Page 30 of The Honor of Being Hers
“We know,” he murmured.
Ryan didn’t speak, but his hand slid up her leg to rest just beneath the crease of her knee, palm broad, fingers teasing.There was something in the contact that steadied her breath more than anything words might have done.
William nuzzled closer.“You smell different.”
Her body went rigid for a moment, a reflex, but then she exhaled.Not because she didn’t know what he meant.Because she did.
“We’ve bonded?”she asked, voice catching.
“No,” Tyler said.“But our scents have started to mingle.”
“I feel…” she trailed off.There wasn’t a word for it.Not safe, exactly.Not full.Maybe settled?Connected and grounded also felt appropriate.
Ryan shifted to stand, his body unfolding in a series of smooth, quiet movements that spoke of controlled strength.He left for only a moment, returning once more with a bowl of warm water and a soft cloth, the ceramic bowl warm against his palms.She barely remembered the other times one of them had done this for her during her heat and couldn’t help but bask a little in the way they cared for her.
As he knelt beside the bed, dipped the cloth, and began to wipe her skin with slow, careful strokes.He slowly moved to clean her between her legs, where she was still swollen and sensitive, and across her thighs, which were sticky with their combined release, down her calves, where his fingerprints still showed faintly.
“You don’t have to do that.”She offered on a sigh.She probably should get up and shower.
“Shhh, stay, sweetheart.I want to,” he said, his gaze never leaving her face.
Tyler gathered the scattered clothing and sheets from the night before, shaking out a clean throw from the chair by the wall.William helped Lauren sit upright, his arms steady beneath hers, holding her until her legs remembered how to bear her weight.
They moved her as though she were precious, their touches reverent against her sensitized skin.The Egyptian cotton of the fresh throw was silk-soft against her body, and she could smell the faint lavender scent from where it had been stored.
There was no rush.
After she’d been cleaned and resettled in the center of the nest, extra pillows stacked around her, warm throws tucked beneath her knees, the pack sat close.Close enough to touch.Not quite touching.Waiting.
“What now?”she asked, voice quieter than before.
“If you want it,” he said, “we’ll claim you publicly and mark you with our scent.We can formalize the bond whenever you feel ready.There is no rush; we can take our time to get to know each other better.
“And if I say no?”
Ryan’s voice was quiet.“Then you will sleep.And we will hold you until you’re ready.”
Lauren looked at each of them.Tyler’s quiet focus.William’s quiet hunger.Ryan, steady and still, as if waiting for her breath to catch up to her courage.
“I want it,” she said.“I want to take the next step.I want your scents all over me.”
No one moved for a moment.
Then William leaned forward and kissed her first, low at the base of her throat, where the hollow pulsed warm beneath her skin, and then rubbed himself against that spot.
Tyler followed.Wrists.Knees.
Ryan last.A kiss and a nuzzle behind each ear.One more just below her navel.
When they finished, the air had changed.
Not just the chemical composition, but also emotionally.The room already smelled like theirs, but now it felt like that too, like Lauren and the three Alphas who had waited, held back, and then given everything.
She didn’t cry.But her hands trembled when Tyler pulled her against his chest.William crawled in behind her.Ryan draped a blanket over all three of them and settled at their feet.
The light dimmed slowly, and no one asked for anything more.
She had already given them everything.
