Page 82 of Ruin Me Knot
I will not take away her choice.
My body screams for what I can’t have but I rein myself back. I kiss her sweat-soaked neck instead, let the hunger breathe, and concentrate on my knot lodged inside her. The heated, swollen ring of muscle pins us together. I worshipher with every shallow thrust where she’s stretched around me in the most primordial way.
I gently rock as she continues to flutter around me, waves of aftershocks wracking us both. It’s the most basic, brutal, and tender truth I’ve ever felt: my Omega, filled, locked, wrung out and safe.
The most animal part of me is satisfied and gentled by the knowledge that nothing can break this hold. I roll us over, keeping her impaled and astride me. Her body is loose. Boneless. She sprawls over my chest, forehead pressed to my heart.
I swipe strands of hair off her neck and inhale, dragging in a second inhale to be certain. That horrible chemical taint is thinner. Dulled. My heart pounds with what it might mean.
"Jax. Scent her. Tell me what you find," I order.
Jax breathes her in. His eyes close, brows knitting before his jaw loosens when he sits back. "Gods…" His gaze flickers to mine, wonder and disbelief tangled in his voice. "You’re right. It isn’t as strong."
"Gabriel." I need all of us to confer. I don’t want this to be a figment of my imagination.
Gabriel wastes no time breathing her in. An astonished flicker flashes over his face as he sets wide eyes on me. "Shit. She smells like herself more than that chemical stain."
We lock eyes, hope rising. The wordless relief that floods through us is so sharp it hurts.
"Maybe this is why Hardwick never let an Alpha near her during heat,” I say. “Maybe she knew that an Alpha knotting might purge what’s in her blood. Maybe we were the cure she needed all along. They knew a real bond could save her."
Gabriel grins, the gold in his eyes burning bright. "Fuck, I hope you’re right, brother."
A beep sounds, startling us. We all stiffen, bare teeth flashing out of instinct before realizing the sound comes from a wall speaker I hadn’t noticed before.
Adrian’s voice is modulated, careful, but it carries across the room. "If I may. Ronan, Jax, Gabriel, I know your instincts are running hot, but if Leah’s right and she’s been infected, I need her bloodwork. I can help her. There’s no better lab in the country. Let me send someone in. If we can confirm what’s happening, we can help your Omega. Do I have your permission?"
Every protective bone in my body bristles. I tighten my arms around Leah, her sleeping form now precious beyond words. The Alpha in me wants to rip apart anyone who so much as comes close, especially while she’s still in heat, still so vulnerable. I can’t let anyone touch her.
"No one’s coming in here. Send in a collection kit. I’ll do the draw," Gabriel says.
Adrian’s voice comes back. "Understood. I’ll have a Beta bring the equipment to your door." There’s a pause and he sighs. "How is she really? Mira and Emma are going out of their minds with worry."
I press a steadying palm to Leah’s back, staring at the angry smudges circling her arms, the shadowed bruises trailing her ribs and the fresh scrapes on her body. Her skin blooms with evidence of what those bastards did to her. The old and new violence she survived. My chest aches with the knowledge that it will be a long time before these marks fade both physically and mentally.
I keep my voice level for my Omega’s sake. She’s finally resting, and she’ll need all her energy when she wakes. "She’s in full heat," I say, forcing the words past my clenched jaw. "But she’s injured, Adrian. Bruised all over, arms, ribs, legs. She’s holding on, but she’s not in great shape."
I swallow hard, looking down at the precious bundle in my arms. Mira and Emma will be devastated. Emma barely held herself together at the gala for the sake of her friend. Leah will need her friends as anchors now more than ever.
"I won’t sugarcoat this. She’s been through hell."
Adrian is silent for a moment, then his voice comes through, softer, weighted with the kind of gravity that tells me he means every word. "Thank you for telling me. I’ll send down everything Leah needs. Supplies, food, whatever comforts we can provide. If you think of anything else, let us know. There’s no limit. Noexpense spared. Leah is pack now. And so are you. We’ll do everything it takes to make sure she pulls through."
The line clicks out but his promise hangs in the air. I curl tighter around Leah, as Jax and Gabriel create a living wall around her. We’re not alone. Leah has her Alphas and her friends looking out for her and all of us together will make sure she’ll be whole again.
Leah stirs against my chest. Her skin grows slick with sweat. She squirms, lashes fluttering, and then a low, helpless moan escapes her as my knot slips free, a sticky wetness trickling down my thighs. Her perfume explodes into the air, thick and intoxicating. Her ripe Omega perfume is tinged with desire and desperation.
She shrinks in on herself, breath coming in little whimpers she can’t quite muffle and my gut twists with helpless anger. I hate that she’s hurting. Hate that all I can do is hold her and wait for the next wave to crash through her body, but Gabriel reaches for her. "Come here, Sweetheart."
He coaxes her onto his lap, settling her over his thighs where he sits against the headboard. His palm finds the back of her neck, stroking, grounding. He pulls her in, cradling her like she’s the most precious thing in the world because she is. "Let me look after you, Omega. Let me take care of everything."
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Gabriel
Leah presses her face tight into my neck, the soft shock of her breath and the hot, needy shudder of each exhale echoing inside my bones. She’s so fucking small, like she’s been stripped down and carved out and poured back into this breakable body, all her strength spent just holding herself together. My arms curve around her, instinct screaming to hide her away and cover every inch of her with my skin. She curls against me, light as breath but with a gravity that drags every piece of me into her orbit.
Her fresh roses and pure Omega scent surrounds me but threaded with something deeper, home, longing, anguish. There’s nothing inthe world like it. My muscles coil tight, nerves firing, skin prickling with the frantic urgency to shield her.
