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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

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Charlie Amor: It’s week number six in the Formula 1 world championship and things are heating up.

Geoff Askew: Well, they’re heating up as far as the races. But up here in Canadia, it’s still cold. Cold enough that the drivers will have to work a bit harder to get temperature into the tyres. We’ll see how they react to distinctly different conditions than we’ve seen so far.

Charlie: Agreed. Hopefully we won’t see too much damage in the practice rounds. But you never really know in Formula 1, do you?

Geoff: [laughs] No. You really don’t.

By some miracle, Beck still slept when I woke.

These men had an uncanny way of waking up before me, and to see him still asleep, hair mussed while his face was relaxed? Perfection.

I wanted to shove my hands into his hair and run my fingers through the long strands. He usually kept it pulled back and low when we were out and about, and seeing it like this made me a little feral. Unfortunately, giving in to that particular temptation would ruin my current plans.

Moving slowly, I sank down beneath the covers, inhaling the heady combination of our scents. My own sweetness and his deeper, darker wood and incense. They wanted to know all my kinks, quirks, and desires, but we hadn’t gotten to all of theirs yet. I knew Beck liked to take control, and I loved to give it to him. We hadn’t quite gotten far as him purely using his voice on me, but we would.

In the meantime…

My lips barely brushed his cock before he groaned, moving, pulling me back up from beneath the blankets and onto his chest. “The first time I’m in your mouth, love, I want to be awake enough to fully enjoy it.”

I pouted. “I was hoping to surprise you.”

His voice was lower after waking up. More raspy. It made his chuckle scrape deliciously over my skin and wake up in an entirely different way. “I do love surprises. But I prefer to be on the waking side of these surprises.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Beck squeezed my hips and rolled us so he was over me. “Don’t be sorry. I’m not mad. I just want to enjoy every fucking second of you. And,” he brushed his lips over mine. “As previously mentioned, I don’t mind waking someone up.”

I swallowed. “So… you’re awake now.”

“I am.” Staring up at him, I said nothing, waiting for him to push us in one direction or another. He raised an eyebrow. “And?”

My whole body flushed with heat. “And what?”

“Tell me what you want.”

That same hesitation and embarrassment that had flooded me the first night we were together overtook me. I was getting better, but the practice of shoving everything sexual aside for so long—no matter how much I craved or enjoyed it—made it difficult to say things out loud.

Beck slid his arms underneath me, enveloping me so I felt nothing but him. He kissed his way up my neck to his preferred spot where he could whisper in my ear. With the way his voice made me shudder, it was my preferred spot too.

“You, Vanessa Lennon, are one of the most powerful women in the world. I’ll never not be fucking pissed that this world and sport have taught you that any part of you isn’t perfect. And you know that I love it when I tell you what to do.” He was so close that I felt him smile. “And you love it too. But I also want you to be able to ask for what you want and not be afraid of it.”

I blew out a breath, the tension that had sprung up in my chest easing. “That sounds nice.”

“So, Omega,” his tone dropped even lower. “Tell me what you want. Tell me if you want to suck my cock.”

My whole body shuddered as he pulled back to look me in the eyes. That stormy gray was anything but cold. Like a summer thunderclap, leaving me breathless and… wet. “I want to suck your cock,” I whispered.

He smiled so wide his eyes crinkled before kissing me. “That was perfect, love.”

It was like someone had poured heat directly into my veins. I arched up underneath my Alpha, unable to keep my body still.

“Now, how do you want it?” Beck still cradled me completely, fingers teasing the back of my scalp. “Or do you want me to choose?”

“You,” I breathed. “You.”

He laughed softly. “I’m still going to ask you what you want. Not now. But in general. Until you stop tensing up whenever I do.”

“Good,” I said. “Because it’s just as frustrating to me. I don’t understand it. I mean I do, but I don’t. There’s no reason for it with the four of you.”

“It takes time. And we have all the time in the world.” He lowered his head once more. “But right now? I’m going to put you on your knees. Just like you are. Naked and messy and soft. I’m going to keep my hands in your hair, because I can’t fucking get enough of your hair, Nes.”

I whined, no longer fully in control of myself. Just a few words from him—from any of them, honestly—and I was undone.

“I’m going to grip it just the way you like,” he murmured. “Use it to guide your mouth onto my cock and show you exactly how to make me come.”

