Page 39 of Knot Gonna Lie (Syzygy Omegaverse #1)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ELARA
Seth’s fingertips traced the mark on his chest like he was memorizing a constellation, each gentle stroke following the pattern my teeth had carved into his skin. Wonder painted his features in the nest’s golden light—the kind of raw awe that made my chest tight.
How can I have such an effect on someone?
I caught his hand, stilling its movement. His gray-blue eyes snapped to mine, startled from whatever deep thoughts he’d been lost in.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” I whispered, the words barely more than breath.
“For a moment, I thought I was still dreaming, waking up beside you,” he murmured, giving my hand a gentle squeeze over his mark. “But this…this tells me it’s real.”
“It’s all real,” I confirmed softly. “Every bit of it.”
“Oh, stars…” He sighed, resting his forehead against mine, eyes closing. “You’ve given me such a gift. If this is even a fraction of what an alpha feels after claiming an omega…I can’t fathom how they can survive without one.”
“They don’t.” I frown. “Which is why I’m afraid history is only repeating itself.”
“You’re right.” Seth pulled away. “But who will stop it?”
“Someone has to.”
Behind me, the spot where Luca had been was empty, still warm and carrying the faint trace of tropical paradise.
I turned, searching, but found only rumpled blankets holding his scent.
Through our bond, I felt him—close, but distant.
Stress pushed through the connection—sharp and intrusive—worry threading through what should have been morning peace.
My alpha was in his office, just beyond the wall, and I could feel his anguish as if it were my own.
“What’s wrong?” Seth’s hand cupped my cheek, pulling me back to the present. His mark was warm under my palm, our new bond carrying his concern and quiet protectiveness. “I can feel your worry.”
I tilted my head toward the wall separating us from Luca’s office. “He’s tearing himself apart in there.”
Seth’s expression softened with understanding as he brushed a strand of hair from my face.
“The secret he’s keeping from Eli—it’s tearing him apart.
They’ve been partners since birth, built Coco Pharma from nothing into something remarkable.
” His voice dropped, weighted with respect.
“Two alphas of equal strength working side by side without killing each other—it only happens when love runs deeper than instinct.”
The weight of Luca’s deception pressed against our bond, making my mark ache with phantom pain. “I need to go to him.”
“I know.” Seth’s acceptance came without hesitation, though something flickered in his eyes—not jealousy, but a shadow of uncertainty. “It’s natural—an omega steadies their alpha, and an alpha soothes their omega. Two sides of the same syzygy.”
I stroked the mark on his chest, the warmth there pulsing as our connection stirred beneath my touch. It wasn’t the deep pull I had with Luca, but something quieter—new, steady, and vital. Both bonds hummed through me, grounding me in a way I hadn’t known I needed.
“This is real too,” I told him, needing him to understand. “You’re mine now. Pack.”
Seth’s kiss landed soft on my forehead, a benediction and a promise. “I’ll freshen up in my quarters, then salvage something edible from the galley.” His lips twitched. “I don’t trust Tobias or Xavier near anything more complex than ration bars. Jaxom’s my only hope for actual food.”
“Thank you for understanding—for everything.” The gratitude felt too small for his easy acceptance.
I knew how betas had it—too often seen as replaceable, sometimes even forgettable.
For him to not demand my attention and reassurance, meant that he meant he valued my choice more than his ego, trusting that I’d come to him because I wanted to, not because I had to. “I’ll bring Luca with me when we come.”
He glanced down at his naked form, then at me wrapped in emerald silk that had slipped to reveal more than it concealed. Color bloomed across his cheeks, that endearing shyness that seemed impossible for someone who’d claimed me so thoroughly the night before.
Laughter slipped out, surprising me after the heaviness of the morning. I cupped his face, then pressed my other palm over his heart, my thumb brushing over the mark that bound us—claiming him—before pulling him into a kiss that carried both possession and promise.
His groan rumbled against my lips, low and rough, as his hands gripped my waist and dragged me closer. I leaned in harder, meeting the urgent slide of his tongue with my own, drowning in his taste.
My instincts flared sharp and hot—I needed him to know that he belonged to me.
I swung a leg over his lap, straddling him, my core settling over the hard heat of him. The contact sent a pulse through me, sharp as hunger. He swallowed my gasp, his hands sliding down to cup my ass, dragging me against him until there was no space left.
