Page 76 of In Deep

“Knot me,” I whimper as Zane’s thrusts stutter too.

And then I feel it, the combined stretch, and my world goes lightening white.

Chapter 23

Afterwards they bundle me into the back of a taxi, both cradling me between their laps, stroking my hair and my cheeks, telling me what a good girl I am, how proud they are of me, how special I am.

At the house, Zane wraps me in his jacket and Duncan carries me upstairs and straight to the bathroom. The room soon fills with steam and sweet aromas as Zane runs the bath.

“I just want to go to bed,” I murmur into Duncan’s chest, as sleepy as a kitten who just overdosed on full fat cream. But they insist, stripping me gently and lowering me into the warm waiting water.

“Your body just took two alpha knots, wee yin,” Duncan whispers. “That’s no easy feat. We want to ensure you’re not sore tomorrow.” Kneeling beside the bathtub, he commands me to lean forward and runs a soft flannel over my shoulder and around my neck. Zane crouches at the other end of the tub, his hand resting on my knee, his thumb circling the soft skin underneath, purring contentedly.

When I’ve soaked enough, they lift me from the tub and wrap me in fluffy towels, carrying me to Zane’s waiting bed and curling up with me. I fall asleep to their calming purrs and their tender touches.

But despite their best efforts, my body feels the previous night’s exploits when I wake the next morning. I ache all over and, between my legs, I feel sore and swollen.

Duncan notices the wince as I stagger from the bed.

“Are you hurting, wee yin?” he asks with a concerned frown.

“A bit,” I admit.

“Come back to bed. I’ll go fetch you breakfast. In fact, stay here all day.”

And draw more of Seb’s condemnation? No way. I don’t want to give him any more reasons to hate me.

“I’m fine,” I say, plastering what, I hope, is a convincing smile on my face. “But I think I may need some time to recover.”

Duncan growls while grabbing my hand, tugs me back towards the bed. He sweeps my hair from my neck and nuzzles against my gland. “It was good though, wasn’t it?”

Zane watches from beside us, his hand idly tracing the contours of Duncan’s taut stomach.

“It was so much more than good,” I tell them.

* * *

My lectures drag that day, and even though a whispered debrief with Sophia peps me up a little, I’m relieved to flop straight into bed the minute I get home, even if it is the middle of the afternoon. I draw the covers up to my chin, letting the warmth leech away some of my aches. But I don’t get any sleep. I’m interrupted by messages from Ollie.

Need to see you, Omega,the first one reads.

I can’t. I’m in recovery.

I heard all about it. But I want to hear it from you. Fuck, I wish I’d been there to see it.

Before I’ve responded, another message pings onto my phone.

I’ll be good, I promise. We can just snuggle. All I want is you naked and in my bed, making it smell divine.

Just snuggling!I tell him.

Just snuggling.

By the evening, I’m pleased he convinced me. I feel shaken, as if I took a giant dose of ecstasy last night and am now dealing with the comedown. I want a pair of strong arms around me again and sweet words in my ear. Fuck, despite my cunt telling me otherwise, I would even like to be rutted and knotted, locked firmly to one of my alphas.

My usual seven o’clock tutorial cancels, so I catch the bus up to the far end of town. Ollie will probably scold me for not taking a taxi and charging it back to him, but it feels too presumptuous.

My forehead rests against the warm glass as the vehicle rumbles through the busy town and out towards the suburbs, the view changing from rows of cramped terraces to vast, detached townhouses.