“She’s right, Vann,” Tanner speaks up. “One more game. One more game where we give it our all, and we bring gold back to our girl.”
Vann pouts but moves to get out of bed anyway. Rhodes gets up from the chair in the corner to follow him into the bathroom.
I look down at Raven. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
She brings my hand to my bite mark on her neck, pressing my fingertips into it. “You canfeelme, Orion. You know I’m okay with this. I need you to do this. Please.”
I nod, kissing her to show her how much I care for her without words, then pass her off to the massive bodyguard who’s still in the bed. He wraps his arms around her and locks eyes with me. “I’ve got her.”
She whimpers a little, tears in her eyes. I know she doesn’t want us to leave any more than we want to, but she’s selflessly giving us this as a gift. The sweetest, most heartbreaking gift she can give.
The steely determination in Foster’s eyes placates me a little. When Rhodes and Vann are showered and dressed, the four of us reluctantly leave the hotel room and head to our apartment to get ready for the game. The bond pulls harder the further I get from my omega, but I remind myself that one day soon, I won’t have to leave her again.
57
FOSTER
The guys are stronger than I gave them credit for. I’m not sure anything could pull me from this nest and away from Raven.
She’s snuggled into my side, and I toy with her hair absentmindedly, replaying the last day or so. I was worried they wouldn’t want me in the pack, or even here for her heat. But they proved that Raven is their utmost priority. That they’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy. They’re good men. Maybe they weren’t in high school, but we all make mistakes when we’re young and immature and figuring ourselves out. What matters is that they recognize those mistakes and are making them right.
Raven shifts her hips, and slick coats my thigh that’s between her legs. Her brows are scrunched in worry as she wiggles, trying to get the friction she needs. I roll her to her back and settle above her. “Do you need me again, omega? Need me to make you come?”
“Please, Foster.”
Foster. Not alpha. She knows it’s me here with her, and it settles something inside me. I want to claim her, if she’ll have me. But I’d never do it while she's deep in the heat haze. I need her clear consent. Need to know she wants this as bad as I do.
“Principessa.” I bring a hand up and cup her face, softly rubbing my thumb over her cheek. Her eyes flutter open to meet mine, a soft smile forming on her face. I search her gaze, desperately seeking… I don’t know what. Approval? Love? Need?
Deep in my gut I know I love this woman. She’s my scent match, but she’s so much more than that. She’s strong and resilient. Caring and kind. Talented beyond belief. But most of all she makes me feel seen. She makes me want to finally settle down, raise a family. Maybe pull back from the life of danger I’ve been living.
I’ve been protecting others for a lifetime. Made a career out of it. Have the nest egg I’ve never used to prove it. But now I want to protect her. My omega. Our pack. Even that bouncy jackass, Vann. I chuckle at that thought.
“What is it?” Raven asks. She must have heard me.
“Cucciola,” I say, smiling. Her nose scrunches at the endearment. “These past few weeks with you… have been so much more than I could have ever imagined when I took this job. You dropped into my world and flipped it upside down. You’re not only my scent match, but a piece of life’s puzzle I didn’t even know I needed.”
Raven’s eyes shine, tears threatening. I don’t want to make her cry, so I dip down and steal a kiss. When I pull back, the words burst from my chest. “I love you.”
What I can only describe as pure, unadulterated joyblooms on Raven’s face. “I love you, too, Foster. I want you now and forever.”
“Thank fuck.” I roll us over so Raven is on top, scooting back so I can lean against the headboard and pull her close. Her legs wrap around me, locking me to her. As if I would want to go anywhere.
Our kisses are tender at first, but that fiery need ramps up quickly. I grip her hair firmly to angle her head so I can plunge deeper into her mouth, tasting not only her, but some of her packmates on her tongue.
Our packmates? Do I want that? To join a pack? I’ve never really considered it. I’ve always been a lone wolf, working and sleeping my life away. But maybe I just hadn’t met the right people yet. I can see us all working together to build a life and taking care of Raven, much like we worked together to sate her during the first night of her heat.
I think of the future. Maybe not a white picket fence and the standard 2.5 kids. But a pack house. A large kitchen where I can cook for my mates. A roaring fire while we make love, warming each other up after a day outside in the snow. A nest, big and soft and smelling like pack. Maybe even a yard for pups to romp in.
Yeah, I think I want that.
Raven rolls her hips, sliding the lips of her wet pussy along my shaft, making it swell. Not that it takes much for me to get hard when she’s around. I lift her, notching my cockhead to her entrance, then slowly drop her down, her heat engulfing my shaft down to my knot.
She buries her head in my neck, licking and sucking as she rides me. I grip the globes of her ass so tightly my fingertips may leave bruises, but she doesn’t seemto mind as I work her up and down. Her taut nipples brush my chest on each pass, my chest hair tickling the tips.
This isn’t the desperate need of her heat, though her sweet scent tells me it isn’t far off from ramping up again. Threading my fingers into her dark strands, I pull her face from my neck, ignoring her whine at the loss. I kiss her eyelids. Her nose. Her cheeks. Her lips. I make my way down the long column of her throat, across her collarbone to her shoulder, where I press my teeth to her skin in a tease of a bite.
Raven’s hand flies to the back of my head, keeping me there. “Bite me, Foster.”
