Page 35 of Into the Fire: Before

“Oh…well…bully for you, then.”

“Iknow what you mean,” Brooks crooned with a smirk. “I like the blue. I find the contrast of the white M on the blue to be very soothing.”

She hummed and nodded in appreciation. “You could totally visualize yourself absorbing that soothing-ness as you eat it. Like your own little blue pills.”

Brooks cackled. “Homeopathic medicine at its finest.”

“I like the green,” she replied. “No particular reason. The greens just give me all the dopamine.”

And on the night continued. Sipping on moonshine, sharing anecdotes and answering silly questions. Another hour in, and the mood was warm and easy, buzzing with energy.

And something else.

Taryn’s scent blocker was waning, and her toffee and cream aroma grew sharper and thicker by the minute. All of our scents boldened in response. Even in the open air where the pheromones could expand and dilute, we may as well have been in a coat closet. My head swam.

Or maybe that was the fifth (sixth?) drink of the evening.

Taryn’s sat with her legs crossed, body turned in toward Brooks. My bonded mate, whose fingertips traced over the omega’s perfect collarbones as he breathed her in. Beta he was, but Brooks was drunk on her scent. It was clear through the bond, the warm delirium that her sweet, rich toffee aroma incited in him.

I looked back to Brea. Deep red waves flowed over her shoulders and fluttered a bit in the warm breeze. A flush colored her cheeks, and the string lights reflected off her eyes.

They told me so much, those eyes. At dinner, I’d seen the pain that had made her so strong. But now? Now, they confessed desire. They admitted lust. They divulged mischief.

And they compelled obedience.

Brea caught me watching. “You have a look in your eye,” she said. Her voice was pitched lower than it had been earlier, her own eyes sparkling.

“Do I?”

“You look hungry,” she replied, sidling just a half inch closer, our legs pressed together. “Which is funny, considering we ate not so long ago.”

I swallowed. “Brea…”

“What about you, Brooks?” Taryn asked, clearly in on whatever scheme was afoot. “Are you hungry?”

Brooks blinked rapidly. My head absolutely spun.

We’re goners.

“Starved,” he breathed out.

Brea chuckled beside me and propped her elbow on my shoulder, leaning even further against me. “You ever known an omega before, Lin?”

I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth. “I’ve been acquainted with two.”

“How so?”

I cleared my throat, trying to rein in my own rising scent. “Notthatacquainted.”

“Hmmm.” Brea sipped from her glass before setting it on the table. “A brief pause in the coy act. We like you. You like us. And there’s a naturalthereforedeveloping here that Taryn and I both are more than willing to dive into."

“You have nothing to prove to us,” I said, looking between the both of them. “Either of you.”

A breeze captured Brea’s loose hair, blowing it gently around her face. Brea cleared it, tucking it behind her ear, her face taking on a serious look for just a moment. “We know,” she said simply.

Then she stroked her fingers down my face, starting at my temple and tracing the line of my jaw, until she could grasp my chin between thumb and forefinger.

“There’s no greater high than scenting an omega climax,” Brea breathed into my ear. My heart lurched, my dick twitching in my slacks. “Except getting to wring it out of her yourself,” and nipped at my earlobe.

---