Beck would be able to make me come with his words alone. I knew it. Hell, I was halfway there right now. But the only thing that popped into my head was, “I’m not messy.”

“No?” He nipped the skin of my neck. “So if I push your thighs apart and check, you won’t be absolutely dripping for me?”

“Fuck.”

One hand released me, and suddenly he was shifting enough to move my legs apart. “Let’s see which one of us is a liar, shall we?”

My phone blared on the nightstand. Both Beck and I startled. “What time is it?” I asked.

“Six.”

I frowned. My do not disturb function for anything other than alarms didn’t turn off until seven. And that wasn’t my alarm sound. Which meant that someone on the list of people I’d selected had called me three times in a row. My grandfather was one of those people.

Opening my mouth to tell Beck just that, his phone went off too. Shit. “Someone pushed through my do not disturb.”

Beck blinked. We stretched for our phones at the same time, and the calls were from Annika. I had a million notifications, but that wasn’t exactly new.

Grayson opened the door, already fully dressed. And god, every time he rolled the sleeves up on his team shirt, I was turned on. Which only made the heat still writhing under my skin worse.

Until I saw his face. It was grim, but determined. “What happened?”

“Shit,” Beck muttered.

All Grayson did was walk forward and hand me his phone, already open to an article with?—

Oh fuck .

It was Grayson and me. When he’d kissed me behind the trailer right after my tyres were sabotaged. He’d barely been in control of his instincts, desperate to see me safe. In the picture we were clinging to each other, so deep in the kiss we could see nothing else.

“I’m sorry, little one. I should have been more careful.”

The headline was damning.

THE KISS HEARD AROUND THE WORLD. IS THERE MORE TO PARAGON’S CONTROVERSIAL HIRE THIS SEASON?

“I didn’t see anyone either,” I said. “It’s not just on you.”

Gray lifted me off the bed so I was standing and kissed my forehead, just holding me for a moment and letting us both breathe each other in. This was exactly what we were afraid of. If one headline jumped to that conclusion, there would be more.

“Did you have a plan?”

“For us to announce it, yes. For this, not so much. But we’re moving. The faster we can get in front of the press and change the narrative, the better. We have a press conference in an hour. All five of us, and we won’t be wearing any Paragon gear. This is about us. Not the team.”

I barely had anything that wasn’t branded with our team livery. Except for… well, there was a package of clothing from LORE I hadn’t even looked at. There would probably be something in there. They sent clothes in case I needed them for anything outside of the racing events.

“Okay.”

Dread curled through me. But somehow not surprise. Even if we’d hoped it didn’t happen, we still knew that it might. Still, I didn’t dare open any of those million notifications, terrified of the things they’d say.

“It’s going to be all right,” he whispered. “I promise.”

When I looked up at him, I smiled. It wasn’t that there weren’t nerves involved with this. There were. But River was right. The pack came first, and I knew more than anything that we would be okay. They would do whatever they had to for us. So would I. “I know.”

I texted Annika on the way to my suite.

Vanessa

I just found out. We’re okay. We have a conference in less than an hour.

Annika

Need any help?

Vanessa

No. I’ll be okay. Thanks.

Annika

Just let me know. I’m still in bed, but I can be over to the hotel in like twenty minutes.

Over to the hotel? She was staying here.

Vanessa

Where are you?

Annika

In bed.

Vanessa

In YOUR bed?

Annika

I gasped. My friend had stuff to tell me. You know, after we stopped my whole career from exploding.

Forty minutes later, fully dressed and in makeup—though it felt weird to be doing press in anything but my racing suit—we gathered by the door to their suite.

Grayson spoke low on the phone, as did Elias. Beck just stared at me, and River let his eyes drag up and down my body like they were his hands.

Holy hell. I hadn’t seen all of them in suits before. They were already hot. Seeing all of them in suits? I was going to melt.

River smirked. “Like what you see, baby?”

“You have no idea.”

He wove our fingers together. “I’m sorry it happened like this, but I won’t lie and say I’m sorry it happened if it means I can finally touch you in public.”

My nerves were higher now, and my smile wavered. We would be okay. I would be okay. Whether our careers would be was a different question. “Yeah.”

He kissed the back of my hand as Grayson hung up his call. “Let’s go save all our jobs.”