I ran my hand down her back and felt a slight tremor go through her body.
“Actually, baby girl, turn around for me.”
She did what I asked, her eyes wide and unsure. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Never,” I said fiercely, gathering her up in my arms so she was straddling my lap. “I just… want to see you while we bond. Want you closer.”
She shuddered and I thought I saw a flash of relief cross her face as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body against mine.
“Don’t leave me again,” she whispered.
“Never,” I responded fiercely, wrapping my hand in her hair. Ben and Theo moved closer to us, running their hands over Josie’s body. The three of us murmured reassurances, holding onto our omega as tightly as we could.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when Josie pulled away, a smile on her face. She leaned in to kiss Theo and Ben and then turned her heated gaze on me.
“I need you,” she said, running her hands down my chest until she gripped my cock. I groaned, thrusting into her hand before lying down on the bed with her underneath me.
“You play dirty,” I said, nipping her ear.
Josie giggled and the sound was a miracle.
I spread her legs wide and settled between them, supporting my weight on my forearms as I slowly pushed my cock into her silken heat.
Her eyes widened and the sweetest whimper escaped her lips. I captured them with mine, dipping my tongue into her mouth and nipping her lower lip. Fuck, I would never get enough of this.
“I want you like this, beautiful and flushed and happy every single fucking day,” I growled. “In my arms, on my knot.” I grasped her wrists, pinning them above her head in one hand while my other wrapped around her uninjured thigh, hitching it up.
“Yes,” she moaned, arching her back until her nipples rubbed against my chest with every movement. Josie let out a sharp cry as I thrust into her again, sinking my knot fully into her slick heat. She threw her head back, her eyes closed as she came, gripping my knot like a glove. I came with her, roaring my pleasure.
We lay there, gazing into each other’s eyes, and I was unexpectedly overwhelmed with emotion. If I had to live every painful moment of my life over again just to get here, I would do it in a heartbeat.
I pressed my face into her neck, sucking on her skin, my mouth watering at the thought of marking her in such a visible spot. I wanted everyone to know she was mine, always.
I pulled back and stared into her eyes. All I found there was happiness.
“Make me yours,” she whispered, running her hand through my hair.
I trembled as I lowered my lips to her neck and bit. Josie entered my soul in a wave of sugary vanilla, tenderly wrapping me up in a blanket of her love.
I gasped as tears streamed down my face at the overwhelming feeling of my mate, my omega, so woven into my being I wasn’t sure where I stopped and she began. Her joy pulsed through the bond like stars breaking up the darkness. It was as if her very being surrounded my insecurities—my feelings of not being good enough, of failing those I loved most—and obliterated them.
She shifted so we were facing each other on our sides, lowering her lips to my chest before hesitating.
“Mark me, baby girl. I’m already yours completely.”
She bit down on the spot right above my heart. There was a flash of pain and then pleasure as the bond was completed. I tried to loosen my hold on her hips, not wanting to bruise her, but I was incapable of letting her go.
The pain she’d felt since we were taken from her was sharp in the bond and a purr built in my chest. I wanted to make sure she never felt that again. I wrapped my arm around her neck, pressing my face into her hair.
“My sweetheart, my omega,” I murmured over and over.
“My alpha,” she responded as she wiped away my tears, her own soaking into her beautiful hair.
I pushed as much of my love as I could down the bond so she could never again doubt how deeply I loved her. My thumb caressed the bite on her neck, my purr intensifying at the satisfaction of seeing it there. It would fade into a silvery scar, forever marking that we belonged together.
ChapterForty-Nine
Theo
