Page 29 of Knot Giving Up 2

I reach behind my head and grab the collar of my shirt, pulling it off in one motion and handing it over. She slips it on. It only comes to her upper thighs, so her legs are still exposed, but at least her boobs aren’t popping out anymore.

Fuck, if the sight of her in my clothes doesn’t undo me.

She pulls the shirt up to her nose and takes a deep inhale. Her facial features relax into a happy grin. “I think this was actually a good idea.” She looks up through her eyelashes at me. “Will you come to the party now? Do you have another white shirt?”

“Yeah, I’ll come, love,” I whisper, too softly for anyone to hear as I head to my room to get another shirt.

16

Meggie

The party is on the roof of an apartment building just outside of the village. I’m not sure how they got permission to have it up here—maybe they’re more inclined to ask forgiveness than permission. I’m guessing they chose the place so they could have alcohol at the party, since it’s not allowed inside the village. There’s a bar set up in the corner with twinkle lights strung across it haphazardly.

“Can you believe it? We’re really here." Hand clutching my arm, Emily gives a little giggle and jumps on her toes. "Our first Olympic party!”

“Ah! Pack Hart!” The guy who gave us the flier, Gabriel, greets us. He’s wearing white pants and a white shirt, both covered in signatures and drawings. There's a frog with a cowboy hat and a roughly drawn alien taking up most of his abdomen.

“Good to see you, Gabe,” Harrison claps him on the back.

“Take one, please, take one.” He holds a bowl of brightly colored permanent markers out to us. “The person with the most signatures at the end of the night wins The Buckingham Phallus.”

Gabe gestures to a spot at the end of the bar with a large dildo shaped like a queen of England, though I couldn’t tell you which one. “Most countries here used to be under British rule,” he acknowledges, “so using Her Majesty to get off would feel very healing, I’m sure.”

The image of my Pack Hart men and playtime with sex toys jolts to the front of my mind. Do the guys use toys? Handcuffs, vibrators, plugs… things I don’t have any personal experience with, but I’m sure they would give me an education if I asked. A stab of arousal swirls in my belly, but I force my attention back on the markers.

We each pick a color. Ellis grabs the bright pink and Dante goes for the USA red. Oz immediately starts drawing a pineapple on my shirt with his green marker, right over my breast. I smile good-naturedly at him as he looks up and meets my eyes. “Figure I should claim this spot so no one else does. Don’t want Harrison going all caveman again.” He takes his time drawing zigzags across my chest. “A fine-apple.”

“I second that,” Ellis says, adding his signature over my other breast in massive sprawling letters. The scrape of the markers over sensitive skin quickly kills my laugh and makes me shiver. I try to control the lust rising in my core with thoughts of paper cuts and the sound of dental tools. My blockers have been holding up well so far, but that doesn’t mean they’ll continue to work. I still need to be careful.

Nils draws a large circle on my shoulder and kisses my neck. “This is where I’m going to bite you, gorgeous.”

“I need a drink.” McQuinn marches towards the bar. He’s been grumpy ever since Nils told him he wanted to sleep in the nest with me instead of in the other room with him. I hate that I’m coming between them, and that Nils has to make choices like that, but I’m not sure what to do about it. I want Nils with me—they should both be with me—but I can’t exactly make McQuinn like me. All I can do is keep inviting him to stay in the nest, even if he keeps saying no. We’ll see which of us is more stubborn.

“I want something, too.” I go after McQuinn while the rest of the guys talk with Gabriel. Em comes with me, once again attached to my arm. She always feels better with a security friend, or a drink in her hand, at a party.

The guy behind the bar is the tall, tan beta who kept looking at Em when he and Gabriel handed out the fliers. I think Luke was his name. Or Lucas? Her eyes widen a little as she realizes it’s him. He’s just handing McQuinn a beer at the edge of the bar when we walk up, and his face brightens as his gaze lands on my best friend.

“You have an admirer,” I whisper.

“Shush!” She glares at me. Em’s not one for random hookups, but I can smell the way her scent brightens, and he’s putting off some serious pheromones too. Especially for a beta. Most betas don’t have very strong scents. But the two of them are both potent right now.

“Can I get a beer?” I ask.

“What kind?” He’s still looking at Emily.

“What he’s having,” I say, slipping my arm around McQuinn’s. Beer is gross, but I want a bit of connection with him, and I'm willing to drink his beer to prove it.

He glares down at me, but doesn’t pull away. Progress.

“And you?” The bartender’s voice is softer as he looks at Emily and leans across the makeshift table set up as a bar.

She responds too quietly to hear. I nudge her with my elbow, so she repeats herself. “A shot of vodka?”

He smirks. “Is that a question?”

“Um, no. We both want shots of vodka.” She gives me a pleading look. I don’t usually like doing shots, especially this close to a game, but it’ll make Emily feel better and one shot shouldn’t be a problem. I take the little glass he hands me and we both count down to three before throwing it back. Emily giggles as she sets the empty shot down, nearly knocking The Buckingham Phallus over in the process.

“You’re Emily, right?” He asks, righting the prized dildo.

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