Page 110 of In Deep
I lift my eyebrow. “And?”
“They want to fund me to do a PhD.” She grins, those pale blue eyes shimmering, and I can’t resist her any longer. I reach for her hand and tug her towards me.
“I am not surprised, little lass. You’ve been working so hard, and you are possibly the cleverest person I know.”
She crinkles up her nose. “I’m not sure about that.”
“You chose this pack, didn’t you? Seems pretty damn clever to me.”
The others bound over, Duncan and Zane both kissing and congratulating her.
“I think this pack picked me,” she says with a giggle once the kisses have subsided. She rests her palms against my chest as I draw my hand up under her hair and trace the teeth marks on her gland. They’ve hardly faded, still as strong, still as vivid, just like this pull towards her.
“Does this mean you’ll be back at the college?” I ask her.
“If it all works out, then yes, it does, Professor Thomas.”
“That is definitely something worth celebrating, Miss Anderson,” I say, imagining all the illicit hookups, all the opportunities to bend her over the desk in my shiny new office.
My hand drifts down to her ripe arse and I give it a firm squeeze, leaving her in no doubt of my intentions. Then I kiss her, and she melts against me, the fingers of her hands spreading wide across my chest.
“Something smells good,” Ollie says, strolling into the kitchen and coming over to sniff the sauce.
“It’s for tomorrow. Don’t touch.”
“Looks good, though,” he says with a nod, moving to stand behind Rosie and kissing her neck. “And how’s my little mouse? Nervous about tomorrow?”
“It seems your little mouse,” I say, “is going to be a doctor.”
Ollie gives me a puzzled look, and Rosie twists her head around. “The Agency is willing to fund the PhD I want to do.”
He squeezes her tight, then nibbles her shoulder. “Congratulations, little mouse.”
“Two doctors and a professor.” Duncan whistles.
“And a writer and an engineer,” Zane adds, massaging Duncan’s shoulder.
“And a team of Olympic rowers,” Ollie grins, then pauses. “Rosie, will you still be able to take the summer off?”
Rosie steps out from between us and passes me the dish. I give a nod and pour the creamy chicken in before covering it in the pastry.
“Of course,” Rosie tells Ollie, watching as I trim the pastry top to fit the dish. “You think I’m going to miss the opportunity to visit Madrid?”
Ollie prods her soft waist. “Or the chance to watch your alphas win gold at the Olympics?”
“That too,” she says with a mischievous grin.
It won’t be long before we’ll be relocating out to Spain and starting our training out there. The Agency has agreed to let Rosie come with us. We make a neat little media story for the country; rowing team with a shot at a gold, bonded to a woman working for the space agency. But she won’t be working for the two weeks of the actual competition. She’s very clear. She wants to be by our sides, giving us her full attention.
I’m glad of it. While I don’t want any of us getting in the way of her and her dreams, we need our omega, need her more than ever in those moments where everything hangs in the balance. I know we’ll row harder, faster, with her by our sides.
Rosie snuggles up against Ollie as I roll the off-cuts of pastry into thin sausages and arrange them over the top of the pie, spelling out the pack’s name. As I do, my eyes keep straying back to Ollie and Rosie. I can’t help but watch his fingers stray beneath her top and his lips press against her neck.
I catch Zane’s eye, and he winks, taking Duncan’s hand and leading him from the kitchen, the stairs creaking a moment later.
Growing up, I’d never imagined I’d want to share an omega, that I’d want to live in a pack. I’d often felt excluded. The clever, serious one at school who never fitted in. Then the poor kid in a college full of rich ones. But I don’t feel that way anymore. Even when I’m watching from the outside, as I do now. There is something erotic, something irresistible, about sharing my omega with another alpha, about watching one of my brothers drive her into pleasure, about knowing the other two will soon be rutting. We’re all one bundle of love and sex in this pack, mixed and tangled together.
When I’m finished with the pie, I glaze the top and place it in the fridge. We’ll cook it tomorrow before Rosie’s parents arrive. I already know what I intend to say to them. The same thing I’ve been saying for the last three years. That I will take good care of their daughter, that I will spend every day of the rest of my life making her happy. Just like every other alpha in this pack.
