Page 74 of Altius (The Scent of Victory #2)

Joaquin traced my lips with his thumb, slipping the tip inside, inadvertently leaving a faint trail of my heady orchid scent across my tongue. It had a richer sweetness and more aromatic undernote than I remembered.

But it was his peppery flavor that made me tighten my lips around his thumb, giving it a few prolonged sucks while I undid the top button of his jeans.

“That’s it,” he said, inching closer to the bed, slipping his thumb deeper into my mouth even as he tightened his hold on my hair. “Just like that… Gotta warm you up for my cock.”

I didn’t need to look to know he was already half hard. The solid ridge of heat pressing against my wrist was proof enough. I dragged my teeth along the underside of his thumb while simultaneously lowering his zipper.

His belt slipped from my grasp. The metal of the buckle hitting the paint-splattered floorboards cut through the lustful haze of my thoughts.

Pulling back, breathing hard, I stared at the alpha before me—my boyfriend’s mate —worried that I’d crossed a line.

“Alijah—”

A suggestive chuckle allayed my worries.

“I don’t keep my babe in the dark.” A rough fingertip slowly traced the Olympic rings inked into my skin, one at a time, a prolonged, subtle claim that left me shivering. “Not when it comes to you, Morgan.”

“Is… Can he join us?”

“In a bit.”

Hooking a finger through the hinge of my glasses, he pulled them off, casually tossing them onto the nightstand.

Then Joaquin dropped his jeans and boxers in one smooth motion, revealing the hardening length of his cock and the sugar skull tattoo that dominated his left thigh.

“Like what you see?” he teased, grabbing a bottle of lube from a nightstand drawer before easing down onto the bed beside me, settling on his back. “Why don’t you take a closer look? Real close.”

Inching toward him on my knees, I hesitantly traced the fern leaf on his left trapezius that mirrored the placement of Alijah’s mating bite.

“Do all your tattoos have meanings?”

“Pretty much,” he said, running his hand up my thigh to toy with the waistband of my panties. “But I won’t tell you unless there’s something in it for me.”

“Like what—one kiss per tattoo?”

“Nah, too tame.” A predatory gleam flashed in his eyes. “One tattoo for every finger I can fit into that tight pussy of yours, with a bonus for every inch of my dick you suck.”

Tilting my head to the side, I stared at Joaquin for a long moment, then pointed to his thigh.

“The sugar skull is for your grandmother with the amazing chili recipe.” Nodding toward the spider lily on his right hand, I added, “That’s for your dads, and the—”

“Nope, you’re cheating.” Joaquin fisted the side of my panties, tugging me closer. “And I won’t keep playing unless you sit on my face.”

Indulging in a laugh, I rolled my eyes and acquiesced, slipping off my underwear before straddling his chest, legs parted to give him easy access while I took hold of his pulsing hardness, tongue darting out to tease the head.

Giving him a tentative stroke, I glanced over my shoulder and said, “I’m surprised your dick isn’t pierced.”

Slipping an arm around my thigh, pulling my core closer to his mouth, Joaquin laughed against my clit. “I know. You only mentioned it a dozen times during your heat.”

“I did—ahn!”

The hot spear of his tongue darting inside my pussy took me by surprise. I fell forward, unprepared for the targeted precision of Joaquin’s foreplay.

I was so distracted by his fingers teasing my clit and the tantalizing rhythm of his tongue that it took a firm slap against my ass to remind me I was supposed to be sucking him off.

Determined to give as good as I got, I relished the task at hand, taking him deeper with every pass, angling my head to accommodate the curve of his length, squeezing the growing prominence of his knot with my fist, savoring each spicy trace of precum.

The first contact of lube against my heated skin made me shudder, but the friction of Joaquin’s finger sliding deep inside my pussy more than made up for the momentary chill.

His hips flexed in time with the thrust of his finger and the flicker of his tongue, knot growing firmer by the second. Joaquin was soon on the precipice.

Double-fisting his knot, I squeezed and pumped—so focused on getting him off that I didn’t notice he’d added a second finger until two calloused fingertips pressed against my G-spot. I whimpered around the throbbing length filling my mouth and gave a sharp twist of my wrist in retaliation.

“That’s it, doc,” Joaquin hissed. “Drain me dry, just like that.”

Widening my jaw, I took Joaquin down to the hilt, lips forming a tight seal against the top of his knot, and sucked. His hips bucked off the mattress, overcome with sheer pleasure.

