“Okay?” he asks roughly.
I can only nod, too overwhelmed to form words.
“Good,” he murmurs, and then his lips are on my jaw, trailing down to my neck.
The moment his mouth brushes against that sensitive spot just at my collarbone, I gasp. Pleasure shoots through me so intense it borders on painful. My omega practically screams with satisfaction. Alpha. Touching me. Scenting me. Claiming me.
“Jalen,” I whimper.
“God, Sierra,” he breathes against my skin, his voice thick with a need he’s no longer hiding. “You have no idea.”
His nose traces the line of my neck, and he breathes in deeply, scenting me properly. The intimacy of it makes me tremble. This is omega-alpha bonding at its most basic, and for the first time in my life, I realize I’ve been starved of it.
Then Dax is there too, on my other side. His hand slides from my waist to my hip, and he leans in, his nose brushing against my neck on the other side.
“May I?” His voice is pure gravel, barely controlled.
“Yes,” I breathe.
He nuzzles into my neck with less gentleness than Jalen butequal reverence. His sugar-spun warmth wraps around me as he scents me thoroughly, his lips brushing against my skin in a way that makes me shiver.
Two alphas at my throat. Two more touching me. Cole’s hand has slid up from my wrist to my forearm, his grip gentle but possessive, while Malik has moved closer, his other hand now resting on my calf.
I’m surrounded. Covered in alpha scent and alpha touch, and my omega has never been happier.
Another wave of heat crashes through me, and I whimper, my body arching slightly. Fresh slick pools between my thighs, and I know they can smell it.
All four of them tense.
Dax pulls back from my neck just enough to look at me, his dark eyes searching my face. “Are you in pain?”
“No,” I manage. “Just—it’s a lot.”
“Too much?” Malik asks immediately, concern cutting through the rut-fog.
“No,” I say again. “Not too much. Just... intense.”
Cole makes a sound that might be agreement. His hand is trembling against my arm, and I can see the effort it takes him to stay gentle, to not grab and claim and take.
They’re all holding back. All fighting their ruts, their instincts, their desperate need to ease an omega in heat.
For me.
“You’re being so careful,” I say softly, and my voice cracks. “All of you. Even though I know your ruts are telling you to?—”
“Doesn’t matter what our ruts are saying,” Dax interrupts roughly. “You matter more.”
“We won’t hurt you,” Jalen adds, his hand stroking through my hair. “Won’t push you past what you’re ready for. Even if it kills us.”
“Which it might,” Cole mutters, but there’s affection in his voice along with the strain.
Malik’s hand squeezes my calf gently. “We’re yours, Sierra. However you need us. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
The words settle over me like a blanket. Warm and safe and utterly devastating in their sincerity. These don’t sound like empty promises spoken in the heat of rut. These are vows.
I reach up with a shaking hand and cup Dax’s jaw, feeling the stubble there rasp against my palm. He leans into the touch like he’s starving for it, his eyes closing briefly.
When he opens them again, the hunger there steals my breath.
