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“She’s twenty-four and I’m twenty-six.”

“So I’m old enough to be experienced.” I winked. “But not quite robbing the cradle.”

“Nope.” West stalked into my bedroom. His scent was soft today, warm milk and sweet honey. It was delicate, like a French pastry. The almond undertone felt like a dream, and I wondered what sort of teasing I’d have to do in order to make it come out.

“Last night,” West started.

“Yeah?” I kept putting clothes into my duffel bag, not wanting to spook him. “I hope I didn’t upset you, being in a rut.” Heat flushed my face. I hadn’t lost control like that in years.

“We liked it. I mean about being topped.”

It took me a minute to catch up. “When I tried to climb you like a tree? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

He shook his head impatiently. “No. I mean, I don’t want you to top me, but I’m fine telling you no.”

The thought was sexier than I’d thought. I let out a little purr. “I like it when you tell me no.”

The omega let amusement crack his expression for two seconds. “Point is, that’s not changing.” His face got serious again, like he was carved from stone. “I am never going to let you top me, and I very much doubt I’ll want to be knotted.”

“Good to know. Any other boundaries you’d feel comfortable sharing?” I straightened up. “I’ll ask Ember about her boundaries, when we get back, so I’m not asking in the heat of the moment.”

He frowned. “I’m serious. I’m not going to change my mind in the heat of the moment and beg for your knot.”

I tried to figure out what was going through his mind. West acted like he was breaking bad news to me, like I had a terminal disease and not just stating his sexual preferences. But I didn’t know him well enough to guess. Something I’d have to change.

If he gave me the time to change it.

I nodded. “I’m okay with that.”

He snorted, derision on his face. “All alphas want to knot omegas. You’ll have Ember for that, at least.”

It felt like the conversation was on thin ice, and I was skating close to the end. Some brittle edges poked through, and West sounded like he was talking from bitter disappointment.

“If Ember wants me to knot her, I’ll be happy to,” I said carefully. “But my role isn’t to use you or her for my sexual pleasure. My role is to make sure you two are happy, however that happens. If knotting wouldn’t make you happy, I don’t want to knot you.”

He watched me like I was telling the biggest lie of the century. Maybe it sounded like a lie to him. All the media ever talked about was alphas knotting omegas. Everyone acted like that was the be-all, end-all of sex.

“Last night, we figured out we can have amazing, mind-blowing sex without knotting.”

He swallowed hard and gave a sharp nod. “I was shocked you listened even in a rut.”

I shoved another shirt into the bag, if only to prolong the conversation. “Ruts are pure instinct. My instinct isn’t to dominate you or Ember. It’s to pleasure you as much as I can, however that happens.”

“Okay.” West’s shoulders relaxed. It felt like I’d managed to skate over to ice that was thicker.

“Anything you want to bring from your kitchen? I’m not sure what Ember and I have to cook with. We weren’t kidding about cold cereal for dinner.”

“Mi amour, amour.” I clutched my chest. “You’re killing me. If you don’t feel like it’s presumptive, I’ll bring some stuff.” Like the good cooking knives.

“Have at it.” West gestured at the kitchen.

I grabbed a few essential tools, and we headed over to the restaurant. West was still reserved but he no longer seemed like he was waiting for a shoe to drop.

We got my car, and I followed him back to the cottage. Ember jumped on both of us when we walked through the door, and we spent the day snuggling on the couch, eating, having amazing sex, and watching nature documentaries.

It was heaven. I wasn’t sure what I did to hit the jackpot, but I would do everything I could to make sure I didn’t screw it up.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to leave them alone if I fucked it up somehow. They were mine. My alpha instincts knew it.