Page 37 of Love in Excess

She stirs, mumbling something, and I smile, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. Her heat’s closer than it was yesterday—maybe hours out. I can feel it in the way she clings to me, her scent sharper, needier, her body scalding to the touch.

Something else intelligible falls from her lips as she sits up, a laugh tearing from my throat as she stumbles over the couch mumbling about dinner. Hunter warned me about her cooking skills a few days ago but I’m more amused than terrified, a sentiment that slowly turns around as a very sleepy Omega bumbles around the kitchen.

There are some metal clangs and then silence before I hear an ‘oops’ and then the whisk of a mixer on high speed.There’s no way.I slowly push to my feet and make my way to the kitchen, unable to hold back my laughter.

Celeste is half-lucid, running around the kitchen with ingredients I’m sure should never go together, Hunter’s oversized shirt slipping off one shoulder, flour dusting her hands, her hair, the counter. There’s more flour everywhere than in the mixer, a white cloud settling on every surface as she dumps ingredients with zero precision.

“Jesus Christ, sweetie, are you even awake?”

My voice catches her off guard, Celeste pausing and then looking up at me. “I thought it was a dream! I’m not supposed to cook. I can’t cook. Oh god.” I laugh at the horror on her face as she looks at the complete mess she’s made, confusion warring in my chest as the horror turns to a smile. “But it’s fine. I measured everything. They’ll be perfect.”

“Can you at least tell me what youthinkyou’re making?” There’s a full cracked egg on the counter at this point and I know for a fact whatever is in that mixer… is inedible.

“Cupcakes!”

I snort at that, content to just watch her make more of a mess. Somehow, all of what was in the mixer makes it into a cake pan and I hold my tongue, refusing to tell her that a cupcake pan looksverydifferent. It’s amusing to watch how happy she is inher own element, despite the thick syrupy scent coating every inch of this place.

I’m 99% sure the moment Hunter makes it home, she’ll go into heat. Which means if I decide to leave before her heat starts, it would have to be now. But how can I? When this feels more like home than any other place has? I mull over it a little while before pulling out my phone and shooting my neighbor a text, asking if she can watch Jasmine for a little longer.

An enthusiastic response comes back, saying not to worry about anything. I know Jasmine will be well taken care of while I focus on my Omega.

I glance up again to see Celeste successfully cracking an egg into another bowl before accidentally dropping in the shells with it. God, I thought Hunter was lying when he said she was a disaster in the kitchen. Just as I reach to pull her away from creating anymore destruction, a sudden tightness in my chest has me grabbing at the pain.

It’s almost like the feeling from before, when I felt Celeste but different. More like anguish? I can’t place it. Celeste notices as well, her happy demeanor morphing into concern as she searches for her phone, flour forgotten. She quickly dials Hunter and places the device on speaker. “Alpha, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, baby girl. I’m on my way home. Lincoln still there?”

I lean closer so he can hear me. “Yeah. I’m currently watching Celeste ruin the kitchen.”

Hunter chuckles, the sound easing the tightness in me a bit. “Don’t let her blow it up. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”

Celeste lets out a relieved sigh as she sets the phone down and bounds over to me, flour-coated hands wrapping around my neck as she pulls me against her. I’m covered in flour now, white dust on my sweatshirt, but I don’t care. I pick her up and set her on the counter, her rose scent spiking as she shudders, slick gathering between her thighs. Her eyes roll back, a soft moanescaping those gorgeous lips, and I laugh, my hands steady on her hips. “Despite everything, you’re still needy, aren’t you?”

“I don’t like how Hunter is feeling,” she whines, her eyes serious despite the flush on her cheeks. “Something’s wrong, but my body keeps trying to push me toward my heat. Like it’s trying to fix something.”

“Then let it,” I murmur, widening her thighs a little bit. Her panties are fully soaked, her thighs glistening with her slick. I’m still worried about Hunter but the way Celeste’s face is contorted, I decide to give her something else to think about. “Don’t worry about our Alpha, okay? Just focus on me until he gets home.”

She hums a contented sound as I widen her thighs a little bit more and press a kiss to her clit through her panties. Maybe it’s her scent driving me wild or maybe it’s the need to ground myself as well. My nose drags along the soaked cotton, pulling me under until I’m wrapping the fabric around my fingers and moving it to the side to truly taste her.

Her hands fly to my hair, one of her legs wrapping around my shoulder as my tongue dives in deep. Goddess, she tastesdivine.The moment she lets out a little moan, the pain in my chest eases, replaced by anticipation, almost as if Celeste’s pleasure is also mine and Hunter’s. I continue, lapping at her slick, loving how responsive she is until she’s slowly rocking against my face.

“More, Lincoln.More.”

Without fucking her on the counter, there isn’t much more I can give. Still, I add a finger, plunging into her more recklessly before she explodes all over my tongue, lips, and chin. A soft sigh follows, Celeste’s entire body shaking as I sit back, grinning at my spent Omega. “I would have done that a lot sooner if I had known how sweet you taste. You feeling better?”

She only nods, leaning back on the counter but I can tell that whatever I just did, as much as it helped, it might have also juststarted her real heat. I stand to check on her before hearing the key in the front door and meeting Hunter at the entrance. He sighs against my lips, his hands gripping my shirt as I kiss him.

“This is exactly what I needed,” he rumbles. His tongue drags along my chin, cleaning Celeste’s slick off of me, my cock hardening even more than it has been all day.

I grin, my forehead pressed against his for a moment. “We could both feel you. What’s going on?”

He just shakes his head, pulling away to laugh at the absolute mess of the kitchen. Celeste is still laying back on the counter, her thighs spread like a beautiful meal waiting to be taken part of. “Jesus Christ, you weren’t joking about the mess.” He takes a deep breath and leans back against the front door as it closes. “Carter was tangled up in some really, really twisted shit. I’m glad he didn’t get his hands on our Omega. The investigation’s ongoing, but I’d like to talk about anything other than that.Literally, anything other than that.”

I chuckle, my hand resting on his arm. “I’d say dinner’s ready, but I think takeout’s in order.”

He laughs as he pulls me into another kiss, slower this time, his lips steady against mine. I’m sinking into it when a soft whimper cuts through the air. We both turn, and there’s Celeste, her eyes wide, pupils blown so big they’re nearly black. Her rose scent hits me like a wave, my body reacting instantly, a grunt slipping out as heat surges through me. I glance at Hunter, who’s staring at her, a grin tugging at his lips.

“Well, damn,” he says, his voice a few octaves deeper than usual. “That’s one way to be welcomed home.”

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