Heat roared through me. My scent thickened in the air—vanilla-lavender laced with want—wrapping around us both.
I wanted him drenched in it. Making sure everyone knew that he was mine .
I rocked against him—slow, deliberate—each grind marking him over and over again. His breath hitched, his fingers tightening until they bordered on bruising. I moaned as his hips bucked in answer, grinding into me and filling my chest with deep, satisfied heat.
My beta—my steady, careful, intelligent beta—responding to me like I was his whole night sky.
His eyes darkened, jaw tight, and then his mouth was on me—licking, sucking, claiming my breasts like he’d starved for them. My nails bit into his shoulders as his tongue teased me into a whimper. I could feel him inhaling against my skin, drawing my scent in deep, and it set my instincts roaring.
My hand slid down, wrapping around the hard, hot length of him. His head tipped back with a groan, the sound breaking as my thumb swept over the tip. I stroked him slowly at first, savoring the way his thighs trembled under me, the way his breath hitched every time I tightened my grip.
“You feel so good,” I murmured, letting my scent pour over him—thick, deliberate, saturating his skin and the air between us. I wanted him drenched in it, unable to breathe without thinking of me. “I want you, Seth. I choose you. Over and over.”
His eyes snapped open at that, something raw flashing there. “Please,” he rasped, voice fraying. “I won’t doubt you again…”
I guided him to me, sinking down in one slow, claiming push until I was seated fully, the stretch burning in the best way.
His hands locked on my hips, holding me there like he needed to memorize every second of it.
I rolled my hips, slow and deep, making sure my scent marked every inch of his skin where we touched.
“You’re mine ,” I breathed against his mouth. “No one else gets you. Ever. You belong here—with me , in my nest, where I want you .”
I pressed my nose to his throat, inhaling deep, dragging my jaw along the strong line of it, leaving my scent on his skin. I worked my way over his shoulders, down his chest, until my mouth hovered over the mark I’d given him the night before.
He froze under me, his heartbeat pounding against my lips.
I sank my teeth in again—hard enough to re-open it, my tongue laving the sting in a slow, possessive sweep.
He groaned, the sound torn between pain and pleasure, his scent spiking under mine until the two were tangled beyond separation—our need twining together.
His hips surged up to meet mine, and I met him thrust for thrust, dragging my nails down his chest to pull him deeper.
The air between us was hot and unsteady, every breath stolen, every touch feeding the need spiraling higher. There was no gentleness now—just raw, desperate hunger, claiming and being claimed.
The heat in my belly wound tight, sharp, until it snapped. Pleasure spiraled throughout me. My body clamped down around him in rhythmic, claiming pulses, milking every drop as he shuddered and spilled inside me.
I stayed on him, locked in place, my face pressed to his chest, breathing him in as my mark throbbed under my lips. My scent clung to him now—his hair, his chest, his breath. There was no room left for doubt. When we left this nest, he’d know beyond question— he was mine . Always.
“You’re claimed now. Again,” I murmured against his skin. “ Mine .”
“ Yours .” His voice came rough. “I won’t ever doubt your claim again. Just give me time for my foolish analytical brain to wrap around it.”
“I will.” A chuckle escaped my lips. “We have all the time now.”
Our lips met again, slower this time, savoring each other rather than claiming.
When we parted, he gathered his scattered clothes, his movements filled with newfound confidence.
I drank in the sight of him—lean muscle shifting under skin that still carried the memory of my teeth.
A sunset hue bled across the golden softness of his skin, marking him as mine.
Yesterday’s bruises had already faded to shadows, and relief spread warm in my chest at the sight of his healing body.
He tugged on his boxer-briefs, then stepped into his pants, movements quick and practiced. But when he reached for his shirt, the fabric hung open as he glanced over his shoulder, catching me watching. The shy smile that curved his lips sent heat spiraling through my belly.
“You know where to find me.” His hand rested over his mark, our bond pulsing with warmth. “Just follow your instinctual pull to me—it’s a thread that’ll always lead you back to me.”
The door between our spaces opened at my touch, revealing Luca’s office bathed in the cold blue glow of holographic displays. Data streams cascaded like digital waterfalls across curved screens—pharmaceutical deals, distribution networks, correspondence marked urgent in angry red.