An almost animalistic need slams into me from Elliott, and I release my breath in a gasp. Rut. He’s in a rut. They all must be. I can feel the same sort of feeling building in Miles. And as crazy as it sounds, I want their animals unleashed. I want to be possessed.
This is just the beginning.
As if he can hear my thoughts, Rafe, angles my head toward him. His lashes brush his cheeks as he glances down at my lips, then back at me with those gleaming golden eyes full to the brim with desire. For me.
“I need to kiss you. Say I can,” he says. He can’t hide the growl in his tone, and I smile at him. I like this completely undone version of Rafe.
“Kiss me,” I command.
Elliott shifts to his knees, lifting my hips and driving into me so hard I’m sure I can feel him in my throat. While Rafe captures my chin between his fingers and dips his mouth to mine. The taste of him explodes on my tongue, and I swipe my tongue against his, wanting more.
Then Miles sucks a taunt nipple into his mouth with a groan, and I think I’ve officially died and gone to heaven. Is this what being an omega in a pack means? Unlimited pleasure? Why was I afraid of this?
“I’m going to knot,” Elliott says.
His voice is tight, and I feel him press fully into me, his knot spreading me wide, before he locks us together. He releases a moan, his fingers tightening on my hips as he pulses inside of me, his release filling me as much as possible. All the while Rafe kisses me like he’s drowning and I’m the air he needs to survive. And Miles gives me love bites that add to my building orgasm.
Pleasure rolls through me. Pulling me deeper, like a riptide in the ocean. Until I’m so far gone, I can only let it pull me under.
Sunlight pullsme from my sleep. Not that I’m sure I slept much more than an hour after waking in the middle of the night. The last time I remember, the sky was turning a lighter blue, violets and pinks lighting up the horizon. But now it’s up in the cloudless sky.
Steam rises off of the damp grass around us as the sun does its thing and dries it from the dampness of the night. Birds chirp, singing their morning welcome even louder than when I fell asleep.
I’m cocooned in warmth. My head resting on Elliott and Miles cuddled up behind me. Pure contentment settles over me. I belong here. At this moment. This is mine, and no one can take it from me.
I lift my head to search for Rafe, but he’s absent. I push away the slight flutter of disappointment my stomach does. Of course he left. He didn’t claim me. Even while in a rut, he withheld his mark. Sadness should not tighten my throat at the knowledge. I already knew that was how he felt. He wanted a shield. So he might have gotten a little more than he bargained for. That’s okay.
Right?
I know that even as amazing as last night was, ruts don’t care what omega satisfies them. And I was just the omega that happened to be here. We all got carried away. My heart pounds in my ears as I lie to myself.
Without the full pack, I can’t accept anything Elliott and Miles might offer. It’s all or nothing. I deserve all of their hearts. And if Rafe can’t give me his, I’ll walk away. I’ll sufferthe fading of the marks during my next heat. And I’ll heal. Again.
I swallow. As far as pep talks go, that one sucks.
Gingerly, I sit up, detangling from them both. The blanket pools around my hips. My nipples are tight in the cool morning air. But there are no cameras. And anyone here saw all of me last night, so nothing to be shy about either.
Standing, I freeze when I face the veranda. Rafe’s on the large deck, watching me with an intensity I can feel on my skin like a physical touch. He slowly lifts a mug to his lips, blowing lightly across it, before he takes a sip.
I push my shoulders back and stand up tall. I won’t let disappointment curl me in on myself. Walking naked like I’m a queen dressed in the finest garments, I slowly step up the stairs. The feel of their mixed cum and my slick dampening my thighs is a reminder of how he worshiped my body last night.
His gaze dips down my body, pausing at my breasts, and slowly trailing down to the curls between my legs. Heat lights the depths of his eyes when he brings them back to mine. And an answering warmth spreads inside of my belly.
Damn.
He might not want love, but he can’t deny this attraction that’s like a wildfire between us. It might destroy us both, but I won’t let him ignore it.
“Looks like you have a growing problem,” I say. My eyes dips to the bulge in his sweats briefly before I lift my gaze back to him.
CHAPTER 42
Rafe
My back stiffensas Lilah lifts her head. She didn’t sleep long. Maybe forty-five minutes. Long enough for me to take a quick shower in an attempt to wash her perfume out of my pores so I didn’t wake her only to sink into her perfect warmth again—and to make a coffee to hopefully get me through this day.
Even this far away, I can scent her. I can smell all of us. My rut was barely satisfied. I can feel it niggling on the edges of my consciousness, threatening to return. Or maybe it’s the building obsession I have with this omega.
Since everything that happened with Hailey, I’ve kept omegas at arm’s length. Even going so far as to pay for a service to make it through my ruts.
