Page 30 of Knot Alone

I step out of Marie’s arms and see Graham has taken a knee before the kids. He’s shaking their hands, getting their names, and introducing himself as my friend who’s here to help with my ‘doctor’s appointment.’ He soothes their worries with, ‘No, she’ll be just fine. She’s not even sick, but she goes to the doctor to keep herself from getting sick.’ I glance at my sister and can’t keep the smugness off my face.

I let Graham wind down his explanation, and then we’re out the door and into the waiting car, where I climb straight onto his lap. He deserves all the kisses.

I’m frantic, peppering rapid pecks over every inch of his skin I can reach, unable to hold myself still long enough to suck his tongue into my mouth. Graham sinks into the kiss for a beat, then pulls away with a groan. I try to scramble closer, get more from him, but Graham rumbles, “No, no, no,” with little pecking kisses to soothe me back. “We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re close, Maggie.”

“What?”

Graham raises his eyebrow. The pause smacks me in the face with my own highly concentrated scent, trapped in the car where it can’t dissipate. It’s the sweet raspberry of my arousal, but deeper with the spice that comes from hovering on the cusp of heat. And right beneath me is Graham’s fevered body, my legs stretched over his thick thighs while I grind on the bulge of his cock without thinking. The salty tang of his scent swells and I want him in me.

“No.” Graham tightens his hands on my hips and holds me still. All I can think about is those massive biceps lifting me up and down, fucking me on his cock. Graham growls, then tenses his perfect jaw to cut off the noise.

“The first time I have you isn’t going to be in the back of a car.”

“I’d let you.” And I would. I want to know what his thick cock feels like in my poor, leaking cunt. I want him to pick me up and fuck me in midair like he promised, with me unable to do anything but take the pleasure. I want him.

“Fuck.” Graham snarls, then picks me up off his lap and gently sets me down on the spot next to him. “Put on your seatbelt.”

I whine. I can’t help it.

“One of us is going to be a gentleman about this, and apparently that’s me. Someone in this pack needs a first story fit for polite company.”

“We’re on our way to the Center for my heat.”

“Yes, and that’s going to be good enough.”

“Graham.” I rub my thighs together to find some relief.

“Maggie.” He wraps his solid palm around my cheek, and it startles me back to consciousness. “You’re about to go into heat, and us being in this car is making it worse. When we get out, and you have some space, the heat will back off a little. I don’t want to drive you over the edge. You haven’t been at the Center for a heat before and I don’t want to be what rushes you. I want you to have enough time to settle and be ready. Not be thrown into heat because I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.”

Graham means it. Every line of his perfect face screams honesty, and the bright lunchtime sunlight makes him glow like there’s no place for secrets to hide. Like he’s the sort of man who can be good and handsome without the cover of darkness.

He and Linus are the same in that, though they’re a contrast everywhere else. Graham’s hair is a tangle of sun-kissed, surfer-blond waves, like he didn’t bother brushing it before he stepped out this morning. He’s in a t-shirt and jeans, both of which highlight his perfect musculature. Honestly, he’s so fucking sexy that I can’t stand it. I want to see those thick, muscular thighs in action.

But he’s not wrong.

Am I disappointed that Graham won’t let me ride him right here, right now? Yes.

Does some part of me recognize that I’ll be mortified the moment we find some fresh air? Also, yes.

But Graham is right. Sex right now is probably a bad idea. It would throw me past the threshold and all the way into my heat. Before we got in the car, I felt like I had a few hours left before my heat hit, even longer if I could keep calm. Before I met Linus yesterday, I would’ve said I had at least a week before my heat.

But the time the three of us spent tucked safely away in the quiet of their home made my clock start ticking. Sure, the sex didn’t help, but I was more triggered by how safe the two of them made me feel. There’s nothing frantic about either of them. Even as Linus paced this morning, he was steady. I feel like I can trust them both with anything. I blame my rapid onset heat on their stability.

I slump forward, burying my face in the crook of Graham’s neck to soak in his scent. I give a groan that’s more agreement than desire. Graham is right. He’s a stupid gentleman and he’s right. I grumble that to him.

“Thanks for saying so.” Graham wraps an arm around me, leaving enough space between our bodies to keep things cool. He presses a kiss to my hair and murmurs. “Three minutes, Maggie. We’ll make it.” And with Graham, I know we will.

Chapter Eight

Maggie

I breathe in the wave of fresh air that hits me when I climb out of the car.

Well, as fresh as any parking lot ever is. The chill of the building’s shadow cuts my heat off at the knees and restores some common sense now that I’m out of the scent hotbox we made of the car.

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