I don’t want to. Looking at him means I have to stop touching him.
He grabs my hands and pulls them behind my back, gently forcing me to make space between us. The movement makes my chest arch forward, and my hips push back, grinding against him. I drag my eyes up to his. His pupils are almost eating up all the color in his eyes.
“Beautiful, when was the last time you took your suppressants? Did you forget?”
The question is like a glass of ice water. Reality floods back in, but does nothing to settle this burning fire and the need to be filled.
“This morning?” I try to think back, but everything feels hazy. The suppressants have been such a routine part of my morning that I never even think about them anymore. But this pack, this situation, has thrown me completely off my axis.
I try to piece my day together, woke up to chores, and had to finish some charts. I’d been wound up all day, with the impending date…a sinking feeling settles in my stomach.
I didn’t take them.
I can see the little bottle sitting next to the sink, the morning dose still on the porcelain counter where I left it in my rush.
But the thought fades quickly as another wave of Beau’s scent washes over me—bergamot and leather, rich and intoxicating.The fire, momentarily banked, roars back even hotter, consuming every rational thought.
“Fuck,” Beau breathes, and I can see him trying to think, trying to be responsible. “Willa, we need to?—“
“Beau, shut up.” I pull against his hold on my hands and lean into him, licking at his bottom lip. Whatever control he was holding onto snaps like a broken tether.
His lips capture mine, and he uses the grip on my hands to control the kiss. Pulling me back, he slides his tongue along my lips only to plunge back in, and I go up in flames.
When he releases my hands, they immediately sink into his hair and pull him into me. The answering growl of need is the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard.
“What the hell?” I hear from behind me, and I feel Jake move closer, his body heat adding to the inferno building inside me.
“I think she’s having a heat spike,” Beau’s deep baritone says through fevered kisses, and I bristle at the way he talks about me like I’m out of my mind.
“I’m right here,” I snap, turning my head to look at him even as I try to press back against Jake. “And I know exactly what’s happening.”
“Wills—” Jake’s hands are on my back, steadying me, and I can feel the tension in every line of his body. “Are you sure? The rules— We never talked about this situation.”
But I can see the evidence of his need tenting his jeans, the sudden surge of his arousal evident in the rich spicy chocolate scent now mingling with the bergamot leather smell of Beau. I want to taste him, taste them both. And the rules I set seem a million miles away.
My only thought is that I don’t want them to leave.
“I can’t stop shaking,” I whisper, twisting toward them. “I’m so tired of being good, of doing what I’m supposed to. Please, I want this. I’m still me. I know this isn’t the fever talking. I knowI want you. Please… I’m choosing this.” And as if on cue, a deep pulsing ache crests, making me gasp. “Please, don’t leave me to this alone.”
Jake’s forehead presses against the back of my head, and I can hear the conflict in his voice. “Willa, I want you to know you have choices… We can get you through this without— We can help you without sex. Cool baths, nesting materials?—”
“I don’t want a cool bath,” I growl, frustration bubbling up. They aren’t listening to me. My Omega is suddenly insecure. Do they not want me? Do they not want this as much as I do? Did I misread things? “Unless you don’t want this?”
“Not want you?” Beau asks incredulously. “Does this feel like I don’t want you?” He grinds up into me hard, making me shudder with want. He reaches up to fist my ponytail and, with a gentle but firm hold, brings my flushed face close to his.
“Charlie’s not here,” Jake says quietly. “He should be here for this. For you.”
“Then I guess we’ll need to do this again.” The boldness in my words surprises even me.
They exchange a look over my head, that wordless communication that packs have, and I can see the moment they decide. The moment they stop fighting what all three of us want.
It’s like someone pulled the curtains—the mood in the room shifts so suddenly, a surge of want fills every crevice and corner of my body. And I’m not prepared for the visceral reaction in me when Beau says, “Are you ready to be a good little Omega?”
“Yes, Alpha.” The words rush out in a quick breath. And with it, a shiver of submission settles over me. Fuck, I like that.
Beau’s laugh is rough, hungry. “We’re going to take away the ache. But only if you promise to be good. If not, I’ll stop. Understand?”
A nervous laugh accompanies my quick nod. Beau gives my hair a slight tug, exposing my neck.
