The three of them stay stock-still, the only movement coming when they inhale deeply and slowly through their noses, blowing out through pursed lips. It happens once more before Aleksei clears his throat. A dangerous smile plays over his lips, and I sway under his influence.
“Maya,” he calls to me, his voice like a sonnet. “Can you do me a small favor?”
I nod instantly. “Of course.”
His grin widens, and he walks closer while the others trail behind him.
He checks over his shoulder, and my heart warms again at how attuned he is to Marco already.
When he looks at me again, his eyes are rippled with desire. “Put your fingers inside your beautiful cunt for me?”
My mouth falls open, and I gape like a fish at how crass he is. Now I’m very glad he checked to make sure we are alone.
“Aleksei! I’m making breakfast.”
“Now, Omega!” he barks. At. Me. His command claps through everything else.
I submit under his Alpha influence. My hands glide over my body, and it feels heavenly, like silk and warm water. I hold his burning gaze as I wiggle my hand past the jeans I’m wearing and straight into my panties. My hand doesn't stop moving until I’m fingering myself. In the middle of Deena’s kitchen.
“Your slick is spilling, isn’t it, wife? Your touch feels good, but you know it’s not what you want, huh?” His cocky words are fueling my touch, and I whimper as I agree, because touching myself is divine, but it’s also not enough.
Santiago makes a groaning sound, and when I look at him, his eyes are nearly black. “Bebe, today is full of surprises. This one is a beautiful one for your pack.”
My brain is so caught up in the gathering pleasure I find on my fingertips, it takes his words a long time to register.
“Oh, hell no, I am not going into heat!”
Kade growls. “Yes, you fucking are, Quinny. You smell ripe for us.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
SANTIAGO
My Omega is going into heat,beats like a drum, as steady and constant as my pulse.
I leave her arguing with Kade about the possibility of her actually going into heat. As soon as Aleksei pointed it out to her, her beautiful, logical mind started shutting down the reality.
We heard it all in the space of a minute—Not here. We can’t. Marco needs me. Deena needs me more. The dogs, what about them? I don’t have a nest. This has to be a joke. I can’t do this here. Victor is still out there. I have to get Deena to a hospital. Exactly where do you think I’ll find a nest? Stop saying heat! Oh god, oh god, oh god, Aleksei, please don’t stop.
I shut the door behind me and return to where I was sitting before with Isabella.
“We have a situation,” I say, touching her arm gently.
She looks like she’s napping, but I know she’s not.
“Good luck with that. She will fight you tooth and nail before she turns her focus inward and wrestles her heat back to where it came from.” She grins when she talks, until she shuffles on her seat and grimaces.
Her finger is up in my face before I can fathom a thought. “Keep my pain to yourself, Santiago. If you’re family, like you suggest you are, you’ll prove it by not breathing a word to Quinn. You think she’s pigheaded now… If she thinks someone needs her, she’ll be stubborn like a bull.”
I smile, shrugging. “You know my mate so well.”
“And we haven’t even gotten to the part where you and her happened, or the Russian or Kade. But here's the thing,nephew. I will peel the skin off your body slowly, and the same goes for each of them, if you ever, and I mean ever, treat her badly. Quintessa has suffered enough.”
I lean in close, dropping all pretenses, along with my shields. I don’t feel good about the way Isabella recoils under the impact of my designation, but I also don’t feel good about her insinuation.
“I have killed for her. I will keep killing for her. The only reward I need is her happiness. Please don’t ever suggest I would hurt the one thing in this world I treasure above all else again. I want our family reunions to be a place of joy, Isabella, so I appreciate the warning, but don’t fucking push me like that.”
Isabella proves to me the blood that runs through her veins is Cabal as she raises her chin and stares me down. Or tries to. Her gaze drops eventually, but she stays righteous the whole time, not submitting. But I don't need her submission. “I think we understand each other.”
