“Oliver,” I call, my voice slicing through the air. His head twists toward me, revealing eyes with pupils so dilated they nearly swallow the iris completely. Tears stream down his cheeks, cutting paths through scattered glitter. Though his hand stops moving on the toy, his hips continue their desperate rhythm, seeking something beyond what silicone can provide.
“Zo.” My name fractures between his lips. “I don’t know what’s happening. I was fine and then it just hit me, everything spiked and I couldn’t—“ His words break apart as a sob convulses through his chest. His spine curves impossibly deeper while fresh slick spills down his quivering thighs. “I tried to handle it myself but it won’t stop and I can’t get it to—“ A cracked moan interrupts his plea as he gazes up at me with tear-filled eyes. “What’s wrong with me?”
19
Wilson
Oliver twists around on his knees with his face streaked by tears and glitter, chest heaving rapidly. The dildo remains inside him while his hand grips the base, and when the motion shifts its angle, a sound escapes his mouth that hovers between sob and moan.
He speaks through ragged breaths, his voice pitched high with panic. "I don't know what happened. I was fine. I took a shower and got into the nest and then everything just spiked. My heat schedule is completely fucked up, it's not supposed to be for another three weeks, Zo, I don't—"
More slick spills down his thighs as the scent fills the room with such thickness that my lungs burn when I inhale. Sweetness presses against the inside of my skull while my body steps backward before I consciously register the retreat. My shoulders connect with something solid and warm behind me.
Nicholas stands there, his hands finding my arms to steady me as his scent cuts through Oliver's sweetness. Amber wraps around my shoulders and the pressure behind my eyes eases enough for me to breathe again through the haze.
Lorenzo moves across the room toward the nest and drops to his knees beside Oliver. His hand finds the Omega's face while his thumb wipes away tears from beneath reddened eyes. "Breathe, baby. I'm here. We're going to take care of this," he purrs.
Oliver releases the dildo and grabs Lorenzo's wrist instead, his fingers tightening until they whiten against the Beta’s skin. A whimper breaks through his teeth as his hips rock forward involuntarily, seeking stimulation the toy cannot provide. Lorenzo's jaw tightens visibly while he eases the dildo out, causing Oliver to hiss at the emptiness, his body clenching around nothing but air and need.
I watch Lorenzo look over his shoulder at Nicholas, his expression shifting instantly, the tender concern for Oliver folding into something more calculated.
“This is a dance we’ve done before. Oliver’s heats spike sometimes, usually triggered by stress or a change in his environment.” His gaze locks on Nicholas’. “I’m going to ask you every time. Are you comfortable helping with this?”
Nicholas’ hands are still on my arms. His thumbs press against my biceps and I feel the moment his grip changes, the steadying loosening into something that asks me a question without words. I don’t pull away.
“Yes.” His voice comes from above my head, resonating through his chest into my back.
Lorenzo nods once and turns to me, rising from the nest and crossing the room. His hands find my face the way they do when he needs my full attention. “Gorgeous, our Omega needs a knot and Nicholas is going to help him.” His thumb traces along mycheekbone. “Do you want to stay and watch Oliver fall apart, or do you want to move with me into the guest bedroom?”
Behind him, Oliver makes a sound that liquefies my spine, a keening moan that fills the room and makes the sweetness surge. Nicholas’s chest expands against my back on a sharp inhale.
“Stay.” The word leaves me before I’ve weighed it. “I want to stay.”
His mouth curves as he presses a kiss to my forehead before stepping aside.
Nicholas moves past me toward the nest. He pulls his jacket off and drapes it over the chair, then lifts his shirt over his head in one smooth motion, exposing the breadth of his shoulders, the defined lines of his chest, and the tattoos running down his left arm and across his ribs in patterns I’ve only ever seen by lamplight in Sebastian’s bed.
His body is larger than I remembered, definitely broader. The years since I last saw him undressed have added muscle to his frame, filling out the lean build I knew at twenty-four into something more substantial.
Nicholas steps out of his pants and my mouth goes dry. His cock is hard and thick against his thigh, and the sight of it sends a pulse of heat through my abdomen that has nothing to do with Oliver’s scent saturating the air. My body knows that cock. It knows how it feels pressing inside me, the way its width stretches me open, the knot swelling against my rim, the only knot I’ve ever taken.
Nicholas kneels on the edge of the nest. I watch Oliver reach for him with grabbing hands, pull at his shoulders, and Nicholas lower himself over Oliver’s body with a careful tenderness that makes my chest ache. The way Nicholas’ arms bracket Oliver’s frame, the way his hips settle between Oliver’s thighs, the wayhis mouth finds Oliver’s temple before anything else, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
“I got you, baby,” Nicholas murmurs, his voice low and rough with the scent pouring off Oliver. “I’m right here.”
Oliver’s legs wrap around Nicholas’s waist, and the first press of Nicholas’s cock draws a moan from Oliver that dismantles something behind my chest. Oliver’s head tips back against the pillow, his throat bared, his mouth open, and Nicholas pushes into him in one slow, full stroke. They both groan as Oliver’s nails rake down Nicholas’s back, leaving white tracks across the tattooed skin, his hips bucking up to meet each thrust.
I lean against the doorframe, hands gripping the wood at my hips. There’s no jealousy in my chest, only a surprised gratitude. Nicholas’ body covering Oliver’s, Oliver’s legs locked around Nicholas’s waist, the intimate sounds filling the room with each thrust: it all lights up something in my blood that feels like thanks.
Thanks that Nicholas is here. That Oliver has exactly what he needs. That the man pressing into my Omega is the same man whose touch is the only Alpha touch my body has ever trusted.
My Omega.
I’ll deal with that later.
I’m frozen in the doorway as Oliver cries out and flips Nicholas onto his back. Nicholas grunts, his hands clutching Oliver’s hips, and Oliver presses his palms against Nicholas’ chest, rising and falling with each thrust. He rides Nicholas with that raw, familiar power I’ve seen in every private moment, his voice echoing through the apartment.
Nicholas’ hands spread across Oliver’s ass, fingers sinking into the curves, holding him steady as our Omega takes what he needs. With each downward press, Nicholas’ cock slides slick and flushed into Oliver’s body, Oliver’s rim stretching aroundthe girth. My own cock throbs painfully against the seam of my jeans, and I inhale sharply, the sound loud despite the moment.
