Page 18 of Going Down Smooth: Part One

“Yes, Alpha,” I say reverently, driving my point home. I meant what I said. She is our leader. Her breath hitches at the title. We lock eyes and I hope that she can see my truth. Those beautiful browns of hers shine with unshed tears as I lift her hips, teasing her against me, her head falls back and her mouth parts, her breasts push up in offering, and I eagerly bend forward to feast on them. Wrapping my lips around her dark brown peaks, I suck and bite hard. Mercy cries out in frustration. I lick and tease one nipple, then move to the other and repeat the process as she grinds her clit against the tip of my cock.

“Lox! Don’t tease! Fuck me!” My Little Mouse commands, and I follow orders instantly, easing her down my length until she’s seated on my lap again. We both groan, the connection between us is electric. I want her closer, even though we’re as close as we are going to get. I wrap my arms around her waist, pinning her to me as I roll my hips, fucking her with long, smooth thrusts.

“Yes.” She pants, matching me stroke for stroke as she wraps her arms around my neck and our lips collide, tongues tangling as we fight for dominance. I give in. I don’t want to fight her, I want her to take what she needs, to feel better, to forget, and ultimately, to forgive herself. If she wants to ride out those emotions on my cock, I am hers to use.

Breaking off our kiss, our breath mingles, and I can feel her walls tighten around me, she’s close and so am I. “I love the way you feel around my cock, Mouse. I can spend all day inside you. In fact, I think I might take you back to your nest and dirty you up all over again. I want to paint you with my cum, mark you as mine, and then watch my brothers do the same.” My words make her pant, her slick gushes over my cock at the idea. I lift my hips, pushing my cock deeper into her as she whimpers and moans.

“I’m going to cum, Lox. Oh God!” She screams when I reach down between us and rub her clit hard, and my gorgeous Mouse falls apart for me, coming hard. I fuck her through her orgasm, pussy clenching my cock in a vice grip, and I immediately follow her over the edge. The base of my cock swells as she trembles in my arms, my knot pushes into her further, making her shudder as she ignites again.

I hold her close as I stand with her in my arms, turning the now cooling shower off as we both struggle to catch our breath. Walking us both toward the shower wall, I press her into it, holding her up with my hips as I brace my hands on either side of her face.

“I know we have a lot to work out, Mouse, but you are it for me. You are it for us. I know Knight said this a few days ago, but I want you to hear it from me. You are our everything. You always have been. So let us prove to you we are worthy of being your pack. I for one have no problem working for it.” I wink, making those sad eyes of hers sparkle with the fire I know grief is holding at bay.

“I meant what I said as well,” she whispers. “I’m not going to run.”

“I know, Little Mouse, because if you do, I will find you and bring you home.”

ELEVEN

MERCY

“Hello?” my voice is groggy, my throat parched. I would kill for a glass of water, and I try to swallow to ease the dryness. I blink through gritty eyes at the screen of my phone. Freeya. The curtains are open in the new room I’m in, the midday sun is almost blinding, making me shield my eyes. Beyond the window is nothing but forest, the evergreens untouched by the changing of the season, making me nostalgic for the woods outside my parents’ home. Wherever the guys have decided to build their home, it’s remote. I already know I’m going to fall in love with this place.

I push the covers off my bare legs and pause, sitting up slowly. The warm scent of caramel hits me, engulfing me, as if Knight is right beside me. Looking over my shoulder I see the opposite side of the bed is undisturbed. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’d put me here to sleep after I’d passed out with Lox still locked inside me. He’d taken me back to the nest, but I guess they hadn’t wanted to leave me sleeping in soiled blankets and pillows.

The memory of my shower earlier and Lox, for all my warring emotions, I couldn’t help myself. I needed him. Is this what it’s like for an Omega on the regular? The need for her Alphas to soothe her like this? I don’t want to overanalyze my feelings, but it’s hard not to when I’m acting out of character. Or is this just another part of me I’ve suppressed for so long it’s unrecognizable and almost uncomfortable to let myself be so free? I sigh as a shrill voice screams down the line.I guess I’ve held the phone long enough.

“Mercy! Mercy, thank fuck you finally answered!” Freeya’s voice is frantic with every passing second that I don’t respond.

