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He lowered himself on an elbow, and low buzzing filled the air. My purr deepened as gentle vibrations emanated outward from the place where Emma and I were joined. Elijah’s green eyes met and held mine with an expression midway between fear and hunger. My purring grew louder; an instinctive urge to soothe.

Pleasure crested and ebbed as Emma climaxed around my knot... once... twice... three times. My mouth watered with the desire to get my teeth around the juncture of her neck and shoulder, where the smell of absinthe and blackcurrant was so strong, I thought I could get drunk on it.

Eventually, she hummed and settled, her body growing heavy with sleep. The buzz of the vibrator clicked off—but Elijah was still watching me with that same torn expression.

I wasn’t sure where the impulse came from, and I wasn’t sure why I gave into it. Leaning up on an elbow, I reached out andhooked a hand around the nape of his neck, reeling him in until I could catch his lips in a biting kiss.

He froze for a moment, the thick scent of roses lashed by a thunderstorm flowing around us, combining with Emma’s sharper scent. Then he moaned, kissing me back with equal intensity, the forgotten vibrator falling from his grasp.

TWENTY-SIX

Elijah

SOMEHOW, RECEIVING AN attempted tonsillectomy from Gabriel morphed into Onyx leaving hickeys on my neck while I rutted into their hand, the vibrator I’d so recently used on Emma buzzing away inside me until I exploded with a hoarse cry.

Onyx had at least thought to slap a condom over the toy before putting it in me. I really appreciated that, because safe sex practices hadn’t even been a blip on my radar at the time.

I wasn’t sure if I felt better or worse now that the terrible tension had finally snapped. I mean—better, I guess. Physically, at least. The view in the aftermath was certainly nice. Onyx could have had a career as an alpha model at one of the more progressive agencies in Paris or Milan, and Young Daniel Craig was still curled protectively around Emma a few feet away from where I lay sprawled and panting.

Some instinct had me searching out Curran. He was sitting nearby, his attention fully on Gabriel and Emma. A thoughtful frown deepened the lines on his craggy face. I followed his gaze to find Gabriel blinking rapidly, looking at the woman in his arms as though he wasn’t entirely clear how she’d ended up there.

The rumbly purr that had been rolling up from his chest for the last half hour or so died away. He licked his lips and swallowed, his throat bobbing.

“What... just happened?” he asked slowly, after the silence threatened to become oppressive.

His attention zeroed in on me, with my shirt hanging open and bruises ringing my neck, my pants nowhere to be found.Classy as fuck in the heat nest; that was me. Then his startling blue gaze flew to Curran, who gave a gusty sigh.

“An omega’s heat happened,” Curran said. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. Though, for future reference, apparently you have a high resistance to dampeners.”

Gabriel looked at Onyx, his eyes wide and horrified. “Igrowledat you.”

“Shocking. You should lodge a complaint with the HR department, Onyx,” Curran suggested, raising an eyebrow at his fellow bodyguard.

“We don’t have an HR department,” Onyx replied.

“Wedohave an HR department,” Gabriel said, still sounding appalled at himself. “I mean, the company does.”

“Oh, good,” Onyx told him. “I’ll be sure to draft a formal letter when we get back to London.” They held his gaze for a beat, then snorted derisively.

“You’re exactly where you need to be right now, Gabriel,” Curran said, and I was pretty sure it was the first time I’d heard him address his boss by his actual name. “Mind your omega. She seems better than before, but you’ll be the first to know if she’s in distress.”