Page 25 of Love Me Knot, Part One (Knotty Omegas #1)

CONNOR

Nesting is an instinct passed through generations.

Most omegas use their nests as a regulation centerto unwind and center themselves after being around so much stimulation daily.

If they aren’t comfortable, or their nest isn’t working, it can throw their entire system into chaos.

That goes double for a heat. Without proper satiation and comfortable nesting spaces, an omega’s heat can be agonizing.

When Daphne’s done, the bed is a tangle of sheets, swaths of fabric, and clothes that smell like pack.

She found extra pillows and stacked them at the edges for some extra protection.

Despite the recess in the middle being smaller than I’d like for all four of us, the nest is perfect.

Mostly because of the omega sprawled in the center, fists tight in the sheets, pussy wet and gleaming.

While I’m too busy gaping, Nate takes over. “Can we join you, omega?”

“Please.”

I watch in horror as he jumps on the bed like an eager puppy.

Daphne shrieks, “Don’t mess it up!”

“Sorry, sorry!” He cringes, trying to right the sheets and virtually toppling the side walls completely.

Daph’s nearly in tears when she turns to me, that bottom lip quivering now. “He almost ruined it.”

“He didn’t know,” I coo, slowly getting into the nest. It’s fucking impossible not to knock down the barriers, but I do my best. Might have to reinforce them when she’s sleeping. “We have to teach them what to do.”

There’s a moment of pure rage. I’m talking fire and brimstone, will set your ass alight if you breathe wrong rage as she looks at me. “I don’t like that you’ve done this with another omega.”

Gotta respect the honesty. Part of me—my dick, mostly—likes that she’s so territorial of us. My ex was always mine, but I was never hers.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” I promise.

Daphne’s not convinced, though. Her system’s screaming to lock down three compatible alphas.

Ride them and mark them and make them hers.

To curb the homicidal rage, I rub my cheek along her shoulders and neck again, letting her slather her scent on me too.

Every inch she covers seems to steal the hesitation from my limbs.

It’s not like her pheromones are some magic cure, it’s just basic instincts.

She wants me here, so she’s making it really fucking hard to leave and ensuring everyone knows I’m hers at the same time.

While Daphne slathers me in sugar, I tap my incisor at Nate. We stopped by the desk for the first meal service box and teeth caps, which I had the aide glue on for me. The last thing any of us needs is to end up bonded.

You going to be okay? He mouths.

Am I?

Despite our plan, I know there will be times when my brothers won’t be around. I thought I’d freak out, but running my tongue along the blunt silicone lowers my stress. No bonding. Just heat sex.

I can do this.

Nate gets out of the nest far more carefully this time. Daphne’s head jerks, seeking him out, whine incoming. The sheets behind me rustle and I know Dez has climbed out too when she tries to follow, voice pitching too high. “Where are they going?”

“Just getting protection sorted. They’ll be back,” I promise, pinning her beneath me so she can’t follow.

When was the last time I had sex? Ages, I think, and not something I want to remember. Even then, it wasn’t like this. Just looking at Daphne spread beneath my body makes my head spin.

“We don’t need condoms. Make them come back.” She bucks against me, heartbeat frantic. She thinks they’re leaving her and the feral way she fights tells me someone hurt her. Abandoned her so much her hindbrain is shoving its way to the surface to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

My chest tightens at the crystalline tears trapped between her lashes. It’s second nature to lean in and kiss Daph’s cheek, her forehead, her nose before I ghost our mouths together. “No one’s going anywhere, angel. Just focus on me. We’re in this together.”

That first touch of her lips brands me. Sears me down to the bone.

Daphne tastes like freshly spun sugar and the desperation of a woman on edge.

Her fingers twist through mine, palm to palm.

It’s such an innocent touch, but it spears through my body.

The fears that drowned me outside seem so fucking inconceivable against her warmth.

Daphne’s hips wriggle when I kiss down her body, stopping at the crease of her thighs and the taste of missed slick. So sweet, so perfect. I’m going to crave it when this is over.

“You taste so fucking good. Did Dez take care of you?”

Daphne blushes, freckles standing out against the glow and I finally give in, swiping my tongue through her pussy because I need to. She runs her hand through my hair, tugging a little when I touch a place she enjoys. “Like when you call me angel.”

“That’s because you are one. Our precious little omega. Our angel.”