I scrub my hands down my face, pulling what must be one of Knight’s shirts down over my bare legs. I cross my legs in front of me before I reply. I may as well get comfortable.

“Hey, Free,” I say with a cringe because I know she is damn near hysterical.

“Hey. Free! Mercy Smooth, have you lost your damn mind? You practically disappear off the face of the earth for six days. Six days, Mercy! Have you checked your phone? I’ve left you so many messages your inbox is full. When you didn’t show up at the airport, I didn’t know what to do. I don’t have your parent’s number, or any of your family for that matter. I’ve been pulling my hair out, and you know how I feel about my edges.”

I chuckle, knowing this is not the time to laugh, but I do know how she feels about her hair in general. My crazy Beta bestie is obsessed with YouTube hair tutorials and is always coming up with some wild recipe to grow her hair. I listen to her voice climb higher and higher, her fear for me apparent. I feel terrible for not calling her as soon as I’d left the house after the reading of the will. She should have been the first person I’d called.

“Freeya. I can explain, but you might want to sit—"

“Where are you? Are you safe? My God. Mercy, the places my brain has gone, the scenarios. I’ve been sick to my stomach with worry. I almost filed a police report.” The longer Freeya speaks the more panicked she sounds; my poor friend is starting to hyperventilate.

“Free, listen to me. Breathe.” I wait as she tries to compose herself. “I’m OK. This is not a kidnapping situation,” I say calmly, even though when I think about the rules my father put in place to keep me here, it sort of feels like it.It’s not like it’s a hardship to be here with them. So maybe not a prison.

I clear my throat. “You were right,” I say, knowing she will love this. I am not one to admit I’m wrong. I am nothing if not stubborn. Hence, my entire life dilemma. “Stopping my suppressants and then coming here shortly after, well, it triggered my heat. Truth. They triggered my heat. It’s the only rational explanation I have for the crazy change of events.” Freeya gasps, and if I close my eyes, I can almost see the horrified look across her face as she stares at the phone. Before she can bombard me with questions, I continue.

“Knight, Lox, Nate, and Trey helped me through it. I asked them to. My heat lasted six days and I was kind of knot drunk from all of it, so, my phone was forgotten. I’m so sorry, Free. But I want to assure you that it was my choice. They didn’t hurt me or attempt to claim me.”Even when I begged and pleaded on my knees with a cock down my throat.I omit that. I refuse to admit how weak I was in the heat of the moment. No pun intended. “They took great care of me and I am perfectly fine.”

“Huh—” she replies then the phone goes silent. I am sure she is trying to process what I just said. Honestly, it’s a lot. Especially when the worst-case scenarios have been running wild around in your head. Knowing Freeya, she possibly thought I had been dragged by my hair into some remote cave and claimed against my will or worse, kidnapped and sold on the black market. It happens often, despite the strict laws against designation trafficking, and those poor Omegas are rarely found. Most are forever lost to their friends and family, so I guess if I was in Free’s shoes, I would need a minute.

She blows out a breath and finally speaks. “These Alphas, they are the ones you walked away from. Correct?” I cringe at her question. I know she didn’t ask with judgement, but my own guilt about what I did makes me defensive.

“Yes, them. OK!” I snap. “I don’t regret it, but there is more to the story—"

“I didn’t mean it like that, Mercy. You will get no judgement here. If I was in your situation, I would have done the same. You obviously trust them. You’ve never talked about them much. But I never got any bad feelings when you did. Hey, I guess I can cancel your appointment with Knots-R-Us. Wait or is it Rent-a-Knot?” She laughs, but I feel gross just thinking about some strange Alpha touching me. Yep, not weird at all.

“Well, that was the nicer part of the story, it only gets more infuriating from here,” I tell her everything as I recount what happened during the funeral, about my sister Faith and how I think she is being abused by her Alphas, and the confrontation that followed. By the time I finished telling her about my father’s stipulations in the will, and Christopher’s reaction, she was screaming down the line once more.

“What are you going to do? This is beyond messed up, Mercy. What about the Alphas? What do they have to say about it? Are they on board? Wait, scratch that, of course they are.” Freeya begins to spiral again, throwing out more and more questions that I haven’t had the chance to think through, but I know one thing is for sure.

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