Layne does a small spin on her way toward me, her bag and jacket in her hands. Intentionally or not, she chose to wear something I picked out. The long-sleeve jumpsuit is strapless and has wide legs. The soft, flowing material accentuates her natural curves, and with her hair hanging in curls down her back, it makes her look taller than she is. But the best thing about what she wears is her confidence. I can see how good she feels dressed in it.
The longer she is with us, the more she is blossoming. I don’t bite back the groan when she throws her arms around my neck, walking me backward until my back hits the closed elevator doors.
“God, Valentine, stop looking at me like that,” she whispers, staring deep into my soul before she kisses me.
She breathes happiness into my lungs.
“I can’t wait to see your face when you realize where we’re going,” I say, straightening us both back to standing. My handhits the elevator doors, because it’s that or I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and tie her to my bed.
As the elevator goes down to the garage, she pulls on a shoulder holster, then a jacket. Putting her back to me, she uses the mirrored walls to do her makeup. The dogs standing between us are all that saves her from me smearing her red, glossy lipstick.
37
Layne
The men of Pack De Luca are constantly making me feel. After being alone and living on the run, where every day was about surviving and not thriving, the new version of my life is as beautiful as it is daunting. Allowing myself to be in the moment of each emotion is necessary to rebuilding all the ways I was broken.
The concept of forever wasn’t something I ever thought I would get, though I hoped for it endlessly. But life sometimes has a way of making you focus on the negative. Thankfully, I’m getting better at banishing that mindset.
“I think I’m done,” I call out.
Clearly, they disagree, judging by the matching scowls Valentine, Dante, and Matteo wear.
The small smile on the shop assistant’s face suggests she’s seen a similar situation before.
“Layne, you are not done.” Valentine’s eyes get a frosty glaze to them, but he doesn’t dive in to being a pushy Alpha. Instead, he sends my heart soaring when he drops his suit jacket on thecheck-out desk and comes at me like a prowling big cat while rolling his sleeves up and tucking his tie under his holster again.
I take a step away. Just because he isn’t being pushy doesn't mean his presence isn’t overwhelming. He reaches out and grabs my arm before I can get too far, then he reels me in, holding my back to his chest. Leaning down, he talks quietly into my ear.
“I’ve experienced firsthand how wet you get, and you also know how hard I come. Your heat is going to be that, times ten, so from a practical point of view, you don’t have enough sheets or silky mattress protectors. I want to fill every one of your holes until your thighs are sticky with my claim. Then my brother will do the same, Matty too. Once you’ve ridden our knots and wrung us dry, we’re going to pass out. But in your heat, you’re going to need more. You’ll slide our fingers, or our cocks, in your tight greedy cunt, even when we’re sleeping because you’ll be so achy and needy, you won’t be able to hold yourself back. Your delirium will have you soaring one moment before we catch you when you swoop the opposite way. In the small reprieve your body gives you, your other side will surge to life. She’ll wrap herself up in sheets saturated with sex before crying things aren’t as neat and perfect as they should be because she knows what we have now isn’t enough. Stop holding back and take anything and everything you want, because we want to be there to adore and cherish you. Nothing is off-limits. Let us prove we are worthy of treating you like our queen.”
My body feels like it’s breaking out in hives. Good hives, though. Ones that race and tickle over my skin.
I push back, sinking farther into his arms. Relishing the haven I’ve found in them.
“Pillows are just as important. So are blankets, throws, and those flowing curtains you were oohing and aahing over. Get them, Layne. Let us help you make the nest of your dreamsbecause this is who you are to us—our dream. Our all, like Dante calls you.”
“How did I find you?” I ask seriously. Because I keep pinching myself, wondering if I’m dreaming.
He answers by kissing the edge of my mouth, talking against my lips. “Close your eyes, Layne. When you open them back up, don’t hold back. Pick what feels right, lean into whatever nesting urge you have, and I promise, we will be right next to you through every twist and turn.”
“I don’t know how to do this. I haven’t done a heat with a pack before.”
“Not just a pack,” Valentine insists. “Your husbands. Your forever. The people who will support you, even when you are wrong. Now, open your eyes and spend some fucking money. Then we’re going home, you are going to set your nest up, so after dinner tomorrow night, I get to…”
“Okay! Okay!” I twist, sliding my hand over his mouth. “You’re testing my limits, Alpha.”
And, god, if I think I’ve got trouble keeping my heat in check, the way Valentine’s whole demeanor shifts as he starts purring when I call himAlphanot only shows his struggle, but it emphasizes how intertwined our connection is becoming as we fumble together.
The pooling desire in his eyes makes them sparkle like jewels. Coupled with the way his subtle scent winds me up, has the suppressors working overtime.
I see him tense before the voice of the shop assistant interrupts us. “Now, is everyone ready for round two? It’s my favorite part of working here, you know,” she says softly and sweetly. She’s got the kind of voice you reach out to listen to.
Both Valentine and I turn to face her, and she’s folding up and bagging my purchases, but she stops to look at me. “I guarantee, honey, your Alpha is right. You need to shop, and itneeds to happen now. I have another pack coming in for their appointment in thirty minutes!”
With a final encouraging hug, Valentine steps back and flicks his chin. Something in me reads it like a starter's gun, and the next twenty minutes, I literally do a deep dive into trusting the direction of the nesting urges. I go aisle to aisle in a chaotic frenzy that makes sense to me, but probably no one else, with my pack trailing after, encouraging me.
Dante takes the dogs outside for a pee while Valentine finishes up our purchases at the counter. I take the chance to catch my breath in Matteo’s arms.
