Page 96 of Feeling the Heat: Part Two
Jackson shakes his head. “I know, but we can’t let her see that we’re all together right now. Or let her see where we are. It’ll ruin the surprise!”
Crap, he’s right.
“She already knows we’re attracted to you,” River tells Jackson.
The beta’s eyes go wide. “She does? You told her before you told me? What the hell?”
“It wasn’t intentional. It just kind of came up the other night you were at dinner with your parents, and we got talking about how we wished you were there.”
“You missed me?” Jackson’s huffy posturing deflates into something soft andpleased.
“Yes,” River murmurs, the word holding a depth of emotion he hasn’t allowed himself to show to Jackson.
“Oh.” Jackson’s cheeks burnish. “Well…I guess that’s okay, then. If we’re being honest, I talked to Camille about my…confusion lately. So she knows my end of things, too.”
It touches me that Camille respected all of our needs enough to keep our secrets. I can only imagine she was dying to break Jackson’s confidence and let River know. I don’t like asking our omega to keep secrets, but it only reaffirms how respectful she is of our pack. Ofherpack.
River nods, and I get the sense that he’s thinking something similar. “From what I recall, Camille said she’s open to anything with and between everyone in our pack. We’ll need to confirm that before her heat, but I think that still stands. So that leaves it to us to figure out what our boundaries are.”
He’s trying so hard to sound calm and respectful of Jackson, but we can all feel how nervous he is. How much he wants him and how badly he doesn’t want to screw things up. I doubt he’ll say what he wants before Jackson does, and Jackson is probably overwhelmed, so…
“Alright, I’ll go first. Mine stay the same as before. The same as Camille’s. But I’ll spell it out in detail, if that helps.”
“Uh, yeah. That’d be good.” Jackson’s voice is thick, and it makes my pulse leap.
He likes the thought of my being specific. That’s good.
“I’m interested in anything romantic and sexual with everyone in this pack. Kissing, touching, oral, fucking, cuddling. If you want to top me, I’d prefer for us to experiment with that outside of Camille’s heat to make sure it works for us. For all of us,” I say, inclining my head toward my mate and dominant.
“Oh, uh, I hadn’t even thought about that.” Jackson coughs. “Butyeah, that’s fine.”
“What have you thought about?” River asks, voice a low caress that’s far too sexy for his own good.
The beta’s throat bobs. “Uh… well…“
His nerves make me want to go over to him. Comfort him. I don’t know if he’d be receptive to that, so I hold myself back. “It’s okay if you haven’t thought of anything yet. Or aren’t ready for anything. We can make a rule to wait until after Camille’s heat to explore what you want.”
“No! We don’t need to do that. We don’t need to wait.”
A soft purr starts in River’s chest, and mine joins a moment after.
“That’s not going to work on me,” Jackson jokes.
“My alpha doesn’t care. He’s pleased by the thought of being with you,” River murmurs, eyes dark with heat.
Jackson rubs the back of his neck. “Shit, it’s so weird how hot you are right now. Not that you haven’t always been hot, but I’m not used to…”
“It turning you on?” River asks, stepping closer.
“Yeah,” Jackson breathes. “Fuck, okay, I’ll rip the bandage off because Camille will probably tell you once we talk with her. I, uh, I liked it when we were together and I called you Daddy. It was supposed to be a joke, but after a few times it felt…nice.”
My mouth falls open, and I snap it back shut as fast as I can so he doesn’t think it means I don’t want that. My purr grows louder. “Jackson, I live to take care of people. We can absolutely try that out more if it feels good to you.”
“Y-yeah.” He cradles his face in his hands and lets out a loud exhale. “Shit, it’s embarrassing that I want that.”
River pulls his hands away. “No, it’s not. Never be embarrassed by what turns you on.”
Jackson’s eyelashes flutter as he processes River’s nearness. “Even if it’scrushing your balls?”
