Page 60 of Tied in Knots
“She’s fine. Her heartbeat is steady.”
“Fuck’s sake.” He lets out a low growl, but it doesn’t bother me. There is nothing I can do about what happened, nor where I’m currently situated. If anything, it makes me smug. Really, really, Jeremey Clarkson type smug.
That must reflect on my smug face because Seb bunches up his fist and shakes it in my direction.
“Have any of you experienced this before?” he asks quietly.
A unanimous ‘no’ resounds around the teepee.
“Hmm, interesting.” He gives me a thoughtful look. “Why you?”
I shrug. “Why not me?”
He acknowledges that with a raised eyebrow.
Faith groans softly and all attention goes back to her.
“Faith, petal, are you okay?” Harvey is the first to reach her and lays down so he can look her in the eye.
I feel my knot deflating and groan inwardly. I’m going to have to let her go. I don’t want to. She feels it and wiggles away from me, rolling over onto her back.
“Fuck,” she says breathlessly. “Fuck.” She sits up suddenly. “That was intense.”
“So it appeared,” Sebastian says, taking her hand. “How do you feel?”
“Fine, great, glad to be free,” she says with a laugh and an apologetic look at me.
I don’t take it personally. I know she was scared. I loved every second of it, but it must’ve been frightening for her.
“How about we run you a nice, hot bath?” I murmur.
Her grateful expression warms me. “Please. I do feel a bit achy. Food as well,” she says and giggles when I pick up the cake that somehow survived the romp in one piece, minus some frosting. I pick it up and hold it to her lips. She grins and takes a bite.
“Oh fuck,” she mumbles. “That’s divine.”
“Happy Birthday, Strawbs,” I murmur, watching her mouth as she eats.
“Fanks,” she says, her hand to her full mouth.
Harvey disappears, probably to run her bath and Ben sneaks in behind her, sitting with his legs on either side of her and kissing the nape of her neck. “You are so precious, kitty,” he murmurs.
She giggles and leans back, tilting her face to his for a kiss. As he claims her mouth, she holds her hand out for me, making a gimme gesture.
Seb snickers and hands her the cake, right in the middle of her palm. She pulls back from Ben, and I let out a loud guffaw as she smashes the cake into his face with a gleeful whoop before she dives away from him and scrabbles to get out of the nest before he can retaliate.
“Oh no!” he exclaims, wiping cake from his eyes. “Get back here.”
“Catch me quick,” she pants and ducks out of the nest, with Ben hot on her heels.
I stick my head out and see the door to her room slam closed.
“Here, kitty-kitty,” Ben calls out, and now this has turned into a chase.
The alpha instinct, not that deep inside me sticks its ears up at the thought of a hunt. Sebastian shoves me out of the way, his own primal instinct at the forefront in the face of a chase.
Ben yanks the door open and marches down the corridor calling, “Kitty? Where are you?”
We hear her giggle and aim for the stairs.
