Chapter 21
CLAIRE
For a while, neither of us moves.
Corey and I lie tangled in the sheets, skin damp, breathing too hard, and our musky scents flood the bedroom.
My leg is swung over his hip, his cock still buried deep inside me even though his knot has softened.
He’s staring at me, his arm locked around my waist, holding me against him.
His mouth brushes my lips, then my cheek, soft little kisses that feel almost too tender after how completely he just ruined me again.
I’m still smiling and boneless, when the first flicker of worry slips through the haze. “Should I be concerned?” I whisper, my voice shaky against Corey’s chest. “I think this is my heat, but it came so fast I didn’t even have a need to nest like I normally do.”
“It is your heat, sunshine.” Corey’s mouth presses against my forehead, his arm tightening around me with a possessive little flex.
“But you don’t need to worry anymore.” He draws his cock out of me slowly, and I miss him already.
Corey groans, his hand cupping my ass, not letting me go anywhere. “You’re not alone.”
Three times tonight. Knots and orgasms I’ll never forget. And every time, I’ve fallen asleep in his arms afterward, wrecked, only to wake clawing at him again, desperate, drenched, my body refusing to accept that enough is a concept that applies to me.
“Maybe it’ll go away now?” Even as I say it, the thrumming deep in my abdomen pulses quicker, building stronger each time it returns. My thighs are slick and sticky, more of it seeping out constantly, and I let out a laugh that borders on hysteria because my body clearly is doing whatever it wants.
“Wishful thinking, sunshine. But I’m going to extend our stay at the cabin for as long as you need. Okay?”
I shift as a buzz runs down my spine, the wet sensation spreading between my thighs. “How much slick can one Omega produce? This is genuinely alarming.” I half laugh, as it’s the only thing I can do.
He grins, kisses my nose, then my mouth, and what starts as gentle deepens almost instantly.
His tongue tangles with mine, his hand sliding to my hip, and I’m already arching into him, craving the heat of his body as if it’s the only thing that can satisfy the ache.
My fingers dig into his shoulder, dragging him closer, and the worst part is how much I long for him again.
It doesn’t help that he’s staring at me with sleep-warm eyes and a wicked mouth. He held me through every broken, desperate moment of the night, and now my body demands more of him.
I’m craving the comfort of him pinning me to the bed until the wildness inside me finally settles.
The kiss turns hungry fast, both of us breathing harder, and I’m halfway to climbing him again when he breaks away.
“You’ve had heats before—”
“Yeah, but this is different.” I swallow, trying to steady myself while every nerve in my body reaches for him. “It’s so intense it scares me. I’ve never felt this out of control and turned on.”
His fingers stroke the side of my face, his thumb tracing my cheekbone with a tenderness that only twists the ache inside me sharper. “You’re with your match, so of course your body knows this. It’s preparing you for your Alphas.”
“I’ll need all three?” I blink at him, the truth settling through me in a hot, terrifying rush.
Corey’s grin flickers, then fades. His jaw tightens, and his gaze drops to my mouth before he drags it back up again.
The arm around me firms, keeping me steady, and when he breathes in, it’s slow, deliberate.
“I need to get Brody and Jakob up here.” His voice drops.
“Because as much as I love having you like this, sunshine—wild for me and looking at me like I’m your world—I sense what your body needs.
” His mouth brushes my nose. “And I won’t let you suffer just because part of me wants to be selfish. ”
My breath catches, my thighs pressing together as another wave rolls through me.
“Trust me,” he whispers. “You’ll need all of us.”
“No.” I press my face into his chest, heat rushing through me for an entirely different reason. “God, no. I can’t have them see me this way.”
“What way?” Corey murmurs, and his mouth brushes my ear. “Beautiful? Powerful? An Omega in full heat who just wore me out three times and is about to jump me to make it four?”
“Corey.” My face is on fire.
“Claire.” He cups my jaw, tilting my face to his, and his amusement disappears into something steadier.
“Nobody’s going to judge you. They’re going to be fucking ecstatic.
Do you have any idea how desperately Brody and Jakob want to be with you?
How much it’s been killing them knowing I’m up here and they’re not? ”
“But you don’t get it. It’s happening too fast.” The words spill out, even though I’m still pressed naked against him, still wanting him so badly I can barely breathe.