As the first searing spurt of cum flowed into my mouth, Joaquin buried his face between my ass cheeks, tongue darting out to tease my sensitive nerve endings. I refused to relinquish my hold on him, pumping his knot, greedily drinking every drop, and savoring his appreciative moans.

Joaquin reciprocated by swirling his tongue around the perimeter of my opening, igniting a prolonged duel to see who would surrender first.

He licked and probed while I bobbed and teased. His knot was a fiery temptation I refused to relinquish, convinced I could still wring out another few mouthfuls of his addicting essence.

Besides, I had the upper hand—he hadn’t made me climax yet.

Hell, at this rate, he might even get fully hard again before—

Gentle fingers—softer, more reverent—traced the length of my spine. Then they slipped down, across my hip, and between my legs.

“Enjoying my mate?” Alijah whispered in my ear, giving my aching clit the lightest of brushes.

Mouth still fused to Joaquin’s cock, I managed a slight nod.

“I can tell.” His plush lips suckled my earlobe. “You’re making him feel so good, I’m about to come in my pants.”

Joaquin’s raspy chuckle against my ass filled my head with all sorts of dirty impulses.

Which was precisely his intention, because we reached for our beta in tandem. Joaquin pressed his palm against Alijah’s straining length, the outline visible against his jeans, while I sank my nails into his denim-clad thighs.

“Wait—” Alijah squirmed, trying to escape our dual ministrations. But it was too late.

I held him firm while Joaquin stroked him through the fabric, each touch bringing Alijah that much closer to the edge.

After earning one last spurt of cum from Joaquin, I eased up, marveling at the almost shameful bliss contorting Alijah’s features.

Fisting the collar of his shirt, I pulled him against my chest and demanded a kiss. Slipping my tongue inside, I smeared Joaquin’s spiced essence across the roof of his mouth.

Alijah let out a startled cry, his fingers scrambling to latch onto my arm, body tensing in shock as he came.

Joaquin’s hand fell away, revealing a prominent dark spot spreading across the front of Alijah’s jeans.

“W-what…” Alijah stammered, equally embarrassed and aroused. “Why did you— It’s not fair.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I met Joaquin’s darkly glittering gaze, and we exchanged a pair of hungry grins.

We were just getting started.

***

Staring down at Joaquin’s triumphant leer as he fucked me hard enough to nearly dislodge Alijah’s cock from my ass, I realized the lingering impressions of my heat hadn’t been hormone-fueled exaggerations.

Not only were they explosive together, but they were determined to get me off as many times as possible.

I was inundated with a constant stream of Alijah’s pleading kisses. He never stopped stroking my bare skin or praising me.

Joaquin could spur me higher with a single tweak of a nipple.

And then there was the masterful way they used their mating bond to plan their next move, shifting one leg higher, nipping at my neck just so, rubbing my clit at the precise moment to make me explode.

What had started as a mission to make Alijah beg for mercy had backfired in the most spectacular, mind-blowing way.

I wasn’t complaining.

If anything, I hoped the two of them used every advantage they’d gained during my heat to keep me floating in this euphoric haze for another hour or three.

But Joaquin, despite his copious amounts of devilish charm, was only human. All too soon, his resurgent knot pressed against my entrance.

“Ready, babe?” he asked, eyes darting between Alijah and me, expecting us both to answer to the same pet name.

Alijah plastered the length of his sweaty chest against my back and dug his chin into my shoulder. He anchored himself with one arm wrapped tightly around my middle, while the other hand twined together with my fingers, sinking deep into their plaid bedspread.

“Do it,” he panted against my skin, thrusting as deep inside as he possibly could. “Knot us both—together.”

Locking my hips in a punishing grip, Joaquin surged forward, turning the already-present sensation of fullness into overwhelming pressure. Wanton cries filled the room as they poured everything into me, pulse after pulse, blazing hot like a brand.

An unspoken claim.

Alijah finished first, a shivering wreck slumped heavily against me, pouring incoherent moans into the curve of my neck.

“Wow. T-that’s tight, so fucking tight,” he mumbled. “Never knew… God damn. Feeling you both like this…”

I looked at Joaquin in silent panic. “You two haven’t ever…?”

Alijah laughed against my hair. “I can’t take a knot.”

“We’ve been waiting,” Joaquin said, giving me an indulgent smile as he ran a teasing finger through the valley of my breasts, meandering its way down my trembling stomach and hips, to where we were so intimately locked together. “For you.”

“Lie down,” I said absently, unable to process the weight of their words. What had started as a bit of escapism had taken a hard left into uncharted territory. “I need to lie down.”