She licks her lips as she scoops it up, and just as I think she’s going to take it, her pupils dilate.
“Open up,” she says, and the scent of cinnamon and peppercorn fills my lungs. I do as she asks without question, and she feeds me the last bite. I swallow harshly, the cool cream down my throat a welcome sensation.
“You are a part of me, too,” she says, slipping her hand in mine after setting the empty container and spoon on the counter behind us.
“Auryn—”
“Take me to my nest,” she says and it’s not a question. The weight, the command, is purely alpha, and I whine.
“Take me to my nest, please.” She runs her hands down my hip. “I want to feel your warmth wrapped around me.”
It’s not the words that make my heart swell, so much as how she says them.
She doesn’t ask to fuck me. Or for me to fuck her.
She’s asking to be held. Touched.
And until Auryn came into my life, I didn’t know how badly I lacked those things, so I can’t deny her. I couldn’t even if I wanted to because the desire to give her, my alpha, whatever she wants is something so deep and natural, it’s instinct.
“As you wish, alpha,” I say, watching her eyes light up at my words.
I toss our spoons in the sink and dispose of the carton, grab her hand, and lead her to her nest. I tense when I see it’s not empty, and Emmett is passed out. I can tell beneath the blankets, judging by the way they cover his hip and the exposed flesh, he’s naked underneath.
Two weeks ago, I would have rather gone into battle than share a bed with Emmett, but now…
Now the desire to be in this nest with my alpha and her mate, to be surrounded by my packmates’ scents…it’s a strange sort of comfort, and I don’t think twice about curling up with Auryn. I hold her to me, kissing her neck. She purrs, backing her ass against my hardness. I can tell from her motions, she wants to have sex, but I’m not sure I can right now. My mind is too full of questions and thoughts, and the only thing that truly quiets them is when I kiss her. When I hold her tight.
I wrap my arms around her and do just that. I pull her against me, my mouth finding hers as I try to make her understand.
There are words stuck in my throat that are as foreign as the questions in my brain, words I’m only starting to really understand.
She turns, shifting position so she’s facing me. She pulls me closer, the motion making it easier for her to grind against me, but she doesn’t do that like I expect her to.
Instead, she pulls my jaw and kisses me. Deeply.
“Why are you so good to me, Olly?” she asks, her voice a whisper.
She pulls away from me, looking up at me, and I can hear Emmett shift. Closer to her.
“I’ve been your beta from the start,” I say softly. “I’ve been yours from the start.”
The words in my throat are sharp, trying to force their way out, but I’ve never said them to anyone before.
“And I’ve been your specimen from the start,” she says, biting her lip.
“You are not my specimen, Auryn,” I say, kissing her. Hoping like hell she understands what I can’t say. I don’t know how to say the words I want to say, but I pour them into my kiss. I write the words with my tongue and the sweet moan that escapes my throat. “You are my alpha,” I whisper.
“Damn right she is,” Emmett groans, and I remember we are not alone.
I tense as my gaze finds his. Emmett slides a hand over her hip, draping it over her stomach.
Auryn looks up at me questioningly, with challenge in her eyes.
“Do you want me to go?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper. I’m not sure if I’m asking her or him.
Perhaps both.
“No,” Auryn says. I look at Emmett, raising an eyebrow at him. He shakes his head, his voice nonchalant.
