Page 18 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

“ H e’s still not back?”

I turned to see Riley stepping into the barn where I was fussing over Buttons, our pregnant bay roan Appaloosa. “Not yet.”

She frowned, her scent sharpening to a distressed burnt sugar. “It’s been hours.”

“Yeah, he does that sometimes.” I held perfectly still as she approached, curling her hands over the fence and stopping close enough our bodies brushed on one side. “How’re you feeling?”

“I’m good when Cash is thoroughly distracting me, but as soon as my brain has a hot second to start processing, it sucks.”

“I can imagine. I don’t think any of us were expecting Cooper reuniting with you to go that way.”

“I haven’t seen him that mad and scared at the same time since his brother Stan locked Morgan in the shed overnight and we couldn’t find her until morning.”

“What the fuck,” I breathed.

“Yeah, Stan was a dick. Not as bad as some of the others, even, but that scared the shit out of all of us. Morgan looked half-feral by the time Cooper broke the lock to get her out. How those two turned out so amazing coming from a family like that, I’ll never understand.

” She leaned just a bit closer, our arms firmly touching now.

“Cooper’s a contrarian,” I pointed out. “Saved him from wanting to be like the rest of his brothers.”

“He is that, for sure.” Riley sighed. “Does he have to be one right now , though? I mean, I expected him to be mad at me, so it wasn’t a shock, but he seemed scared.”

“Overwhelmed, more likely.” I took a chance, wrapping my arm over her shoulders.

She leaned closer, letting her head rest against me.

“He’s wanted you longer than I’ve known him.

I don’t think there’s been a moment he truly gave up hope on you coming back one day.

It’s not my place to tell you everything that involves, but that man’s never stopped loving you.

We all knew it when we formed a pack, and honestly, I’d made my peace with never having an omega because of it. ”

Riley looked up at me, dark eyes wide and bright. “He still loves me?”

“I’d bet my life on that.”

“I kind of feel worse knowing I’d have cursed you all to an omegaless existence.”

“Not so omegaless now.”

She smelled so fucking sweet I wanted to bury my face against her skin and breathe her in until my head swam.

Riley chewed her bottom lip. “I haven’t decided if I’m staying. I need to, for a while, anyway. Making Cash and myself sick from the separation isn’t high on my to-do list, but a lot of what I ran from back then is still here.”

“What were you running from?”

“Family, mostly. Cooper, Cash, and Morgan were the reason I made it to adulthood, and it felt like my family had a pretty fucking vested interest in making sure I didn’t.

I had to leave to survive, and I don’t regret that part of things.

I do regret going no contact, though, in part.

They didn’t deserve that, but after a while there was no safe way to reach out to any of them, or at least not one that got a response.

Plus, I missed them so much and if I hadn’t cut this whole world off, I’d have given in, come home, and been torn apart.

Cooper couldn’t protect me from everything, no matter how hard he tried. ”

“I’m sorry you grew up like that, and I’m grateful you had people who cared to help you through it.” I wanted to scoop her up and hide her away from all the shit of this world. Hiding her in the barn wouldn’t work for long, but for now it was just me, her, and Buttons.

Riley squirmed, her scent sweetening as she leaned her forehead against the fencing. “I don’t think my suppressants are working very well.”

Sweat glistened at her temple when I smoothed her hair back, turning her face to look at me and finding her pupils blown, lips softly parted.

“We should get you back into the big house. I can find Cash for you.”

She shook her head, shifting to burrow against my chest, fingers curled into my shirt as she shivered, sucking in deep breaths. “Give me a minute.”

My arms looped around her automatically, acting independently of my brain that was currently setting off some internal air raid sirens about how fucking incredible she felt tucked in my arms.

She was Cash’s mate and Cooper’s obsession. But…we were pack, so she was mine too, in a way, even if we hadn’t explored that yet. I didn’t even know if she’d want to.

“The suppressants will probably take a few days to kick in properly since you missed a dose,” I reminded her. “If you were already coming up on your normal heat, they’ll be fighting a bigger battle than usual. We could go into town, get you an emergency high dose to give things a chance.”

Her whimper was like a lightning bolt straight down my spine. Every muscle pulled taut, my cock trying to press its way through my jeans.

“I hate taking them. I was only on them for the move. They always worked so well for all my friends in college, but my body hates them.”

“Cash is going to struggle to take on a heat alone.”

I nearly died on the spot when she swiped her cheek against me in a scent mark. Wearing an omega’s claim wasn’t something I took lightly. I wasn’t sure what it meant to Riley, but it damn sure meant something to me

“Why alone?” she asked quietly.

“Well, I’m sure Cooper would be on board to assist when he gets back, but I don’t know if you would want him to just yet.”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t think Cooper would be on board for anything regarding me right now whether I wanted him or not. You don’t want to?”

The edge of burnt sugar sharpened, tainting her floral sweetness.

Did she think I was rejecting her? My body was so fucking primed I was ready to rut her right there on the barn floor.

“I don’t want to assume I’d be there just because I’m in the pack.

You should only have people you trust for your heat. I want you to feel safe.”

Riley let out a snort, fingers walking up my chest to hook in the collar of my shirt.

“You saved my life. Pretty hard not to feel safe with you after that. It’s okay if you don’t want to, though.

I mean, my instincts don’t like that thought, but the tiny bit of rational Riley fighting for the surface understands.

I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but I am pretty fun. ”

“Sweetheart, if you were a damn cup of tea I’d have already drunk every drop. The issue here is not whether I want you or not. I do. I just want you to want me , because you would anyway and not because of a heat flare.”

