Ellis smiles at my sass, planting his hands on either side of Logan’s hips as he studies me. Charisma oozes off of him at the most innocent of times, so having him loom over me, half naked and pupils blown, is doing crazy things to my libido.
I arch my back on reflex, a purr rattling from his chest as he runs his lips along my temple. His caramel scent is thicker and richer than I’ve ever smelled it, and as he nuzzles his way down to my mouth, I expect him to fall on me, smothering me with his hunger. But as he draws slow, sensual kisses from my mouth, I realize that this is his version of worship. It’s just as deep and intense as Otley’s, but it’s also softer and sweeter, like he plans to savor every moment. He’s not a famous movie star now, I realize, unless he’s following the script where the guy finally gets the girl he's loved from afar.
What can I do but surrender to his gentle adoration? His hands are busy holding him up, so he’s limited to his mouth, which he drags over every inch of my skin. The slight rasp of his chin makes me gasp, his teeth and tongue doing things thatmake me shake and strain. It’s almost painful in the way he draws his touches out, taking delight in every discovery.
It shocks me how fascinated he is with every bit of me, stroking and kissing parts that I never even think about. He spends what feels like forever on the dip of my belly alone, tracing his tongue along the faint stretch marks from Leo’s birth. He’s not just tasting me, I realize, but mapping every inch of my body, and I’m a quivering, conquered mess by the time he treks back to my mouth.
I can feel the satisfaction radiating off Logan, but Otley finally takes pity on me and places a hand on Ellis’ back. “She’s still going to be here tomorrow, brother.”
Tomorrow.
It’s rare for Otley to put that hint of command in his voice, but it seems to draw Ellis out of his trance. He finally eases me out of Logan’s arms, Tristan settling beside us as Ellis presses between my thighs. I shiver at the brush of Tristan’s peppermint scent, but it’s his fingers raking through my curls that makes my eyes roll back. I’m a flushed, aching ball of nerves, and Tristan makes it both better and worse when he murmurs, “I think it’s time you knotted her, Alpha, and made her ours.”
Ellis sucks in a breath as he finally presses inside me. Despite Tristan’s encouragement, it’s a slow, gentle glide, his thick cock stroking my nerves with a whisper of friction. I jerk my hips, trying to draw him in deeper, but he changes his angle and I have to bite my lip to hold back a scream.
“Surrender to the process, LeeLee,” Logan says from somewhere behind me. There’s a hint of gloating in his voice, and if I could coordinate my limbs, he’d earn a kick for being so damn smug.
Instead, I wrap my legs around Ellis’ hips, locking my ankles in the small of his back. “Please, Alpha,” I whimper, looking up at him through damp lashes. “I need your knot.”
But Ellis just hums and smiles down at me, his inky hair falling into his eyes. “I’m just warming you up, sweetheart.”
I’m not surprised Logan is chuckling, since they’re the same words I murmured to my old truck when she refused to turn over in winter.
A growl slips free, and I rake a hand over Ellis’ ribs, my breath coming in frustrated pants. “If you keep this up much longer, I’m going to combust,” I whine.
“Good things take time,” he smirks, capturing my hands and pressing them into the bedding beside my head. “The payoff will be worth it, I promise.”
I have no doubt about that, but right now I’m leaking slick and vibrating with need. Clenching my teeth, I dig my heels into the bed and buck up against his hips. “Bury your knot in me, Alpha, or I might just go looking elsewhere!”
Words I never expected to leave my lips, but the haze of my heat is starting to take over. Usually, by this time, I’m growing frustrated with my toys, thinking about the hours ahead with a sort of grim detachment. But it’s a thousand times worse when I have a living, breathing alpha inside me, and I’mstillnot getting off.
But my threat seems to have an effect, because I catch a hitch in his next thrust, his thick cock twitching against my walls. He pauses for a second, and when he resumes that same careful, torturous rhythm, Otley cups the back of his neck. I’m guessing it’s one of his most sensitive zones, because he groans as Otley leans in and says, “Faster, Ellis. Stop edging her and give our girl what she needs.”
I almost sob as I throw Otley a look of pure gratitude. “Yes! Faster, Alpha. I want it. Knot me now.”
Ellis’ next groan is one of defeat and he rocks against me before he sits back on his haunches. The new position pulls deliciously at my pussy, and he pants as he rubs his fingers overour swollen joining. I twitch, my channel pulsing, and his thumb presses my clit hard enough to make me shudder. I’m right on the edge of coming as the flush on his cheeks darkens, and his eyes glitter like emeralds. “I don’t want to finish.”
He sounds exactly like Leo in a sulk, and I’d laugh if I wasn’t about to lose my mind.
“I’ll still be here tomorrow,” I remind him, gripping the bedding as I circle my hips. Coaxing…Begging…“I’m not going anywhere, Ellis. I’m here. I’m yours.”
He nods, but he still holds my hips tight as he pushes his knot inside me. Instead of a quick thrust, it’s a slow, throbbing stretch. I’m slick enough to take it, but I’ve never been so aware of an alpha’s invasion.
“I love you, Lily,” he tells me, as he pushes in the last throbbing inch. “Will you take my bite and my heart?”
I’ll take anything. Everything. I nod, too strung out to answer, but as his teeth slide into my throat, I find my voice with a tear-filled shout. “Ellis! I love you, Alpha!”
His body shudders, sending me into a soaring climax. Wave after wave of euphoria crashes over me, and when I finally come down, Ellis is purring against my throat, already licking away the sting of his bite.
I collapse on the bedding as his knot pulses inside me. I’m too boneless to move, so he follows me down, kissing away the few tears that have leaked into my hairline.
“Happy tears?” he asks, cupping my damp cheeks.
“The happiest,” I murmur back, staring up at the skylight as the others cuddle in close. Arms surround me, stroking and soothing, and as my eyes begin to close, I feel Tristan nuzzling my new bite. Maybe there's no starlight shining down on us, but as exhaustion overwhelms me, my heart is bathed in it all the same.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE – LILY
I wake from the deepest sleep of my life to find Tristan snuggled at my side, our limbs tangled with our sleeping alphas. The skylight above us is bright with stars, and the scent of satisfied omega is thick in the air. I’m clear-headed enough to know that my heat is in a dip – a brief reprieve before the next cycle of need and knots – and I press my face to Tristan’s throat as I rub my thumb over my new mating bite.
