Page 91 of In Deep
I get to my feet as I watch them ready themselves; a sense of anticipation in the air. My gland tingles in a new way at the back of my neck, and my stomach flutters with butterflies.
Through the breeze, I smell their tension, their determination, their power. All four sets of alpha hands are tight on the handles of their oar, all four brows pinched in concentration.
Bob blows her whistle and they start. The boat rocks on the water for a millisecond, and then it’s dragged through the water by the strength of my four alphas. Their arms and legs straining with everything they have. At first, the water is resistant, barging them back, but more tugs of their oars, more slicing through the surface, and they win the struggle. Before I know it, they’re soaring, their bodies a blur of motion, the boat a rocket.
Their grunts, as they punish their bodies to the max, are almost painful to my ears, but I can’t drag my eyes from them. They are mesmerising, all of them. Raw alpha power. I see now how careful they must be with me every second. How easily they could snap a thing like me in two. How much power they possess in every fibre of their honed bodies. A sense of pride courses through me as they tear through the water. I’m on my toes, my hands at my mouth. These are my men, my alphas.
“Come on!” Bob yells to me and I see she’s already on a bike and pedalling fast after the boat.
I start to run, but their pace far outstrips mine and before long I lose sight of them in the bends of the river.
When I finally catch them, they’ve finished. The boat hovers on the water and all four are collapsed over their oars. Their great shoulders heave as they drag oxygen back inside their bodies, and sweat pours down their faces. They look utterly and thoroughly spent.
“Not bad!” Bob calls from her bike, punching the air. “Not bad at all.”
* * *
“We need to be faster,” Seb says later as we sit around the kitchen table.
“Fuck, man.” Zane scrubs his hand through his hair. “I gave it everything I had. I haven’t got any more than that.”
Seb shakes his head. “We’re going to have to find it from somewhere. Look.” He holds his phone up, and I squint at the screen. The picture and the display mean nothing to me, but the others all groan or mutter obscenities under their breath.
“What?” I ask, swinging my gaze around.
“That’sThe Sharks’ social media feed,” Duncan explains. “They’ve just posted a time.”
I pull a face. “Who areThe Sharks?”
“They’re our main opposition. The ones most likely to beat us at the championships.”
“And what’s with the name?”
“Alpha bullshit.” Ollie grins. “They think it makes them sound tough.”
“And so what about their time?” I gesture towards Seb’s phone.
“It’s two seconds faster than ours,” Seb replies flatly.
“Oh.” My earlier elation droops. I can’t believe anyone could be faster than them. They looked like something supernatural out there on the water. But then what do I know about rowing, about any of this really.
“It could be bullshit,” Zane says, “Just trying to get inside the other competitors’ heads.”
“Possibly,” Seb tosses his phone onto the tabletop, “But it’s not like we can afford to take that risk. We’re going to have to find those extra seconds.”
Zane groans.
“You will,” I say to them all, “you’ll find it. I have a feeling about it, right down deep in my gut.”
“Are you sure that’s not some other kind of feeling,” Zane asks with a smirk, reaching over to squeeze my thigh.
“No,’’ I tell him, punching his bicep and then flapping my hand about when I crunch my knuckles in the process. “But,” I add, “talking of that, maybe I better not move in just yet.”
Four alpha growls rumble in four sets of throats. I raise my hand, pleading for them to hear me out. “You need to save your strength and your energy for the race. Not be wasting it on … you know what.” I blush. I’ve done all sorts of dirty things with these men, yet I still find it hard to put those things into words.
“Sex actually helps,” Ollie says.
I raise an eyebrow sceptically. I may know fuck all about sport, but I have at least heard that footballers and other athletes usually get put on a sex ban before a big match.
