Page 68 of Knot Their Opening Act

Jez nods as she locks eyes with me when we find a progression that feels right, and I think we both know it. We smile and jam around this, but she keeps talking, slowly. As if coming to terms with the fact she can be open around us. Even if we’ve only been vulnerable with her each on our own so far.

“The doctor said they could take a while to kick in properly, so for the next few months it could still be—up and down. Could get some symptoms like dizzy spells, which I don’t want on stage. So, I haven’t started them yet.”

I stop playing and try not to gape. “You’re going to stay off? Until the tour ends?”

She nods and bites her lip. “It seems the best way. I’d rather risk heat while I’m safe then dizziness while on stage. Or worse. Vomiting during a set sounds like an unholy nightmare.”

She’s starting to flag as her fingers slow down and her shoulders slump slightly forward. I’m fucking exhausted, too. But I could play alongside her all night. I could sit and watch her all night. Whatever, with her. All night.

I thought I could tell her heat wasn’t over, but she wasn’t in a frenzy at the moment, and has seemed comfortable all evening.

Then I think about what she’s just said, and exchange a look with Thomas. He heard it too. She’d rather risk heat while she’ssafe.

She feels safe around us. That’s the best news I’ve ever heard.

But there’s a catch. “WhileI’m safe.” She isn’t considering we might want her as part of our pack—that when the tour ends, we’ll still want her with us.

I set the guitar gently on the kitchen counter and walk back to the sitting area, sitting on the sofa beside her. She gives me an inquisitive look, then leans her guitar up against the wall beside the balcony door.

And without a word, she places her hand on my knee. Thomas is sitting in the armchair opposite, and Nico’s cross-legged on the floor in front of the balcony, which we cracked open for some air earlier.

Then she looks around to all three of us.

“Can we try to show you you’re safe at all times? Not just when you’re in heat?” says Nico softly. “I think I speak for all of us when I say, you’re one in a million, and we have so far to go to make up for the past. But we know you are the Omega we’re meant to protect.”

I take her hand from my knee and hold it between both of mine. “Nico’s right, Jesamine. We have a long fucking way to go. But we could start here, now. Not just about helping you through your heat. But showing you that our purpose here first and foremost is to look after and serve our Omega. Professional goals, touring, recording, the band—all of it is important parts of who we are. But our Omega is what has always been the goal to come first for us.”

“And we want you to cum first, always,” murmurs Thomas. “Yfrette.”

This yanks Jez’s soft, glowy gaze from my eyes straight to Thomas’s. Suddenly she seems stone-cold sober, alert, and hollowed out. But the shock in her face from whatever he’s said to her quickly turns to pure joy.

She leaps to her feet and throws her arms around Thomas, then pulls back to look him in the eye.

“Azalaun?”

He smiles and nods, and she wrenches him back to her body, hugging him so tightly.

I exchange a look with Nico. “What the hell is this?” I say. Nico shrugs.

Jez and Thomas are in the throes of a seemingly never-ending embrace. He buries his nose in the hollow of her neck, eyes closed, and she kisses his forehead.

“It’s you,” I think she whispers. “All these years, all those quests.”

“Wait, wait,” says Nico. “Is this some video game bullshit?” He’s grinning wide and scratches at his head. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” says Jez, beaming. “So it means I have a bit more connection to Thomas than I realized. But there’s plenty of room to go around.” She turns to Nico and gestures for him to draw closer.

“Just to be clear, are you saying you’d like to offer us said room? Right here, right now?” Nico asks as he kneels to her left on the floor.

“God, yes. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about any of you,” she murmurs. Her voice is husky, and she licks her lips, sharing a look with each of us. I feel my cock stiffening in my trousers.

I climb up on the sofa and slide around behind her so she’s leaning back into my erection. Gently I take the hem of her top and peel it off over her head. “Your wish is our command,” I whisper into her ear. “You’re a goddess among Omegas, Jesamine Jacobs, and we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Three years, in fact,” she breathes, her shallow intake of air revealing the depth of her anticipation. I wonder how long she’s wanted this, all three of us showering her in the attention she so deserves. It’s too bad Kai isn’t here, but I have no doubt he will find a time to show his own devotion. He of all four of us has the most to express to her.

“But we’re not here to get lost in the past. It’s you we want to get lost in. And maybe, never emerge from,” I say, between a series of kisses I dot along her shoulder, across her back and neck, and to the other shoulder. She pulls her turquoise braided hair aside.

Her skin is so soft, so delicious with the scent of spring blooms and fresh rain. She’s the breath of air my lungs have waited for. With a shudder of a sigh, she turns slightly and gives me a look of pure aqua joy.

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