“Probably.”
Hendrix purrs through the phone, “Good girl.”
And I have to stop walking because my eyes close as I melt under his praise.
“You’re doing amazing, Simona. I promise we will look after you.”
“I know.
“Can you pass the phone back to Nigel now so I can arrange with him a place for us to pick you up.”
It sounds perfect. And it’s exactly what happens.
I focus on trying to control my breathing and little else as soon as we get in the SUV. It feels like we drive for forever but eventually I open my eyes and look up to see we’re surrounded by tall skyscrapers and city traffic. I don’t get the chance to ask where we’re going before I catch sight of Hendrix, Dominic, and Ryder standing on the pavement.
I whine.
And shame floods me instantly as the sound escapes. The Range Rover pulls to a stop, and wordlessly, Nigel and Dale get out, racing across the busy lanes of traffic. I have no idea why they did it, and I really don’t care. Instead, every cell in my body and every thought in my head converge, drawn to the spot where the three of them stand.
I get a measured look from Dominic. His features are shut off, and while I feel him in the centre of my chest and his warmth wraps around me like a hug, he appears set like stone.
Hendrix appears similar, in a mask of Alpha seriousness. His designation pounds like a drum on my skin even across the distance. Together they look dangerous in their seriousness, their worry making their expressions even sharper than usual. Except for the matching twinkle in their eyes. I don’t miss that. Perhaps because I searched for it. Maybe no one else would see it, but nonetheless it is there, and all of me swoons.
Ryder moves before either of them do. The smile on his face, paired with the energy of relief and sheer joy radiating from him, feels like the first rays of sunshine after a long, cold winter. I feel his energy, and just like I did with Dominic’s bond, I latch onto Ryder’s positivity with both hands. But when the back door opens, I don’t just cling to the bond, I also launch myself at him, finally getting to use my physical hands as well as my metaphorical ones.
“Sin, baby, you smell like nirvana to a dying man,” he whispers, peppering my face in hundreds of butterfly kisses as our bodies wrap around each other like twisting snakes.
I feel him everywhere.
I need even more.
Two doors open and close, and my need for more is fulfilled.
My heart pounds so hard it rattles my bones as I inhale all three of them at once for the first time. Ryder’s sunshine-dipped honey scent drips down the back of my throat with every shaky breath—intoxicating and thick with warmth. It’s made even more potent by the electric charge of an impending thunderstorm, filling my senses and raising the hairs on my skin. The combination is mind-blowing. When you add in Dominic’s paper and ink perfume—richer today,with vanilla and floral overtones—the blend is indescribable, perfectly balanced into one sticky-sweet fragrance that makes me ache to press myself against every inch of him.
I moan once and the sky falls as my heat surges.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
earlier
HENDRIX
Rage like I have never felt has been riding my ass since I heard not only were the girls drawn into Alpha bullshit back at Birdie’s, but she was going into heat.
The injustice that my beautiful, timid sweetheart has to suffer on her own, for even a second, has had my hands locked in fists.
Ryder presses his back to my chest. All of us are uneasy. Each of us is anxious. As always, his touch helps. Today it feels diluted. And I know that is because our Omega is aching.
There’s no denying Simona is the missing puzzle piece for each of us and our Pack. We share the same storming emotions because she’s not currently with us.
My scent on the back of Ryder’s neck usually sates the beast inside, today it doesn’t. Dominic takes a subtle step,sandwiching me between the two of them. His physical reminder of who we are to each other, and as a pack. Normally, his touch is enough to calm my designation back from the edge of all this fucking aggression, but as all of us are aware, what I crave is Simona.
“Dale said they would be here by now.” I grunt.
“Relax. She is close and getting closer.” Dominic snaps a snarl against my ear.
