Page 74 of Where There's Smoke
A serene smile broke out over Melody’s face, her eyes shimmering as Elliot walked over her cup of tea and set it down in front of her. He moved behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. Melody reached up and laid her own over Elliot’s, glancing between the three of us.
“You know what? That sounds pretty damn perfect.”
Chapter 36
Melody
I’d finished putting away the last of the groceries and decided to have a seat on the couch in the guys’ living room. The place was still so beautiful, and being inside it felt like a special treat. But the pack leader had said he just needed to put away a bit of laundry.
He still wasn’t out yet, and I was getting antsy, and he probably needed help anyway. So, I sighed and stood up, going down the long hallway and then upstairs to his bedroom. The guys were technically off shift again, so I’d decided to follow Elliot to do a few errands, and that had led to us being at the packhouse.
This place was enormous, and I could see why the pack had been so grateful to have the laundry room on the second floor with the bedrooms. That’d be a hell of a walk with a full hamper of clothes. Walking up to the open master bedroom door at the end of the hall, I rapped my knuckles on the wood.
“Need some help?”
Elliot paused, looking back over his shoulder. He appeared a touch surprised, but it melted into an easy smile, and I liked how much more he’d been doing that around me.
“Yeah, thanks.” Elliot walked around to the side of the large king bed in his room, giving me a spot to stand at the end near the hamper. “I’m just folding. I didn’t realize how far behind we’d gotten on laundry. There’s still another load in the washer.”
I chuckled, walking up to the bed and grabbing out a shirt. Folding it on the mattress into a neat square, I placed it on the pile of shirts Elliot had started. Eyeing the pile, I noticed just how large it was, just like the pile of pants and mound of socks next to it.
“This is a lot of clothes. You didn’t really go through all this in a week, did you?”
Elliot laughed, shaking his head. “It’s not just me. There’s Samson’s and Fitz’s stuff in there too.”
Glancing at the three piles again, I couldn’t find any differentiation, but when I looked over at the chair and ottoman off to the side, more piles of clothes were set on them.
“Jeez. Remind me to get you a maid for Christmas. This is way too much laundry.”
Again, Elliot was chuckling, and I liked that sound. Loved it, even. We folded clothes in the quiet for a while, and in the background, the gentle sounds of music played, something I hadn’t noticed when I entered. It was a steady tempo, not too fast or slow, and there was a pleasant, easygoing nature to it that I immediately pegged as lo-fi. I couldn’t believe Elliot, of all people, was listening to something like that.
“You’re listening to lo-fi?” I glanced up, furrowing my brow at him.
“Ugh, don’t judge me. It’s Fitz’s fault. He got me turned on to it, and I find it relaxing now.” The playful guilt in his eyes was adorable, and I warmed knowing again just how close the three of them were. Elliot was such a grump—there was no way around that—but there was a lot beneath it too. Kindness, resolute loyalty, patience.
Oh, and a spectacular cock.
A needle of arousal shot straight through me, sudden but undeniable, and I reflexively clenched my thighs together. Elliot and I had gotten closer, started to figure each other out, and it made it that much easier to jump right into the sack with him. I remembered all the amazing things we’d done during the heat, and I couldn’t deny that the idea of doing them again—heat or no heat—was extremely appealing.
“Whatcha thinking about over there?” Flicking my eyes up, they landed on Elliot as he paused in folding and stared at me, his lids low and a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth.
Heat rushed through me, my cheeks on fire, and I darted my attention back to the second shirt I’d been folding and had only made it halfway through.
“Nothing.”
Being a beta—or thinking I was—had come with some advantages. Namely, that I wasn’t oozing perfume all over the place when I got the least bit aroused. Being called out on it made me feel exposed and vulnerable.
Though, I wasn’t sure if I totally minded the idea of Elliot being able to tell, of him knowing and scenting me, of deciding just what he was going to do about it.
Trying uselessly to busy myself with the laundry, I heard the floorboards creak as Elliot sauntered over to me, that scent of his swirling and making slick pool inside me. He hummed a low growl, coming up behind me and pushing my hair off my neck and over the opposite shoulder. My heart was beating hummingbird fast as Elliot lowered his lips to my skin, brushing them over me gently and taking adeepbreath.
“Now, see, your scent tells a different story, omega. Because I can smell your arousal, that melony scent is damn strong, precious.”
I was going to burst into flames, but I was so okay with that. This was not where I’d seen the day going, but I wasn’t complaining. Still, this tiny part of me wanted to make Elliot work for it a little. I mean, he’d been such an ass about the fire thing, making him earn a taste felt entirely appropriate.
“So what if it is? I thought we came in here to do laundry.”
Abruptly, Elliot spun me around to face him. He towered over me, holding either of my shoulders as I clutched the stupid shirt of his. Our eyes met, and Elliot’s smirk went straight to my pussy, which clenched around nothing. God, I wanted his knot something fierce.
