Page 57 of Stream Heat (Omega Stream #1)

He licked a slow, deliberate stripe over the side of my neck, and my whole body shuddered.

The contact was intimate in a way that had nothing to do with penetration, claiming me in a language only our bodies understood.

He pressed an open-mouthed kiss there, letting his teeth just graze before retreating.

“Not enough,” he murmured. He caught my wrist, lifting it between us, his thumb brushing over the mark he’d left earlier.

He bent his head and dragged his tongue across the spot, then closed his mouth over it in a deep, lingering suck that sent a bolt of heat straight to my core.

“Your scent smells like home now,” he said quietly, almost to himself.

He did the same to my other wrist, kissing the thin skin over my pulse point, breathing me in like he was taking my scent into his bloodstream.

By the time he worked his way lower, kissing down my sternum to my belly, I was panting again.

His lips pressed just between my breasts, where he lingered for a moment, breathing me in before scenting me there, slow and deliberate.

The primal meaning was unmistakable and the knowledge of it made my chest tighten with something more than just lust.

When he came back up to kiss me, the taste of my skin and his own scent still clung to his lips. His tongue slid against mine, unhurried, and I could feel him smiling faintly into the kiss like he’d just finished some private ritual.

“You’re covered in me now,” he said when he pulled back, his voice low and certain. “Anyone who comes near you will know exactly who you belong to.”

I couldn’t help the sound that escaped me, a small, breathless whimper that only made his eyes darken more. The knot pulsed again, a slow, insistent throb that kept me full, sealed.

“And you’ll stay like this,” he promised, brushing his nose against mine. “Until I decide to let you go.”

The way he said it made something deep in me melt entirely, my body relaxing into his hold. I curled into him, feeling every steady beat of his heart against my chest, every warm exhale against my hair, every lingering press of his scent on my skin.

I didn’t want him to let me go.

The knot pulsed inside me, still stretching me wide, keeping him deep. My body was still quivering from the first release, but Jace wasn’t loosening his hold. If anything, he seemed to settle in, bracing his weight on one arm while the other trailed lazy patterns down my side.

“You feel perfect like this,” he murmured, voice low and rough. “So tight around me. So warm.”

I shivered, the words soaking into me as surely as his scent had. He didn’t rush, didn’t pull back. Instead, he pressed his hips forward in small, slow circles that made the knot shift just enough to send aftershocks rippling through my core. My nails dug into his shoulders, my breath catching.

“Sensitive,” he noted, lips brushing the shell of my ear. “But not finished.”

Before I could respond, his mouth returned to my neck, dragging his tongue over the sensitive skin in a slow, claiming sweep before sucking lightly. The pull went straight between my legs, tightening every muscle around his knot.

“You keep doing that…” My voice trailed into a gasp as his thumb found my clit, drawing tight, deliberate circles that matched the rhythm of his subtle grinding. The combination, pressure from the knot, the constant fullness, his expert touch, was dizzying.

“That’s the point,” he said, and I felt the faint curve of his smile against my throat. “You think I’m going to let you come just once for me? Not when I can keep you like this… until I’ve wrung every sound you’ve ever made from you.”

His scent rolled heavier now, still the cold-snap ink-and-snow I’d come to crave, but with a richer, sharper undertone that spoke of an Alpha in control of his rut, letting just enough of it bleed through to make my Omega instincts twist and flare.

My body reacted without thought, arching into him, hips tilting to chase every fraction of movement.

“That’s it,” he murmured. “Chase it. Take what you need.”

The knot swelled subtly again, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

His thumb quickened just enough to push me higher, the steady grind of his hips never faltering.

Every small motion pressed him deeper, ground the knot against every sensitive place inside me, until my breath was coming in short, sharp pants.

“Jace–”

“Let go for me again,” he ordered, the warmth of his voice wrapping around the command. “I want to feel you clamp down and know you can’t get away even if you try.”

His rhythm never faltered, each movement building upon the last with mathematical precision. One hand slid between us, fingers finding exactly where I needed them most, applying pressure with the same careful attention he brought to everything.

"Let go," he encouraged, his eyes never leaving mine. "I'll catch you."

That did it. My second climax hit harder than the first, a sharp, spiraling wave that locked every muscle in my body and dragged a cry from my throat. I clung to him, shaking, my inner walls fluttering desperately around the unyielding knot.

The simple promise, spoken with such certainty, had been all I needed.

Pleasure continued to crash through me in waves, my body arching against his as release claimed me completely.

He followed moments later, his own climax controlled even in its intensity, his forehead pressed against mine as we breathed the same air.

As the aftershocks subsided, he shifted to my side, one arm wrapped protectively around my waist. The position felt right, connected but not confining, intimate but not overwhelming.

With reverent care, he lifted my wrist to his mouth, his eyes never leaving mine as his lips grazed the sensitive skin he’s bitten not long before. "Thank you," he murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the mark.

"For what?"

"For seeing me," he said simply. "For understanding what I offer that's different but equally necessary."

The gratitude in his voice made my throat tight with emotion. Jace, who watched and understood everyone else so perfectly, rarely felt truly seen himself.

"I do see you," I assured him, curling closer into his embrace. "Your quiet strength. Your patient attention. Your ability to create peace when everything else is chaos."

He held me tighter, his scent, ink and snow, wrapping around me like a protective blanket. We lay in comfortable silence, the bond between us humming with new awareness, new connection.

"The others will be worried," he observed after a while, though he made no move to leave.

"Let them worry a little longer," I murmured, unwilling to leave this pocket of peace just yet. "I need this. The quiet. The stillness. You."

He pressed a kiss to my temple, understanding without needing further explanation. "Then that's what you'll have. For as long as you need it."

As I drifted toward sleep in his arms, I marveled at how different this connection felt from the others, not more or less, just..

. different. Essential in its own way. Where Reid provided protection and Theo offered joy, Jace gave me peace, the quiet between storms, the stillness my soul needed to process everything else.

Three bonds, three marks, three distinct connections forming a pattern that felt increasingly right. Not complete yet, Ash and Malik still waited, their own unique offerings yet to be fully incorporated, but balanced in a way it hadn't been before.

For the first time since my heat had exposed me to the world, I felt not just acceptance of my Omega nature, but genuine appreciation for what it allowed me to experience.

These connections, these bonds, these profound understandings of different aspects of myself reflected through five distinct Alphas, none of it would have been possible without the designation I'd spent years fighting.

Perhaps that had been the lesson all along. Not that I needed to reject my designation to be strong, but that I needed to embrace it to be complete.

With Jace's steady heartbeat beneath my ear and his claim throbbing gently on my wrist, I surrendered to sleep, certain of one thing if nothing else:

I was exactly where I belonged.