me a kiss, waggling his fingers at the end. My heart did a somersault. “We’ll go as slow or as fast as you want, Sky. It’s in your hands.”
Why did that both scare and excite me at the same time?