“It’ll be worth it,” she says with a dirty grin that has my cock twitching.
“Dammit, we really should’ve fucked in the shower,” I grumble to Beau, who laughs and gives me a sympathetic look.
“If you get too needy, we can fuck in the car later,” he says matter-of-factly.
I instantly think of the time I brought him lunch at the garage and got so worked up by the sight of him all sweaty and rough that I begged him to fuck me over the hood of the car he was working on.
I let out a choked sound, and he winks at me.
In a few short months, he’s gone from being hesitant and nervous to an absolute menace. I blame and thank Ruby for that.
We haul my boxes into the house, dropping them off in their corresponding rooms. Beau cooks dinner while Ruby and I work on unpacking my stuff—during which she teases me relentlessly by bending over and flashing her panties and the deep line of her cleavage. Her perfume has me desperate to screw tomorrow’s plans and bring both my scent matches into our nest to relieve the ache of arousal, but I want to prove that I can be good.
I like being good for her as much as I like getting off.
During dinner Beau tells us about the litter of kittens that were dropped off at the animal shelter that tested his resolve to not get a pet until we’re settled in together, and Ruby regales us with some juicy drama between subscribers in the comments of her latest post. I tell them about the custom candle I was asked to make from an alpha’s scarf, which smelled like macaroni and cheese and bacon, and we devolve into joking about which scents would’ve been an absolute no-go for each of us. For Ruby, it’s wet dog. Beau settles on the stench of a hockey locker room after a game. I’m not that sensitive to scents, which is important for my job, but decide that I’d have to decline a custom candle order if it smelled like rotting fish.
After dinner is done and we’ve cleaned up, we head to the living room and snuggle up on the couch, Beau in the middle tonight, as a barrier between me and Ruby’s teasing.
We put on the latest episode of Omega’s Choice, which Ruby is obsessed with hate-watching. She goes on a rant about how for a show that’s supposed to be giving omegas the chance to find their perfect pack, it doesn’t give them any decent options. I have to agree with her. I liked the first season of the show, but once it became popular, it turned into a bunch of fame-hungry alphaholes who keep getting more blatant about caring more about followers than finding their mate. Beau nods along with our grievances, bemused that we’re watching this show if we hate it, but happy all the same to be spending time with us.
The episode ends, and there’s a lull in our conversation, where we all let the comfort of being cuddled up together wash over us.
Eventually, Beau clears his throat. “So. Your heat is going to happen soon.”
She nods. “Yeah, it definitely feels like it. Usually I’ll have a bunch of heat spikes for a couple of days, then a few chiller days, then it comes back with a vengeance for the full thing.”
“Right.” There’s a weighted silence that has me sitting up to focus more on Beau.
“Everything okay? Dr. Stills told me that the likelihood of Ruby’s heat triggering mine is low, and we checked my hormone levels. It’s going to be another month or two before my next one.”
“Ooo, did you ask him if his omega would be willing to do a scene with me?” Ruby asks, waggling her eyebrows. She’s joked about it ever since she found out that my new doctor at the omega clinic is Camille Clairmont’s alpha. Ruby is a total fangirl for Camille after the omega’s high-profile court case.
“No, of course not!”
She laughs and lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Damn. That woman is an absolute babe.”
“Anyway.” I focus back on Beau, and Ruby laughs. “It’ll be fine. You won’t have to handle two omegas in heat.”
The furrow between his brows remains in place. Ruby frowns. “I was joking about Camille. I mean, would I be honored to have her do a scene with me? Absolutely. But I’d never ask Archer to proposition?—”
“Do you want to bond?” Beau interrupts in a rush of words that take me a second to parse.
My mouth falls open, and Ruby’s snaps shut.
Beau grimaces. “It’s too soon. I wanted to check in before the heat because I know my alpha will want it. That…that I want it. But we can think about it in the future. Much further in the future.”
His worry melts my heart, and I take his hand in mine. “I want it, too.”
We turn to look at Ruby and find her grinning. “Uh, yeah, of course I want it. I didn’t want to pressure you, but I should’ve known better. We’re absolute shit at taking things slow.”
I laugh, and the tension in Beau’s spine eases.
“You’re both sure? It’s a big commitment. I don’t know if you want to have to deal with my…” He swallows hard. “I don’t want my depression to weigh either of you down once we share bonds.”
Ruby takes his face in her hands and forces him to meet her gaze. “Yes. I’m sure. I want to be with you, Beau. Your depression is a part of you, one you’ve worked so hard to manage, but I don’t expect it to magically go completely away.”
I curl around him from behind, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “Bonding with you won’t weigh us down. It’ll give us a better ability to know when you’re hurting and give you the support you need.”
