The moment I take her hand, she pulls me into her lap with easy confidence and scent marks my cheek like it’s the most natural thing in the world. My skin tingles. My heart flip flops.
She plucks the menu from me. “I want this one.” Her eyes flick up at the guys, all cool authority. “If you can’t behave, you’re out. I don’t want alphas. Not right now. No bites. No bonds. No white-picket-fence dreams with babies on my hips. And no one else can know I’m an omega. Got it?” She doesn’t wait for answers. Just sets the rules like it’s gospel. “So, get your shit together or you’re out.”
Gunner lets out a soft bark, which I swear sounds like agreement. Knox throws himself onto the couch with an eager flop, giving Gunner a rough scratch behind the ears like he’s just been promoted to enforcer. “We’ll be good boys, right, Officer?”
Declan moves slower, more cautious, sinking into the loveseat across from us. His posture eases with every second he spends looking at Ava and me. Together.
“Thank you,” he says quietly. “For agreeing to let us ease you through your heat. For trusting us.”
Ava doesn’t look at him. “Don’t make me regret it.”
I feel her fingers tighten slightly around mine. A warning. A claim. A beginning.
“Anal is on the table,” she states without further ado.
“Literally on the table?” Lucas inquires, pointing to the furniture in question. “We do eat there.”
Knox looks like he wants to take notes. “Nipple play? Presenting? Hair pulling? Choking? Oral? Bondage? Spanking? Impact play? Degradation? Edging?”
I don’t know what half of that means, but each question has my skin feeling hotter and tighter. Ava is like a furnace. Her arms wrap around me, nose huffing in deep breaths. She bites my neck, not hard enough to break skin, but the way someone might bite their knuckles when they’re trying not to groan.
Lucas makes a strangled sound, somewhere between a gasp and a cough. When I glance his way, his eyes are wide, mouth parted, and he’s holding very still as if he doesn’t want to startle me. His cheeks are slightly flushed, and his small smile is proud. “I, uh… was not ready for that level of hot.”
Ava smirks against my skin. “Better keep up, Disaster Buddy.”
“Man alive,” Declan says, adjusting the crotch of his shorts. “Can we back it up and talk about kissing first? Is tongue ok? Lip biting?”
“I’m pretty sure kissing and tongue are fine, since we’ve already done that.” Knox beams a cocky smile at Declan.
Declan bares his teeth with a low growl, but restrains himself by saying, “Birth control?”
“I’ve got an implant. We’re good.” Ava gives me a questioning look.
“Um, yeah, pills.” The thought of taking any of these men raw has me plucking at my damp shirt to try to get some airflow.
“I would like to know if you have any favorite snacks or beverages,” Lucas inquires. “It is hard to get omegas to eat during a heat, and it can help to know preferences.”
“Oh, food play!” Knox licks his lips. “Can I drizzle you in chocolate syrup and whip cream?”
The image hits me. Ava stretched out, warm and wanting, her skin sticky-sweet and shining under Knox’s tongue as he licks a path over her nipple. I blink hard, heat crawling up my neck like I’ve stepped into a sauna.
“Geez,” I mutter under my breath, shifting on Ava’s lap and clenching my thighs. “You can’t just say things like that.”
Because now my brain won’t stop playing out scenarios I’ve never actually lived—only imagined, blushing in the dark with a book in hand. Everyone else here seems like they know what they’re doing. Confident. Experienced. Meanwhile, I’m the girlwho’s only given two fumbling blow jobs and never even tried to swallow because I got worried it would come out my nose. I feel like I’m in the deep end, treading water while the rest of them are doing Olympic laps with sexual chainsaws.
But that's exactly why we’re having this conversation! I let out a controlled deep breath and remind myself I’m in a room of eager coaches who won’t let me drown.
Ava rubs her hand along my arm, settling me back against her. “There’s a lot more things to be said, pretty girl. Are you gonna be okay?”
I nod, silently.
“How about cockwarming?” Knox rubs his hands together, eyeing Ava and me like a feast. “Maybe you can keep my dick warm while Ly licks tasty little treats off you. Or she can keep me nice and toasty while I’ve got my fingers in your sweet pu?—”
“Stop,” Ava snaps at the same time as I let out a groan that’s nearly a whimper. “Can’t you see Em’s about to combust.”
She squeezes her arms around me, a protective move that has some of the tension and shock I was feeling easing from my muscles. She feels so warm, like a toasty little heating blanket.
“I think we are all about to combust.” Lucas makes a show of adjusting himself with a wink in our direction.
