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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

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ROMANCE ON THE RACING TRACK

Rookie Vanessa Lennon was seen cozying up to her ex, and rival driver John Lockwood at the pre-season photo call this morning. She also appeared friendly with Ronan Phillips, the driver she defeated for first place during her year in Formula 2. Will we see a blooming romance on the grid this year? Stranger things have happened, and we’ll be watching closely.

“Tag, you’re it.”

My jaw dropped. “Hey.”

River scooped me up off the bed and carried me back into their suite and directly into the bathroom. “So that’s how it’s going to be?” I asked, laughing. “Just going to pass me off from one to the other?”

He set me down on the counter and stood between my legs. “Maybe.”

I wasn’t mad, but I also wanted to poke them. To make a point. So I made sure my tone was full of sass. “I’m not a toy, you know.”

“No, you’re not,” he said, and there was no hint of joking in his face. “That’s not what I?—”

Placing my hand on his cheek, I made him look at me. His energy was different than it had been a moment ago. “Hey. What’s going on? I was teasing.”

River placed his hand on top of mine before turning to kiss my palm. There was both frustration and sadness pouring from him, and he wasn’t meeting my eyes.

“You’re scaring me, River.”

A faint smile then. “It’s nothing.” He pulled away to turn the shower on and strip out of his clothes.

I met him under the water. “Clearly it’s not nothing.”

He sighed and moved all at once, lifting me and pushing my back into the slick tiles. “I’m not avoiding it, but my Alpha needs to be inside you, baby.”

They’d already proven to me—thoroughly—that I’d been wrong about my ability to orgasm more than once. I already felt greedy, and I hadn’t felt River yet. “I’d be disappointed if you weren’t.”

I shuddered as he pushed inside. He felt entirely different from Elias and Beck. I hummed with the pleasure of it. Grayson was the only one who hadn’t fucked me now. We were going to fix that soon.

River’s cock was thicker than Elias’s. Not as long. He filled me differently, but that didn’t matter. I loved it all. Having them inside me felt right in a way nothing else ever had.

He cursed under his breath and kissed me, working his tongue and cock at once in a way that short-circuited my brain. The spark came back into his eyes, and I melted in relief. There he was.

“Been thinking about this all day,” he murmured against my lips. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to drive with a hard-on?”

“Hmm. Guess I know how to distract my competition.”

River’s hips snapped forward, driving himself to the hilt. “Your competition , huh?”

“Giving me a roadmap,” I told him. “Keep you distracted so I can beat you.”

“You’ll have to work harder than that. I said it was difficult, not that I couldn’t do it.”

I smirked. “Guess we’ll see.”

“Naughty Omega.”

“You love it.”

All at once he grabbed the body wash and lathered us up, washing quickly and rinsing us off, all without putting me down or pulling out of me. “It might be easier if you put me down.”

He scoffed. “Vanessa, I’d live my life with my cock inside you if it were a practical option.”

“I’d like to see you try that.”

“Don’t tempt me, baby. I’m very determined.”

I rolled my eyes, but I let him carry me out of the shower, wrap a towel around us, and drop us on a bed. No idea whose it was or if it even mattered.

“You know what I saw you like the other night?” My cocky Alpha was back, staring down at me with naked lust. Water dripped off his hair and body, and this view was going down as one of the most erotic things I’d ever seen. This close, I could see the shades of blue in his dark eyes, and absolutely nothing about them was cold.

“I liked all of it.”

“Damn right you did. But this one little thing…” He slid his palm up the center of my chest and curled his fingers around my throat. No pressure, just a firm, possessive hold.

Pleasure shivered through me, my body going soft and pliant beneath his. River’s smile deepened. “See?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled and leaned down to speak in my ear as he began to fuck me with slow, even strokes. Ones that would get me there, but it would take forever and drive me to the edge first.

“You know what I think?”

I moaned and forced the words out. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

A small bite on my ear made me jump. “You’re gonna make me fuck the sass out of you, baby.”

“You mean that wasn’t the plan all along?”

River didn’t take the bait, keeping that steady, maddening pace. “I think you’ve got fantasies buried so deep you’ve never let them out because you’ve been holding yourself back for so much of your life. I think you’ve got kinks you need to explore, like being held down by the throat and being fucked until you scream. Like being tied up and pleasured. Things you’re afraid to talk about because you’ve never had anyone you could trust not to use them against you.”

He thrust a little harder, a little faster, closer to what we both needed. He was right, but that didn’t make unlocking those things easier. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I knew what all of them were because he was right. They were buried.

