“Perhaps we could have a conversation about what has been happening?”
I found myself nodding, even though I didn’t want to. Those eyes seemed to catch that, his lips twisting slightly before he forced himself to be serious.
“I take it you didn’t come into the office today, wanting Beau to do his level best to wring as many orgasms as he could from you and to watch me stroke my fucking aching cock to the sight of it?”
“Did you plan it?” I countered, answering his question with mine.
“I can safely say that nothing today has gone the way I planned it yesterday,” he said, making my muscles tense. “Though I can’t seem to find it in myself to regret any of it.” His head rolled my way, and that smile… There was something of Lucien, of Beau in it. It was boyish, reckless, like he was going to tell the whole world to fuck off, and I found myself wanting to see him do it. “I think all of us were being somewhat naïve to not expect this to happen.” His hand traced the shape of my fingers, making me shiver at the sensation. “Did Ms Taylor and her team explain to you the way your body is changing?”
“Greater sexual responsiveness. More vaginal lubrication. Exquisitely swollen nipples.” His eyes dropped down then, as if seeking evidence of that. “It’s getting ready to bear you sons.”
“It’s getting ready to mate, Ms Davies. No matter what we might think or want, these are powerful, powerful instincts, ones followed by strange cascades of hormones that I don’t quite understand, but I feel them quite intensely. I think you do too.”
I grit my teeth, then nodded. I could hardly deny it, could I? What remained of my beta mindset felt like this was some sort of cop-out, but beta Sage had never, ever experienced anything like this. It was like my body was on fire, my mind, my soul, theirs. I didn’t want to have this conversation, even though I needed it. Despite everything we’d gone through today, I still wanted to crawl onto Tobias’ lap, slip his hands between my legs, and let him pet me to one orgasm, maybe two, as I squirmed, leaving slick smeared across his very nice suit.
He sucked a breath in then, his eyes silvering, but he seemed to consciously let that breath out, and when he did, the brown returned.
“So now we can be honest about this, now we know what we are dealing with. Once we admit to a situation, then we can plan for it, find a way through this.” His hand slid over, placing it on my stomach, something that made me stiffen, but he shook his head. “Just feel it—feel me, for this moment, please, Sage. I won’t go any further, I promise, but I need you to feel this.”
Old habits rose up, kicking in, making me feel so self-conscious about the swell of my stomach, at him feeling it with those elegant hands, but he persisted. His eyes stared into mine, willing me, commanding me to do as he’d said.
My little gasp, that was what had him leaning in closer, as I felt something akin to period pain but so much better. While cramps were like nature’s way of reminding you that you had a damn uterus, feeling like your insides were being scraped out with a rusty spoon, this was so much better. A heat rose and rose under his touch, causing my cunt to clench and release in slow, languid pulses until my breath started coming in ragged.
So he pulled his hand away.
“You’ll feel this over and over until nature takes its course.”
“Until I have a baby?” I asked in alarm.
“Until you accept us, accept our bites, and allow us to claim you.” His eyes became heavily lidded then, his head dipping closer. “Until you go into heat and allow the four of us to rut you into the bed while we make you come so many fucking times, it’ll make Beau’s efforts seem like nothing.”
I listened to the ragged rasp of his breath, right up until he jerked his head back.
“Our ability to stay in control will start eroding, just as yours did today. You didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“God, no. I’m so sorry—”
That finger was pressed to my lips again, then when I went quiet, he traced the shape of them before pulling away.
“Don’t be. Please. If you can do one thing for me, then do this—accept what happened as your due. You needed tending, to feel better, to process what has been happening to you. It doesn’t have to be any more than that.”
“But it will.” I was glad to hear my tone firm up. “Won’t it? That’s what you’re saying. If I…”
“Go into heat.” He nodded. “That’s almost inevitable now. I’m sorry, but—”
I pressed my fingers to his mouth, secretly aghast at my forwardness, but I was guessing the time for modesty was three orgasms ago—make that four if you included Tobias’.
“So if this is going to happen,” I said, shifting closer, “if you’re going to turn my brain into mush and reduce me to a horny mess, what do we do about it?”
He smiled behind my fingers, then took my hand in his.
“Everything we should’ve done when Lucien first met you. We take you out, woo you, lavish you with every pleasure, not just those of the flesh.” The smile faltered. “We’re not the…easiest pack to be around, but for you, it appears my brothers are prepared to try and cooperate on this. It’s what we agreed to before you arrived back here today.”
“You want to…date me?” I snorted at that. “Isn’t it a little late for that?”
“Betas usually work up to the physical side of a relationship,” he agreed with a nod. “But we are not betas.” He reached out, tracing the shape of my top button, like he’d very much like to pop it open. “Usually, we would have grown up in the same town, known each other for a long time, but fate had other ideas for us. I’d like to promise that we can keep our hands to ourselves…”
His fingers moved like lightning, finding the nipple that pushed through the thin cotton of my blouse, and then he traced its shape as I gasped, feeling a bolt of liquid pleasure wash through me, something that had him nodding as his fingers tightened, giving the aching nub a little tug.