Page 31 of Knot Going Down (OlympicVerse #3)

Declan shifts slightly, a low breath escaping his lips. The corner of his mouth quirks up in a half-smile, but his eyes stay locked on the screen though I know he’s barely paying attention.

I squeeze Declan’s thigh gently, offering a silent promise. This night is just beginning.

By the time the credits roll, it’s quiet. Knox and Ava are asleep, their feet touching with Gunner sprawled over them like a furry weighted blanket.

Lucas gives me a telling look, not so subtly jerking his chin toward Declan, who’s gotten up to get some water from the kitchen. While I’m still trying to work up my courage, my fellow beta slips out onto the balcony, giving us some privacy.

Finishing his drink, Declan cleans his glass and puts it away in the small cupboard. He’s meticulous like that, and I really like it, but wonder what he’ll think of my messy kitchen. Will it bother him?

“Where’d Lucas go?” Declan whispers, returning to the living room.

I point toward the balcony. “Giving us space.”

Declan’s brows lift slightly, then soften. I take his hand, nervous but determined, as I lead him upstairs. We both know where this is headed.

The bedroom glows with the soft warmth of the lamp on the nightstand. I suddenly wish the light was dimmer. That I was braver.

Declan turns to face me, apparently sensing the shift in my mood. He gently takes my hands. Sitting down on the bed, he pulls me forward until I’m standing between his spread legs.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

I nod, but it’s shaky. He tips his head, clearly unconvinced. “You can tell me if you’re nervous.”

“I am.” The honest answer comes easily. “It’s… been a while.”

“Ah.” He brushes his fingers against the hem of my shirt. “How long is a while?”

“High school.”

He looks up, surprise written all over his face.

“Knox and I were young and?—”

“Knox?” He stands up, taking up so much space I have to step back. “You had sex with Knox? ”

I bite my lip.

He takes a deep breath. “Sorry.” His eyes close for a few seconds before he opens them, cupping my face and tilting my head so I’m looking right at him. “Was it good? Did he treat you well?”

The question throws me, and I stumble over how to reply.

“I—yeah. He was sweet. We didn’t know what we were doing, but… he tried. And it was nice.”

Declan leans in and kisses my forehead. “I’ll try much harder.” His hold on my face is gentle as he sprinkles soft kisses across my skin. “Did he at least make you come?”

“Y-yeah.”

He kisses my lips, then trails his mouth across my cheek to my ear. “I’m gonna make you come much, much harder.”

I shiver at the intensity of his declaration. So certain. So confident.

When he undresses me, it’s slow and savored, each button and hem touched like a promise. He trails kisses along my collarbone and down my chest, worshipping every inch of skin.

With purposeful movements, he takes off his shirt, then folds it and sets it on a chair.

His shoes go next, left along the wall by the door.

Pants after that, taking his time folding them.

I can’t help staring as he systematically works.

His boxers are tight, hiding nothing, and when he takes them off and turns to face me, I suck in a breath.

His cock is huge! This is a full grown man’s cock. Not just a man’s, an alpha’s. Thick. Long. Hard. Sticking straight up. With a touch of hair at the base that looks like it’s been perfectly trimmed. Heavy balls rest below a swelling knot.

Is this what Knox’s cock looks like now?

I gulp unintentionally. “It’s so… big.”

“Don’t worry,” Declan chuckles. “It’ll fit.”

When he finally presses me down into the pillows and settles between my legs, everything else disappears—the fear, the awkwardness, the past. All I feel is this moment.

He gently picks up one leg and kisses my ankle.

His mouth travels slowly higher, and I shiver from the soft touch of his lips.

I know where this is going, and my body hums in expectation.

No one’s ever gone down on me before. Knox tried one time, after the first blow job I gave him, but I felt awkward and embarrassed.

I worried I smelled, that he didn’t really want to do it and was only offering out of obligation.

My anxiety spiked, and I stopped him before he even got started.

I don’t stop Declan. There’s no mistaking the raw desire in his eyes, and I want this experience. I want it with him.

