Page 89 of Knot Your Business

Her muscles ripple around me. I press harder against her clit. Her back bows as her cry of ecstasy rips through the room. Not a second later, lightning rushes through me, a pulse of all-consuming sensation that has my hips stuttering and my legs giving out. My dick twitches as I shudder out my release, my knot swelling and locking us together. I drop over her as the last waves leave my body, my fucking fingers still tingling.

She moans, the sound hoarse, as my knot sends her over the edge again. Her nails scratch down my back as I drop my forehead to her shoulder, breathing in her scent, ignoring the ache in my chest that has nothing to do with the haze of her heat and everything to do with understanding this is all temporary.

It was easier to stomach when it was my job, when I knew I would never see her outside the walls of her temporary nest inside the Council’s facility. Here? In my own house where she built a nest that was supposed to be permanent?

Fuck, it aches worse than when I got the call about my mom. I never thought anything would come near the pain of being told she’d been too intoxicated to get out of the tornado’s path. Yet here we are.

Violet hums into my ear, her hands slowly stilling until they fall away completely, her breathing evening out. I press a kiss to her collarbone and then her temple as my knot releases.

I don’t immediately pull away from her, closing my eyes and focusing on the feel of her under me, the smell of her honeysuckle mixing with the fragrance of Jasper’s body wash.

“Go eat, amico,” Dominic says, resting a hand on my shoulder. “I can get her cleaned up and safe.”

I don’t even fight him. Why he’s suddenly wanting to be involved is beyond me, but I’ll take the offer. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what he wants, but he beats me to it.

“I’ll be down as soon as she’s clean. And then we’ll talk.”

Forty-Two

JASPER

The house is silent when I finally close the door to the garage. My feet are leaden, and there’s a headache pounding just behind my eyes and down my neck. My phone rings before I can dump it on the kitchen counter.

I answer without looking. “Jasper.”

My voice is as tired as the rest of me, but I don’t apologize for it.

“Mr. Montegue? This is Detective Forrest.”

My exhaustion fades between one breath and the next.

“I didn’t expect a call so soon,” I admit.

His laugh is nearly as tired as I feel. “Omegas being abused isn’t something we wait to handle during normal business hours.”

“I suppose I should be grateful for that,” I mutter.

Difficult to feel grateful when I don’t want to be dealing with this nightmare at all. My stomach is still tight with anxiety, my throat still raw from the bile I’d had to keep from surfacing while recounting everything that had happened with the officers that arrested Eric.

What had Rylan called him? Fuckboy Extraordinaire? I need to find out why he recognized the asshole.

The detective clears his throat. “I want you to know that I’m not a stranger to working high profile cases, Mr. Montegue.” His voice has gained a careful edge that has warning bells going off in my mind. “The notoriety and scrutiny that comes with them is within my wheelhouse to handle.”

“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“Isn’t there always?” He sighs. “The Fallon family is asking for this to stay as quiet as possible.”

Johnathan had told me as much. The less in the spotlight it was, the less likely Sienna would use it as some kind of ammunition for her own gain. His eyes had flashed when he’d said it, the anger so extreme I almost felt bad for the woman.

Until I thought about Violet’s shattered face as she realized we’d both been played by her.

The detective clears his throat, and I force myself to focus.

“The man’s official statement is that he stumbled upon her while she was trying to clean up in the bathroom. Another woman left the bathroom, and the smell of her heat was strong enough that he responded on instinct. She didn’t fight him until they were in the utility room. According to the hotel staff, there were no witnesses to any of this.”

Of fucking course not.

What if Dominic and Rylan hadn’t shown up when they did? I had no idea she was in trouble, didn’t even realize she was in heat when I could smell her in that hallway.

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