by Kathryn Moon
“Let me help?”
I nodded immediately. Matthieu bundled me up again and then stood by some massive feat of strength and balance, holding me to his chest and tipping my head back for water to run through my hair.
“Head to toe?” he asked.
“Please,” I whispered.
I don’t know how he did it, holding me up and reaching for bottles. I braced myself against his shoulders sometimes, or rested my head on his chest as he scrubbed shampoo in my hair. He was tender and thorough and kind. Occasionally his lips would brush my cheek or my shoulder, once even my knees, but never more than briefly.
Any other moment, and I might’ve dragged him against me and begged for sex, but I meant what I said. I was sore, I was weak, I wasn’t in pain, but I was well and truly done for the night if not longer. Matthieu seemed to understand. Even as he cleaned between my legs, his touch was careful, efficient, and gentle.
I sighed as the suds ran down my body, Matthieu finished with his task and simply holding me under the water.
“Better?”
I nodded.
“Still anxious?”
The man was a little too good at reading me. “I don’t think so. Maybe after some sleep I will be, but I think I’m too tired for it right now.”
He hummed in agreement, and the water shut off. “Let’s get dried off and into bed. Do you want company or privacy?”
“Company.”
He picked me up, arms around my hips, and carried me out of the shower, shaking his pants down his hips and leaving them in the stall. There was a small closet just to the left of the stall, and Matthieu pulled out what had to be a full-sized bed version of a fluffy cotton towel, wrapping it around us both like a cloak. It was warm too. The closet was heated.
Fucking rich people and their amazing toys.
“Thank you,” I said, my arms around Matthieu’s shoulders.
He smiled and lifted his chin to me, and I dipped my head to kiss him briefly.
“Even your lips are swollen, Lolotte,” he murmured. “Time to rest. Are you hungry? I can get us a midnight snack.”
He carried me across the hall and into the bedroom he’d said was Leo’s. It smelled clean, but not in a Leo way, and I figured Leo had probably been in the nest for most of the visit anyway.
“A little hungry,” I admitted.
Matthieu set me down on the bed, gave me a quick rub down with the towel, and then whipped the covers back, watching me slide in.
“Wait here. I’ll be back with something to tide you over until breakfast.”
I hummed and pulled the covers up over my bare skin, the mattress soft and giving beneath me. I smiled at Matthieu’s back, the towel wrapped around his body like a toga, and then my eyes fell shut. I never even woke up for the snack.
The bed dipped, and a chapped kiss met my lips. I woke from a heavy, dreamless sleep with warm skin pressed to my back, and found Leo hovering in front of me.
“Can I slide in with you?” he whispered. His eyebrow cocked and he added, “It is my bed after all.”
“Mm, please,” I answered, scooting back against Matthieu’s chest.
Matthieu purred and his arm circled my waist, lips mumbling in my hair. “Want me to go?”
I glanced at Leo anxiously, but he only smiled. “You’re fine. Just wanted to check in on our girl.”
Matthieu hummed, and his nose burrowed through tangled strands of hair to kiss the back of my neck.
Leo’s laughter faded slightly and he scooted in closer, slipping his hand under mine that rested on the pillow. Our fingers tied, and Leo squeezed lightly.
“I was worried maybe last night got to be…too much,” Leo whispered. “I know the haze can be pretty powerful and—”
I leaned in and rested my lips against Leo’s, hushing his worry. Even my lips were still tender from the night before, and the rest of me was badly in need of some good stretches and maybe a longer soak in the tub.
“I did have a little…fritz afterward,” I admitted, pulling my hand free of Leo’s and soothing away his wince. “But I’m good now. And I’m good with everything that happened. I just needed to grab some space and…clean up after. How’s Rake?” I wanted to offer to check on him, but there was no way I could do another marathon session like the one during the night.
“Still sleeping,” Leo said, grinning. “I think you broke the heat, actually. His temperature is down, and Caleb turned on a vent to recirculate the room just a little. Having a ‘fritz’ is okay, though?”
