Page 18 of In Their Arms

11

Maceo

I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult. With Luca, it was so easy, watching him fall apart time and time again. Even Blake seemed blissfully happy, the both of them mesmerizing to watch. But in this moment, my Omega isn’t enjoying himself. His scent keeps flipping between sour and sweet, no doubt everything thrown at him in the last few days making it hard to accept what he’s now going through.

Add in the fact that a heat is the last thing he wants and I can’t imagine the turmoil in his head.

His pupils are blown wide, his lips red and parted, his whole body taut like a live wire. The sheer need in his expression is something wild, something desperate, something he doesn’t know how to contain. Grayson grips his waist with a firm hand, Blake letting out a wanton moan as the Alpha fills him. His eyes roll into the back of his head as he clings to me, his cock leaking against my stomach.

I ignore my own needs, knowing that he needs to feel grounded in this moment. His obnoxiously sweet scent has a purr rumbling through me, a mixture of desire and the need to calm my Omega currently in distress. “I’ve got you, genius. Our Alpha is going to take such good care of you.” I don’t recognize the words falling from my lips and I have no idea when I started seeing Grayson differently. Maybe it was the moment Luther told me to take care of his family or maybe it was way before that, before it was appropriate.

Blake rolls his hips forward, his jaw set as Grayson fucks into him slowly, lovingly. I cup his face in my hands, making sure to keep those pretty brown focused on me.

“You’re doing so well, genius. Keep breathing for me. There you go. It’s okay to fall, baby. We’re both right here to catch you. It’s okay.” The last words are murmured against his lips before I give in, taking what’s mine, devouring his mouth until he seems to settle between us. When I pull away, the fear seems to be gone, the Omega haze fully settling in.

His scent sweetens further, free of anything else other than pleasure. This time when his lips fully part, the wholly Omega sound coming from them, I can see he’s let himself go. He’s stopped fighting it, Grayson moving a little faster to give Blake the relief he so desperately needs.

Grayson bends down to leave little kisses along Blake’s ear before sucking on his bite mark. “We will always be here to catch you, babe.Always. I know it’s terrifying but we’re not going anywhere.” He punctuates that last word with a thrust of his hips, Blake humming in response as he continues to rock forward. The friction of his cock dragging against mine is making me uncomfortably hard until I know that the combination of his scent and his movements is going to have me blowing my load.

My knot flutters at the base, swelling as I grit my teeth, hissing as I try to control myself. It’s no use, though, as I gently grab Blake’s hips, waiting for his silent permission before adding to this erotic dance. It only takes a few rocks of my hips before Blake sprays his release across my chest and pants, my own load coating the inside of the fabric. It feels never-ending, my body preparing to satisfy an Omega in heat, my knot angry as it fully swells with nothing to plug.

Blake sags between us, Grayson still rocking against him before pushing inside, locking them together. This wasn’t exactly how I expected to end the evening but I’m not disappointed in the slightest. Except for the discomfort of having cum-soaked pants. However, that pales in comparison to the sweet, peaceful expression on Blake’s face as the exhaustion of his heat spike drags him under.

I’m not sure how long I lay there, watching his breaths slowly even out until the only sound in the nest is Grayson’s purr. “He’s really coming back tomorrow?” Grayson asks, interrupting the silence.

After Blake had kicked us out of his nest, I made a few calls, trying to figure out what connections I had to get Luther out of jail. More than ever, we needed him—Blake needed him. And I’m not sure what I was going to do about Luca’s situation. With Luther, it was just a matter of bail money and being nice to the right people. With Luca… now that an Omega center was involved, it was going to be nearly impossible to find a loophole.

I grimace as I shuck off my pants, my cock still hard as Blake’s scent hasn’t truly dissipated. “Supposedly? The judge signed off on a bail amount but it’s obscene. We’re going to have to pull from the company for what they’re asking.” My jaw tightens at the thought, the sheer bullshit of it all. “Apparently, Hudson’s got connections with a few judges and they all want Luther locked up. Even though we have enough evidence to bury Hudson in legal hell, it doesn’t matter. They want Luther to take the fall.”

Blake wiggles between us, letting out a little snort and then relaxes again. I manage a small smile wrapping myself around him and throwing an arm over his hip, my hand resting on Grayson’s. It feels… normal.

And then reality sets back in as I meet the Alpha’s gaze. “Although I’m the family lawyer, I’m not well-versed in criminal investigations. You have to be prepared that I might not be enough to pull us out of the hell Hudson has forced us into. I’m doing my best and Luther should be home tomorrow but—”

Grayson shakes his head, reaching down to place his hand over mine. “You are enough, Maceo. More than enough. Our Omegas find you safe. Luther trusts you and you have been the one I can lean on in all of this. After Luther comes home, we’ll go get Luca.”

I can see the hope in his eyes, the optimistic and charismatic version of the Alpha I first met. “I wish it were that easy,” I admit. “But Hearthstone is involved now. That adds so many goddamn legal jumps. I don’t even know where to start.” My teeth grind together for a second before I shake my head. “He’s at least safe from Hudson for the time being.”

Grayson’s expression darkens, his brows furrowing as he stares down at the nest. “I can barely feel him,” he murmurs, voice rough, uneven. “No—he’s fine, well scared but physically fine. But it’s like whatever they’re using to soothe the bite I can’t tend to is blocking the bond. I can’t feel him like I did in the hospital and I guess in some part that’s a saving grace, but…” He pauses, his throat working through the emotion. “But it makes my heart ache all that much more.”

The four of them are woven so tightly together, tied in a way that’s bone-deep, soul-deep. And right now, two of those ties are stretched thin, fraying, the distance cutting into them like a dull knife. “I can’t even imagine the pain between the four of you,” I finally say, because it’s the truth.

“You’re part of this too, Maceo.”

I open my mouth to argue, to repeat the same bullshit I’ve been feeding myself for years, but Grayson doesn’t let me. Not that I truly believe it anymore anyway.

“I know you preached that lone wolf shit,” he says. “But I’m telling you right now—when all this ends, you’re going to be here.” He nods toward Blake, toward the space where Luther should be, toward the bond that should include Luca but doesn’t, not right now. “You’re going to be part of the Keller family.”

And fuck if that doesn’t settle deep in my chest, right next to the parts of me I’ve been trying to keep locked away.

12

Luca

Someone’s fucking with me if they think I’m just going to sit here and eat the cute little hashbrowns and perfect omelets with perfectly chopped peppers and perfect little bits of ground sausage and perfect—

A growl tears from my throat as I stare at my tray, hating absolutely everything on it. Nothing about my life is perfect. I couldn’t even sleep last night, tossing and turning on an empty mattress, unable to feel any tether to my mates. The silence nearly killed me as I wandered around my little room, hoping that something in there would distract me.

I even tried climbing onto a chair and pulling at the bars, crying out when I slipped and fell on my back. And that’s where I spent my night, on the cold floor, curled up in a ball, wishing that my life wasn’t so fucking hard.

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