Page 31 of Love Me Knot, Part One (Knotty Omegas #1)

DAPHNE

It’s strange seeing Pack Morgan without the heat distracting us. Laughter when someone drops something, off-key singing to annoy the others. Inside jokes and comfortable, familiar looks of people who actually like spending time together.

Not that I’m set up on our shared front porch, creeping. Definitely not.

Although, who could blame me? Nate and Dez took their shirts off the second I sat down. They strut around like peacocks, flashing me coy smiles, well-earned muscle and every bruise I sucked into their skin. I’ve never been so turned on with such little effort. It’s disgusting.

In contrast, Connor’s taken the Victorian-ankle approach.

Fully clothed in jeans and a Henley, the only glimpses of skin I get are those long fingers I can still see on my body and his gorgeous face.

Until he wipes his brow, baring the entirety of his lean stomach and the sting ray tattoo along his hip that I want to lick all over again.

He covers up the second he catches me staring, but he doesn’t look away. A shock since he’s heavily avoided eye contact since the shower incident. While the others have been doing their utmost to get my attention, Connor’s been trying to blend into the foliage.

Does he not feel this tether between us? This wave of energy and connection. This unfathomable potential.

There’s something in his face that makes me think he does, but then it’s gone and so is he.

I get a flash of lower back and an ass straining against his clothes when Connor leans over to grab a stack of cardboard for recycling, disappearing into their garage.

“This is cruel and unusual punishment,” I mutter, squeezing my water bottle.

“Problem, gorgeous?”

My unfortunate habit of startling around this pack means my hand crushes the plastic, drenching my shirt and giving Dez a prime view of my tits beneath.

His gaze drops for a stilted moment, then he growls, teeth bared at a couple meandering down the sidewalk.

They aren’t even looking our way, but he lets them know fast to keep their eyes averted.

Such a good protector.

Oh my fuck, I need to chill.

Hoping to sound as collected as possible when I’m drenched in more places than one, I ask, “What’re you doing, Dez?”

“Came to invite you to dinner. Delivery will be here soon.”

I debate saying no because ogling or not, these men feel dangerous in the way that only taking chances can, but the lure of an effort-free meal is too tempting.

The week after my heat, I prefer to play slug.

A pretty slug that doesn’t cook or clean.

I want to do nothing but live in my become one with the sofa era.

Dez smirks like this is another thing he just understands about me . “You don’t have to lift a finger. We’ll even feed you if you ask nicely.”

That does sound nice. Delicious food with delicious men, even if one pretends he’s never been inside me.

“I’m not cleaning,” I warn, feeling hot and frustrated, completely unsure how to fix either. Grabbing my keys and phone from the table just inside the door, I lock my place up.

“Of course not.”

Dez escorts me the four steps to their side of the duplex, hand on my lower back. I’m one step over the threshold of their side when he presses close, breathing every word onto my skin. “I think I’ve proven I’m more than happy to clean.”

No doubt I’m beet red right now. At least the scent-dampening panties hide how much I like everything he’s saying. I doubt guests will appreciate the lingering scent of perfuming omega.

My stomach sinks and sours. The pack said they’d wait for me, but no one mentioned doing it alone. Despite my answer to courtship, I don’t want them with anyone else.

They may not be mine, but they said they wanted to be. That means they wouldn’t do that, right? Fuck, dating is the worst and I’m not even doing it.

“The place is beautiful,” I say, spinning away from Dez’s probing stare and my stupid thoughts.

They’ve barely moved in, but the space takes my breath away.

Cozy couches and blankets everywhere. Furniture that’s lived in and well maintained.

They’ve turned a blank slate into a warm, cozy place I want to dive into and never leave.

This isn’t a home I could get lost or lonely in.

Not when it encourages connection and interaction. Bonding as a unit. A family.

Nerves skitter down my spine. I don’t know how to be in a place like this. I grew up in a museum and moved to another with my pack. Yet, my fingers literally itch to steal the blankets for my nest. This lived in comfort is as foreign as the men crowding my space and the peace they bring me.

“Knew you’d like it,” Nate crows, tossing himself on the couch, completely oblivious to my panic. “Our place is comfy as hell.”

“That’s why he’s spreading his funk all over instead of taking a fucking shower.” Connor says from somewhere behind me.

“He smells fine.” I can’t take my eyes off Nate as he sprawls out, giving me a front-row look at thick muscles and a curved belly I want to wrap myself around.