“But you can trust us with them, baby.”

I whimpered. The sound snapped River. His mouth crashed down on mine and he unleashed himself. Harder and deeper, that same steady rhythm bringing us closer to the edge. His hand never moved from my throat, pressing me down harder into the bed. It didn’t make me afraid. It made me needy . I wanted more of it. His weight holding me down and taking that control so I could let go. So alien to everyday life. But now that I’d had a taste with all of them, I’d never get enough.

“More.”

River froze mid-thrust and stared down at me. “Say please.”

My whole body convulsed with need and the sudden absence of pleasure. “ Please .”

“Look at me.”

I held his gaze, struggling to keep my eyes open as he took us where we needed to go. Every time his cock sank into me I felt that invisible connection build. The one that told me I was his and he was mine, threaded through with our scents.

The orgasm hit me out of nowhere. Like a tidal wave I wasn’t ready for. I wasn’t coming and then I was. Light flared behind my eyes and rendered me temporarily blind. I arched into his hold, the pleasure wresting my body from my control because it needed somewhere to go. And through it all, River’s hand on my throat stayed there, even when his knot swelled, locking us together and making more shattering pleasure slice through me.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that .”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’ll only get better. Especially once I unlock those secrets you’re hiding.”

Now that we were both finished, I looked at him. Stroked my hands over his shoulders. “Like the one you’re hiding right now?”

His jaw went tight and he looked away again.

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Really. We had some events, and it’s hard to hear people talk about you. No one on the Xelerate team. Vic and I already talked after our meeting this morning. He understands what it’s like to be scent matched, and he’s not an asshole. So if there’s ever anyone on our team that says shit, they’ll be gone in about five minutes. But for everyone else…”

I hooked my hands behind his neck, chest aching. All the casual comments and put downs I was used to. They weren’t. “What did they say?”

“It’s not worth repeating. But you’re not a toy, Nes. We’re not passing you off to one another and using you.”

“I know,” I said softly. “I really was teasing. If I don’t want something, I’ll say it, and I know you would stop.”

He shook his head. “And I don’t want to dump this on you. You already deal with it. You don’t need to deal with it a second time just because it bothers me.” Tilting to the side, he rolled us and tucked me into his chest. His purr started beneath my ear. “But it does bother me.”

“Thank you.”

It was the only thing I could say. It wasn’t easy. It was shitty. And the fact that they wanted to defend me made me feel warmer and safer inside.

“I understand there’s a limit to how much I’m able to defend you until we’re publicly together. But after that? All bets are off, baby.”

I laughed softly. “Just don’t get kicked off the team.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Beck appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. “You lovebirds going to come eat something?”

Peeking over my shoulder at him, I made an overdramatic face. “I’m a little knotted up at the moment. But soon.”

River snorted a laugh. It broke the tension that had hovered in the air.

“Nothing saying you can’t be knotted in the kitchen.” He shrugged before turning to go. “Just saying.”

I stared at him until he started laughing because that put images and ideas I’d never considered into my head. “Told you,” River murmured. “We’re going to uncover every dirty thought you pretend you don’t have.”

Even though I was blushing from the roots of my hair all the way down to my toes, I wasn’t embarrassed. I was excited. My voice was quiet. “Looking forward to it.”

River held me, purring, until his knot released. But he didn’t move, kissing my forehead. “Can I ask you something?”

“Never.” I giggled when he growled and smacked my ass lightly. “What?”

“What do you want to know? When it comes to things like this. Things I hear, things that bother me. Or us. I didn’t lie. I don’t want you to have to comfort me about things that have to do with you . Especially when I’m sure it’s worse for you.”

I thought about it. “If it’s just an offhand comment, I don’t need to know about it. If it’s something more than that, like it’s a rumor that might actually affect me or hit the media, that’s different. But I don’t mind being a comfort. Especially if comfort feels like that .” We both smiled. “There’s a difference between wanting comfort for something that upset you and asking me to validate or manage your reaction to it.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “That makes sense.”

“But don’t fight my battles for me. I don’t mind being defended to a point. But if you all stand in front of me each time someone says shit, it’ll make it worse, and I’ll look weak.” I placed a hand on his cheek at the low growl. “You know it’s what they’ll believe, even if it’s not true.”

“I fucking hate people sometimes,” he muttered, kissing my cheek before gently untangling the two of us.

“Join the club.” I went to grab the towel and froze. The towel was way warmer than it should have been from my body. I hadn’t noticed in our frenzy. “Is this towel warm ?”