He makes me come with his mouth, his hands, his voice.

Gentle praises, low murmurs of ‘That’s it, sweetheart,’ and ‘You’re perfect like this.

’ Touching me like I’m precious and powerful all at once.

He teases my spent core with gentle licks before rolling off the bed.

His naked backside is a vision in the soft glow of the lamp as he goes back to his pants and returns with a condom.

“Wait,” I pop up on my elbow, “Is that from your wallet?” I heard keeping a condom in your wallet can ruin it. The friction wears it down and makes it useless.

He rolls the condom over his length, and I’m completely mesmerized by the masculinity of the movement.

“No, I grabbed it from my bag while we were watching the movie.” He almost looks sheepish about confessing he was expecting this. But it just makes me smile.

He crawls over me, gently spreading my legs with his knees and positioning himself between my thighs. The heat of him against the crux of me has my hips tilting, seeking more.

I expect him to thrust into me right away, but he doesn’t. He holds his cock in his hand and brushes the tip over my clit. Back and forth, side to side. Little circles. I moan, wiggling against him, trusting him to give me what I need.

He leans down and kisses me, his tongue sliding over mine in long strokes that build the ache at my core. He’s right there. So close. Teasing just the tip.

I feel like I’m going to burst if he’s not inside of me soon.

“I need you,” I whisper.

“Not yet,” he replies. But the head of his cock dips a little lower, gliding through my swollen lips before returning to my clit.

I press my hips up, wrapping my arms around him like I’m a boa constrictor, using the leverage to push against him.

“Please,” I beg.

“Not yet,” he repeats, nipping at my lip. “Not until you come again.”

His thumb takes over, rubbing my clit in strokes and circles driving me to fist the pillows as that delicious heat burns. Cock positioned at my entrance, he teases me in tiny shallow strokes. Just the tip. Just a taunt as his fingers pinch and rub and goad me to oblivion.

“Are you gonna come for me, baby?” His words are husky, drunk on this as much as I am. “Be a good girl and come for me.”

It’s barely a whisper, but it sets off a chain reaction that ends in a bang. While the tremors of my orgasm shake through me, he pushes inside in one smooth stroke, stretching me fully.

Declan stays still for a long breath, letting me feel the weight of him. His lips ghost along my jaw as he begins to move, slow and controlled, every stroke sending little aftershocks through my already sensitive body.

“Okay?” he whispers.

“Yes,” I breathe, and it’s not just okay. It’s everything.

He shifts his angle, grinding his hips so his pelvis presses against my clit, the base of his knot brushing there on every pass. My breath catches.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, kissing my shoulder, my collarbone, the corner of my mouth.

My legs tighten around him instinctively. His hand slides beneath my lower back, cradling me, his other tangling with mine above the pillow. Each movement is measured, deliberate. Like he’s trying to memorize how I feel from the inside out.

Then I hear it.

The quiet creak of the stairs.

Declan must hear it too, because his eyes flick away from my face, but he doesn’t stop. I turn my head and find Lucas staring at us.

His expression is unreadable, but his eyes are heavy-lidded, locked on where Declan’s body moves against mine. There’s nothing crude about his gaze—it’s admiring. Devouring.

“Such a pretty picture.” Lucas’s words are a throaty purr.

Declan leans down, his mouth brushing my ear. “Do you want him to stay?”

My body tenses, surprised by the question. But when I glance back toward Lucas, something inside me ignites. Not embarrassment. Not shame. Curiosity. A little thrill.

A big thrill.

“I don’t mind,” I answer, making sure Lucas can hear.

Declan hums, the sound low and pleased. “Good girl.”

Lucas steps farther into the room, slow and careful, like he’s moving through a dream. He stops at the chair in the corner where Declan folded his shirt. Sitting, he drapes one arm over the side and watches.

Declan thrusts a little deeper, a little slower, the rhythm shifting to something darker and more intense. My body tightens again.

“Eyes on me,” Declan says softly, tipping my chin. “He can look all he wants. But you’re mine right now.”

