“Do you wish you could claim me?” I murmur, licking at the moonlight pooled on his throat.
He hums at my touch, his arm tightening around my waist. “As your soulmate, I already have a patch of your heart.”
“More than a patch,” I correct him, threading our fingers together. I’m still not certain Catherine was lucid when she said she could see our bond, but I’m less and less inclined to challenge the stardust and chemistry theory. “I just wish people could see your mark on me, same as the other guys.”
Tristan raises his brows at me, a wicked grin pulling at his lips. “Maybe I just need to give you a love bite every morning.”
I shiver as his teeth brush over the sensitive skin of my neck, but I can’t ignore the jittery feeling in my belly. “I don’t want to lose you.” At his surprised look, I grimace. “I’m not your typical omega, you know. I find it hard to just settle and enjoy things. Even when they’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”
His face softens as he props himself on an elbow, his finger trailing over my cheek. “I know what you mean. I wasn’t who people expected the guys to pick as their mate.”
I scoff at the idea. “You’re perfect. They’re lucky to have you.”
“Well, yes… I amnow.” He draws the word out, laughing softly. “But I had my moments. I was insecure and bratty, and I let other people convince me of my worth, or lack of it.”
I nod, because as much as I’ve tried to avoid the rumors and slander of the press, it’s picked at wounds that have barely started to heal. “I’m just scared I’m not cut out to be in a pack. I’ve been on my own a long time, and I don’t find it easy to change. Plus, I don’t know anything about living a celebrity life. I’m just a flower farmer from Idaho. What if I disappoint you, like people are saying?”
He sighs, feathering a kiss over my cheek. When our heads are settled back on the pillow, he says, “You want some of my Nan’s wisdom? She used to tell me that if people made me feel bad about myself, I should look in the mirror, because the person at my back is the one who knows me best.”
“I like that,” I muse, snuggling closer. “Rosie likes to tell me that my brain is only happy if it ties itself into knots.”
He laughs, because we’ve all been on the receiving end of Rosie’s wisdom. “Well, maybe that’s the case, but we both know there are better ways to get knotted.” He wags his brows at me and then starts to slide out from under the pile of alphas. “Come with me, soulmate.”
I nod, crawling after him until I’m standing by the side of the bed on shaky legs. We study the alphas for a moment, grinningat the picture they make. Bulging arms, muscled butts, and so much testosterone I feel I could lick it off their skin like a cat. Tristan must catch the hungry look on my face, because he wraps an arm around me, drawing me towards the closet. It’s a heady mix of all our scents, but I pause as I catch sight of our reflection in the full-length mirror. We’re both naked, but it’s our matching marks that coax me closer. Ellis’ bite mark is red and thick, and as I run my fingers over it, Tristan slips his body behind mine with a smile.
“Take a good look at yourself, Lily Percy, because you’re a goddess.” His fingers feather over both my mating marks before circling my nipples. I watch him as he squeezes the tender flesh, a flush of heat working up my neck. It doesn’t take long before I’m gasping and straining against him, my hips thrusting back against his groin. He dips a hand between my thighs and chuckles against my neck. “There’s no world in which you won’t measure up, sweetheart.”
His soft words are a balm, but they don’t extinguish that jittery feeling in my stomach. “But a heat is easy,” I argue, rubbing my ass against his erection as proof. “Everything feels good, and everyone wants more. It’s the after part that hurts.”
He makes a sad sound in his throat and he hugs me tighter. “I get why it might seem that way, but this isn't a decade ago. Crest is dead, and you’re part of our pack now.” He gives me a careful look from under his inky lashes. “But there's no point telling you that, if you don’t feel it here.”
As he cups my heart, I lean into his touch. “I do,” I insist, because being insecure doesn’t mean I don’t know my own worth. I’m a good mother, a hard worker, and a loyal friend. And somehow, I’ve managed to trick fate into making me Tristan’s soulmate. “You make me feel so wanted,” I tell him, turning in his arms. “It’s just that I love you so much, it makes me nervous.You’re right in front of me, but I feel like if I look away, you might disappear.”
He brushes his thumbs over my cheeks, his gaze suddenly as intense as Otley’s. “Then stop looking, sweetheart, and just let yourself feel.”
I don’t know what he means until he draws something off the shelf and wraps it around my eyes. It’s made of soft cotton, no thicker than one of my bandanas, but I shiver as the wordblindfoldslips through my mind. When he’s tied a knot behind my head, he edges me over to the velvet armchair in front of the mirror. There are some shuffling sounds, and when his hands reach for me again, I realize he’s sitting in the chair. A soft moan leaves my throat as I drop to my knees, but he pulls me up, settling me over his lap instead. “Together, sweetheart. I want you to feel me first.”
I raise a brow at the wordfirst, but then he’s arching his hips and his cock is sliding between my parted thighs. It’s the perfect angle to rub all my nerves as he grips my ass, pulling me flush against his body.
“Feel that, omega?” He grinds up into me, sucking hard on my neck. “No eyes. No expectations. Just my hungry cock buried deep in your sweet pussy.”
I groan, loud enough to echo in the closet. He grips my hips tighter, his teeth grazing my mating bites. “You trying to wake up our alphas, sweetheart? Want them to come in here and see you bouncing on my cock?” I pant into his neck, squeezing my eyes tight despite the blindfold. He pumps harder, swiveling and grinding as he hammers inside me. “Ellis really tortured you, didn’t he? But anytime you need a knot, you can come straight to me and I’ll sort it out.”
I blink behind the blindfold, confused. I love Tristan for a whole bunch of reasons, and one thing I definitely wouldn’t change about him is his cock. He wields it like an extension of hiswicked charm, teasing my nerve endings with its blunt head and the snap of his clever hips. I gasp, caught in a spiral of pleasure that ends in a flash of white light.
“There you go,” he pants, swishing a finger through my quaking folds. “Now you’re nice and wet for your first knot.”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s flooded my channel with his release. I claw his chest, trying to hold him inside me, but he tips my hips back, sliding off the chair. My hands curl into the velvet upholstery, my body quivering with aftershocks, and I almost bite my tongue off as an arm grips my waist. It’s thicker and more muscled than Tristan, and I press back, feeling my heated skin slide against his chest.
Logan?
Ellis?
I don’t think it’s Otley, but the fact I can’t know for sure sends a delicious thrill through me.
I wait for the alpha to announce himself, but he just rubs his cock against my wet opening. I still haven’t cleaned up from Ellis, and I imagine how ruined I must look as he rubs the mess between my legs. He obviously doesn’t mind, because he dips his head to my ear and whispers, “Mine?”
I frown, because I know it’s not Tristan. But then I realize he’s not talking about the release trickling down my thighs. He’s asking for consent, and I groan, tilting my hips in invitation. “Yours, Alpha.”
