Page 192 of Knot Baked Out For This
"I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll stay," Rowan says quietly. "Say this is home now. Say you're not going to run when things get hard or if Korrin ever tries to do anything to sabotage you again."
I prop myself up on my elbows, looking at each of them in turn. Levi, with his sunshine smile and honey butter scent, always ready to make me laugh. Luca with his storm-gray eyes and careful touches, fixing things before I know they're broken. Rowan with his steady strength and cedar smoke warmth, protecting me even from my own doubts.
"I'm not running," I tell them. "Not from this. Not from you or anyone. Not anymore."
"Promise?" Levi asks, and he sounds young suddenly, vulnerable.
"Pack promise," I say, and feel the words settle into truth.
Rowan's hand moves from my ankle to my calf, and his eyes have that dark look that means he's thinking things that aren't safe for public consumption. "The nest is big enough for all of us."
"I noticed," I manage, hyperaware of how the dress has ridden up, how Levi's hand is on my waist, how Luca's fingers are tracing patterns on my shoulder.
"We could stay here tonight," Luca suggests, voice gone low and rough. "Christen it properly."
"Christen—oh my god."
"What?" Levi grins against my shoulder. "You thought we built you a nest just to look at it?"
"I thought—I don't know what I thought!"
"Think less," Rowan advises, and his hand is higher now, thumb brushing the inside of my knee. "Feel more."
Feel more…
I can do that.
I've been doing nothing but feeling since they crashed back into my life—feeling safe, feeling wanted, feeling like maybe I'm not too much after all.
Levi kisses my neck, right where it meets my shoulder, and I shiver.
"So pretty in this dress. Been thinking about it all day."
"You saw me two hours ago."
"Longest two hours of my life."
Luca's fingers slide into my hair, gentle but purposeful, tilting my head so he can look at me. "Do you know what you do to us? Walking around in your apron and your chaos, smelling like home and vanilla and making us all lose our minds?"
"I make cookies," I protest weakly.
"You make everything better," Rowan corrects, and then his hand is on my thigh, and I forget how to form words.
"We should probably—" I start, but Levi cuts me off with a kiss that tastes like honey and mischief and seventeen different kinds of wanting.
When he pulls back, I'm breathless and flushed and definitely not thinking about whatever responsible thing I was about to suggest.
"That's better," he says, satisfied. "No more thinking. Just us. Just this."
Just this.
Three Alphas surrounding me in a nest that smells like safety and promise. Hands that know how to touch me, mouths thatknow how to make me forget my own name. The knowledge that for the first time in my life, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.
"Clothes are optional in nests, right?" Levi asks hopefully.
"Levi!" But I'm laughing, can't help it.
