“And on the fucking edge, so stop doing that or this will be over really bloody soon.”
He grabbed my hand, laying it across his heart so I could feel its rapid beat, then he kissed me.
This was the moment when alpha, beta, and omega didn’t matter, there was just Tris and Kit. He always kissed so hungrily, like he couldn’t get enough, his lips sucking mine in, tongue reaching for mine, and I kissed him back just as hard, until we were forced to break away, panting. His eyes shone so brightly in the midday light streaming in through the windows, but they fell partly closed as I stroked his face.
“On the bed, omega,” he growled, making me shiver in anticipation.
Even then, he wasn’
t content to let me do it, scooping me up and laying me on the mattress, the scent of a foreign alpha in our noses. He crouched over me, his shadow swallowing me right up as he dropped his lips to my neck. He kissed the sensitive skin so thoroughly, until I was squirming on the bed, knowing I needed something else, something more, then his teeth clamped down on my neck, forcing me to be still.
This was the beauty and the tragedy of our relationship, because right then, I could feel the blunt bite of his teeth and knew they weren’t an alpha’s sharper nip. That made me restless, but he was Tristan and it felt like he knew every damn corner of my heart, so did it matter? To Kit, no, but to the omega? I couldn’t articulate that, not just because it would slay him, but because sentences were not possible now, just single words. Like this one.
“Tristan…”
“I know, Kit,” he said after pulling free, then the damned kisses began again, trailing all the way across my skin, but not where I needed them the most. Delicate, airy pleasure filled my body, but I craved something more, something intense.
“You’re stringing this out, making her needy.”
We both turned our heads to see that James had come to sit beside the bed, watching us closely now.
“She’ll tell you she wants it now, now, now,” Tris replied in a ragged tone, “but I know her. Teasing her, making her wait, it’s what she really craves.” He stared into James’ eyes as he dropped his head, brushing his lips across my aching nipple.
“Fuck, yes, Tristan!” I yelped, clawing at his skull, trying to keep him there, but he just pulled away.
“The more I tease her, the harder she comes.”
“Both of you are getting needy.”
Len got up from the stool and strode over at a slow pace. I felt the bed dip as he came to sit beside us, drawing our eyes sideways.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” He studied the two of us with heavily lidded eyes, his gaze steady. “You know exactly what she wants, what she needs, because you’ve got something no alpha ever will—her instincts are your instincts. When she paints her thighs with her slick, you’re doing the same. It’s why you’re so close, so wrapped up in each other—you’re trapped in this cycle of knowing exactly what the other needs, but you can’t give all of it to them. I want to touch you now, Tristan.”
“What?” he asked, Len’s request tacked so abruptly onto the end of the conversation, it took us both a moment to digest it.
“Come here, omega,” Len replied, patting his thigh.
The non-specific order had me moving on the bed until my conscious mind reminded me it was Tristan he was talking to, not me. I felt a flush then of entirely omega-like jealousy. We were greedy bastards, wanting all the attention, but James’ regard, the way his eyes swept slowly over my body, soothed me until my brain had time to kick in, reminding me that this was what we wanted. So then when I watched Tristan creep closer to Len, it was with satisfaction.
The contrast between them, it did something for me. Clothed where Tristan was naked, my lover’s leaner swimmer’s build versus Len’s massive bulk, the difference was deeply satisfying. When he got close, Len wrapped a heavy forearm around Tristan’s waist as he settled on his lap. I watched him lean back against Len, his body softening in a way that he rarely did with me.
“What can I touch, omega?” he asked in a dark molasses voice, slow and thick and treacly. “What can I do?”
“Anything…” Tris breathed, his eyes closing.
“That’s omega bullshit, Tristan.” I rolled up on my elbows at Len’s low growl, and he winked at me in response. “You can’t give me free rein like that. It’s taking every-fucking-thing in me to stop myself from throwing you down beside Kit and rutting the both of you until we all pass out.”
A growl from James made clear his thoughts about that, which dragged my attention back to him. I wanted, needed to watch Len and Tris, but the omega in me saw an unoccupied alpha and wanted to pounce. Particularly as he sat there with every limb locked down, a picture of coiled intensity.
“I want to stroke you, drive you mad, make you just as needy as you do the same for Kit,” Len said, and Tris began to shift restlessly in response. “But I need to know what your limits are. Can I touch you?”
“Feels like I’ll fucking go insane if you don’t,” Tris ground out, and I watched him turn and bury his face in Len’s neck, sucking down his scent in greedy lungfuls.
“Can I kiss you?”
Len pushed him back somewhat, probably to stop his pheromones from clouding the issue, but they always would. My tongue flicked over my lips, feeling the need to do just that as Tristan hung there, caught in Len’s grip, but that was when it all got real. James watched me closely, seeming to sense the tension in me when, for the first time, someone other than me stared at Tris’ lips like all of life’s pleasures could be found there.
“I want to,” Len continued. “I feel like I’ll go fucking mad if I don’t have a taste of you.” His eyes swivelled around to meet mine. “Of both of you. We fucked last time. I don’t want that now. I’m not getting naked and I won’t knot you, not until it means something, but kisses?” I watched his brow crease, feeling a flush of confusion. My body couldn’t understand why he would deny us, but I did. I moved forward, crawling on my hands and knees, feeling better the closer I got to them, until I placed my hand on Len’s shoulder and kneeled next to both of them.