I pick up the stack of plates from the cabinet beside the stove and start carrying them to the island. He makes a sound of protest behind me.
Outside, a car pulls into the driveway. The sound of the engine is familiar. A moment later, two car doors open and close. Anticipation makes my omega lift her head and start paying attention.
The front door opens, and I hear their voices.
Adrian’s voice is low, he’s saying something to Elias that I can’t make out.
I’m standing at the island with a plate in each hand that I should be placing on the table. Then they come through the kitchen doorway and the smell of the house changes completely.
One moment the kitchen smells like dinner. The next, the house smells like them. Amber and cedar. Spiced bergamot with that dark clove edge underneath it, already familiar from a day spent with Bash. And now the cool mineral scent that belongs to Elias, filling the last space my nose had been waiting for without realizing it.
Together, they hit me like a wave.
Heat blooms in the center of my chest and spreads outward in under two seconds. My pulse jumps so hard I feel it in my throat. The plates in my hands suddenly become very difficult to hold. My hands have gone unsteady. Heat crawls up the inside of my arms, along my neck, and behind my knees.
My skin feels wrong. The sensation is immediate and overwhelming.
This is different than before when I just wanted their proximity. I could understand those feelings, even when my omega pushed insistently toward them.
Adrian moves toward the stove to investigate whatever is cooking. He passes close enough that his scent washes over me as he goes.
I grab him.
My hands close on the front of his shirt before the decision reaches my conscious brain. The fabric wrinkles in my fists.
I step into him. My face finds the side of his jaw, then the curve of his throat, and I breathe in.
Cedar and amber flood through me.
My knees go weak.
I don't let go.
For one full second, neither of us moves.
Then his arms come around me.
There’s no hesitation. He’s immediately there, one hand at my waist and the other settling at the back of my neck.
“Hey,” he says. “Breathe.”
I breathe. It comes out ragged.
“You’re okay.” His hand at my neck moves in a slow circle, once. “We’ve got you. Breathe again.”
His scent is doing something my omega finds necessary in a way that's beyond preference, beyond comfort. Like finally catching my breath after running too far, too fast.
Bash is already beside me. I don't see him move. One moment he's across the kitchen, the next there's a shift in the air, and he's there, his sleeve brushing my shoulder.
“I'm here,” he says.
My right hand loosens on Adrian's shirt and finds Bash's sleeve instead. I curl my fingers into the fabric without opening my eyes.
His arm shifts immediately, making it easier to hold on.
Elias.
I feel him before I open my eyes. That clean, cool presence arrives at my other side, close enough to touch.