The possessiveness in his voice doesn’t scare me. It grounds me.

I nod, lips parted. “I’m yours.”

He kisses me again, deeper now, lazy strokes while his hips roll in perfect rhythm. I feel everything. His warmth, his control, the pressure building again deep in my belly.

Lucas exhales quietly, and I catch the movement of his hand in his lap. He’s not being subtle. He doesn’t have to be.

My skin prickles from being watched. It’s exhilarating. Declan doesn’t speed up, doesn’t falter. If anything, he becomes more deliberate, showing off the way he wrings every sound from me, every little gasp and moan and whispered plea.

“You gonna scream for me?” he asks against my mouth. “Let him see how good I make you feel?”

I nod frantically, too breathless to speak. My hips are lifting off the bed now, chasing the friction. Every brush of his knot against my clit is electric. Every slow push inside winds me tighter.

He licks the sweat from my upper lip like he can taste my desperation.

“Come for me,” he says, and this time it’s a command.

I unravel.

The orgasm crashes through me like a wave, loud and hot and utterly consuming. My thighs tremble. My back arches. I cry out his name, my hands fisting the sheets, clinging to them like a lifeline.

I vaguely hear Lucas curse under his breath, deep and low, but I can’t focus on him now. Not when Declan’s groaning in my ear, hips stuttering as he follows me over the edge, burying himself deep.

We stay like that for a moment—tangled, trembling, breathing each other in.

Eventually, Declan shifts, brushing hair from my damp face. I hum sleepily, the warmth of him settling over me like a blanket.

Lucas rises from the chair and crosses the room silently. “You did so well.” His voice is rough but his touch is soft as he grazes a hand along my ankle. “Next time,” he says gently, and it’s not a question.

I answer him with a nod, the idea sending a heated tingle through me.

“Next time,” Declan murmurs, burrowing against me with a rumble in his chest. A purr that’s as soothing as the waves hitting the ship outside.

With Ava and Knox asleep on the couch downstairs, I drift into dreams sandwiched between Declan and Lucas.

I wake sometime deep in the night, the quiet hum of the ship settling around me. The bed feels different. Declan’s pillow is empty, his scent lingering faintly in the cool air.

At first, I wonder if I’m alone, if they both slipped away. But then I feel a soft weight pressed against my back, steady and warm. I shift just enough to see Lucas curled up close behind me, like he’s looking out for me even in his sleep.

Carefully, so I don’t wake him, I reach back and rest my hand on his arm. His skin is warm under my fingertips, a quiet reassurance that steadies my racing thoughts.

He stirs, blinking slowly, his eyes soft and clouded with sleep. When he realizes I’m awake, a small, almost shy smile touches his lips.

“Where’s Declan?” I ask.

“I think he went to check Knox is not jumping overboard in the night. Or stealing a lifeboat.”

I let out a huff of a laugh and turn fully, shifting to face him. Lucas’s gaze holds mine in the gentle darkness, no teasing, no challenges. It's something calm and honest.

“I wasn’t sure about any of this,” I admit softly, remembering the way Declan laid out his intentions for us, for all three of us. “But right now, this feels nice.”

Lucas’s smile grows a little wider. “It is not about being sure. It is about being here.” His hand moves, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face, thumb tracing my cheek with tender care. The touch sends a flutter through my chest. “And I like being here.”

He kisses me, soft and sweet. It’s almost lazy the way we kiss and snuggle close, as if we know we’ll have all the time in the world to explore each other later.

Slowly, I start to drift to sleep with our lips still close, melting into his little touches.

The silence stretches between us, comfortable and real.

Declan slips back in the room, moving quietly. He slides in beside me on the other side, pulling the covers up and wrapping an arm around my waist. I feel his breath against my hair, and can’t stop a contented sigh.

With Lucas beside me and Declan behind me, I feel safe. My eyelids grow heavy, and I drift back into sleep, thinking about how my real life is starting to look a little more like my dreams.