Page 65 of Excess

The rut was calling to me like a siren song, begging for me to let go of the trappings of civilised society and to fuck her like a wild beast in her nest, the way she needed.

“Don’t be offended if she rejects you—” Gerardo began, but before he could even finish that sentence, Inika was launching herself at me. She was wearing the same top and shorts I’d left her in this morning, though instead of hanging loosely off her frame, they were now glued to her skin with sweat.

I caught her easily, lifting her up, but before she could lean in to bury her face at my throat, a muzzle came down between us.

Fuck, they were quick.

I tightened my grip, a purr of reassurance rumbling out of my chest as Inika writhed, trying to escape the muzzle to no avail. It went fiercely against my own instincts not to help her get away from it, but I was holding on to just enough logic and reason to know that it had to be done.

Above all else, I didn’t want either of us to walk out of that nest with regrets.

I glanced at Gerardo, who nodded once. “That’s a pretty clear-cut acceptance, alpha.”

That was all the encouragement I needed.

I took one step towards the spare room—the backup nest—but Inika immediately snarled in protest, tightening her thighs around me and urging me towards her proper nest. Which I supposed wasn’t surprising, since we’d already been in there once before.

Gerardo made a sound of discontent. “This is all very unusual. There will need to be a full briefing about this afterwards—”

“That’s not the priority right now,” Maia snapped, hovering as far away as possible while still having us in her sight line. “You can contact me to arrange a meeting next week.”

I couldn’t speak, so I was glad that Inika was aware enough of her surroundings to reach for the door handle when we got to her nest so the biometric scanner could pick up her fingerprint.

I carried her inside the moment the door unlocked, and when it shut behind us, I felt like a thousand-pound weight had slipped off my shoulders.

Finally. It was just us.

It wasn’t like all the other times I’d taken Inika to bed, though. She wasn’t going to drop to her knees now in sweet submission, look up at me and wait for instructions, that was for fucking sure.

Inika wriggled out of my arms, ripping her clothes off her body like they offended her before turning her wild gaze onto my garments. I stripped off quickly and kicked everything aside, not wanting to risk her wrath.

I’d never seen an unmated omega in heat before. She was beautiful, sexy, and a little terrifying.

She herded me towards the nest, which gratifyingly still smelled like me, pushing me down into the centre and beginning the same process of arranging cushions around me as she’d done yesterday. It wasn’t quite the same, though. There was more urgency this time. More frustration.

And a fuckton more slick coating my thigh as she straddled it, shamelessly grinding her clit on me with each movement she made.

I wanted to give her words, to encourage her, but I let my hands say what my mouth couldn’t, reverently stroking every inch of her body I could reach.

The last thing I remembered before the rut took over was Inika riding my knot, scoring lines into my chest with her nails with each rock of her hips.

I snuck back into the room, freshly hydrated and with another dry protein bar sitting heavily in my stomach, getting reaccustomed to the muzzle as I slipped back into the sticky nest.

Inika immediately reached for me, throwing her leg over my waist and moving like she was going to climb on top of me, before wincing and pulling back, blinking up at me with bloodshot eyes.

The heat had broken.

I held myself still, not entirely sure how this next part was going to go. How cognisant had Inika been that I was the one in her nest?

She reached up with trembling fingers, delicately tracing the outline of the muzzle against my cheek.

As much as I wanted to give Inika time, the unsure look on her face was killing me. I scooped her up into my arms so she was laid on top of me, cuddling her close.

Was she okay? What was she thinking?

We needed to get these fucking muzzles off.

I was more exhausted than I’d ever been in my life, but the prospect of hearing Inika’s voice again gave me a sharp shot of energy. I sat up with her on my lap, tugging one of the plum-coloured sheets free and wrapping around her as best I could. Inika helped with clumsy fingers, her head repeatedly lolling back against my shoulder.

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