Page 152 of Knot All is Crystal
This isn’t good.
No, that doesn’t capture the reality of the situation.
This is a fuck up of colossal proportion, and Crystal is going to blame herself.
But it’s me.
I’m the one to blame.
I have to tell her, but now really isn’t the time. I can hear her in there, moaning and whimpering for Manny. She’s not going to be in a mindset for this conversation until this drug-induced heat is past us.
I feel like I’m lying to her, not telling her.
“Puck, man,” Maverick stumbles through the door to Crystal’s sparse bedroom, “why are you avoiding the nest?”
“I’m not. I just had to talk to the Lupine pack. I was about to head in there.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about to walk the plank?” He leans on the door frame, uncaring that he’s stark naked in front of me.
I suppose we’re all going to have to get used to seeing each other’s asses real fast.
“Because I got some shitty news from them, and I need to tell Crystal.”
“Not right now, you don’t!” he says with a surprising amount of bark. “Whatever it is can wait. We can’t upset her and risk whatever happened with Kieran happening again.”
Shoving to my feet, I start to pace the small space. “You don’t think I know that? But how am I supposed to keep this from her?”
“What happened?” he asks. Before I can get the words out, he holds up his hand. “Actually, no, don’t tell me. Is there anything we can do about it right now?”
I scrub my hands over my face. “No, not really. Lupine is on it.”
He claps his hands together. “Then there you have it! After this is all done, you can tell us at once, and if Crystal tries to get mad at you for not telling her, I’ll take the blame and say I stopped you.”
“You are stopping me.”
“Damn right, I am. If it’s not time-sensitive, then it can wait.”
I can’t argue with him over this. He’s right. Telling her now accomplishes nothing. He must see the change in my face because he throws an arm around my shoulder, ushering me out of the room. “So there’s this thing she really likes that I do with my tongue…”
* * *
It’santiclimactic to climb into a nest of an Omega in heat and find her sleeping on another Alpha’s knot. But I’ve never gotten to watch her sleep before.
I’ve seen Crystal Manson in many ways.
As a mourning sister-in-law, devastated by the difficulties that lay ahead for her sister and unborn niece, she became a fierce protector the moment the opportunity arose.
As a terrified Omega, meeting the king of a criminal organization for the first time.
As the sassy, dangerous woman whom I couldn’t keep my eyes off of.
As an avenging angel.
But like this? In the arms of her Alpha, no tension at the corners of her eyes or in her spine?
This is my favorite Crystal yet.
I don’t deserve her. I never will.
