“He was the first person to fuck me while I was in heat.”
“When was that, dove?”
“In an alley, after I ran out of the restaurant.”
I should be furious he’d been so reckless, but it was very Dash. He’d lost control of himself. I was coming to love that about him—especially since his recklessness had just saved my life.
“And who was the second?” I asked.
Kiara’s gaze flicked away. “Ambrose, in the van.”
My eyebrows drew together. “They didn’t help you through the heat overnight, while you were at home?”
“I didn’t let them. It wouldn’t have been right without you.”
No wonder she’d been in such bad shape when Tobias brought her in. That was an eternity’s worth of time to go without a knot for an omega in heat.
“Dove…”
“I hurt Ambrose’s feelings by tossing all their things out of the nest, but I couldn’t have their stuff and not them. My resolve would have broken.”
Sighing, I brushed my fingers through her damp hair. I could tell her to never do something like that again, but I would never let anything like this happen to her again. All I could do now was make up for the sex she’d lost out on.
“We can talk about it later. Right now, we’ve got to make sure you’re satisfied.”
Kiara flushed and I kissed her, making sure she was nice and ready for the knot she would get once we left this bathroom.
SIXTY-ONE
MERCURY
“You’re pacing more than me. Not a good sign,” Dash commented from the bed.
We were in Ambrose’s room—it had the biggest bed, and an attached bathroom. The place was incredibly familiar from our time as a couple. Nothing had changed in the year we hadn’t been seeing each other.
The only thing that was changing was right now.
It was about to become Kiara’s nest.
And I felt wildly out of place.
“I should go get some of her nesting things from Leighton’s apartment,” I muttered.
Dash snorted. “She might stab you for disobeying her when you come back. Isn’t that something you used to worry about?”
“Fuck off,” I said. “The nest is important to an omega. This one isn’t proper.”
It didn’t have the layers of pillows and blankets her original nest had. We’d tried our best to gather everything in the house, but we didn’t have much. Plus, the stuffed animals had been the most integral part of the nest and we didn’t have a single one of those. Kiara had been distraught at the state of her nest before we’d gotten them.
I couldn’t handle the idea that she might be upset. Not after what she’d been through.
Avoiding her heat was a good idea, too. I wasn’t sure where we stood.
“I think she made it clear she’s past the nesting stage and onto the knotting stage. She wants your dick, Merc. Not soft shit.”
“Don’t be so goddamn crude.”
“If you stop being in denial, I’ll stop being crude. Maybe. I’m not making any promises.”
