Chapter 12 Xaden
XADEN
Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. The pink flush spreading down her throat deepens to rose, staining her chest. But her scent spikes sharp and sweet, arousal cutting through embarrassment like a blade.
"You can't be serious," she whispers. But her body betrays her, clenching around my knot in a way that draws a groan from my throat.
"Dead serious." I trace my thumb along her jaw, feeling how hot her skin has become. "You think I didn't notice how you look at him.”
Before she can answer, footsteps sound on the stairs above us. Heavy. Deliberate. The distinct tread of someone who knows exactly where they're going and why.
Violet's eyes go wide. Her whole body tenses in my lap. "Xaden, that's..."
"Garrick. Right on time."
The kitchen door swings open.
Garrick fills the doorway. He's shirtless, wearing only grey sweatpants that hang low on his hips. His chest rises and falls with slightly labored breathing, muscles shifting under golden skin with each inhale.
But it's his eyes that capture my attention. Dark and intense and locked on Violet in my lap. On how we're still connected, my knot buried deep inside her. On how her body is draped across mine, marked by my hands, my mouth, my claim.
His burnt sugar scent floods the kitchen. Dark and rich and edged with something primal. Something hungry.
"Heard you two from the bakery," he says. His voice comes out rough, scraped raw. Like he's been holding back for too long. "Thought I was imagining it at first. Then I heard her scream your name."
Violet makes a small sound. Half mortification, half something else. Her fingers dig into my shoulders, seeking anchor.
I keep my arm secure around her waist. Possessive but not restrictive. "And what did you do when you heard?"
His gaze finally shifts from Violet to me. Dark eyes blazing. "What do you think I did? Sat there trying not to listen. Trying not to imagine what you were doing to her. Failing at both."
"Show her," I command softly.
His hand drops to the front of his sweatpants. The grey fabric does nothing to hide the evidence of his arousal, the thick outline of his cock straining against cotton. He palms himself once, rough and wanting, and Violet's breath catches audibly.
"See that?" I murmur against her ear, lips brushing the shell. "That's what listening to you did to him. That's how much he craves you."
"Xaden," she breathes. My name sounds wrecked.
"Do you want him?" I ask quietly. Giving her the choice even now. "Because if you don't, he walks away. No harm. No pressure. But if you do..."
I let the sentence hang in the air between us. Heavy with possibility.
She's silent for a long moment. Just breathing. Her heart racing so fast I can feel it against my chest. Her scent shifting, cycling through embarrassment and arousal and curiosity and desire in rapid succession.
Then she speaks. Barely above a whisper but steady. Sure.
"I want him."
The words transform the kitchen. The air goes thick, saturated with alpha scent and omega invitation. My coffee and cedar mixing with Garrick's burnt sugar until the space reeks of pack and claiming and mine.
Garrick moves. Crosses the kitchen in three long strides. Stops just beside us, close enough that his body heat radiates against my skin. Against Violet's.
"You sure about this, sweetheart?" His voice has gone gentle despite the hunger in his eyes. Despite how his hands clench and unclench at his sides like he's fighting not to reach for her. "Once we start, I won't want to stop."
She turns her head to look at him. Has to crane her neck since she's still in my lap. "I'm sure. I want this. Want you. Want both of you."
His control shatters visibly. I watch it happen, watch the careful restraint he maintains crack and splinter and fall away completely.
He reaches for her face. Cups her cheek in his large palm, thumb brushing across her lower lip. The touch is reverent. Worshipful. Like he's touching something precious.
"Been dreaming about this," he admits roughly. "About touching you. Tasting you. Making you mine."
"Then stop dreaming," she whispers against his thumb. "Take what you want."
He leans down and kisses her. Not gentle. Not testing. Claiming her mouth like he's been starving for it. Like he's been holding back for too long and can't anymore.
She kisses him back just as fiercely. Opens for him immediately, inviting him in. One hand comes up to grip his shoulder, nails digging into muscle.
I watch them kiss. Watch her respond to him the same way she responded to me. Watch her surrender to another alpha while still connected to me, my knot buried inside her, our scents already mixed beyond separation.
The sight should bother me. Possessiveness should rear up, alpha instinct demanding sole claim.
Instead, satisfaction purrs through my chest. Pack. This is pack. Sharing her. Caring for her together. All of us claiming and being claimed.
