Page 21 of The Beta: Part Two
I feel my face fall, this is exactly what I didn't want, what I was afraid of.
He sees it and is quick to explain, “it isn't better than Jasper. That's not what I'm saying. Never that. Jasper is more precious to me than anything. No matter how much you will mean to me, to us, Jasper will never, ever be put aside. That's what you're worried about, that you will displace Jasper once we claim you as our omega. You won't. We will just have two equally precious treasures. And we will never come between you and Jasper. Did you know that we think you're mates? The true mates that people talk about but you never see anymore. We can all feel the connection he has to you through our bond with him.”
Oh.
That actually does make sense in an intensely insane way that I cannot possibly process with Devon still gently thrusting into me.
“Okay,” I say lamely, my voice laced with the sleepy, satisfied contentment I'm beginning to feel.
He kisses my forehead and laughs softly, and pulls me up so that I'm straddling his hips and I groan into his chest when he nudges just a little deeper. We settle with him leaning against the wall and me pressed against him, my head resting against his shoulder.
“I'm going to lick you,” I say, too exhausted to feel embarrassed about how slurred my words sound.
He laughs again when I run my tongue over his collarbone and I hum in appreciation.
I'm just drifting into unconsciousness when I hear a camera sound followed by the obnoxious noise of a text being sent out. “Put your phone on silent like a normal person,” I grumble, but he just strokes down my back and shushes me.
“I sent Jasper a picture. Nathan, too, he was worried.”
That's okay, Devon can send whatever picture he wants. He keeps up his purr and I'm softly purring along with it, then very suddenly I can't stay awake. I don't even try to fight it. The alpha-insta-sleep is definitely going to be one of only a few omega perks I enjoy.
My eyes pop open when I hear Jasper's voice.
He's sitting against the wall next to Devon and I. I don't feel Devon inside me anymore, and I wonder how long he sat there and let me sleep in his lap. I reach for Jasper and he pulls me over to sit across his own lap and kisses my temple. I'm not ready to stand up, much less walk around. All I want is to go up to our nest and burrow into the blankets. I look around the floor and frown when I don't find anything Devon-scented to hold against me.
“I'm sorry I missed it, but I did make that picture my lock screen,” Jasper says, petting my back.
I groan, “you can't have a picture of Devon's dick stuck inside me as your lock screen.”
They both laugh like I've said something hilarious.
“I would if I had one, cupcake. But it's just a selfie of him holding you while you slept,” Jasper informs me, but I still grumble about it.
“Are you hurting?” Devon asks, and I shake my head.
“I feel so much better. Thank you. I'm also not in heat, that was a spike. I might really die if it gets worse than that.”
Another shared masculine chuckle curls warmly through my veins, and I sigh into Jasper's arms.
“I think I know what we should do when I go into heat. I don't like it, and I don't think it will be successful, but I think it's the safest course of action,” I mumble sleepily, fighting myself for wakefulness.
Jasper squeezes me and says, “come on, sleepy girl. Tell us about it over dinner. We brought take-out.”
Kaleb is the only one who understands my reasoning.
Jasper especially doesn't like it.
Devon isn't exactly on board, either.
“You said you wanted me to take just one more than Nathan, I chose Trent. I want Kaleb and Devon to stay outside the nest with the security team. That's the only way I can tolerate the inevitable without hating and resenting every single fucking second of it. I need to know you're safe while I'munavailable.”
He's giving me stubborn green eyes, but Devon is who speaks. “Any other time I'd agree with you, Talia. I would. But after this afternoon, seeing how you are during just a spike, and knowing how Jasper can get...I think you're going to be worse than he ever could be, because you're going to go into actual estrous. Jasper needs all four of us, without the amplification of estrous. There's no way only two alphas will be able to take care of you sufficiently. And, to be blunt, you're fucking aggressive. Trent can take it, but Nathan and Jasper...”
Jasper interrupts his bullshit. “Fuck off. I can take anything she dishes out, I just don't have the knot she'll need. Nathan can take it, too. He might not be an aggressive lover, but he can handle an omega in heat as well as you can, it's what he's built for.”
Nathan leans across the table for Jasper and kisses his palm when he reaches back.
“But,” Jasper continues, his tone going sullen, “I agree that two alphas and one me isn't going to be enough for you. What's worse is that I also agree that keeping Kaleb and Devon outside the haze of your heat is a good idea. I know you've refused every time I've brought it up, but I would feel so much better if you'd at least let us put in a call to Corso, to see if he would be willing to be on standby to lend a hand, so to speak. I saw the way he looked at you at the auction, I heard the way he spoke to you. And you said yourself that he's a good alpha.”