I nodded. “I’m learning it’s part of processing. I’m just going to need to step back sometimes to organize what’s happening and separate it from what already happened, yeah?”
Matthieu’s arm tightened around my waist, and Leo sighed, his eyes blinking slowly as he nodded.
“Mmkay, as long as you’re good now. Wes texted to say breakfast is in progress too, by the way,” Leo hummed, eyelids fluttering slowly.
My stomach growled, and Matthieu huffed a laugh against the nape of my neck, goosebumps rising in answer.
“Want me to try and bring you breakfast in bed?” Matthieu asked.
“Please,” Leo mumbled.
I twisted under the blanket, remembering very suddenly that Matthieu and I were naked together as my hips brushed against his. Before I could overthink that I’d found myself in bed with an alpha, Matthieu’s hands were on my neck, guiding me up his chest to take soft kisses from my mouth.
I pushed myself up, trying to take the blanket with me, covering my bare chest. “I need to get up and move around.”
“We’ll let Leo sleep then,” Matthieu said, sitting up and sliding out from under the covers.
We, just like that. And it was a relief that Matthieu wasn’t even asking, actually, surrendering control simpler under the circumstances.
If I’d been aware of Matthieu’s body next to mine last night, it was nothing to seeing him naked in front of me. He was surprisingly muscular, although the forms were softer than Leo or Rake’s. His legs were delicious though, sculpted like a runner’s. He cleared his throat, lips smirking, as he set my bag down on the bed. I glanced back over my shoulder as if that could hide the blush I was sporting, and found Leo face down into the pillow, head turned to me just enough to reveal his parted lips, breath puffing in steady beats.
I pulled the covers up under my arms and flipped open the bag, taking stealthy glances of Matthieu’s back and legs flexing as he dressed. He’d already seen me naked, I reminded myself that I didn’t need to feel bashful. He’d had a more than thorough opportunity to study me while he’d washed me off in the shower. Still, it seemed different with sunlight falling in through the narrow windows along the ceiling and my head on straight.
He got you off like seventeen times in the back of a limo, idiot. It’s a little late for dignity.
I huffed and found myself a change of underwear, giving up on modesty and getting out of bed to dress, groaning slightly as my body reminded me that I’d overdone it with the whole group sex idea. I had brought a comfy old sundress with me, and Matthieu pulled it out of my bag, raising it over my head for me.
“I leave for the city tomorrow night, a bit earlier than the others,” Matthieu said, his hands following the path of the fabric, over my shoulders and breasts, around my waist and down to my hips. “Will you stay that long?” I nodded, looking up at him as he stared at his own hands cupping my hips. “And will you come back to the city with me? And stay at the house?”
I went to bite my lip and then immediately remembered why that was a terrible idea. Ouch.
Matthieu, catching my hesitation, hurried to smooth over the moment. “It wouldn’t have to be with me, if you—”
“I’d like that.” I smiled as Matthieu’s words halted, and rose up to my tiptoes, his hands guiding me against him as his head bowed for the grazing kiss.
I’d expected Wes to be making a spread of oatmeal, egg whites, and fruit for us, since that was his usual leani
ng. Instead, I caught the whiffs of grease and meat and fat as we stepped into the rustic, cozy kitchen. I moaned, and Matthieu purred at my back, his hands moving aimlessly over my shoulders.
“Wes, my hero, what are you making?” I sighed, taking in the bright space and the low ceiling, a large yard calling to me through small windows.
Silence followed my question and my eyes moved back to Wes at the stove, only to find him staring back at me, watching as Matthieu’s arms twined around my waist and his head dipped to nuzzle my temple. Wes looked…somehow both more and less surprised than I’d expected. Like he knew this was coming, but hadn’t expected it so soon. My blush flooded my cheeks and throat as Matthieu pulled away.
“I’ll start your coffee,” Matthieu murmured.
Wes cleared his throat and shook his head subtly, clearing the awkwardness of his shock with a rare, dimpled grin. “Biscuits, gravy, eggs, and potatoes. From scratch, not that frozen shit.”
My stomach roared in answer, and I swallowed hard. “God that sounds amazing. I’m so hungry,” I moaned.
