Chapter 43 Nelly
NELLY
This was the first time we’d gotten into the truck together since the airport.
Wyatt slid behind the wheel first, his broad frame taking up more than his fair share of the bench seat.
Wade held the passenger door for me, his shy smile encouraging as I hesitated.
I calculated the tight space I was meant to occupy between the twins.
Last time I’d ridden in the back. Sitting in the front felt different for some reason.
Steeling myself, I climbed inside the cab, settling myself in the middle, my thigh less than an inch from Wyatt’s. When Wade got in, I unconsciously shifted to the left to give him extra space, causing the exact thing I’d been hoping to avoid—my body pressed into one of the men.
“Sorry,” I mumbled quickly, repositioning after Wade was inside and buckled.
It did no good. They were just so huge. I became hyperaware of my thighs pressed against theirs. The world homed down to the feel of it. Heat began crawling through me, licking upwards towards my neck, setting the glands there on fire.
"You good?" Wyatt asked, the tightness in his jaw back as his nostrils flared. His green eyes flicked to mine as he turned the key in the ignition. The truck rumbled to life.
I nodded, not trusting my voice as Wade closed the door, sealing us in.
Behind us, Cooper, Levi, and Boone squeezed into the back seat, their combined presence turning the cab of the truck into an Alpha pressure cooker.
I kept my hands folded primly in my lap, afraid to move my elbows for fear of nudging either twin.
Wyatt pulled away from the ranch house, and my damn body swayed with the movement, shoulder bumping against his solid arm. Two seconds later, I was tilting into Wade against my will. I muttered another blanket apology.
"No need to apologize for touching me, Nelly," Wyatt said, voice pitched low enough that I wasn't sure the others could hear over the engine's growl. "Ever."
Wade leaned into me, also speaking softly. “The same goes for me.”
My Omega senses went into overdrive as we journeyed away from the ranch, the close quarters amplifying everything.
About ten minutes into the drive, the heat I’d been feeling off and on in my stomach since arriving at Sagebrush—a sensation I’d chalked up to reactionary Omega nonsense I couldn’t control—hit with enough force to make me suck a quick gasp through clenched teeth.
I wrapped my arms around my middle. Their muscled legs still pressed against me.
I wanted more of them touching me. And I didn’t want the clothes inhibiting us.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Nelly?” Wade pressed, as his left hand lifted to hover over my knee and his fingers flexed.
"Just a little... warm," I admitted, hating how breathless I sounded.
Cooper leaned forward between the seats, his face suddenly close to mine. "We can open the windows?"
His nearness brought a fresh wave of his scent; it almost undid me completely.
I nodded quickly, grateful when a rush of fresh morning air hit as four Alphas scrambled to lower windows.
I took deep, steadying breaths. But it only gave me the slightest relief.
I found myself leaning into Wade, rather than away.
I found myself resting my head against his shoulder.
My lashes fluttered, and I closed my eyes against battling sensations.
Suddenly, I wanted them.
So badly I thought I might be sick.
But I also felt too hot all over. My forehead dampening with sweat.
Along with the desire and the volcano inside me threatening to erupt, I felt my indecision melting away. Leave? Why would I leave them? How could I give them up when I hadn’t even properly had them yet?
They were mine.
And I was theirs.
Those became irreversible facts the minute I landed in Wyoming.
"Better?" Boone's deep voice came from behind me. I heard movement in the back of the truck, bodies shifting against the seat, and then a large hand curled around my head, a cold palm lightly touching my forehead. “She’s really hot.” He spoke again.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, fluttering my lashes.
My glands poured a cloyingly sweet scent.
Candied. Honeyed. Brimming with sweet berries.
The lava sensation in my belly shifted into cramps, as if my insides were being kneaded and pulled and folded.
Wade wrapped his arm around me, tucking me into his body.
“You’re not fine, Nelly,” he breathed out. It wasn’t just concern in his voice though. I tilted my head, briefly opening my eyes, and catching the unveiled hunger in his green gaze.
Through the haze taking over my brain, and the pain clenching my stomach, what was happening dawned on me. It had been so long since I’d had a proper one, that I hadn’t recognized the signs.
"Heat," I whispered, a tremor running through my voice as I pushed the words through the fog of feelings, “I think I’m in heat.”
