Page 65 of Overeager
Where was his alpha?
But he barely had time for distress before his door was opening and there was Noah, beautiful and bright, his arms full with a giant duffel and assorted shopping bags and other things Eli didn’t care about.
Eli threw himself at him, trusting Noah to drop all that rubbish and catch him. Which Noah did.
Good alpha.
Eli shoved his face into Noah’s neck and moaned.
There it was. Perfect and salty andhis. Eli’s tense muscles loosened, some of the cramping in his belly easing already, even as fresh slick dribbled down his thighs.
Noah was saying something, something about “I’m sorry” and “God, you smell fucking amazing,” but Eli was distracted by all the annoying fabric in the way of the skin-to-skin contact he was searching for.
He unwrapped his arms and lowered his legs to the floor, needing better leverage. There was too much clothing here. He tugged at Noah’s shirt.
“You want this off?” Noah asked, like it wasn’t obvious.
Eli only grunted, already working on tugging down Noah’s joggers.
“Okay,” Noah laughed, pulling off his shirt and letting Eli do his thing. “Um, I brought some fruit and protein bars. Easy stuff for mid-heat. But maybe you should eat something more substantial now while you still can? I read it’s important to—”
Eli shook his head with another grunt. No. No food.
Noah lifted his feet one at a time so Eli was able to tug his joggers all the way off, keeping the fabric in his arms afterward. They were soft and smelled strongly of Noah. They would be perfect for the nest.
Eli froze.
His nest. He hadn’t made one yet. Why hadn’t he made one yet? He’d been … distracted. Worried. Worried Noah might not come. That he might not be here for Eli’s heat.
But why wouldn’t Noah be here? Of course he was here. He was good and sweet and smelled like the ocean, and he was going to knot Eli so perfectly as soon as they tumbled into the nest.
The nest that didn’t exist.
Eli whined in distress.
“Baby?” Noah’s big hand cupped Eli’s chin. “Tell me what’s wrong. We’ll fix it.”
“Nest,” Eli mumbled, biting worriedly at his lip.
Noah tugged Eli’s lip out from between his teeth with his thumb. “You’re worried about your nest?”
“I haven’t— There isn’t—”
“It’s not ready yet? That’s fine,” Noah soothed. He pressed a kiss to Eli’s forehead. “That’s easy. And my fault, anyway. I should have brought this stuff over sooner.”
Clad only in his underwear now, Noah bent low—his movements slow, like he was worried about spooking Eli—and opened the giant duffel bag.
Oh, that smelledgood. Like delicious, salty Noah.
Eli crouched, inching closer as Noah pulled out a fleece blanket that smelled fucking amazing. “I’ve been sleeping with this the past few weeks, whenever I’ve been at my apartment. Haven’t washed it.”
Eli snatched it, adding it the shirt and joggers he’d already stripped from Noah. “What else?” he asked, trying to peer inside the duffel.
Noah laughed, pulling out more perfect-smelling items. “Some, um … gym clothes. Unwashed.” He raised his brows, looking sheepish. “Too much?”
Eli snatched those too.
“One of the pillows from my bed.”
