Page 189 of Knot That Serious

Eli caught his wrist in her hand and stopped him. “Nails,” she warned, and Jack groaned.

“Not fair,” he grumbled.

Eli chuckled and sat up enough to gather her skirt all the way up before—

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Beckett gasped. “You sat here the whole time, in— with no—“

Eli grinned mischievously at him. “All according to plan, baby,” she purred.

“God, I love you,” he groaned, and tilted his head back onto the couch cushion, at least until she notched him at her core.

“Christ,” Jack breathed behind her.

As she sank down on him, letting gravity do most of the work for her, she cherished the easy glide and leaned forward to peck a kiss on his lips. “For the record, I love you, too.”

36. A Well-Loved Recipe

Eli

Building a house was not easy—even for an experienced architect, apparently.

There was so much red tape, as well as demolition for the remains of the previous house, and zoning, and property taxes. Not to mention all the decisions that went into planning their home. Furniture and paint colors and tiles and carpet and hardwood—Eli had nearly lost her mind.

The only place she really cared about was the kitchen. As well as her nest, which she got to design, with Raj’s help, of course.

But that was months and months of work ago.

Now, Eli was truly living with the fruits of their labor. Literally, as she pulled a peaches and cream inspired tart from the double oven.

It needed to cool, so she placed it on the rack she’d staged in the center of the kitchen island, her favorite feature.

To be totally honest, Jack deserved major brownie points for telling Raj she’d always wanted one.

No more annoying alpha brownies, then.

Eli chuckled, tearing off her oven mitts and shoving them in the appropriate drawer, then grabbing herself a drink from the fridge before trailing out to the backyard.

“There she is,” Jack called, leaning over the edge of the expanded and improved treehouse.

“Does that mean the tart’s done?” Raj called out, though she could only see the top of his bun through the little windows.

Eli rolled her eyes affectionately and made her way over to her pack, passing up her bottle before climbing the sturdy ladder.

It was big enough now to fit all four of them easily, with room to spare. The floor was lined in outdoor cushions, and Eli wobbled her way to her spot and bumped her shoulder into Jack, unable to resist his charms. He curled an arm around her waist and even now, over a year after they’d been bonded, her heart still went all fluttery like a moth’s wings.

And he knew it, too, fingers wiggling against her sides at the rush of emotion through their bond.

The twinkle lights twinkled, the night air was cool, and her pack was gathered around her.

“To the first of many nights in our new home, as a pack,” Eli said, and lifted her glass bottle up.

Jack joined her, their cream sodas clinking together before Beckett and Raj followed suit with their beer bottles.

“To us,” Raj said, and his gaze was about as soft as the feather-light adoration from his end of the bond.

Jack hummed. “To… our super-hot, talented omega?”

Eli pinched his side, cheeks flaming.

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