Page 72 of Believe it or Knot

A raspy laugh falls from my lips. “Conejita. Being inside of you, feeling you clench on my cock is so. Fucking. Good. The best. I don’t need to knot in order to enjoy fucking you.”

Her frown deepens. “But-”

“No buts. I will not risk hurting you just to knot you, baby. I can come just fine without it.” And then, to prove my point, I grind up into her, bumping her clit with the bulge at the base of my cock. She whines and her eyes roll to the back of her head, before she’s back to glaring at me stubbornly.

“I can take it. I know I can.”

I almost laugh at that, but there’s a vulnerability in her eyes, a hurt that I don’t like to see. I stop grinding into her, and reach up to cup her cheeks, push her wild hair over her shoulders.

“No, Sorrel, you can’t. And that’s okay. Your value, your worth to us, isn’t tied to your ability to take a knot. Eres mucho más que eso.” Tears fill her eyes, but she blinks them away.

The stubborn set of her jaw should have warned me, but for some unknown reason, I thought she would take me at my word. So imagine my fucking surprise when she bears down on me hard, her pussy splitting and stretching around the top of my knot. I pause for one moment, because, fuck, it feels so fucking good. But then she winces, her forehead wrinkling as she bites her lips hard, like she’s holding back a cry and common sense and the fear of doing serious damage to her rears up.

“Sorrel, stop.” I lace the command with an alpha bark. I try not to use it. Normally, I don’t only when I need to get Liam to do something for his safety, and he’s being stubborn about it. But I’ve used it now and my girl freezes, eyes wide. The look on her face is enough to make me soften my tone as I cup her jaw. “I told you no, baby.”

A weary sigh falls from her lips, and she nods, tipping her chin toward her chest, gaze falling from mine. “Okay. Sorry. I’ll stop.”

“Trust me, conejita, please. I can enjoy you without that.” Another nod from her, but she still won’t look at me and I hate it.

With a growl, I flip our positions, press her back into the couch and loom over her. My cock slips out of her, slides between her pussy lips to nudge her clit. “Do you feel that, Sorrel? Do you feel how hard you make me? Do you feel my cum dripping out of me in anticipation of filling you? Fuck baby, I’m enjoying myself so much with you that my knot is swelling. You know that doesn’t always happen, right?”

She nods. “Right.”

“But just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you need to hurt yourself to take it, okay? That would ruin me. I can’t bear the thought of hurting you when I only want you to feel good. Okay?”

The tension that had been riding her body eases, and her fingers wander over me again. “‘Kay,” she mumbles, flicking her gaze up to meet mine. “I just really want you to enjoy this.”

“Trust me, I am.” I thrust into her again, making those gorgeous tits of hers bounce with the force. “I really fucking am. Now be a good girl and come on my cock for me so I can fill you up.”

She does.

And I do, three times.

Track 17: Let You Love Me

I wake the next morning in the bed in the guest suite.

Disappointment.

That’s the first thing I feel.

Why didn’t Rafe take me to his bed? Why did he deposit me here and then… leave me to sleep alone? I would have thought after what happened last night, not just between me and Rafe, but at the restaurant, at least one of them would have slept with me.

But then I remember Liam confirming that this time they spend with me is about sex, about them bedding me, fucking me, getting me out of their system.

The disappointment doesn’t fade, but now I understand why I’m sleeping alone. This isn’t about cuddles and a genuine relationship. Still, I wouldn’t mind waking up next to a member of the Cordova pack. But maybe they think differently.

I mean, obviously they do, or I wouldn’t be here alone.

Feeling a little dejected and depressed, I climb out of bed and rifle through my bag until I find my spiral-bound notebook with a pen hooked into the binding. I’m not ready to face the pack yet, not after they left me to sleep alone. Not after their ex attacked me in the bathroom and started dragging me down the hall toward the back exit.

I should have fought harder, but I was just so shocked. All my worst fears came true in that one moment. Being ridiculed for how I don't fit in with them, the reality that they’ve done this before, and fear of the blowback from everyone when people realize the Cordova pack is with me… Well, not ‘with me’ with me, but you get it.

Once I realized who he was—Patrick Burrows, a beta the pack dumped a few months back—I was stunned. Add in that he had a knife and was clearly high, and I didn’t dare do anything but what he wanted. Some part of me knew Rafe would come for me, knew they would.

I never imagined it would be the sweet omega who went feral on the beta, though.

Too full of emotions and twisting thoughts, I climb back into bed and flip to a blank page in my notebook; I spend the next hour scribbling song lyrics, humming melodies to myself, trying to work out what I’m feeling so that I can face the Cordovas with my usual sunny smile.

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