“Thank you,” Everett said in response to Jayne’s violence. He brushed his fingertips along Jayne’s scalp, causing Jayne to shiver with delight. “He deserves a good kick every now and then, but I feel like we’ve known each other for so long that he doesn’t even think twice when I do it.”
Jayne shot a lingering glance at Caleb, then laid his head on Everett’s lap and beamed at him. “You’re welcome.”
“Both of you have it in for me,” Caleb declared. He captured Jayne’s leg and lowered it back onto his lap. The massage continued. Satisfied, but still uncomfortable, Jayne wiggled his hips and worked his ass into the cushion.
Better, but not quite right.
Determined not to let inexplicable discomfort throw him off his game, Jayne let out a contented sigh and let his arm dangle off the couch. The side of his hand brushed Everett’s leg, and before long, he took to stroking small circles against the fabric of his jeans. While he relaxed, the day’s events replayed in his mind, and the same warmth he’d felt in the moment returned.
“You two are sneaky,” Jayne said after some thought. “Convincing Shep that it’s alpha-like to step up to the plate and do what you need to do, even if you don’t want to do it, has nothing to do with being an alpha. I see right through you.”
“Is that so?” Everett asked.
“Mmhm.” Jayne yawned and stretched, then closed his eyes. “I do that shit every day. It’s not a genetic rite of passage—it’s a sign you’re growing up.”
“So is the first time you pop a knot,” Caleb reasoned.
Jayne opened an eye and contemplated kicking Caleb all over again. “Gross. That’s my brother you’re talking about.”
“Kids grow up,” Everett said with a shrug. “I don’t think it’s any more gross than when Parker has a diaper blowout. It’s par for the course when you’re raising kids.”
Jayne twitched. “My son’s poopsplosions are in no way similar to Shep popping a knot.”
“And if one day, oh, thirteen to sixteen years from now, Parker pops a knot of his own?” Caleb arched a brow. “Would it be the same thing then, or would it be different?”
The question trapped Jayne, who made a moue of distaste, then sighed. “You’re right.”
Caleb punched the air to celebrate his victory, releasing Jayne’s leg in the process.
“But don’t get too cocky.” Jayne debated needling him in the ribs with his toes, but decided against it. There was a chance that Caleb might go back to massaging his leg, and Jayne didn’t want him to stop. “I’m still—”
Tingling warmth ballooned in Jayne’s gut, swelling rapidly in intensity until it was impossible to ignore. Jayne winced not because it was painful, but because it was uncomfortable. No matter how he squirmed, he couldn’t get it to go away.
“Jayne?” Everett asked as Jayne arched his hips, bit his lip, and twisted to the side. “Is everything okay?”
“You’re getting as squirrelly as Parker when he wants tummy time,” Caleb observed. He locked Jayne’s legs against his chest, attempting to hold him in place, but all he managed to do was inspire claustrophobia. Jayne gasped and jerked his legs back, digging his elbow into Everett’s thigh in the process. Everett hissed in pain and grabbed Jayne’s wrist, but seconds after Everett’s fingers locked around the offending limb, Everett came to a complete stop. With Everett frozen in place, it took Jayne no effort at all to tear his wrist away, then roll off the couch. He landed on his ass on the floor between the couch and the coffee table.
Caleb, who hadn’t seemed to clue in to what was happening yet, leaned over and narrowed his eyes at Jayne. “The fuck?”
Jayne didn’t fear those eyes. Their dark depths were familiar, and while they were grumpy, Jayne knew Caleb didn’t mean him any harm. Rationally, there was nothing stopping him from picking himself off the floor, telling Caleb that he’d felt suffocated, then moving on with their evening. Psychologically, however, Jayne panicked, and Jayne’s rational mind folded like a poker player who’d just bought another player’s bluff.
Heart racing, Jayne crawled back until his arm hit the coffee table. Each breath he took was strained. The tingling warmth expanding inside him arrived in his groin and crept its way down his cock, stiffening it as it moved from his base to his tip.
Jayne recognized the feeling. He would have been a fool not to. Over the last month, his paranoia had crescendoed until it had reached a deafening peak. He’d agonized over having safe sex with Caleb and Everett, wanting to throw caution aside, but knowing that if he did, there was a chance his heat might come on suddenly, and he might conceive. He’d known to expect the slick that had now begun to coat the inner cheeks of his ass and the arousal that sparked and popped in his veins like molten rock meeting the sea, but it still took him off guard.
Heat.
It felt different now than it had before having a child.
Stronger, bolder, more demanding.
It choked him of his senses and left him uncomfortable in his own skin.
What he needed was somewhere to hide, and Caleb and Everett to keep him safe. Somewhere they could cozy up together. Somewhere Caleb and Everett could take turns dousing the fire burning Jayne from the inside out.
Jayne’s heart raced. He looked up at Caleb with large, startled eyes and found himself wanting more. Would Caleb take him to bed if Jayne were to kiss him? If he were to slip onto his lap and play the perfect, submissive partner Caleb always claimed he wanted?
Before Jayne could make a move, Everett sat up and aggressively pushed Caleb back onto the couch.