River nodded. “The suites we have usually have towel warmers. It’s nice. Especially if you’re sore from anything.”

I loved that. “I’m going to need that at my apartment.”

River stepped in close, smiling. “No, baby. Because we already have them at our house. And the penthouse in Britannia. And if you weren’t planning on moving in tell me now so I can start convincing you.”

Moving in. Holy hell I hadn’t even thought about it. Of course I would, but it was so overwhelming and I loved it so much that I was about to jump on his dick again.

So I stole the now-less-warm towel we’d fucked on and sprinted back to my room for clothes. I was actually hungry, and I needed clothes if I expected any of us to eat. By the time I was in sweats and came back, the kitchen smelled incredible. And not just from the containers of food. Steaming mugs sat in front of Beck and Elias. I stuck my nose close to Beck’s and inhaled. I gasped in delight. “You’re drinking tea?”

Beck laughed. “We’re Britannian, love. It’s in our blood.”

“I love tea.”

“I thought you might. There’s a mug over there with a bag in it, and water in the kettle. Didn’t want to start brewing it before we knew how long you’d be.”

Sure enough, over by an electric kettle was a big ass mug with a paper tab sticking out of it. A bunch of tea boxes, a bottle of honey, and various other sweeteners sat next to it. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

It wasn’t of course . Little things mattered. “Why did you think I liked tea?”

“You’ve been living in Britannia for a while and we do our best to bring people to the dark side. But I also haven’t heard you complain about needing coffee at all since I met you. And if people love coffee, they’re always talking about how they need it.”

I snickered. He wasn’t wrong. Even Annika was more of a coffee person than a tea person, and she bemoaned her lack of the stuff all the time.

“So we have a new mission,” River said.

Elias perked up. “What’s that?”

“Uncover all our Omega’s secret kinks and fantasies.”

“Excellent.” Elias rubbed his hands together. “Safe to say ‘getting fucked in sprinklers’ is not on that list.”

Beck covered his mouth. “What the hell happened?”

“Bad fucking timing, that’s what. But I’m all for digging into the dirtier shit. What’s in that brain of yours, Nessa?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like I have a list ready to go. Where’s Gray?”

“Still at the trailers. Didn’t show any signs of being done when I poked my head in,” River said. “And start making the list, baby.”

It wasn’t possible for all of us to be together all the time, but my Omega craved the closeness. Maybe when more time had passed I’d get more used to it. At the moment his absence rubbed the wrong way under my skin.

I grabbed my phone and dialed. He answered quickly but didn’t speak right away. Noise came through the phone and then dropped lower, like Grayson had stepped through a door. “Hello, little one.”

“Hi. Where are you?”

“Working still. Sorry. I’ll be down here for a while longer.”

I pouted even though he couldn’t see me, but decided to be up front. Locking eyes with River, I spoke. He was the one who kept talking about unlocking fantasies. Even though it made me flush, made my heart race, and made me fight embarrassment, I still wanted it. And the only way to face things like this was head on. “All right. I was hoping to see you. You’re the only one who hasn’t fucked me properly and I want to fix that.”

All three men in front of me froze. The air went taut with energy, and my perfume spiraled out of control in response.

A low growl came through the phone. “Fuck. I want that too. But there’s no doubt you’ll be asleep by the time I get back.”

River’s words came back to me about the things I’d buried and never told anyone. One of those things in the porn videos I’d never admit to was women being asleep. Being woken up to pleasure. Taken. The thought made me hot and bothered and nervous to say it out loud.

Turning away from the rest of them, I quietly stepped into the living room. “I don’t care,” I whispered.

I could hear his frown. “About?”

“I don’t care if I’m asleep.” My voice was still quiet. “I still want it.”

The long silence had me blushing and worrying that I went too far. I opened my mouth to take it back when Gray cleared his throat. “Forgive me, little one. I had to try to think of anything else so I can walk back into the other room without my cock being visible in my trousers.”

“So you like that idea?”

He laughed softly, the sound lifting the hairs on my arms and making my nipples harden. It wasn’t Grayson the Team Principal. It was Grayson the Alpha who held me captive and came down my throat. “I’ll guess you’ll have to find out once you’re asleep, won’t you?”

The call ended and my breath went short.

Elias smirked at me as I sat in front of the food they set out. “You’re awfully red, beautiful. What was that about?”

“Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “Nothing at all.”

“Sure.” He laughed. But they let it go, and we all fell into lighter, easier conversation that felt good. Natural . Still, I looked forward to going the hell to sleep.