Ren watches from the edge of the nest, stroking himself with slow tugs, his gaze locked on where Jax and I are joined. “Oh, Hailey,” he rasps. “You’re clenching already.”

Jax groans, his rhythm faltering. “Fuck, I can feel it. Squeezing me like a vice.”

His knot swells as he buries himself deep, stretching me wider, wider?—

I come violently, my vision whiting out as my body convulses around him. Jax roars, his hips snapping forward one last time before his knot locks, inflating fully inside me. His release floods me in hot, pulsing waves, his teeth grazing my shoulder as he muffles a growl against my skin.

I go limp beneath him, boneless, my thighs quivering. For a moment, there’s only this…

But the heat doesn’t break.

It worsens the moment Jax’s knot begins to soften.

My eyes flutter open, a whimper escaping my throat as my gaze lands on Ren. I reach for him without thought.

“Knot.” It’s the single word I can say. “Please—Knot.”

Ren’s throat moves, one hand gripping mine as the other reaches for my trembling body. As Jax’s knot subsides, Ren’s sandalwood and dark spice wash over me.

“Our sweet girl,” he murmurs, voice like gravel.

Jax grunts as he carefully pulls out, his seed spilling down my thighs. Ren catches some on his fingers, bringing them to my lips.

“Taste,” he whispers.

I suck his fingers clean, whimpering at the bitter-salt flavor, at the way his eyes darken with hunger.

Ren doesn’t fuck me.

He worships me.

He lays me on my back, hooks my legs over his shoulders, and sinks into me with a single, devastating thrust. His pace is relentless, deep, every snap of his hips grinding his cock against that sweet, swollen spot inside me that has me shrieking.

“You’re ours now,” he growls, his knot already forming, stretching me impossibly wider even as he fucks me still. “Ours to breed, ours to claim.”

When he knots me, it’s with my ankles pressed to his chest, his body bowed over mine, his mouth fused to mine in a kiss that steals my breath. I come so hard I scream, my nails raking down his back as his release floods me, hot and endless.

By the time Ren’s knot deflates, I’m a sobbing, overstimulated mess, my body wrung dry but still burning.

Ren’s gentle fingers brush away tendrils of my hair that are stuck to my face, the concern in his gaze almost heart-stopping. “Oh, baby. You sure you want to continue?”

I know why he’s asking. I know why they’re all being this careful. After what happened with Heath, the drugs, the near-death experiences, they’re being safe. But the heat, momentarilysubdued by being knotted three times, is already beginning to build again. I don’t want safe. I want them.

“Yes,” I tell him, meeting his gaze steadily. “I want more.”

He searches my face, looking for any sign of uncertainty. Finding none, he nods. “Alright,” he says. “But we take it easy for a bit. Let your body recover.”

Stone moves closer once more. He reaches out to squeeze my hand.

I squeeze back, no words needed between us. Then I turn my attention to the others. Jax and Finn exchange glances, some silent communication passing between them. It’s Finn who moves forward first, his lean body sliding between my legs as Ren vacates.

“How about someone a little gentler for now?” he suggests, his usual mischief tempered by genuine concern. “Let me take care of you for a bit, and then Jax or Stone can take over when you’re ready.”

I nod, grateful for his understanding.

He gathers me into his arms, pressing soft kisses to my face, my neck, my shoulders. “You’re doing so well,” he murmurs. “Taking everything we give you. Being so brave.”

Finn’s fingers trace idle patterns along my back and my body hums with satisfaction. The nest smells of sex and sweat andpack, the mingled scents wrapping around me like a second skin.