Her dark eyes swallowed me whole when they met mine. “Problem solved, then.”

I had about a half second of rational thought before her scent surged, my omega rising up on her toes, pulling me down at the same time, meeting my mouth with hers.

Hot damn.

Riley was a live wire in my arms, writhing, squirming, and whimpering as she tried to press every ounce of herself against me while also wrestling out of her clothing. She shoved down the top of her dress before I could blink.

All right, I guessed we were fucking in the barn, then. I’d never get her back to the big house in time.

I swung her away from Buttons’s pen to the opposite side of the walkway. “Climb up, sweetheart.”

She scaled the short metal gate until our hips were level, and then leaned over it, shaking and panting as I flipped her skirt.

As much as I wanted to dip my fingers into her slick, I’d been working with horses all morning and I didn’t think she would take too kindly to me stepping away to thoroughly scrub my hands.

Both of us shuddered as I shoved down all the fabric between us and tucked the tip of my cock against her.

I braced my hands on the gate next to hers, trying to work in slowly and give her a chance to adapt but she was damn impatient, slamming her hips against me, almost knocking the wind out of me in her quest to get fully seated on my cock.

I could’ve already guessed my omega was feisty, but she was definitely making sure I knew for certain. I locked one arm around her waist so she couldn’t pull a move like that again, fucking in slow and easy despite her little growls of protest.

“Levi…” Her tone was a clear warning. My omega wanted to be ruined and she wanted it now .

“I hear you. If you want me to fuck you, you have to still let me take care of you.” I kept that same pace until the glide in and out was smooth. “There we go. Hold on tight, sweetheart.”

She already had a white-knuckle grip on the gate, but the moan that came out of her when I fucked in hard had Buttons dancing nervously in her stall.

I scrubbed my hand against my jeans, testing it quickly against my own lips before closing it over her mouth. If anything, the motion seemed to give her permission to be even louder.

The tight heat of her around my cock went beyond any partner I’d had before.

Her scent wove through every cell in my body, staking her claim, and I didn’t even care how complicated her history was, or how soon this was happening.

I didn’t know how Cooper and Cash would react, but Riley wanted me, and that was all I could bring myself to care about right now.

I no longer blamed Cash for what he’d done.

Now that I had a hot and desperate Riley in my arms, I understood.

My teeth ached to sink into her skin. My instincts wanted her to be mine , but logical, responsible Levi was doing his best to fight back that tide with nothing but a torch in the dark and a stick in his hand.

It was bad enough I was railing her in a barn; I couldn’t bond her on top of that.

Her scent was pure syrup in the air and her cunt was a warm, welcoming heat I couldn’t stop myself from driving into.

She sang me a muffled symphony.

Sweet Riley.

All mine for the moment.

Her weight melted back against me, her grip on the gate faltering as her pussy spasmed, dragging me closer to the edge.

Slick dripped down our thighs. I held my breath through the sharp clenches, just trying to keep myself together.

Every plunge into her body was a heaven I’d been waiting for, a treasure of her trust.

She whined loudly, almost sending me over the edge.

If this was a true heat flare, I might be in trouble.

One problem at a time. One foot in front of the other. I got her reattached to the gate and pressed close, taking on more of her weight without compromising the flex of my hips into her.

“You’ve got to be quiet for me, sweetheart. You’re making poor Buttons nervous, and we don’t want the guests to overhear you.”

She whimpered softly. “How?”

That was a damn good question.

The door to the barn cracked open and we both froze, heads swiveling toward it, instantly relieved when it was Cash who slipped through.

“Cash,” she gasped out, pussy squeezing me hard.

“Hey there, spider monkey. Look at you getting into some creative positions.” He sauntered over with an easy smile on his face. “I felt you getting frisky in the bond and figured you were either going to town on yourself or Cooper had secretly come home and you two had made up.”

Guilt swelled in my gut, almost immediately dispelled when Riley rocked her hips, trying to get me to start up again.

“Levi.” She growled my name. God, that was a sound I wanted burned into my brain for eternity.

“Don’t stop on my account.” Cash hopped right over the gate, planting himself on the other side of it. “You want him to keep going, don’t you, honey bun?”

She nodded frantically.

“Yeah, that’s my good girl. You want the whole pack to ruin you?”

Another nod, and a squeeze that stole my breath.

“Aaand there’s the heat flare taking over. Looks like rational Riley has left the building.” Cash’s bright blue gaze caught mine. “Do you actually need me to leave or are you gonna take care of our girl?”

“Uh, nope. I’m good. Your job is to keep her quiet, then.”

Cash cradled her throat with one hand and claimed her mouth with his, Riley giving me another one of those vicious squeezes.

I fucked in hard, absolutely delighted that each thrust was punctuated by a tiny sound she couldn’t help but make.

With Cash on board, I snared her hips in both hands, riding her exactly like she’d been craving.

Every slick descent pulled me closer to the edge, every quake of her body as she shuddered through another rise practically demanding I give in.

Her hips slammed back impatiently as mine drove deep, her scream devoured by Cash as I poured every drop into her perfect cunt, my knot filling her up with a pressure that flicked my brain right off.

This wasn’t a long-standing fantasy, a desire I had harbored for years like Cash and Cooper, but it felt that way. Being buried in my omega, her pussy spasming around my knot, her whimpers eagerly consumed by my packmate, was scratching a primal itch I hadn’t realized was so strong.

I rocked into her for the sheer pleasure of it. Couldn’t move a damn inch, and that was exactly what my alpha instincts wanted, for Riley to be right here where she belonged.