“I’m not the only one that smells good.” There’s a stereo of rumbling agreements, though the one at my back almost immediately cuts off.

Nate’s smirk gets bigger as he tracks the pink spreading across my neck and face.

Damnable blush. “Besides, I was waiting for you. Wanna save water with me, kitten? Do it for the turtles.”

“We all know there will be no conservation efforts if you get me naked again.”

“True,” he admits. “Can you blame me?”

Laughter bubbles and I let it out, tipping my head back. For a moment, I feel weightless. Breathless at their attention and the joy I feel. But everything stalls when my head drops to Connor’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I—” Didn’t realize he was there. Not that it matters.

He stays where he is, the moment holding. Our eyes lock as they always seem to. My chest aches at the fear in his. The resignation. So many feelings, all put there because of me.

“Connor.”

His head snaps to the side, body stiff as he pulls away without another word.

The room is too quiet, the others watching me struggle to keep my feelings off my face. I have to stop touching him. “Maybe another time.”

Nate’s eyes are dark, frown lines taking over his face, but they disappear fast, something far more mischievous stealing their place. Hauling himself up in a move too smooth for me to comprehend and drops his boxers right there in the living room.

He strolls over, getting close enough to brush my body and mouth with his. It takes everything in me not to watch his cock getting harder against me. This fucking alpha doesn’t play fair, looking like a snack with his stupid smile and his flirty eyes.

I gasp at the rush of heat under my skin and Nate gives me a wicked smirk, inhaling the first tendrils of my perfume slipping around us. “That’s the good shit. I can still taste you, baby.”

Dez snatches me out of Nate’s hold. “Go shower before dinner gets here. And no, Daphne’s not on the menu.”

“Now that would be something. We could have you spread out?—"

“Go!” Connor and Dez shout as my perfume gets out of control.

Nate pouts until he’s out of view and, just like that, I’m smiling again. There’s something about him that makes me so happy.

My back rests comfortably against Dez’s chest while he nuzzles my throat, the scent of my heat thicker there with the blanket over my shoulders. “You smell edible, gorgeous. I can’t decide if I want to clean you off again or if I like having you drenched in us.”

There’s an almost growl in his words that I feel all over. Fingers on my skin, kisses in my hair, the hardness of his cock pressing against my ass. The way his hand gets so close to palming me through my clothes.

I shiver, eyes dropping of their own volition as Dez moves me. Praying he’s about to bend me over the nearest surface and get rid of this ache, I’m shocked at that all too familiar icy heat along my front.

“Oh.”

Connor’s chest nearly brushes mine, those shadows from before living in his eyes. I want to smooth the creases between them, soothe the stress. My hand actually lifts to do it when his phone vibrates.

I flinch, stopping immediately.

We’re busy men, Daphne. If someone calls, we need to answer.

How many times have I heard that? Told I couldn’t ask for attention when my alphas had so much to deal with. Things far more important than their omega.

I try to pull away, but Connor’s hand snaps out, anchoring me at the hip so I can’t move. Can’t run. There’s fabric between us, yet I burn with his touch.

“Ignore it,” he rasps.

I wish I could, desperate to enjoy this moment where he seems unguarded, but the phone keeps going off. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

The barely audible sound sinks into my brain, unearthing memories that feel like battle wounds. Dinners, movie nights, the nest during my heat. A million moments accompanied by a noise that still haunts my dreams.

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

The goosebumps are no longer from these men’s proximity. It’s a warning. A reminder that I should cut this off before it gets too far.

Four days spent fucking does not a relationship make. And even if we’re not courting, they’re busy. They have lives and here I am, interrupting it. Always the distraction. Always the one left behind.

Leave before they leave you.

“You should get that.” Against very obvious complaints, I move out of the comfort of their arms. My ears ring, smothering the sound of the phone. Focus on right here. Right now.

And I do. My attention slips to the room around us, trying to find something to tether me. Weirdly, it’s Connor’s feet that trap my attention. There’s something so intimate about seeing them bare beneath his jeans, something I wish I’d earned.

“Daphne.” My name’s a rumble in Dez’s mouth. A plea.

It would be so easy to share the truth, to lay my problems down. Maybe they’d surprise me, supporting me in ways I’ve only dreamed of. Craved in the vast emptiness of my nest and my relationship.