My knot finally softens enough to slip free. Violet whimpers at the loss, her body trying to hold onto me. But Garrick is there, his hands sliding under her thighs, lifting her from my lap.
"I've got you," he murmurs against her mouth. "I've got you, sweetheart."
He turns and sets her on the counter. The same prep station where I had her. The steel surface has warmed from our bodies but she still gasps at the contact.
Garrick positions himself between her spread thighs. Broad shoulders forcing her legs wider. His hands span her waist, thumbs stroking circles on her skin.
"Look at you," he breathes. His gaze drags over her body, taking in flushed skin and kiss-swollen lips and the evidence of what I did to her glistening on her thighs. "Absolutely perfect. Already marked by him. And now you're going to be marked by me too."
She nods frantically. "Yes. Please, Garrick. I ache for you."
He hooks his thumbs in his sweatpants and shoves them down. His cock springs free, thick and hard and already leaking. The sight waters her mouth visibly, pupils dilating even further.
"You want this?" He wraps his hand around his length, strokes once from base to tip. "Want me inside you?"
"God, yes. Please. Stop making me wait."
He positions himself at her entrance. The head of his cock brushes against her and they both groan at the contact. She's still slick from me, still open and ready, her body prepared for another alpha.
"Watch," I command from where I lean against the opposite counter. I've pulled my jeans back on but left them unbuttoned, still recovering. "Watch him claim you."
She obeys. Drops her gaze to where Garrick is lining himself up. Where he's pushing inside slowly, stretching her around his thickness.
Her mouth falls open on a gasp. Her hands scramble for purchase on the steel counter, fingers slipping on the smooth surface.
Garrick groans. Deep and primal and barely human. "So tight. Still so tight even after him. Perfect."
He pushes deeper. Inch by inch. Watching her face the whole time. Watching how her expression shifts from overwhelmed to desperate to absolutely blissful.
When he's fully seated, buried to the hilt inside her, he pauses. Gives her time to adjust. Time to process the fullness of having another alpha inside her so soon after me.
"Move," she demands. Her voice sounds wrecked. "Please move. I require you to move."
He pulls back slowly. Then snaps forward hard. The force drives her back against the counter, steals a cry from her throat.
"Like that?" He does it again. Hard. Deep. Claiming. "This what you crave?"
"Yes. Exactly like that. Don't stop. Please don't stop."
He sets a brutal pace. Harder than I took her, rougher, each thrust punctuated by the sound of flesh meeting flesh. The wet slide of him moving inside her. Her cries of pleasure mixing with his rough groans.
I watch them. Watch her take another alpha. Watch her body respond the same way it responded to me. Watch her climb toward another peak, pleasure building with each thrust.
Her scent explodes. Vanilla and honey mixing with burnt sugar and coffee until the kitchen reeks of pack and sex and claiming.
"Touch yourself," Garrick commands roughly. "Want to feel you come around me."
She obeys immediately. One hand dropping between her legs, fingers finding her clit. The angle is awkward but she manages, circling the swollen bundle of nerves in time with his thrusts.
"That's it," he encourages. "Make yourself feel good. Want to feel you come apart."
It doesn't take long. She's already sensitive from me, already overwhelmed. When her orgasm hits, she screams. Back arching off the counter, throat exposed, entire body going rigid with pleasure.
Garrick follows her over. Buries himself deep and stays there, grinding against her as his knot swells. Locking them together the same way I locked us together.
The sight of his knot catching, stretching her further, draws another cry from her throat. Another orgasm crashes through her from the sensation, smaller but no less intense.
When they finally still, both panting and trembling, I move closer. Come to stand beside them. Place one hand on Violet's flushed cheek, the other on Garrick's shoulder.
"Beautiful," I murmur. "Both of you. Absolutely beautiful."
Violet's eyes flutter open. Glazed and satisfied and overwhelmed. "That was..."
"Just the beginning," Garrick finishes for her. His voice sounds as wrecked as hers. "This is just the beginning, sweetheart."
I lean down and kiss her. Slow and deep. Tasting Garrick on her lips, tasting pack and belonging and home.
When I pull back, I meet Garrick's gaze over her head. See the same satisfaction reflected there. The same certainty.
Pack. Complete. Whole.
And this is only the start.