Page 76 of Knot Your Business

Dominic’s body stiffens where he leans over mine, his lips pulling away from my bare shoulder, the sting of his bite still aching. The sudden change dampens the aftershocks of the orgasm, the bliss of his knot fading. The low purr cuts off all at once as he pushes away from me.

“Cazzo.”

Dominic’s low growl raises the hair on my neck, and I suck in a quick breath, bracing my hands under my stomach. He starts to pull away from me, but his knot is still swollen, and I can’t help but whimper at its movement. He stills, the silence between us gaining a charged edge that has anxiety racing through me. Something instinctual within me forces me to be still and quiet.

He mutters something else in Italian, too low and quick for me to parse out individual words. It doesn’t sound like a compliment, though. There’s too much violence in the words, in the way his voice curls around them.

Whatever he said, my silence is the wrong response.

A growl rips through him, bouncing off the kitchen and making me shiver. The moment we’d had as his knot locked us in place—however small—is gone, replaced by a stark terror at realizing how incredibly vulnerable I am right now. My mind, ever the helpful bitch, brings back memories of my heat in March, and that terror triples. I press my cheek to the counter, trying to keep myself calm.

He’s on rut suppressors, and I’m not in heat. The odds of my panic setting him off are low. And he purred. That lowers the chances, too. I manage to breathe through the fear, in through my nose and out through my mouth. Just as I’m relaxing against the counter, hissing at the cool stone pressing against my nipples, his hands tighten on my hips.

Before I can brace for it, he pulls away from me completely, another muttered curse falling from him. His knot isn’t gone, though, and pain lances through me as he forces it out anyway. I can’t hold back my cry. Tears fall over my lashes before I can even process the extent of the pain.

“Cazzo, I even fucking purred,” he mutters, though I can barely hear him over the roaring of my heart in my ears. A moment later, the front door slams shut.

Realization swamps me, and my knees buckle. I drop to the floor, pain lancing through my knees as I land on them in an undignified heap. My core throbs, each heartbeat filled with pain from him forcing his knot out.

It had felt fucking phenomenal, letting myself surrender to him, letting our designations out to play and feeling him take such efficient control. I should have realized it would make him angry, that his body responding to mine on such an intimate level would infuriate him. That whatever I did, if it ended up forcing or highlighting this natural dynamic between us, it would never be enough.

Another door clicks closed and steps echo off the walls, though I’m not entirely sure how I manage to hear them. My chest heaves as I sob, my tears falling hard and fast enough that I can’t see anything.

“Violet?” Rylan’s voice is low and filled with worry. “What happened?”

His arms wrap around me, pulling me toward him. God, just kill me now. Embarrassment races through me, and I push away from him. Or at least try to. The moment I’m nearly upright, I scream, the pain from Dominic’s knot getting worse. Rylan freezes, his hands gentle where they barely skim my sides. An odd haze I’ve never felt before settles over me, dulling the pain along with my other senses.

A hand brushes across my face before disappearing.

“Violet, you need to tell me what happened,” Rylan whispers. “I know you’re hurting. You need to tell me why.”

Fuck, how long was I out of it? I shake my head and wipe at my cheeks, horrified to realize just how hard I’ve been crying.

“Shit,” I mutter. I push away from Rylan, forcing myself to stand despite how shaky and unstable I feel. My pussy aches worse than it ever has—and that’s saying something considering I’ve had two heats with multiple Alphas. I keep my gaze on the ground, not willing to see what kind of horror is in Rylan’s gaze. He mirrors my movement, grabbing my wrist as I turn toward my bedroom.

“Omega,” Rylan says, his voice low. It sluices over me, stealing the shred of ability to walk away from him I still have. “I can smell Dominic.”

I force a swallow, my mouth dry and my throat aching. At my silence, he curses.

“Come here, pretty Omega,” he says, gathering me in his arms again, lifting me like I’m nothing more than a sack of flour. The moment I let my cheek rest against his shoulder, his chest rumbles to life, the purr as soothing as Dominic’s had been.

My breath catches, and he rubs circles on my thigh with his thumb as he heads toward the bedrooms.

“I thought you were waiting until Jasper was back,” he murmurs once we’re in his room.

He kicks the door closed before crossing the space, ignoring both the couch and the bed and walking into the bathroom instead. He presses a few buttons near the faucet and sits on the edge of the large tub with me, my legs draped over one side, my feet in the warm water.

He presses soft kisses into my temple and finger combs my hair, his purr still vibrating through his chest.

“You’re braver than me,” he says after a while.

The water’s now up to my ankles, even deeper for him, but he doesn’t flinch. I shrug.

He sighs and eases me into the water, adjusting us until I’m leaning against the back of the tub, and he’s brushing out my hair. “I’m sorry. Let me get you cleaned up.”

Thirty-Six

VIOLET

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