Page 50 of Knot So Sweet
I pull back to look at her properly. Take in the embarrassed flush spreading across her cheeks. How she bites her lower lip. How her scent has shifted, satisfaction mixing with mortification.
I grin. Can't help it. The expression feels foreign on my face after weeks of keeping everything locked down. "Scream as loud as you want."
Her shoulders relax slightly. Then tense again. "Garrick can." Her voice sounds small now. Worried. "His apartment's right above the restaurant. He must have heard..."
My grin widens. I lean in close, my lips brushing the shell of her ear. Let my voice drop lower. Rougher. "Maybe that's not a terrible thing."
Her eyes go wide. Then they darken again, pupils dilating even further. Her scent spikes, fresh arousal cutting through the satisfaction. I feel it internally too, her body clenching around my knot, hypersensitive.
"Maybe he'd crave to join in," I continue, watching her face carefully. Gauging her reaction.
12
XADEN
Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. The pink flush spreading down her throat deepens to rose, staining her chest. But her scent spikes sharp and sweet, arousal cutting through embarrassment like a blade.
"You can't be serious," she whispers. But her body betrays her, clenching around my knot in a way that draws a groan from my throat.
"Dead serious." I trace my thumb along her jaw, feeling how hot her skin has become. "You think I didn't notice how you look at him.”
Before she can answer, footsteps sound on the stairs above us. Heavy. Deliberate. The distinct tread of someone who knows exactly where they're going and why.
Violet's eyes go wide. Her whole body tenses in my lap. "Xaden, that's..."
"Garrick. Right on time."
The kitchen door swings open.
Garrick fills the doorway. He's shirtless, wearing only grey sweatpants that hang low on his hips. His chest rises and falls with slightly labored breathing, muscles shifting under golden skin with each inhale.
But it's his eyes that capture my attention. Dark and intense and locked on Violet in my lap. On how we're still connected, my knot buried deep inside her. On how her body is draped across mine, marked by my hands, my mouth, my claim.
His burnt sugar scent floods the kitchen. Dark and rich and edged with something primal. Something hungry.
"Heard you two from the bakery," he says. His voice comes out rough, scraped raw. Like he's been holding back for too long. "Thought I was imagining it at first. Then I heard her scream your name."
Violet makes a small sound. Half mortification, half something else. Her fingers dig into my shoulders, seeking anchor.
I keep my arm secure around her waist. Possessive but not restrictive. "And what did you do when you heard?"
His gaze finally shifts from Violet to me. Dark eyes blazing. "What do you think I did? Sat there trying not to listen. Trying not to imagine what you were doing to her. Failing at both."
"Show her," I command softly.
His hand drops to the front of his sweatpants. The grey fabric does nothing to hide the evidence of his arousal, the thick outline of his cock straining against cotton. He palms himself once, rough and wanting, and Violet's breath catches audibly.
"See that?" I murmur against her ear, lips brushing the shell. "That's what listening to you did to him. That's how much he craves you."
"Xaden," she breathes. My name sounds wrecked.
"Do you want him?" I ask quietly. Giving her the choice even now. "Because if you don't, he walks away. No harm. No pressure. But if you do..."
I let the sentence hang in the air between us. Heavy with possibility.
She's silent for a long moment. Just breathing. Her heart racing so fast I can feel it against my chest. Her scent shifting, cycling through embarrassment and arousal and curiosity and desire in rapid succession.
Then she speaks. Barely above a whisper but steady. Sure.