“I promised myself after Louis that I wouldn’t rush, become dependent, or fall for anyone else so hard that when they get bored of me—”
“Hey.” His voice drops, firm enough to cut through the panic. “Deep breaths. Nobody’s getting bored of you. Don’t compare us to a man who had no idea what he had.” His thumb brushes over my lower lip, his gaze locked on mine. “When we mark you as ours, that’s permanent. You understand?”
I blink up at him in the early hours of the morning.
“Fear is normal,” Corey corrects out loud. “But you’ve got us now.”
I nod and press my face into his neck, breathing in that musky Alpha scent I’m addicted to. Corey’s arms fold around me. “Let me clean you up,” he says, kissing my temple. “Then rest. You’re going to need it.”
He disappears into the bathroom and returns with a damp towel.
The tenderness with which he parts my thighs and cleans the mess between them, all the slick and the evidence of him, melts my heart.
His grin, which tells me he’s enjoying the view far too much, has me lying there stupidly emotional, as if being cleaned up by a smug Alpha is somehow more intimate than climaxing in front of him.
Then I’m back in his arms, sheet pulled over us, and he whispers, “Sleep,” against me. I try to stay awake, but the exhaustion is a tide and I slip under.
My eyes snap open to the bright light of the morning sun cutting through the huge windows, and the spot beside me on the bed lies empty. My body pulses, and I curl around the ache, pressing my hand to my stomach.
“Corey?”
The cabin is silent.
I swing my legs out of bed. My thighs and pussy are sore, reminding me of every second of last night, and beneath the soreness, the hunger is already rebuilding, a low burn in my abdomen that’s growing stronger by the minute.
Slick slides down my inner thigh, and I press my legs together and hiss through my teeth.
“Corey!” I call louder.
No answer. I spot his phone on the bedside table and grab it, but it’s not switching on… Battery’s dead. So he must have gone on foot to extend the booking at the property office, as he’d said the owners were somewhere in these mountains.
I hurry to the bathroom for a shower, and the hot water is magic on sore muscles, my hands braced against the tile. Once I’m dry and out, I feel human enough afterward to wrap a towel around myself and go hunting for food.
The kitchen is fully stocked, and my body knows what it wants.
Protein. Salt. Volume. I pull the steak from the fridge, the one we never cooked last night because we were otherwise occupied, and throw it in a hot pan.
While it sizzles, I demolish leftover charcuterie from the picnic, crackers stacked with cheese, eating—still standing at the counter—with a ferocity that would embarrass me if anyone were watching.
The steak is perfect. I carry it to the veranda on a plate, still in my towel, and eat it in the morning sun, overlooking the valley. The sea stretches silver beyond Mistberry Cove, and the quiet is so deep I hear my own heartbeat.
I finish every bite, then lick the juices from my fingers. My body is calmer with the food in my belly, the ache retreating to a simmer, though I can feel it there, patient, coiling, waiting for the next wave.
Back inside, I’m rummaging through the fridge when I find a tub of chocolate brownie ice cream tucked in the freezer. I grab it along with the biggest spoon in the drawer and head toward the hot tub, figuring I’ll work out how to turn it on.
To my surprise, the room is already steaming.
The tub is filled, heat wafting from the water’s surface.
Corey must have set it up before he left.
The Perspex walls let the forest press close on all sides from the outside, ferns and branches and dappled light.
Even the steam curls upward and disappears into the vents.
The room is completely exposed and utterly private.
Who’s watching? The squirrels? The wolves? Let them enjoy the show.
I drop the towel and climb in.
The heat of the water pulls a groan from me so intense it vibrates through my chest. I sink to my shoulders, close my eyes, and let the warmth work through my muscles, my hips, the soreness between my thighs that eases just enough for me to breathe.
Then I pop the lid off the ice cream and dig in.
The cold hits my tongue, and the contrast with the hot water is everything.
I eat sitting on the submerged ledge, the water at my waist, and cold ice cream droplets slide from the spoon onto my chest. They trail down my skin, over the curve of my breasts, and goose bumps erupt across my body, a shiver that isn’t from cold but from desire.
A moan slips out past my lips.