Page 32 of Crave

Where the fuck was Fox Falls? Trust didn’t come easily to the Manix, especially not when I had two Omegas to care for. But I slid into the passenger seat, allowing Murphy to comfort the Omegas in the back, and put my faith in a vampire I hardly knew.

The smell coming from the rear seats made me groan. Susannah’s heat was rising up to meet Quinn’s needs, and that was a scent I knew well. It still permeated our Packhouse from the brief time they’d stayed in the nest there. I wanted to roll in the scent of all three of them together.

“You probably want to break a few road rules and get us there fast.”

Tanner didn’t say anything, but when he peeled out of the campground rocks and dirt sprayed out behind us.

19

MURPHY

My dick would forever have the imprint of my zipper along its length from being jammed against it tightly for so long. I was sure I was going to bust right through any moment now. Quinn was pressed between Susannah and I, but I was fairly certain that Zanny was about to follow him down the pheromone yellow brick road and onto fucking Wonderland.

And I would die a happy Alpha in the backseat of this SUV. Cause of death: blood loss from testicles exploding like overripe water balloons.

I thrummed hard, making Quinn’s body languid against mine. So much of my history was caught up in these two. Merrick had been obsessed with Susannah, but I saw them more as a package than he ever did. They wouldn’t be the same people without each other. It would be like loving the left hand but not the right.

Quinn made a soft whine, and I closed my eyes slowly, breathing in and out through my nose. This was torture. Actually, while he was still not in the throes of a heat-yearning combo, we should probably talk.

“Quinn?”

“Yes, Alpha?” he breathed. I cursed softly at the way that sounded falling from his lips. Dead. I was dead.

“Would you like Merrick and I to help you through the yearning?” I said the words softly, but the whole car seemed to hold its breath as we waited for his answer.

Quinn purred softly. “Yes.” He sucked in a deep lungful of air, and I watched his Adam's apple bob. “If it’s okay with Susannah.”

I looked across his body at the other Omega.Fuck. Two Omegas in one car.Two years ago, this would have been a myth, an impossible dream. An Omega pair was the stuff of fairy tales and history books.

She looked between me and Merrick, and nodded. “It’s okay with me. It doesn't mean anything more serious, though. No biting,” she added, and I didn’t miss her eyes sliding toward Tanner in the driver’s seat. Neither did Quinn.

I noted the bunched muscles of the vampire's shoulders, and the way he was white-knuckling the steering wheel. “And if Tanner wants to help, you let him,” Quinn murmured. His voice was strong and sure, like he didn’t want us to try and talk him out of it later by blaming the yearning fog. He met Tanner’s eyes in the rearview mirror, his lids hooded and his expression pure sex. “Just in case you want to try it out, just once.”

Merrick’s eyes met mine. I didn’t know how the Beast would cope with a predator near vulnerable Omegas during their heat. The yearning was a wild time where the logical part of our brains got pushed back, until only the animal inside us was left. Breed, feed, and repeat. The addition of a vampire might be a problem.

“Quinn…”

“Non-negotiable, Murphy. Otherwise, Susannah and I will just hole up and ride it out the best we can.”

I growled low in my chest, making Susannah whine.Dammit.“Fine. We’ll try. If the Doc even wants to help.”

“It goes against my profession to allow anyone to suffer,” the vampire said, a small smile on his face as he looked back at the Omegas. “I never thought the cure would be my dick, but I did say I’d try anything once—right, Q?” He slid his eyes quickly to Merrick. “But if I think that my presence is causing undue stress, or becomes a danger to Quinn or Susannah, I’ll get myself out of there. On my honor.”

I let out a harsh breath. “I did say anything, I guess.” I dipped my lips closer to Quinn’s ear. “And Tanner is pretty damn hot.”

“He also has above average hearing,” Tanner teased from the front. I flushed a little, but smirked back at him. He wasn’t really my type, but I wasn’t going to lie—I wouldn’t mind watching. He was beautifully made for a bloodsucker.

It was just under ten hours from the Canadian-US border to Fox Falls according to Tanner, and I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. Quinn was beginning to become irritable, tossing and turning in his seat, like his skin was too tight. Susannah was breathing heavily, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glassy. I liked to think I was pretty good in bed, but not even I could satisfy two Omegas in the back of a moving SUV.

It was about ten in the morning, and we’d been driving for about four hours—the last hour with only the pained noise from Quinn’s chest echoing around the otherwise silent car—when I called it. “We have to stop. Quinn and Susannah need food and fresh air at the very least, and they need to nest. They’re hurting.”

The solemnity in the car was at odds with the pure, unadulterated lust that hung in the air. Finally, Tanner nodded. “Okay. The harshness of the midday sun is giving me a headache anyway. There's a small town up ahead. We’ll grab some supplies.”

Merrick nodded, pulling out his phone. “I’ll look for somewhere to stay.” His voice was deep, a sure sign he was about to lose it himself.

The last twenty miles to town were the longest I’d ever endured. Quinn’s whines had turned to whimpers, and none of my soothing words were making a difference now. Merrick joined me in a thrumming purr, and while that calmed them for a moment, I knew it was a band-aid fix.

Pulling up to what was essentially a glorified gas station, Tanner ducked in. Merrick climbed out of the front seat and came round to the back, picking up Susannah bodily, then climbing back in with her on his lap. He ignored the looks from the nosy locals, slamming the heavily tinted doors.

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