Page 78 of The Pack Next Door
“You want to be knotted?” There was a harsh snap to his voice. “You won’t be able to get up in the morning, if you just say yes.”
“Yes…?”
Briar blinked, the omega shoved to one side as the woman reasserted herself.
“Yes, to becoming ours. Yes, to the mate bond.” He spoke of the greatest day of our lives with a grim sort of determination. “Yes, to becoming mine.”
She couldn’t answer, the two of us moving in tandem now, grinding against our mate but not into her. Jace’s hand moved, working his shaft, ready to give Briar whatever she needed to get through this.
“I…”
Had I ever hung on anyone’s words like this before? If I did, I couldn’t remember it. My lips peeled back, my fangs bared, ready to strike. I’d plunge them into her neck, forging the bond in an instant if she gave us her answer.
But that wasn’t right, was it?
We were still hammering out the way this would work, and that took time. Discussions with cool heads, not overheated instincts. Because they would desert us, leaving just three people to make sense of the mess they’d created.
“I can’t!”
She wailed that out as she came on his cock, Gideon, all of us, erupting second after. I thrust and thrust, rubbing through the mess, working it into her skin, and my brothers did the same.
Which was enough to break the spell we were all under.
Lights were on, broadcasting everything we were doing to the entire property beyond. Thankfully, there were only sheep out there, but still. Then there were her words. Like a knife plunged into my chest, they twisted, making clear how bad things were. Bleeding out all over the floor, that was what I was doing. But rather than say that, I pressed a gentle kiss to her neck and then set Briar down, stepping back.
“I said I don’t want to become the next ruling omega,” she said, “and I meant it.” There was something harried about her tone. “That’s not the life for me. Help you become ruling pack, that was the deal. I’ll honour my side of it…”
But would we do the same? That went unspoken.
Not me. Getting away from the town, our parents? The cool country air did more to clear my head than anything else. If Gideon and Jace wanted it, I’d participate in the trial, but no more than that. When Briar went, I’d go with her, and leave them to work out how to hold the town between the two of them.
“Whatever you need, o…” I smiled as I caught myself. “Briar. You know that.”
But she didn’t. Even I could see I was just a stranger that fate had shoved into her path, waiting to see how she’d respond.Briar would though, I was certain of it. The dads had trained us to pursue a goal single-mindedly, and right now I could feel an almost tangible shift, setting her square in my sights.
“And in theory…” Jace rubbed his seed into the skin of her stomach. “You should be good for a while. With several… applications today, it should hopefully hold you for tonight.”
“And tomorrow?” She stepped free of us, grabbing her dress and pulling it over her head. “My intention was to stay here for the day. I don’t get to come up here often, and I still need to sit down with Tom to work out what to do next.” Worries were piling up on her shoulders, and right then I wasn’t above offering to replace every single one of the old prick’s fences if it meant he’d make more pots for Briar. “If there’s a way forward.”
“We need to sleep on it,” Gideon announced before tugging his shirt up and over his head. “Which we can do outside.”
“There’s no need.” Briar sounded impossibly tired. Resigned, even. I watched her stumble towards the bed, wanting to sweep her off her feet and carry her, but when she was clearheaded, that’s when everything got weird. Our lack of knowledge about each other felt like an insurmountable abyss that was only bridged by her hormones. “It’s a big bed and…” She yawned so hard her jaw cracked. “All I’m going to do is sleep. If you’re out there, my wolf is just as likely to take control and force me to sleep beside you.”
Because half of her knew where she belonged.
I kept that to myself as I got under the shower, scrubbing myself clean. Anything to get me in bed, settling into the soft mattress and her.
“You don’t have to snuggle me…” Briar was almost asleep, the moon casting long shadows across her face. “There’s more than enough space.”
“What if I want to?” I peered over her shoulder, waiting for an answer, but only got a long whistling breath in reply.
Chapter 38
Briar
This close to the peak of my heat, I didn’t expect to get much sleep. Waking up after having a whole night uninterrupted by feverish or sexy dreams had me blinking in surprise. The world came to me in pieces. A ceiling that wasn’t the same as my old bedroom’s. Light pouring in through the massive picture window at the end of the bed, letting me know where I was. And them.
Mads had obviously ignored my advice and was snuggled right into my shoulder blades, his breath fanning over my skin with every slow exhale. Jace had taken up the other side, the heavy weight of his arm anchoring me to the bed. Asleep, his blond hair fanning over the pillow, there was no evidence of the silver-haired demon of last night. I flushed from embarrassment, not heat, as I remembered how it’d gone down. Mads held me like a sweet treat offered up on a tray, and Jace had… My thighs rubbed together, the skin a little sensitive from beard rash, but nothing else. My clit made clear she was receptive for more, but not insisting.
