Page 58 of Knot for Sale

Gabriel’s high cheekbones flushed red. He cleared his throat awkwardly, not quite meeting my eyes. “What about you, Elijah? Are you all right?”

“Peachy,” I rasped, not sure if it would be less dignified to stay here with my cock hanging out or go rummaging through the pillows for my pants.

“I shouldn’t have—” Gabriel began, but I waved the words off.

“Don’t mention it,” I said, and paused before adding, “Seriously.Don’t mention it.”

His clear, worried gaze pinned mine for a very long time.

Thankfully for everyone’s sanity, Emma’s heat seemed to even out a bit after her third peak. Each time she surfaced in response to her hormones spiking, she was obviously exhausted.Iwas exhausted. I’d say we were all exhausted, but if so, the alphas were a lot better at hiding it.

There wasn’t a good way to put the horse back in the proverbial barn now that it had run out the door, so rather than try to hide the fact that watching Em get fucked made me horny, I let Onyx get me off in increasingly creative ways that did everything to relax my body and not a damned thing to relax the knot of tension in my mind.

What the hell was Idoinghere, on this rented sailboat moored off the coast of a tiny Greek island?

I got the impression Gabriel was asking himself similar questions, because after that first rather spectacular loss of control, he’d been reining himself in so tightly that it kind of hurt to watch.

After ten brutal peaks, Emma’s scent finally began to shift, losing its distinctive heat markers. She was sweaty and pale, and between us, Curran and I managed to get some fluids and a few dry crackers into her before she crashed. Onyx helped us get her cleaned up as best we could when she was too out of it tostay upright in the cramped shower without help. Then Curran carried her into one of the tiny cabins.

“I can stay with her,” he said, and it was a testament to the last few days that I didn’t even give his offer a second thought before agreeing.

“Thanks,” I said, pawning my omega roommate off on this gruff alpha I’d met only days ago. “Onyx, I’m guessing you need to sail the ship? If so, I’ll take a shift with Em in a few hours. She shouldn’t wake up alone.”

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if she woke up with no memory whatsoever of where she was or how she got here. She’d already been skating the edge of her heat when we arrived. Still, the alphas’ scents would have embedded themselves in her consciousness as being safe over the past few days.

Onyx grunted. “Not sure where we’re going yet, but once the boss man tells me, then, yeah—I’ll get us underway.”

“You might as well get some rest, lad,” Curran told me. “She’s going to be out cold for the better part of a day.”

I nodded. “If not longer,” I agreed. “I mean it, though. Thank you.”

Onyx smiled, dark eyes crinkling at the corners, and slapped me companionably on the shoulder. “Sorry it was such a rough time for both of you, but I’m glad we were around to help. If you’ve got some particular place you two need to get dropped off, you might wanna have a word with the boss about it.”

“Sure,” I said, cursing the unwanted ache in my heart at the casual dismissal. “I’ll do that.”

This was batshit. I was an independent fashion model at the height of my career. What the hell did I want with a pack? Much less, adangerouspack? For god’s sake, Curran had agunshot scar. These weren’t the kind of alphas who settled down in a nice pack house somewhere to bake cookies and churn out pups. Just as importantly, I wasn’t the kind ofomegawho settled down in anice pack house somewhere to bake cookies and churn out pups. And Emma sure as hell wasn’t.

With a final glance at Emma’s sleeping form in the bunk, I went to find Gabriel. I didn’t actually know where to ask him to drop us off. The Athens airport, I supposed. I also didn’t know what day it was. My phone was almost certainly dead after sitting in a bag for so long. I needed to charge it. Emma’s, too, if I could find it.

I was about ninety-five percent sure we’d missed our return flight to New York, assuming our tickets hadn’t been cancelled after Casick basically sold us as fucking sex slaves. Briefly, I wondered if Gabriel had gotten his money’s worth over the past few days—only to quash that thought as unworthy.

God, I was tired.

I trudged up the cabin steps and found Gabriel leaning against the same stretch of railing where I’d fetched up after fleeing the heat nest on the first night. He looked uncharacteristically rumpled—not that I was in any position to criticize. And... not that it was a bad look on him, for that matter.

No jacket, shirt wrinkled and half-untucked, sleeves rolled up unevenly. His sandy hair looked like he’d been running his fingers through it in an attempt to straighten it, but only ended up making things worse.

His spine stiffened as I approached, and he turned to look at me over his shoulder. I caught a hint of wariness before he smoothed his expression to neutrality.

“How’s she doing?” he asked.

“Sleeping,” I said. “She’ll be out for ages, I expect.”

He gave a slow nod. “She probably needs it.” He cleared his throat. “So, what can I do for you?”

I propped my elbows on the railing, trying not to look at him. Trying not to smell him. Trying not to remember my mind’sblissful surrender when he’d reeled me in and taken possession of my mouth.

“Onyx suggested I talk to you about where to drop us off,” I said, pleased when my tone emerged even and matter of fact.

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