Page 50 of Rugged Hearts: Part One

Then I slam down on his knot, triggering his orgasm as well as my own.More. More.My teeth are sinking into his neck, marking him completely as mine. So right. Holding him to me, I lick and suck at it. With more strength than I thought, he pushes me off his neck and then suddenly bites my left tit. His returning bite triggers another orgasm. I actually feel a little out of it for a minute as a result. He takes his time tending to the bond mark. When he’s finished, I collapse against his chest as we’re still locked together by his knot. I send all my pride and…caring down the bond to him. The shock I feel in return from him doesn’t surprise me. I was him a long time ago. He deserves to feel confident, happy, in his own skin and place in the pack. Suddenly a wave of love and devotion are flooding the bond from Parker. These alphas are just going to constantly make me cry if they keep doing that. I’m holding back my tears, even if they’re happy because I’m so sick of crying.

I don’t know how much time passes, but we stay like that until there’s a knock on the door. A moment of panic rushes through the both of us, but then we hear, “It’s Keelan.”

Oh Gods did he feel what happened? I really need to learn more about having multiple bonds. I can’t ask Sophie, I don’t need to know those details from her. Liam will know.

“Come in,” Parker shouts, making me jump. “Sorry.”

Keelan walks in, shutting the door behind him quickly. He doesn’t look surprised at all. He crosses his arms and with aneyebrow raised, says, “Have fun you two?” Before a big grin spreads across his face.

“You’re not mad?”

Now he rolls his eyes at me just as I feel his love push down our bond. “Of course not. I know you’re going to bond eventually with the pack. Though I don’t think this was planned, was it?” he asks.

“Not the bond.” I then quickly clarify, “Not bonding today. I knew it would happen eventually, but doing it today was a surprise for the two of us.” I look to Parker who just nods.

Keelan looks contemplative as he strokes his beard. That should not turn me on. “Take some time together and then get cleaned up. We have about two hours until pack dinner tonight. We need to talk about this. It’s obvious these mini heats are triggering this; Liam might know the best way forward until your actual heat arrives.”

“Okay,” I say softly as I rest my head on Parker’s chest. Keelan grabs a blanket from the basket next to the chair and puts it around us. Well, mostly me but Parker by extension. My eyes close as I feel myself nodding off, smiling. “Thank you Teddy Bear.”

I hear Keelan grunt and Parker burst out laughing. I don’t care. I feel so good right now. Plus Keelan’s bond is radiating with affection. He likes it even if he won’t admit it.

39

BEN

It’s been amazing having Thea at the house this week. I was shocked at her and Keelan bonding so quickly but it’s turned out for the best. She seems less weighed down by everything. I still catch her with that torn look in her eyes but not nearly as often as before. As we clean up dinner, Parker announces, “I need to talk to everyone tonight.”

Another pack meeting. What happened this time? I look to Thea but she has her back to me as she grabs Parker’s hand. What could be going on with him that he needs her support? I sigh to myself as I finish the dishes, I guess we’ll find out soon.

As we gather in our default room lately, the living room, Parker stays standing with Thea still at his side. My own anxiety is rising. Eli is the last to come in and we all look to Parker, who ducks his head as if he can escape our attention. I know all the attention isn’t comfortable for him. He’s always been like that, even when we were kids. He looks down at Thea and his expression softens and his posture straightens.

“Thea and I bonded today,” he says bluntly.

Just like Keelan’s announcement, the room is silent. That is until Eli jumps up yelling, “Congrats!” He gives Parker a big hug that has Thea smiling softly. Parker is full-on blushing now.There’s no doubt in my mind this was a similar situation as Keelan, in that she bit first. I look at Keelan to gage his reaction and he has a small smile on his face. His thick beard makes it hard to tell, but I catch it. We all should be happy she’s bonding with more of the pack, and we’re one step closer to being complete. On that note I look at Micah, whose sour expression is worse than ever. Thankfully he doesn’t spout off any bullshit like he did the other day.

“Was it another mini heat?” Liam asks, getting right to business.

Thea looks to Parker who seems unsure himself. “I think it was. It didn’t start out that way. But towards the end I think my temp spiked and I felt the same way as I did during the one with Keelan,” she says.

“And after, any lingering high temps or heat cramps?” Liam follows up.

“Is this really important? We should be celebrating,” Eli says.

“Yes Eli, this is important. It could help save her life when her heat comes,” Liam bites out.

Thea looks to Keelan and some kind of communication passes through them. Jealously rises in me but I squash it quickly. I know we’ll bond at some point. It’ll happen.

“No I don’t think my temp was still high after. It’s not like we measured, but I felt good overall,” Thea answers Liam’s question.

Liam gets up from his spot on the sectional and begins to pace. There isn’t a ton of floor space for that in front of the sectional. Parker and Thea sit down and we all wait for Liam to work out whatever he’s thinking. Micah moves as if he’s going to leave but Eli clamps his hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. Eli’s expression is as dark as I’ve ever seen on his normally upbeat face.

“Thea you can’t bond with anyone else before your heat,” Liam says as he finally comes to a stop.

“What?!” Eli and I say at the same time. Jake has beencompletely silent during all this. Having an ex-FBI agent in the pack can make it hard for even us to read him sometimes.

“It’s a theory but based on these two events, I think it’s sound enough to move forward. As I’ve said before, the biggest risk with your upcoming heat is your temperature getting too high as a result of the long-term suppressant usage. However, during your mini heats where your temp is spiking as it likely will during the heat, bonding is cutting off the spike. Basically extinguishing it. These mini heats are short in duration, however many you have between now and the heat need to be dealt with sex or ice baths, possibly both depending how bad they get. But absolutely no more bonding,” Liam explains, looking frazzled at his own revelation.

“I don’t understand why we have to wait for the heat,” I say.