Wes blushed, head nodding jerkily, and he turned back to the stove. “I’ll bet.”
Matthieu grinned wolfishly at me, and I grabbed the mug in his hands to help hide my blush.
“You should’ve been around for the pack argument about what Wes cooks for the post-heat meal,” Matthieu said, drawing me to his side again.
Wes huffed a laugh and shook his head, and I wondered how I had it in me to admire the shift of muscle that happened under his t-shirt as he moved. “I’ve given up trying to protect the pack’s cholesterol. But there is grapefruit, if anyone has the sense to eat it.”
I slipped out from Matthieu’s hold and crossed to the basket on the old wooden hutch by Wes, grabbing up one of the heavy grapefruits and flashing him a smile. His curiosity was almost palpable, and he watched me return to Matthieu’s side with a keen eye, but he never questioned what had happened.
If he had, I honestly had no idea what I would say. I’d found one more man in this pack of perfection that I was hopelessly unable to resist. One more way to break my heart.
“Getting antsy?” I murmured into Rake’s ear later that night.
The entire pack and I were out on the screened-in back porch, shutters turned to reveal the sunset beyond the old mill. The porch was cozy, with a small wood stove and deep, pod-like seating. Caleb, Rake, and I were piled together in a pod, my legs draped over Rake’s as he leaned into Caleb’s chest. Caleb’s hand was resting over my knee, thumb brushing my skin in a warm repetitive path, and Leo was leaning against the tangle of the three of us, sitting on a dense cushion on the floor.
“Not yet,” Rake said, although he’d started squirming every few minutes. He must’ve been resisting the urge to get back to his nest.
I’d napped with him there earlier in the afternoon while the alphas took the opportunity to shower, and it had turned into sating a minor flare-up with Rake fucking me lazily as we lay spooned together. He’d been gentle, but it definitely hadn’t left me less sore.
“Want me to swap with Cyrus?” I whispered, resting my chin on Rake’s shoulder.
He frowned, bottom lip pouting slightly. “I wish I was more…cube shaped.”
Leo snorted softly on the floor and I squinted at Rake, who shrugged in response. “I just want you all directly next to me, but there’s only one of me and four of you and it’s… The geometry’s not working out.”
Caleb hummed, and I caught his eye. He lifted his eyebrow, arm shifting back to offer the open space of his chest and lap. I only hesitated for a moment, pulling myself out of Rake’s arms as he whined, and tiptoeing around Leo to resettle onto Caleb’s lap. He was kind of vibrating, and it took me a moment to realize it was a silent purr rumbling in his chest. Leo’s neck was arched to grin up at us and with a few shifts, Caleb and I had Rake bundled against us, our arms crossed over his chest.
“Cy!”
“Yes, hun? Aww, you made room for me?” Cyrus pushed up from his armchair in the far corner, immediately wedging himself into the small space left in the loveseat.
It was a miracle the little couch hadn’t broken between the four of us. I tried to stifle my giggle, but it drew the eyes of the room. Matthieu’s gaze was on me, as hot as the small fire he sat next to. But so were Wes’. He’d been watching me all day, ever since I’d come up for breakfast with Matthieu. If I’d ever had any question about the interest of Rake’s unbonded alphas, it was gone now.
You’re just a convenient hole to fuck since they can’t—
I shut down the nasty words. There was affection between Rake and his two unbonded alphas, friendliness and ease. I hated thinking that Matthieu or Wes might simply be trying to replicate any sexual relationship they were missing with Rake. If that were the case, Matthieu probably would’ve been all over me in the shower while I’d been coated and full of his omega’s scent, not extra careful to avoid hurting or alarming me.
Caleb’s purring grew stronger at my back as Leo leaned back against us. His scent was strong and thick, as sweet as an omega’s but without creating the pit of hunger in my stomach. I snuggled into him, reaching my free hand down to comb through Leo’s hair. My own head tipped back onto Caleb’s shoulder, that heady dense blanket of warmth right in front of my nose. Three gulps down, and I was fast asleep.
