Page 29

“Fuck. Not every omega can take a knot orally. That’s going to take…”

“Training,” I finished.

“Shit. Am I sweating?” He put his hand to his chest. “I’m having heart palpitations and sweating.”

My eyes snapped open as the real fear crystallized, cold and sharp. “What if I go too far?” The question held all my anxiety, all my fear of becoming some kind of a monster.

“Not going to happen,” he said, biting his bottom lip like I was a meal he was looking forward to eating. His confidence steadied me. “You won’t go too far. And if you do, we’re here to catch you. That’s what we do. Alpha.”

Fuck. Every time he called me alpha like that, it undid me.

The door swung open, and Mackenzie’s infectious laughter flooded into the apartment, breaking the intensity of the moment.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I need an appetizer first before fucking our omegas on whatever new nesting supplies they bought,” Ren said, his voice dropping to that register that made my cock twitch.

“I’m sure they picked up spring rolls,” I replied, relief washing through me in a warm wave.

“Hm, maybe we need to fuck first,” he said, stroking me through my pants before smacking me on the ass and heading for the living room.

He spun suddenly and grabbed me by the throat. “This is all good Justice. He loved it. You loved it. Work with it. Take it further. All the way.” He squeezed hard once and then pushed me towards the door and our giggling omegas.

THEO

The elevator doors closed behind us. Ren hit the button for our floor. The little shopping bag felt heavy in my hands.

“I don’t know,” Mackenzie huffed out a breath. “I’m still not sure if he’s initiating contact or I am.”

“Operation CuddleDom is working. Trust me.” Ren pulled her close. “Seriously, you two need to take pack bond classes or something. I can literally feel the shift in him. He’s more relaxed, open.”

Ren had told us about the blowjob conversation. I was still processing it. Honestly? Kind of a revelation. Apparently I was unaware that I liked deep throating and enjoyed… pain? Discomfort? Suffering? I’d have to talk to Ren about it.

No. I should talk to Justice. We were all using Ren as a buffer or a translator. I supposed that was part of being in a pack. We all had our strengths and weaknesses, but this was between Justice and me. I switched the little shopping bag to the other hand, so I wasn’t holding it behind my back like a dirty little secret.

“Are you sure?” Mackenzie asked.

“Positive. He’ll be home in like an hour. We’ll do another movie night. Crawl in his lap and see what he does.”

The elevator opened, and I held my breath. The hallway was empty. I was relieved and disappointed. Another thing I didn’t want to admit was that I had a crush on the omega next door.

Ren tapped his card to unlock the door and pushed it open for us.

“Hi!” Justice practically tackled Mackenzie for a kiss. He then reached for me and then Ren, kissing us each too, like it had been months since he saw us.

“You’re home early,” Mackenzie said, flustered.

“I know. I did something. Come look.” He dragged Mackenzie forward. Her shoulder bag toppled off her arm, and she just let it hit the floor. The penthouse was laid out in basically one big room. There was a dining area, a smaller cozy sitting area by the balcony doors, and then the bigger living area with the oversized couch, coffee table, and giant TV. Jewel-colored floor pillows now littered the space. Round little poofs and thick, squishy square ones. A stack of those that stood waist high, tucked in the corner next to the TV console. There was a new ottoman, too.

“Pillows?” She cocked her head like a puppy.

“We never really eat at the dining room table. And I kind of like it. But it’s… triggering or whatever.” Justice was talking exceptionally fast.

I shot a glance at Ren. He had his hands casually in his pockets, an eyebrow raised, but he wasn’t completely relaxed, like he wasn’t quite sure where this was going.

“Yeah, it’s, uh…” Justice scooped up one of the square pillows and squished it in his hands. “I… growing up, my bed was just a mattress on the floor. And well, this one time, my parents sold all the furniture to buy drugs, so I had to sit on the floor to do homework, eat, whatever.” He stalked over to the stack of floorcushions and pulled two off. “So, seeing you guys sit on the floor, it, like, I don’t know, tips into panic attack territory.”

Ren took a double take. I was right there with him. Justice never talked about his childhood. He also didn’t talk about having panic attacks.

“And it’s not, like, totally comfortable. The floor is hard. Maybe it’s an alpha thing, or a trauma response. But pillows. See?”