But I’m not done. They’ve claimed me, and now I need to claim them too.
I reach for Dax first because he’s closest, pulling him down untilI can access his throat. The cherry liqueur in his scent intensifies as my teeth find his pulse point and bite down. He makes a half-groan, half-growl sound that sends heat pooling low in my belly.
“Fuck, Sierra,” he grits out, his hands tightening on my hips. “Your mark—god, yes?—”
Malik is next, leaning in to give me access to his neck. When my teeth sink into his skin, he shudders, his vanilla ice-cream spiking with arousal. “Omega,” he breathes reverently. “Our omega.”
Cole practically melts when I mark him. “Yes, yes, claim us,” he pants, his hands roaming my body possessively. “Make us yours the way we’re making you ours.”
Jalen’s reaction is the most intense. When my teeth press into his throat, he makes a sound I’ve never heard from him before, primal and pleased and perfectly claimed. His toasted marshmallow blooms around us all like a blanket.
We’re all marked now, all claimed, our scents mingling together in a way that speaks of pack and permanence and forever.
“How do you feel?” Malik asks, his voice rough as he examines the marks we’ve left on each other.
I touch my neck experimentally, feeling the tender spots where they’ve claimed me, then reach out to trace the marks I’ve left on them. “Complete,” I breathe. “I feel complete.”
“Good,” Dax says with satisfaction, pulling me flush against him. “Because we’re never letting you go.”
We lie there together on the nest bed, tangled up in each other, skin against skin, scents blending into something entirely new. Something that’s uniquely ours. I’ve never felt more at home. More right. More exactly where I’m supposed to be.
“We should probably talk about the other stuff,” Malik says eventually, though he makes no move to let me go. “Your apartment, your business, how we’re going to make this work professionally?—”
“Merge them,” I hear myself say.
They all go still.
“You were serious?” Jalen asks, propping himself up on one elbow to look at me.
I nod. “We merge them. No more competition. We work together instead of against each other.”
“Sierra … are you sure?” Malik’s eyes move over my face, searching for doubt.
I nod. “Think about what we could do together. We could dominate the market.”
“She has a point,” Cole says slowly, his fingers tracing idle patterns on my hip. “We’ve been competing for the same clients for two years. Imagine if we pooled our talents instead.”
“We’d be unstoppable,” Dax finishes, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Malik is quiet, eyes still searching my face. Then he smiles. “Knightley & Smith Events,” he says. “Has a nice ring to it.”
“Or Smith & Knightley,” I counter with a grin.
“We can negotiate the name later,” Cole laughs, pulling me closer.
Jalen leans in, his lips finding my temple. “I can’t believe you’re really here. Really ours.”
“Believe it,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to his marked throat and smiling when he shivers. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good,” Dax rumbles. “Because we’ve got plans for you, omega.”
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow. “What kind of plans?”
“The kind that involves you never leaving this nest,” Cole says with a wicked grin. “At least not for the next few days.”
“I think I can work with that.”
“We can get more nest materials tomorrow,” Dax says, running his fingers through my hair as I rest against Cole’s chest. “Whatever colors, textures, scents you want. We’ll fill those cubbies until you have everything you need.”
