Page 189 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

I nodded, surrendering to the inevitable. To what I desperately wanted despite my fears.

Boone’s fingers slipped beneath my shirt, calloused fingertips leaving trails of fire across my abdomen as he slowly lifted the fabric. Beside him, Levi’s heated gaze tracked every inch of skin revealed, his hunger palpable in the thickening air.

The sweetness of my heat created a scent cloud around us, doming us into our own private universe. As Boone gently freed me from the shirt, sliding it over my head and tossing it aside, I felt a singular moment of clarity pierce through the haze of yearning.

This was right. This was where I belonged. With them.

45

BOONE

Her skin glowed in the honeyed light filtering through the barn's weathered roof, and it took my breath away.How many sunsets had I watched alone in the hills and valleys of this land? How many sunrises had I ridden Behaichi through, cutting through the morning mist, heading back to the ranch?Each of those endings and beginnings had been glorious in their own way.

But none were so glorious as the sight of Nelly’s body.

I watched as Cooper's fingers lingered at the button of her jeans, hesitating just long enough to ask permission without words. Nelly nodded, her copper hair becoming that living flame that first took my breath away on the airport tarmac. Her pupils dilated, stealing all but a thin gold-flecked ring of hazel. Cooper deftly unfastened the button and slowly unzipped the pants, revealing the lack of panties beneath. The scent of her heat had transformed the air, so thick and sweet that it was like breathing in maple syrup. My hands trembled as I fought to maintain the barest morsel of control.

Every Alpha instinct inside me screamed to claim, to take, to possess.

Cooper folded down the sides of her jeans away from the zipper, creating a teasing ‘v’. But he was going too slowly. He was driving me insane.

For a man who lived for impulse buying, bad surprises, and jokes, he was suddenly too calm and cautious.

"Let me," I said, my voice more an animal growl than human. Cooper's eyes met mine. He must have seen the war inside me, because he stepped back slightly, giving me space beside Nelly. He’d always been good like that—recognizing the wound in me and applying salve.

My eyes locked on Nelly. What I felt for her in this moment wasn’t something I could explain. It was like sleeping under the stars. It was like foraging for food. It was like communing with wild, wonderful creatures.

As I knelt before her, her wide eyes watched my every movement. When my knees pressed into the rough blankets and I gazed up her body, my large frame suddenly felt too brutish, too graceless. She was so delicate. So angelic.

But she didn’t think so.

I could see that in her expression. I could smell that in her Omega perfume.

She saw me, the uncivilized boy from the reservation who grew up on bison, berries, and the wisdom of my elders, and she wanted me.

My fingers found the laces of her right boot. I hated that I had to look away from her face, but I forced my eyes down. I untied the first boot, then the second. This simple act of service steadied me, gave me purpose beyond the primal urge pulsing through my veins. When I lifted her left leg gently, she shuffled her right slightly to keep balance.

"Lean on me," Levi instructed her from behind, his normally regulated voice now gravel-rough with the aching need we all felt.

I glanced up and watched Nelly press her upper body back against him. The curve of her back brought her rounded breasts forward. I slowly slipped away the boot, then peeled away the woolen sock, revealing long, lean feet that had been abused by ballet. Scars and calluses and misaligned toes mapped out everything she’d endured. My gaze drifted back up, finding Nelly staring down at me, her brow furrowed. She looked worried, like I’d find something wrong with her amazing body.

All I saw was her sacrifice.

Her discipline.

The fighter that she’d shown us since the moment she arrived.

I traced one finger along the arch of her foot, sending a shiver through her.

“You’re perfect,” I murmured, lifting her leg higher, lowering my head further, and pressing my lips to her ankle. “Every fucking inch of you.”

She said nothing, allowing me to lower that leg and pick up her other to repeat the earlier motions. Boot off. Shoe off. Stare in awe at the exquisiteness of her.

Reaching up, I pushed my thumbs into the sides of her jeans. They slipped down easily, zipper already undone. Jesus, they were absolutely drenched between her legs. Levi shifted his hold, making sure his body didn’t inhibit the progress as he stood behind her.

Inch by inch, her lower body greeted us. The gradual curve of her hips leading down to her thighs. The slight rounding to her lovely stomach. The first peek of pelvis above her waiting womanhood. The fabric slipped away.

Lower.