The world stopped spinning as my five Alphas held their collective breath, processing my words.
Moments later, it was like a dam broke and their own bodies began reacting.
The six of us transformed the truck into an oven on wheels.
I curled forward, away from the circle of Wade’s arm, as the belly spasms radiated outward.
My skin felt too tight, like I was burning from the inside out.
The radiating pain reached my spine, and I couldn’t stop the moan escaping my lips.
I heard the soft click of a seatbelt unbuckling and suddenly the straps across me loosened.
Wade pushed me out of the tether and then pulled me back against his body.
I turned involuntarily, pressing my face into his chest, soaking in his aphrodisiac scent.
It wasn’t enough.
I wanted more.
Pushing away from Wade, I turned to Wyatt. God, he was handsome. God, I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to do everything to him.
The conflicting agony and arousal made me increasingly dizzy.
"We need to get her back to the ranch.” Levi’s voice came to life. “Now.”
"Wyatt, turn around," Cooper growled from the back seat.
The truck lurched sideways as Wyatt pulled abruptly onto the shoulder.
My body crashed into his, and I couldn't help but whimper at the contact. His warmth and smell and muscled body hit me like bullets. Bang. Bang. Bang. I found myself reaching up, pushing my fingers into his hair. Wyatt reached up and pulled my arm down. I frowned, feeling rejected. Isn’t this what they wanted? For me to want them?
Without releasing my hand Wyatt unbuckled, turning in his seat to stare at me.
HIs expression was strained, his eyes a violent shade of green.
I reached for him again, this time using the other hand since he still held my left captive.
I traced the line of his chiseled jaw, starting just behind his ear and trailing down until the middle of his chin.
Once there, I shifted higher, brushing my fingers across his supple mouth.
“I’m going to kiss you,” I admitted, blinking quickly, trying to drive away the wooziness. I wanted to be alert when my lips touched his.
“Nelly, I need you to focus,” Wyatt pushed out the words, expression shifting as he fought his own battle.
“I am focused,” I murmured, “On this.” I pressed my index finger to his mouth, the way one did when they wanted someone to be quiet.
Wyatt grabbed my hand, pulling it away from his lips. He held both my wrists in the cages of his large fingers. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his pupils dilating as he stared at me.
"Nelly, you're in heat. You’re not thinking clearly." His voice was strained, like each word cost him something precious.
“Yes, I am,” I insisted, face scrunching in annoyance.
“I’m tired of fighting my body. I’m tired of pretending you guys aren’t everything I want and need.
I hate—” I had to pause to breathe as my belly spasmed and my most intimate places clenched with a need that had to be satisfied our I might die, “how I came here. But what does it matter now?”
Another brutal throb, pushing me to find relief.
Another torrent of desire, because relief was in this truck with me.
I pushed my back against Wade, but I reached out to Wyatt. “I feel safe with you. All of you.”
"If you don't get us home, Wyatt, this is going to happen on the side of the road," Boone sounded like he was pushing the words through clenched teeth. “This isn’t something we can hold out on. Trust me on that.”
Boone, the one who’d had a scent match before me.
I’d have to make him forget that, because I wanted to be the only Omega that sent him into a frenzy.
“Oh, I believe you,” Cooper’s voice came to life, quaking at the edges.
Good. I wanted them to feel what I was feeling—this desperate, clawing need that made rational thought nearly impossible.
"Nelly," Wyatt tried again, his grip on my wrist tightening slightly. "Where do you want to go? We can head back to the ranch, or we're nearly halfway to town—there's a hotel—"
"The barn," I gasped out, another cramp seizing my abdomen. I doubled over, whimpering.
Wade's arm tightened around me. "The old barn? Are you sure?"
"Please," I nodded, “just take me home.”
Wyatt quickly situated himself behind the wheel. Trusting he’d get me where I wanted, I closed my eyes again, giving myself over to the pain that was shifting into something strangely delicious.
I felt the truck lurch forward, turning sharply as Wyatt spun us around on the empty road. Wade cradled me against him, his fingers trembling as they brushed damp hair from my forehead.
"It's okay, Nelly," he whispered, his voice ragged. "We're taking you home."
Around me, my Alphas emitted spicy plumes of scent, filling the cab despite the open windows. Their breathing was strained, their reactions intensifying in response to the way I craved them.