The crease between her brows smooths away almost as fast as it appears, but I know she doesn’t believe me. That’s fine. I don’t need words to prove I’m right.

A quick readjustment has me palming her thick ass, hips lifted so I can lick her clit and fuck her on my other hand at the same time. Daphne fucking loses it, whining and thrashing, begging for more like she can’t bear to stop.

This is the chaos of an omega’s heat. Desperation. Lust. Borderline insanity. It’s as terrifying as it is beautiful to see Daphne so utterly vulnerable beneath her body’s needs. Lost to the world.

Lost to me.

Hands on my body while I sleep, too exhausted to care.

My fingers dig into Daphne’s skin, keeping me in the present.

I’m not back there. I’m in the nest with the sweet omega who deflowered my best friend in a public setting.

I use Daphne’s scent and taste to reinforce every word, pulling me into the present and an entirely different set of problems.

“Connor. Bite. Bond.” She chants it over and over, circling in my head

Connor. Bite. Bond. Connor. Bite. Bond.

Her whines get worse, hands digging into my hair as she rolls her hips along my tongue and I’m ready to burst out of my skin.

It’s not natural for an alpha to ignore an omega’s pleas, but we’ve known this woman for less than two hours.

We cannot bond her. That doesn’t mean we leave her wanting, though.

I went my entire marriage without bonding Shelby. I’ve learned a few tricks.

My teeth sink deep into Daph’s thigh, just shy of too far. Thank fuck for whoever invented teeth caps.

At first, the almost-bite works. She comes on my fingers, my tongue, my face. Slick drips down my hand and onto the sheets below us. She’s breathless and sweaty, happy until she realizes I didn’t actually mark her.

“No, no, no. Please, no more teeth caps. Not again.”

Again?

“Daph?”

She doesn’t hear me. Her eyes are clouded, scent souring. I hate the way it permeates the nest and the worry that overtakes me. A feral omega is an entirely different beast in heat. As much as I’m trying, I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

She grabs for me, sobbing. “ Bite!”

Damn it.

I crawl up her body and drop, caging her under my full weight because that’s what her system demands. “Not yet, angel.”

Desperation to get closer, to claw her way under my skin and stay there is clear on her tear-stricken face.

I nip her neck, suck bruises on her throat, give her everything but the bond I know she wants.

The rejection sensitivity threshold becomes almost nonexistent for omegas in heat.

I didn’t think about it, but being scent-sympathetic to the whole pack may make everything harder.

We could struggle with this until her cycle breaks.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Everything’s fine. Redirect her attention.

Since she just had Dez’s knot, she can take some teasing now. I roll my hips between her thighs, catching her clit and making her spine bow. Teasing without actually entering.

Over and over, I taunt her with my cock, only to pull it away. Soon, Daphne’s sobbing for a whole new reason. “More, please.”

“Are you going to listen?” I ask.

Daph nods. “Yes, just…inside. Please, I can’t take it.”

Her scent’s sweetened up again, but my worry remains. What pushes an omega to bond an unknown alpha? Why would she have a breakdown at the sight of teeth caps?

Not your problem , I tell myself. Not sure I believe it, though.

I’m covered in slick, and I want to rub it into my skin. Embed her scent into my very being. You know what? Fuck it. Maybe having it all over will help her without a bite.

I give myself two strokes to do it, then angle so my next thrust lodges me right where she wants. Daphne’s pussy ripples as I find my way inside her, keeping me close like her nails in my shoulder.

It takes everything to focus on speaking when I’m as deep as I can go without knotting her. “Your pack is doing what we can to protect you. We don’t want you to regret us.”

“You don’t understand.” Daphne’s voice cracks as she pulls me into her neck with shaking hands. “I need the bite.”

“Later.” Dez comes to our side, leaning over to kiss her fingers, her palm, the crook of her arm. When she looks, he flashes a grin to show off the dulled points of his teeth.

She bites her lip, and I think she’s going to fall apart, but she just sniffles, looking away even as her body works with mine. “Okay.”

Shock makes my hips stutter.

Daphne should be deep in the heat throes right now, too far gone to think rationally. She should be pushing us around and taking what she wants yet, here she is. Balancing what her system needs and what we’re offering with an ease that speaks of familiarity.

How much practice has she had subduing her desires in a heat? How many times has she forced herself to take only what she’s given and not demand more?

What the fuck happened to her?