Page 113 of Feeling the Heat: Part Two
Ambrose’s warm laugh fills the nest, and River reaches out from where he’s being similarly tortured by the older alpha to brush his hand against mine. “I’m so stiff, but when you make sounds like that, it makes me want to ignore the pain and fuck you again,” he murmurs.
“Heh, stiff,” Jackson says with a snort.
A lazy pulse of heat throbs between my thighs, but I’m too exhausted from the marathon heat sex we had over the past four days to do anything but groan. “Lucky for us, we have the others to keep us from overdoing it,” I say with a soft laugh, squeezing River’s hand back.
I wanted to help take care of him post-heat, but I overestimatedmy ability to do anything but lie in my nest and make pathetic sounds whenever I try to move. I’ll have to show him that care another time, when I’m not equally achy from being folded like a pretzel by three very vigorous mates.
Mates.
That’s what I call them now, right? We’re bonded, a tether that seems like pure magic with the unfathomable intimacy it creates. After spending a lifetime with only my thoughts to keep me company, it’s surreal to find I’m no longer alone.
Sure, they’ve told me we can cut off our ends of the bond when needed. We don’t have to broadcast our emotions to each other 24/7. But it fills a part of my soul I didn’t realize was empty, each of their bonds slotting perfectly into place inside me.
“So we’re all mates now?” I ask between groans as Jackson’s hands move down to my sore thighs.
He stops his kneading. “Oh, uh, I guess? It’s semantics really between whether someone is your packmate or mate, because the bonds are the same.”
It takes me a second to understand why he’s talking about semantics. “That’s not what I meant. I won’t pressure you into calling them that.”
“You won’t, but I will,” River rasps. “I think we’re past platonic packmates now that you’ve had my cock in your mouth.”
Jackson makes a spluttering sound, and I giggle.
“Ignore him. You take as long as you need to figure out what you’re comfortable with,” Ambrose says, voice gentle with concern.
“You’re both my goddamn mates, alright?” Jackson huffs. “I just didn’t want to make things awkward if we weren’t all on the same page.”
“Well, now I’m glad I asked.” I smile at the bubbly affection in all of their bonds.
“If we’re having a post-heat debrief now, I have something to bring up,” Jackson says.
“Oh, yeah?” River pushes against Ambrose to allow him to roll over to face the beta straddling me.
Jackson follows suit, moving back off of me to let me roll over so we can all look at each other.
“Yeah. So this is awkward as fuck, but I think I might be our pack lead now,” Jackson blurts, the words rushing out like he’s forcing them before he loses his nerve.
There’s a long moment of silence where all of their bonds light up with a cacophony of emotions and urges that are impossible to interpret, and my omega observes it with curiosity. She’s been more relaxed than ever since I bonded them, happy to sit in the background, soaking in the pleasure of having a pack.
“Yeah,” Ambrose eventually sighs, shaking his head in resignation. “It’s weird as hell, but I noticed that back at the hotel.” He gives River an apologetic grimace. “Sorry.”
River’s face scrunches at the apology. “Why? I’m not. This makes a whole lot more sense than me being our lead.”
Jackson blinks at them, clearly not expecting their responses. “Your alphas are really okay with this? With a beta being our pack lead? I’m not going to wake up one night with one of you growling at me to assert your dominance?”
River shrugs. “Not unless you ask me to.”
“We already know I don’t need to dominate you to get you to be good for me,” Ambrose adds.
I giggle as Jackson’s eyes widen and corresponding arousal lights up in his bond.
“Okay, well, good. Then I guess I’m pack lead. Unless Cami wants to challenge me for that.”
I grimace. “Ugh, no thanks. I’ve had to make all the decisions for my entire adult life. I’m good with not being in charge of our pack.” I scoot over to his side and press a kiss to his cheek. “Besides, I can’t think of anyone more capable of being our pack lead. Not that I know much about what the hell that even means, but it sounds like something you’d be amazing at.”
He draws me onto his lap with a grin. “So we’re going to be Pack Knight?”
Ambrose groans. “Nope. That’s not what this means. We need to pick a name together that we like.”
