Page 30 of No Strings Attached
“Did something happen?” I grip the steering wheel a little harder than necessary as I start to drive off, worry spiking through me.
Elias snorts and leans back in his seat. “No, but now that everyone knows I’m an Omega, the attention is weird, and I… keep perfuming, and everyone’s reacting. So please?”
The corner table in the little Italian place on South Street is cozier than I remember, the warm glow of string lights overhead casting soft shadows across the checkered tablecloth. The scent of garlic and tomato sauce fills the air, mingling with my citrus scent and Olivia’s berry, but it’s Elias’s honeydew, sweet and heavy with his preheat, that pulls at me most.
It’s our first outing as a pack, unofficial without the bites but real in every way that matters, and my heart’s so full I can’t stop grinning. I slide the bag with the white squirrel plush across the table to Elias, my fingers brushing the paper. “For you.”
Elias’ eyes light up, and he pulls the plush from the bag. He brings it to his nose, inhaling deeply, a smile spreading across his bearded face. “This is perfect,” he rumbles before leaning over and kissing me thoroughly. My cheeks heat as my citrusscent spikes before he sets the squirrel back in the bag, careful to protect it, like it’s already precious.
We settle back in our seats as the time passes, Elias sharing stories from when he first started adventuring, his voice animated. It morphs into his younger years, Olivia and I entranced. “Back when I was like eighteen or so, I was climbing this ridge with my twin brother, Leo. We got stuck halfway up, no gear, just sheer stupidity.”
I lean forward, my fork pausing mid-twirl. “Wait, you have a twin?”
Elias laughs. “Yeah, he looks just like me, but don’t get any ideas,” he teases. “He’s mated, happily, with two kids and another on the way.”
He flips through his phone and pulls up a picture of his family, and slides it across the table. I laugh, my eyes widening when I see Leo, his red hair and beard a mirror of Elias’s, standing next to their Omega father, who’s practically their doppelgänger. “You all look just like your dad.”
Elias nods, his smile softening. “Yeah, we took after our Omega father, but Joel’s our other dad,” he says. “I mean, they all are, but biologically…”
“Your Beta father’s genes must be really strong to take over for that hunk of a…” I start, my voice trailing off, my grin widening even further.
Olivia’s hand shoots out, wrapping around my mouth, her eyes wide with mock horror. “Babe, Jesus Christ. That’s his dad!”
Elias laughs too as he steals back his phone and starts twirling more pasta onto his fork. “It’s okay. I’m not worried about anyone stealing my perfect Alpha.” My citrus scent spikes stronger now, and Elias raises an eyebrow, smirking. “I’d offer to fuck you when we get home,” he teases, “but I’m not sure I can move after this meal.”
Olivia slides around the table to Elias, her hand slipping under the table, cupping him through his pants. His gaze darkens, a grunt escaping his lips, followed by a soft purr of satisfaction that makes my own body heat. I watch her hand move slowly, in small, calculated strokes as Elias leans into her touch, his own scent thickening. “Yeah, we can go.”
Elias
I lean back in the car, my breathing uneven, as we pull away from the Italian restaurant, the taste of pasta still lingering on my tongue. My body’s buzzing, the heat in my belly flaring hotter with every mile. “Can we go to my house?” I ask, my voice rough, glancing at Olivia in the driver’s seat. “Just to grab some more clothes.”
She agrees but I’m pretty sure she can fucking tell that I’m about to lose it. “Sure, baby,” she says, steering toward my cabin. Jamie’s in the back with me, his citrus scent wrapping around me, and I can’t resist. I pull him onto my lap, his legs straddling my thighs, and kiss him, my tongue slipping into his mouth as I dominate the embrace.
His lips are soft, his beard brushing against mine, the both of us losing ourselves in the moment. My fingers dig into his hips as I pull him closer to me, my cock so thick between my legs it hurts, pressing against my jeans. Slick leaks from my ass,soaking through my boxers, and I grind Jamie down onto me, a low whine escaping my throat.
“I need to come, Alpha,” I say, my voice breaking, desperate. “Fuck, I need…”
Jamie pulls back, his hands cupping my face. “Hey, you’re really flushed,” he says, his voice gentle but worried. “Is it your heat?”
“I don’t know,” I say, another whine slipping out as my hands tighten on his hips. “I just…” My vision blurs, everything suddenly overwhelming. I’ve never hated anything more than this loss of control, my Omega instincts taking over, demanding my Alphas. I tear at my shirt, the buttons straining, my skin too tight, too hot. Too uncomfortable. Too…everything.
Olivia pulls up to my cabin, the gravel crunching under the tires, and comes around to open the back door. Jamie crawls off my lap, and I hate the absence, a sudden ache where his warmth was. “We are not spending your heat in my car,” Olivia firmly tells me as she pulls me from the seat. “Let’s go, baby. We’ll set you up in your room.”
Jamie hesitates, his hand lingering on my arm. “We’re not prepared to have it here. Olivia…”
“Jamie, deep breaths. We are prepared to have it anywhere we need to have it.”
I stumble out of the car and into my cabin, my hands scratching at my clothes. More slick leaks from my ass, a warm trickle down my thigh, and I let out a grumble, my good hand tearing at my jeans. I can’t get my clothes off fast enough, another whine whipping through me the moment I’m naked.
My vision blurs for a second as I grip the counter, whining when a cramp tears through me. Leo has described his heats to me but he never mentioned the pain or the disoriented feeling that comes with not being in control. I finally step out of my pants, my cock already leaking, needing to fill something, fucksomething,anything.Neither Olivia nor Jamie are touching me and it’s pissing me off.
I grumble as I reach around for one of them, a wild grin spreading across my lips as my hand catches on Jamie’s collar. He lets out a surprised yelp when I take him down to the floor and start clawing at his pants. He keeps saying something but I’m too focused on getting relief to understand what’s going on around me.
And the moment I get his cock inside of me, I finally relax. Until I realize just where I am and what’s just happened. Jamie’s fingers are digging into my thighs as he looks up at me, his face twisted in pleasure. “Hey, sweetheart. Welcome back. Olivia’s setting up your bed and we can—ungh—go over there..”
He trails off as I bend down to kiss his forehead and then start rocking my hips forward, his knot already lodged inside of me but not yet swollen. “I need it,” I grunt. Jamie doesn’t protest as his head falls back to the tiled floor, my knees slipping back and forth with every movement. This position isn’t ideal but I thought I was going to fucking die.
I’ve already made up my mind that heats are going to be one of my least favorite things in the entire world. And yet, I’m happy that I’ve found two people I trust to take care of me during my most vulnerable moments.
