Page 116 of Holly Jolly Heat
The bed had been transformed into a proper nest. Soft layers of blankets and pillows, fairy lights casting gentle shadows, and our scents mingling together into something that made my omega purr with satisfaction.
"You're perfect," Lucas said, moving behind me again. "And you're ours."
"Officially and permanently," Ro added, his fingers ghosting over the fresh mating bite on my neck, making me shiver.
"No one listening through walls," Dex said, closing the bedroom door with deliberate firmness. "No one to interrupt. Just pack."
I turned in the circle of my alphas, my mates, and felt the last of my walls crumble.
"I love you," I said, the words coming easier now after weeks of practice. "All of you. And I want this. Want you. I'm just?—"
"Nervous?" Lucas supplied gently.
"It's been a long time since I let anyone close like this. Since before suppressants and walls and protecting myself from everything." I touched each of their mating marks on my neck, still tender, still new. "I don't know how to not be in control."
"Then we go slow," Ro said, cupping my face with gentle hands. "We have all night. All our lives. There's no rush."
"Can I..." I started, then stopped, flustered.
"What do you need?" Dex asked.
"Can we just... be close for a bit? Touch and kiss and exist without jumping straight to... more?"
"Of course," all three said in unison, and I laughed at their synchronization.
We moved to the nest, settling into the soft blankets and pillows. I ended up in the middle, Lucas pressed against my back, Ro at my front, Dex's solid presence at our sides. For a moment, we just breathed together, letting our scents mingle, feeling the bond hum between us.
"This is nice," I murmured.
"You sound surprised," Lucas teased, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.
"I've been alone for so long. I forgot what it felt like to just... be held."
"Never again," Ro promised, tilting my chin up to kiss me properly.
The kiss was different from the chaste ones we'd shared at Mom's house. Deeper, hungrier, full of weeks of want finally allowed release. When we broke apart, I was breathless.
"My turn," Lucas said, turning my head to claim my mouth.
His kiss was playful, teasing, making me smile against his lips. He nipped gently, soothing with his tongue, until I was pressing back against him seeking more.
Then Dex, careful and thorough, kissing me like he had all the time in the world to learn every response, every sound I made.
"You're wearing too many clothes," I said when he pulled back.
"So are you," he countered.
"Then help me fix that?"
They did, slowly, carefully, like I was something precious. Lucas pulled my sweater over my head while Ro unbuttoned my jeans with steady hands. Dex unclasped my bra with surprising gentleness for such large hands.
"Beautiful," Ro breathed, his artist's eye taking in every detail. "Perfect."
"I'm not?—"
"You are," Lucas interrupted. "To us. For us. Everything about you is perfect."
I reached for their clothes in return, needing to feel skin against skin, needing the equality of vulnerability. They let me undress them at my own pace, patient even though I could feel their want through the bond.
