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CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

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VANESSA LENNON HAS RUINED FORMULA 1 FOR MANY MEN

With a bonding proposal on the podium this past Sunday and the ‘romance’ of Pack De Clare on eternal display, male Formula 1 fans are rolling their eyes and wishing that racing was exactly what it used to be. Racing . While the personal lives of drivers have always been the subject of rumors and gossip, it’s much more at the forefront this season with two of the top drivers being in a pack together.

Regardless, there is a growing section of racing fans fed up with all the dramatics. Will the FIA step in?

Comments:

sprint_corrupter: FINALLY. SOMEONE SAID IT. Give me back normal racing.

lovelivingthousandsoflifes: The only time you can even see them interact is if they’re both on the podium. You don’t have to watch that. It’s what, less than five minutes after a two-hour race?

bariatricbookworm: The FIA better not step in. What, you’re going to make two packmates not speak to each other? Don’t be ridiculous.

racetrack.legend: I signed up to watch racing, not a fucking romance. So sick of this shit.

“Grayson,” I said as he came back from giving Vanessa her suitcase. “You see this thing about Vanessa’s car? You too, Elias.”

The article pointed out the possibility of another sabotage. The two issues she’d had this weekend—before coming back and absolutely crushing the race—had been similar, but not quite as direct a comparison as the tyres had been.

“I was told,” Grayson said. “I’m having the parts shipped back to headquarters to be looked at. The only person I one-hundred percent trust to check it on the team is you, Elias. And you’re about to be occupied.”

He nodded. “The issues seemed organic enough when I looked at everything. Most likely an error on our part. But I’d be grateful to have someone else say the same.”

None of us had forgotten that Vanessa’s tyres had been sabotaged. Nothing had been found, and no one had been blamed, but I didn’t believe the danger was over.

First, the rumors about Vanessa not coming back next season, which the Paragon PR team had put down swiftly and ruthlessly. Those had come from some of the younger drivers at teams lower in the standings. Probably wishful thinking and jealousy, which I understood, but was still going to watch carefully.

Now this problem with her car. Even though it was the brakes that had failed, they hadn’t broken in a way that put her in danger. She put herself into the gravel the first time, taking the spin, and was able to drift to a stop on the side of the track with the second.

“While she’s getting ready,” I said. “Other than Lars, do we have names of drivers who still aren’t happy about Vanessa? Obviously Gendra and Santiago.” The drivers from ApexLink who’d started the rumors.

“Phillips, Toma, and Lockwood are all fine. Say what you want about John, and I think he’s a bit of an ass, but I don’t think he’d do anything to hurt Vanessa physically. I’m going to rinse off.” River went into the bathroom.

Elias shook his head. “If someone has a problem with Nessa, they’re keeping it very quiet. There are a few that I was unsure of at the beginning of the season that now smile and wave and act normal around her. So if there’s more sabotage, it’s either someone who’s keeping it so close to the chest we’ll never know, or someone outside the teams entirely. I’m not sure which of those is more terrifying, so I’m hoping this was just a normal failure. I’d rather have fucked up than someone trying to fuck her up.”

“One-hundred percent,” I said.

“That’s for tomorrow,” Grayson said. He re-lit one of the candles that had died down. The master suite was covered with them, and there were flowers here and there. We’d recruited Annika and the hotel staff to help. Now all we needed was our Omega.

My thumb ran along the underside of my ring. I wasn’t used to it yet. But every time I looked down and saw it, I smiled. The physical mark of possession made my Alpha preen, and the only thing better than Vanessa’s ring was my bite on her body.

I had the perfect place.

“I’m going to get her,” I said on impulse. She was unfamiliar with this suite anyway, and I needed to see her right this second.

Elias laughed. “Hurry back.”

Through the open door I heard Vanessa cursing under her breath. “Why the fuck they make things so?—”

I knocked on the doorframe. “You okay, love?”

She huffed a sigh. “Yes and no. I’m tangled.”

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, please.”

Vanessa stood in the middle of the room in a black piece of lingerie. I had to stop and stare at her because fuck . She was beautiful. Even if I saw how she was tangled. The sides of the piece had ties a lot like the dress she’d worn to the Paragon Gala—though they covered a hell of a lot less—and they were messed up.

She threw up her hands. “I know it’s just going to come off again once you all start touching me, but I wanted to look… I don’t know.”

I tilted her chin up to look at me. “You know how much I love you naked, Vanessa. But I also love you clothed. I especially love when you’ve wrapped yourself up like a present for us. Turn.”

Obeying, she showed me her back, and I slowly untangled the strings before tightening them. It wasn’t a corset, but the way the strings were woven made the fabric tighten. I pulled all the ties and straps snug against her skin and showed off the patterns they made. The artful tangle that hid almost nothing and yet brought out everything. Nessa’s breath went short. “Is that too tight?”

“No,” she whispered. “That feels… really good.”

I turned her back around. “I’m going to file that little detail away for later.”

“And do what with it?”

“I’ll let you know.” She rolled her eyes, and I pulled them back to mine. “Now the one thing you need to tell me is if I’m able to fuck you in this concoction that’s making me lightheaded from blood loss, or if taking you out of it is necessary.”

Vanessa took her thumb, slipped it into the fabric at her hips, and tugged it down. It was two pieces. “These come off.”

“Good to know, love. I can’t promise this will stay on the whole time, but I can promise that I will savor every second you’re in it. And tell you that it’s always welcome.”

“Not just an impediment to getting me naked?”

I growled and let it turn into a purr. “Nothing about you could ever be an impediment. To anything. Fuck.” I took a breath and her perfume seared my lungs. “I don’t know what River said to you on the podium. All I know is that racing and the pack were the only things I was ever sure of until you. I’m more sure about you, loving you, pleasuring you, owning you, being with you, than anything else in my life. I love you.”

Vanessa’s breath shook on the inhale. “I’m not sure anything I could say would live up to that.”

Smiling, I pulled her to me, cradling her head on my chest, against my purr. “We’re not comparing, love.”

She tucked her head under my chin. “I love you. I don’t have the words for it. Maybe I will someday. All I know is that I can barely remember my life before the four of you were in it, and other than some bright moments, I don’t want to. I was so fucking lonely. So lonely I didn’t even realize I was lonely.”

I placed my hand over her heart. It pounded wildly, probably about as fast as mine. “You’ll never be lonely again. I promise.”

The soft blush on her cheeks was a vision I was addicted to seeing. Not in shame or embarrassment, but love. Caused by everything between us. I couldn’t wait to make her blush using nothing but the bond between us.

My first goal was to make her come with only my voice. But only using the bond? That would be fun.

“You ready?” I asked.

“I am.”

Instead of picking her up and sweeping her off her feet, I wove our fingers together and walked with her hand in mine. We were all walking into this on our own two feet and our minds clear. Because after this, there was no going back.

Finally.