Page 19 of Love Me Knot, Part One (Knotty Omegas #1)

It’s a trap. He’s going to promise me the world, then rip it away like they did. I know it. “No.”

That one pitiful word is all I get before my head’s wrenched back, the grip on my hair firm yet gentle. It’s meant to get my attention and that’s exactly what it does.

“Fuck.” His voice breaks, face tightening as he takes me in. Seeing way too fucking much. Does he understand how confused my instincts are? Get closer. Burrow and hide. Lick him. Run away. Alphas are awful. Not this one.

The urge to cry gets worse and I shift in his grasp, vision blurring. “Please stop.”

“Give her here.”

Dez transfers me only after another scent mark along my shoulder. Where Nate’s all sunny days and Connor’s clear winter skies, Dez is wet earth and warm nights. Hothouse flowers and heat. Sweaty skin, desperate tongues, and all the depth of the center of the earth.

We’re scent-sympathetic.

I think I knew that before, but it’s undeniable with the phantom scents of the men I loathe in my nose.

Here are three more alphas who claw at my instincts, carving furrows in my soul like they were made to be there.

Too bad I’ve got years of history proving that compatibility like this doesn’t mean shit.

It’s just for the heat.

Except, maybe not, because Connor doesn’t even want to scent mark me. No way he helps me through and without their pack lead, I can’t guarantee Nate or Dez will, either.

Another whine slips past my throat, barely contained as I lay wilted in Connor’s arms, letting his coldness swallow me whole.

Even when he sits with me in his lap, I focus on my fingertips.

The ache in my muscles as my body braces for him to walk away or tell me I’m being too needy.

Too much of the wrong thing. Never enough of the right.

The omega rejected by her mates over and over again.

Connor presses his cheek against my head, surrounding me as best he can. “I’m sorry, Daphne. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with an omega, and I forgot how sensitive things can be for you in heat. I just don’t want you to think that having the others means having me too.”

“You wouldn’t scent mark me. That implies you aren’t interested.”

He clutches me tighter, choosing his words carefully. “It’s not that simple. I have…history that makes it hard for me to be intimate with omegas, but I didn’t mean to deny you.”

There are deep fissures in this man. Scars someone else left behind. It steals some of the pain away, but I have my own wounds to heal. There may not be enough of me to deal with his.

Conner folds me closer until he can brush a kiss over my frazzled mess of curls, heart racing against my cheek. “Do you still want my scent?”

“Are you actually interested in helping me through my heat?”

“Yes. I would very much like to help you with my pack.” His voice is lower, a peek of desire creeping in to blow away the lingering panic. The shame of my past. He nuzzles my forehead, not quite a scent mark but close. So close that my pulse trips, body leaning toward his in quiet desperation.

He waits, patient while I try to find even the hint of a lie. There’s nothing but the pleasant chill of his scent and the warmth of his skin. It’s terrifying to tilt my chin and offer my neck, but I do. “Then I’d like a scent mark.”

I get the quickest flash of a grin before Connor ducks his head. He spends a long time on my cheeks and neck, even drowning my hair until I’m coated in the three of them.

Pack.

No. Not pack . Just alphas.

“The most heavenly omega I’ve ever smelled,” he whispers.

I lean in, preening. “Connor?”

His nose trails along my neck absently, like he can’t stop smelling us. “Hmm?”

“Talk about another omega again and I’ll carve your fucking eyes out.”

His body stills, arms tightening around me before he laughs so hard I bounce in his lap. The jiggling makes me laugh too and suddenly, we’re a mess on the floor. Dez and Nate watch with something like awe in their eyes. I never want them to stop looking at me that way.

When Connor settles, he presses the gentlest kiss against my temple. “Don’t worry, Daphne. There’s no one but you.”

I don’t know how to accept that, so I don’t, smiling thinly.

Nate finally swipes his card and the second the receipt is in his hand, the cashier bolts for the back room. I have the worst urge to follow her. Show that beta exactly what it means to go after an omega’s men.

Jesus, the fog is settling in. I’m all impulse and desire, less rational thought.

When the bags are packed, Dez’s grin flashes in my periphery, stealing my attention. “Such a protective omega.”

“It’s common courtesy to keep your eyes to yourself,” I say primly.

“We like it.” The way Connor says it has me squirming in his lap. At this rate, they’re going to have to fumigate the whole fucking store to get my scent out.

Dez purrs, dropping to his haunches to nip the other side of my neck and my skin warms in proximity to two very compatible alphas. I reach for his shirt, needing to touch, but he grabs my wrists. “Patience, gorgeous.”

Easy for him to say. He’s not calculating how fast he needs to be to get a handful of cock without someone seeing.

Why can’t I mount them here again?

Connor stands so fast, I squeak, digging into his shoulders when he hands me back to his packmate. “Don’t go!”

I hate how fucking broken I sound, how my heart lurches at the idea of this alpha walking away.

He doesn’t hesitate this time, kissing my cheek and letting me steal more of his scent. “Not leaving, angel. Just gonna help Nate get this stuff to the car. Maybe we can use some of it for your nest. Make it smell like us.”

“Fine.” I let him go, watching as he and Nate split the bags between them. I’m still pouting when Dez wraps me around his front again, trailing behind the others. He’s tenser now and that distinct urge to soothe washes over me.

“It’s not that I don’t want you,” I promise, somehow knowing it’s what he needs.

“I know.” His hands flex against my ass, then soften again. “Did you see how fast the cashier ran? You’re such a good girl fighting for your alphas. Perfect little warrior queen.”

He’s teasing me, but the way he nuzzles my throat, shuddering at the smell of all of us together, I think Connor was telling the truth. They like me fighting for them. I think I do too.

“How long until we get to a nest?” Because desire burns under my skin again, warmth pooling in my stomach with every graze of our bodies. I want this man inside me yesterday.

“Just a while longer,” Dez promises.

“Make it faster.” My hand sneaks under his shirt, breath catching at the stacks of muscles I feel. “You’re going to look beautiful underneath me.”

He laughs, head back and carefree as the sound wipes away whatever upset him. “That’s it. We’re keeping her.”

My heart kicks. What would it be like to be kept and cared for? Part of this pack of smiling, laughing men. How would it feel to be the center of someone’s world? Because I already know that’s what they’ll offer their omega. Everything.

Suddenly, I wish I’d gone straight to the clinic. If I want them like this now, how much more intense will this urge to claim them be after riding out my heat? Can I walk away when it’s over?

I don’t know, but I’m in it now. Committed to this, if only to see for myself what it could be like to have them as my own. Let’s hope I don’t regret my decision when we leave.