Page 73

“I’m not cleaning,” I warn, feeling hot and frustrated, completely unsure how to fix either. Grabbing my keys and phone from the table just inside the door, I lock my place up.

“Of course not.”

Dez escorts me the four steps to their side of the duplex, hand on my lower back. I’m one step over the threshold of their side when he presses close, breathing every word onto my skin. “I think I’ve proven I’m more than happy to clean.”

No doubt I’m beet red right now. At least the scent-dampening panties hide how much I like everything he’s saying. I doubt guests will appreciate the lingering scent of perfuming omega.

My stomach sinks and sours. The pack said they’d wait for me, but no one mentioned doing it alone. Despite my answer to courtship, I don’t want them with anyone else.

They may not be mine, but they said they wanted to be. That means they wouldn’t do that, right?Fuck, dating is the worst and I’m not even doing it.

“The place is beautiful,” I say, spinning away from Dez’s probing stare and my stupid thoughts.

They’ve barely moved in, but the space takes my breath away. Cozy couches and blankets everywhere. Furniture that’s lived in and well maintained. They’ve turned a blank slate into a warm, cozy place I want to dive into and never leave. This isn’t a home I could get lost or lonely in. Not when it encourages connection and interaction. Bonding as a unit. A family.

Nerves skitter down my spine. I don’t know how to be in a place like this. I grew up in a museum and moved to another with my pack. Yet, my fingers literally itch to steal the blankets for my nest. This lived in comfort is as foreign as the men crowding my space and the peace they bring me.

“Knew you’d like it,” Nate crows, tossing himself on the couch, completely oblivious to my panic. “Our place is comfy as hell.”

“That’s why he’s spreading his funk all over instead of taking a fucking shower.” Connor says from somewhere behind me.

“He smells fine.” I can’t take my eyes off Nate as he sprawls out, giving me a front-row look at thick muscles and a curved belly I want to wrap myself around.

“I’m not the only one that smells good.” There’s a stereo of rumbling agreements, though the one at my back almost immediately cuts off. Nate’s smirk gets bigger as he tracks the pink spreading across my neck and face. Damnable blush. “Besides, I was waiting for you. Wanna save water with me, kitten? Do it for the turtles.”

“We all know there will be no conservation efforts if you get me naked again.”

“True,” he admits. “Can you blame me?”

Laughter bubbles and I let it out, tipping my head back. For a moment, I feel weightless. Breathless at their attention and the joy I feel. But everything stalls when my head drops to Connor’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I—” Didn’t realize he was there. Not that it matters.

He stays where he is, the moment holding. Our eyes lock as they always seem to. My chest aches at the fear in his. The resignation. So many feelings, all put there because of me.

“Connor.”

His head snaps to the side, body stiff as he pulls away without another word.

The room is too quiet, the others watching me struggle to keep my feelings off my face.I have to stop touching him.“Maybe another time.”

Nate’s eyes are dark, frown lines taking over his face, but they disappear fast, something far more mischievous stealing their place. Hauling himself up in a move too smooth for me to comprehend and drops his boxers right there in the living room.

He strolls over, getting close enough to brush my body and mouth with his. It takes everything in me not to watch his cock getting harder against me. This fucking alpha doesn’t play fair, looking like a snack with his stupid smile and his flirty eyes.

I gasp at the rush of heat under my skin and Nate gives me a wicked smirk, inhaling the first tendrils of my perfume slipping around us. “That’s the good shit. I can still taste you, baby.”

Dez snatches me out of Nate’s hold. “Go shower before dinner gets here. And no, Daphne’s not on the menu.”

“Now that would be something. We could have you spread out?—"

“Go!” Connor and Dez shout as my perfume gets out of control.

Nate pouts until he’s out of view and, just like that, I’m smiling again. There’s something about him that makes me so happy.

My back rests comfortably against Dez’s chest while he nuzzles my throat, the scent of my heat thicker there with the blanket over my shoulders. “You smell edible, gorgeous. I can’t decide if I want to clean you off again or if I like having you drenched in us.”

There’s an almost growl in his words that I feel all over. Fingers on my skin, kisses in my hair, the hardness of his cock pressing against my ass. The way his hand gets so close to palming me through my clothes.