"Aidan," Darren calls out, voice still rough from overuse. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor."
"Sorry," Aidan says immediately, freezing mid-step. "I'm just... I can't seem to..." He runs a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Fuck, I don't know what's wrong with me."
But I do. I can see it in the way his bulge is hard and prominent in his shorts, the way his pupils are blown wide despite the afternoon light streaming through the windows. While the rest of the alphas found their release multiple times throughout Darren's heat, Aidan's been holding back. Always making sure everyone else was satisfied first, always putting others' needs before his own.
"Come here," Darren says, patting the space beside him in the nest. It's an invitation that would have been unthinkable two days ago. Darren voluntarily inviting an alpha into his space during heat.
But everything's different now.We'redifferent now. The walls that existed around and between us have come down, leaving only the protective ones that surround us all as a pack.
Aidan approaches cautiously, like Darren might change his mind. "You sure? Your heat's winding down, you probably want space?—"
"I want my pack," Darren interrupts firmly. "All of you. In here. Now."
The command in his voice is surprising, but the alphas respond immediately. Jax jerks awake in his chair, Zayn rolls to his feet with more grace than someone who's been horizontal for an hour should possess, and Dmitri marks his page before setting his book aside.
"Darren," Jax starts, concern evident in his voice. "You don't have to?—"
"I know I don't have to," Darren says. "I want to. My heat's almost over, but I want..." He pauses, vulnerability flickering across his face. "I want us all together. Properly. In the nest."
My heart swells at his words, at this omega who fought so hard against his designation now embracing not just what he is, but who he wants to be with. The alphas exchange glances, a silent communication passing between them before they start moving toward the bed.
The nest expands to accommodate them, blankets and pillows rearranging as five large bodies find their places. Aidan ends up on my other side, his skin fever-hot where it brushes against mine. Jax settles behind Darren, one arm draped protectively over his waist. Zayn claims the foot of the bed because of course he does, while Dmitri stretches out behind Aidan, creating a wall of muscle and warmth.
"Better?" I ask Darren, who's practically glowing with contentment.
"Perfect," he murmurs, then his eyes sharpen as he notices Aidan's persistent... situation. "Though someone's still wound up."
Aidan flushes, trying to shift to hide his obvious arousal. "It's fine. I'm fine. This is about you?—"
"This is about being a pack," Darren corrects. "And pack takes care of each other." His gaze travels over Aidan's tense form, then to me. "All of us."
The intensity of his look makes me shiver. There's suggestion there, and my body responds with embarrassing enthusiasm despite the thorough workout it's had.
"What are you thinking?" I ask, though I have a pretty good idea.
Darren's smile is wicked. "I'm thinking our rookie needs attention. And I'm thinking you've been training for something specific."
Oh.Oh.
My pussy clenches at the implication, already wet despite how many times I've come in the last day and a half. And before that, while I was staying at the mansion. And on our solo dates.
The toys, the gradual stretching, Zayn's patient coaching—it's all been leading to this moment. To taking an alpha's knot for real.
"I..." I look at Aidan, whose eyes have gone impossibly wide. "I want to try."
"Lexie," Aidan breathes, his whole body going rigid. "You don't have to. I can take care of myself…"
I turn to face him properly. “I want you, Aidan. I want to feel what it's like to take your knot.”
He makes a sound that's almost pained, his cock visibly twitching in his shorts. "Fuck, the mouth on you."
"You haven't seen anything yet," I promise, then look around at the others. "Is this... okay? I know Darren's heat isn't completely over?—"
"My heat's winding down," Darren assures me. "And watching Dmitri knot me while you take Aidan's knot? Fuck, that's better than any heat fever dream I could come up with."
Dmitri rumbles his agreement. The visual of what Darren's suggesting, of being knotted while watching him take Dmitri, has me questioning just how many times a girl can come before she blacks out.
I think I'm going to find out, and I'm strangely okay with that.