Thirty
Lola
“Are you sure you shouldn’t call off work tomorrow and stay one more night?” Rake asked, resting his cheek on my bare breast. He and Leo had talked me into a nooner without any of the alphas, but in another hour or so, I would be heading back to the city with Matthieu.
“I am already walking funny,” I said, and Leo huffed. “Plus, I dunno, with this whole corporate espionage thing going on, I probably shouldn’t be absent from work at the same time as Cyrus.”
“How serious is this thing with Wendy?” Rake asked.
“I’m not sure, honestly. I haven’t even told Matthieu everything she and I discussed at dinner. But I feel more confident that I don’t want to work for her if she leaves Designate.”
“Speaking of Matthieu…” Rake said, waggling his eyebrows.
Leo chuckled at my back, and I grimaced and braced myself.
“Lola, don’t look like I’m about to bite you. I just wanna know how it happened. And if it’ll happen some more. And if maybe I can watch sometime?” Rake laughed at my gobsmacked face. “What? Matthieu and I annoy each other as much as we love each other, but I do still have eyes. I would love to see him go to town on you.”
“Ohmigod, Rake!”
“I bet he’s all like intense about making sure you come first and—oh! What’s that face, what’s that?!” Rake wrestled himself up, and Leo helped him roll me onto my back, the pair of them catching my hands and keeping me from hiding my blush.
“Um… It might’ve…gone the other way,” I said, trying to wiggle away.
Rake grinned maniacally above me, teeth gleaming in the faint glow. “Spill, Lollipop.”
I huffed and fessed up, explaining about Matthieu filling the car with his scent, and me thinking it was for Rake.
Rake frowned at that. “Wait…why did you think Matthieu and I were a thing?”
“You’d never said you weren’t, and there was all that stuff between you and Carolyn,” I said.
“Pft. That was just because Carolyn never wanted to spend time with Matt around the rest of us. Like she was trying to pretend he didn’t have a pack,” Rake said, shrugging. “Matt and I don’t fuck. We just love each other.”
“Right, well, yeah. He explained that,” I said. I blushed, and Leo and Rake both raised their eyebrows waiting for me to spill the rest. I swallowed hard and then blurted out that I’d taunted Matthieu with my own arousal and then demanded he let me suck him off. Rake was back on the mattress, curled into my side, and half-hard by the time I finished the story of the drive here and my plentiful orgasms.
“So you guys haven’t had sex yet?
” Rake asked, licking his lips.
“Not officially, yeah.” I released a nervous giggle and then stared at Rake, his gaze intent. “Does it bother you if I do get involved with Matthieu? I don’t want to risk—”
Rake leaned forward and kissed me, rocking against my side and letting me feel his arousal, sticky on my skin. “Who’s your favorite?” Rake asked.
“What? My favorite? Rake, I…” I frowned at Rake, and then it dawned on me. I shared a quick smile with Leo, and then a long kiss, before I turned back to Rake, pressing my lips to his before answering. “I don’t have one.”
“Hmm…well, that wasn’t the right answer. Obviously, I should be the favorite,” Rake said, wearing a wicked grin. “But it wasn’t wrong either. You are more than welcome to sex it up with Matthieu as much as you like. And, you know, date and be romantic and stuff too. As long as it doesn’t mean you don’t want to do those things with me.”
“We should do more dating and being romantic and stuff with Lola,” Leo murmured.
“We should,” Rake agreed. “Matt’s gonna woo the shit out of her. And probably Caleb soon too. So we have to keep up. In the meantime, though, my manhood feels challenged. Does yours, Leo?”
Leo sat up, rubbing his palms together. “It definitely doesn’t, but if you’re proposing what I think you are, I’m on board.”
A nervous flutter warmed in my belly as Leo moved one of my legs to make room for himself between them, and then settled down onto his stomach.
“What are you two planning?”
“We’re planning on beating Matthieu’s record,” Rake said.
Leo hummed his agreement, head dipping and mouth kissing my soft stomach.
My laugh was breathless. “I have to get ready to go soon. He had, like, an hour more time.”
