I drip lube on my cock, pumping the shaft a few times to coat it thoroughly. My slick fingers find his entrance, probing inside to see if he’s ready for me. He is. After the sex we had last night, I’m not surprised.
“Please.” Tanner whimpers. I notch my cock to his back hole and don’t wait to sink inside. As much as I want to savor him, make him cry and moan and beg, he needs something else right now. Something rough. Primal. Claiming.
My pace is fast, my fingers digging into his hips to pull him back on my shaft, my knot pressing against his tight ring of muscle. I slide my hands to his ass, spreading his cheeks apart so I can watch as I disappear inside him.
“Do you want my knot, alpha?” I ask. I’m nearly positive the answer is yes, but I check every time all the same. Tanner nods.
“Words, baby. You know I want to hear you.” I admonish him with a slap on the ass that has him clenching around me like a vise.
“Y-yes!”
“Touch yourself. Pump that needy cock while I fill your ass with my cum,” I growl. Neither of us are gonna last much longer, and I want him to come with me.
Most people can’t take a knot in their ass, unless they’re an omega. But I know Tanner’s limits and what he needs right now. He needs to be claimed. So the second he spasms with his release, I shove past any resistance in one rough thrust. He takes it with a moan and a curse, more cum spurting out of him as a second wave of his orgasm hits.
The bond is wide open, and I can feel every bit of his pleasure as it becomes my own.
Spent, we collapse in a pile on the bed, breathing hard. With my knot still lodged inside him, I stroke his hair and kiss my bond mark on his neck. “Ready to talk about it?”
His sigh is long and dangerously close to a growl, but he knows he won’t get out of this.
“She’s gonna change everything,” he whispers.
“Maybe that’s a good thing.”
He stares away from me at the blank wall. “What if she’s Vann’s scent match and not ours?”
“I don’t think that’s really what you’re worried about.” Most of the time, true packmates have the same scent match. Sure, some packs form out of convenience—a lot of the packs here at the Olympics are like that. They got together just because of the Olympic rule that teams need to be packmates. But that’s not us. We all knew we were meant to be together from a young age. It’s highly unlikely that Vann’s scent match isn’t ours too.
Tanner doesn’t move a muscle. His shoulders tense, then drop on an exhale. “What if we apologize and she still doesn’t want us? What if our reckless sixteen-year-old selves ruined any chance of being with our mate? What if… What if you scent her, and you don’t want me anymore?” That last part comes out so quietly I have trouble hearing it.
Rather than respond, I push all the love I feel for him through the bond. He draws in a quick breath and melts in my arms.
Most people only see the hard edges of Tanner. They don’t realize the number his dad did on him, the insecurity he tries to hide with order and dominance.
“We can’t control whether she forgives us, but we can apologize and try to make it up to her,” I say. “You can’t dictate her actions, or ours, Tanner. Not in this. All you can control is yourself. Do you want her? And what are you willing to do to set things right?”
He’s quiet for a little while before he speaks again. “Do you remember at the end of senior year when she gave that presentation on misogyny inMy Fair Lady?”
“Yeah, you were merciless.” He teased her about it endlessly, even went so far as to only speak to her in a bad British accent for a week straight.
“She was so passionate, but so timid and terrified at the same time. Her hands were shaking like a leaf, and I wanted to comfort her so badly that I tried to purr. I covered it with a coughing fit that interrupted the presentation, then booked it out of the classroom so no one would know.”
“You pulled it off.” I hold him a little tighter, knowing he needs the support. “I had no idea.”
“I think I… fell for her a little that day. And I hated her for it. I didn’t want some scrawny, nerdy omega. I didn’t want an omega at all. Couldn’t afford to be distracted.”
“Do you want one now?”
“I don’t know.” He tries to twist to look at me, but knotted together, he can’t get far. “Do you?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “I’ve always wanted an omega at the center of our pack.” I kiss his shoulder, then my bond mark on his neck. “It doesn’t change how I feel about you. I was willing to wait, to give you this Olympics. But I think I always planned on helping Vann find Raven once it was over. And now that fate has brought her right to us… I…”
Tanner closes his eyes, but it’s not hurt that I feel through the bond. It’s resignation. “I know.”
“If she lets us back into her life, I want to court her. I wantusto court her.” I stroke a hand down his arm and thread our fingers together. “I love you more than anything, but I think we need this. If she forgives us, do you want to pursue her?”
I hold my breath as I wait for his answer. He doesn’t make me wait long. He reaches back and squeezes the back of my neck in a reassuring gesture.
