Page 20 of Omega in Love
My breath catches, just a little hitch that I hope they don't notice, though I know they do. These men notice everything. I laugh, too quick, too brittle. "You already have me. You're on the payroll, remember? Dez signs your checks to keep me in one piece." I tap my chest with my fingers, aiming for flippant but landing somewhere closer to nervous.
Dante shifts closer, the cedar scent of him mingling with Hero's sandalwood and Levi's vanilla in a combination thatmakes my head swim. "That's not what we mean." His voice is low, careful, like he's approaching something fragile.
Oh.
Oh.
Realization crashes over me, leaving me momentarily speechless. I glance between them, taking in each face. Hero, still crouched before me, looks like he's ready to catch me if I bolt, his body coiled with restrained energy. Levi, solid and steady as stone beside me, his dark eyes soft but intent. Dante, all sharp lines and typically unreadable expressions, but his knee is bouncing nervously. That's new.
I could make a joke. I should make a joke. Deflect with humor like I always do when things get too real, too close to the soft, mushy parts of me I've worked so hard to protect. I don't.
Instead, I whisper, the words coming out small and uncertain, so unlike my public persona, "Why? I'm an Omega, a male Omega. I can't. . . I'm not. . ." I trail off, unable to articulate all the reasons this feels impossible, all the ways I've been taught I'm not enough, not right, not worthy.
Levi answers, his voice low and gentle. "Because you're you. Because you challenge us. Because we see you. We see all the parts you let out and the ones you try to hide. The way you laugh when something genuinely amuses you. The way you hum in the kitchen when you think no one's listening. How fiercely you protect what matters to you." His hand goes to my knee, squeezing gently. "You being a male Omega has nothing to do with it. We still want you. All of you."
"I'm a mess," I say, and it's not flippant or self-deprecating like my usual deflections. It's fact, raw and undeniable. The nightmares that leave me screaming. The panic attacks that steal my breath. The days when I can barely leave my room. "A complete disaster."
"We know," Dante murmurs, his eyes never leaving mine. His thumb traces a small circle on my wrist, right over my pulse point. "And we still want you. Nightmares, scars, sharp edges, all of it."
Hero shifts closer, his presence solid and reassuring. "This isn't about obligation or protection. It's not pity or some Alpha savior complex." His hazel eyes are clear, honest. "This is a choice. One we've all made independently and together."
Levi's hand slides up from my knee to my thigh, not possessive or demanding, just warm and grounding. "Your choice too, Bloom. Always your choice." The nickname melts something frozen inside me.
I feel like I'm going to cry and laugh at the same time. Like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff, terrified of falling but desperate to fly. My throat tightens with emotion I've spent years suppressing, but I hold their gazes. Each of them. My Alphas. My shadows. My anchors. I want this, want them, so much it frightens me. I do. . .but I've never been wanted. Not like this. Not for who I actually am beneath the glossy magazine covers and perfect camera smiles.
"What happens if I say yes?" I finally say, my voice barely above a whisper, fragile with hope I'm afraid to fully embrace.
"We go slow," Dante says, his voice a rumble I can almost feel through his fingertips. "At your pace, not ours."
"We take care of you," Hero adds, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "And you take care of us too. This is about balance."
"We want to love you, if you will let us," Levi says, simply. His dimples appear with his gentle smile. Like it's the easiest truth in the world. Like loving me isn't complicated or difficult or a burden. Like I'm worth it.
Something in me breaks open then. Quietly. Without fuss. I surrender. Not with a dramatic gesture or proclamation but withthe gentle release of everything I've held tight inside me for so long.
I lean toward Dante first, because he's closest. He's stiff with surprise for half a second when I press my lips to his, soft and tentative. His stubble grazes my skin, sending tiny electric currents dancing across my chin. Then his hand comes up to cradle my cheek, fingers splayed against my jawline, and he kisses me back, slow and reverent. No urgency. Just feeling. His tongue traces the seam of my lips, asking rather than demanding, and I open for him with a small sound I didn't know I could make.
When I pull away, lips tingling in a good way my chest heaves slightly. I taste him on me, spice and warmth. Levi's fingers are in my curls now, massaging my scalp with gentle pressure that makes me want to arch into his touch like a pleased cat. Hero is brushing the back of my hand with his knuckles, tracing invisible patterns with a promise of more.
"I'm scared," I whisper, vulnerability raw in my voice, as my defenses finally lower completely.
"We are, too," Hero replies, his voice rough with emotion. "That's how you know it's real." His pupils are dilated, the hazel of his eyes almost consumed by black.
So, I let them hold me. Let myself be held for once.
I sink against Levi, allowing my weight to be supported fully, his arms crossing my torso. His scent, cedar and something distinctly him envelops me. Dante wraps his arm around my legs and lifts them into his lap, allowing me to spread out between the two of them. His fingers, kneading and massaging my calves, relaxing me further. Hero rests a hand on my thigh, warm and steady, his thumb tracing circles that spread heat through my body even through the fabric of my pants.
For the first time in a long time, I don't feel like something broken waiting to be fixed. I don't feel the need to hide behind carefully constructed walls or manufactured smiles.
I feel wanted. Deeply, thoroughly, for exactly who I am.
I feel whole. Not because they complete me, but because they see me complete already.
These three magnificent, complicated men feel like mine, and I feel like theirs.
"I've never done this before," I admit after several long minutes of just breathing them in. Letting their scents mix with mine, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla all swirling around the roses of my own. The combination is intoxicating. “I've never done the whole. . .multiple Alphas thing."
Dante's fingers continue to work their magic, tracing soothing circles up and down my legs, his touch featherlight but grounding. Each movement sends ripples of warmth through my spine.
