Page 40 of Big Knot Energy (Shadowverse)

Of the three alphas, Cyrus had always been sweet, quiet, gentle, and calm. Where the other two were constant flirts and had short fuses when it came to those they cared for, Cyrus was gentlemanly.

“Accurate on both accounts,” Cyrus said with a smirk.

My brows lowered.

“I meant that you were wrong and his paraphrasing was correct. You know what, I’ll be downstairs. You two take your time.”

I leapt to my feet, calling out to Cyrus before he could close the door. “Don’t you three want some time with him?”

“First of all, I’m right here,” Amir said, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back down to the couch beside him. “Second, you areallcourting me, so we need time together, too.”

“And third,” Cyrus said, smiling as he backed from my room, “we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other later.”

With that, he closed the door behind him, but not before I caught the grin on his stupidly gorgeous face.

“Like I said, wrapped around your little finger,” he teased before returning to running his fingers through my hair.

“I believe you said they watched me like I hung the moon.”

One of his shoulders shrugged up as he smiled. “Eh. Same thing. Either way, those three are obsessed with you. I can’t believe you haven’t been riding them nonstop. They’re fucking hot.”

Tilting my head to the side, I ran my gaze over his face from his high cheekbones to his square jawline, over his straight nose, to hisbeautiful light green eyes. “So you like men, too? Not just during your heat but…Sorry. That was super rude and intrusive of me.”

“I don’t discriminate. Beauty is beauty.” And the way he was staring at me now, the way his voice pitched a little lower, made me think he saw me in the beautiful category. “And you can ask me anything. I’m seriously hard to offend.”

Why did I constantly doubt him? I doubted anyone who told me I was beautiful or sexy or desirable in any way. But, until I’d finally escaped Antonio and began to build a life of my own outside of my fathers’ rule, I’d never been treated as though I was anything more than either a nuisance or a rung in the societal ladder.

For a few moments, we simply stared into each other’s eyes until I felt as though I was drowning in the beautiful seafoam green. His gaze dipped to my lips, and I couldn’t help but hope he would lean in for a kiss.

Because this man could kiss. Even the fake kiss at The Vault had curled my toes and rendered me speechless and fuzzy brained for a few moments.

“You want me to kiss you,” he said, as though reading my mind.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“You know you can kiss me, right? You don’t have to wait for me or the alphas to initiate affection.”

“I’m not an omega. I don’t thrive on touch.”

Lie. I had been touch starved for years. But the only time anyone had touched me throughout my life had usually been to either cause pain or to bring themselves pleasure while completely disregarding whether I was enjoying myself. Especially since I was usually drugged by my fucking alpha.

His fingers combed through my hair. “Does this feel good?” he asked as his short nails scraped against my scalp.

“Yes,” I whispered again.

His hand trailed down until his fingers grazed my cheekbone then my throat. “What about this?”

I nodded.

When his hand drifted lower and the pads of his fingers barelygrazed over my pebbled nipples, I had to swallow hard to avoid moaning and making a fool of myself. Such a gentle touch yet it felt as though the sensation made my clit throb and my inner walls clench with need. As in a need to be filled. Immediately.

“Touch can be beautiful. It can be arousing,” he said as he trailed his fingers along the swell of my breasts before moving further down my ribs to my upper thighs. “Or comforting. It should never hurt…unless that’s your kink.” The sexiest smirk pulled up one corner of his mouth before he winked at me. “In that case, I’d be more than happy to bend you over my lap and spank your round ass.”

Heat rushed my cheeks and my core. I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed by his offer or turned on.

Maybe I was embarrassed that I was so turned on by the thought of Amir’s big hand slapping against my bare ass.

His big hands gripped my hips and pulled me onto his lap until my thighs straddled his and my core rested over his engorged cock. “Touch should never hurt. What happened to you before…that’s your past. Let me show you how beautiful you are. Let your alphas show you how much you mean to them.”

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