Forget Me Knot (PoisonVerse #2), page 37
The other three were still. King was picking at his nails furiously, but his eyes darted to me as I looked over. Malakai looked relaxed, but his dark gaze was fixed maybe a little too intently on Ice and Viper. There was a clench to his lean jaw. Prodding the bond again, I was surprised to feel even more anxiety from him than I had from King. I didn’t feel nerves from Arsenal. I felt… desperation. Frustration. Not at me, but around me. As if he was banging on the glass walls of a box, but couldn’t get in. When I glanced at him again, I found him still watching me, perfect patience in his eyes no matter what the bond might say.
I got to my feet and dared cross toward them.
King watched me approach, averting his eyes, then shuffled on his seat as if unsure if I wanted to join him.
First, I took a seat beside Arsenal, then took a breath. “Thank you for coming for me,” I whispered. “Even when you knew.”
“You’re pack,” he said gruffly.
I leaned up and pressed my cheek beneath his chin, settling against him for just a moment, following an instinct I’d never followed before. His arms came around me before I drew away.
When I looked back up at him, I swore he was blushing. His hand jumped to the spot on his tattooed neck where I’d scent marked him. Then I leaned close. “I’m going to go sit next to King, though,” I whispered. “Or he might have a heart attack.”
Arsenal chuckled, tugging me against him for another quick hug before I moved to sit between King and Malakai.
King sat, frozen for the longest moment, but Malakai dropped his arm around me, pulling me close briefly as he pressed a kiss to my head. “Missed you, Duchess.”
As soon as he let go, King shifted to my side, drawing me into his arms like he never wanted to let go. I let him pull me close until I was settled between his legs with his arms wrapped around my waist.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. The relief and love that flooded the bond was everything. The low, rumbling purr that vibrated against my chest soothed my soul.
Ice and Viper brought everyone drinks, and I didn’t fail to spot the spark of hope in Ice’s eyes as his gaze lingered on me and King.
“We came out for Ice, though,” I said, turning my attention to him and taking a sip of my wine. Still, I had to settle my nerves. This contentment was still unsettling to me.
“We did?” Malakai asked.
Viper and Ice had settled back in their seats. Ice chewed on his lip, eyes fixed on me with his own glass of wine in his grip.
“Oh… Was I not supposed to—”
“No. It’s okay. I just, uh…” He glanced around at everyone else, suddenly flighty. Then he dug in his pocket and pulled out the letter he’d shown me. “It’s from the Institute. Came in not long ago…”
I felt the shift in the bond.
Every alpha reacted. Relief, hope, joy—it all came barrelling in at once. But Ice shrank, his eyes fixed on the letter in his hand.
Viper brushed his arm, the touch comforting. Ice fumbled for it, seizing Viper’s hand.
“You know, I, uh… thought I could…” Ice swallowed. Then he glanced to Viper nervously. “Do you think… Could you?”
Viper took the letter from him gently. He opened it, eyes scanning it quickly, a smile crossing his lips.
“Is it…?” Ice asked. But Viper was tugging out a card. It was a blue Institute registration card. I had one. I knew the alphas here would all have green ones in their wallet too.
Ice stared for a long moment, and it was like each one of us was holding our breath. He reached out and took it.
Hope.
From him came a brilliant, powerful moment of hope. And following it was an explosion of emotions. Panic. Fear. Disbelief. The bond slammed shut as Ice set the card down, his body trembling.
“Hey…” Viper had his arm around him in a moment.
“It’s good.” For a moment Ice looked to me.
I nodded. “It’s incredible, Ice,” I told him, but I could see his building panic.
Arsenal crossed to him, a lost look on his face, and then he got to his knees before Ice, reaching a hand out hesitantly. Ice hunched in closer to Viper.
Viper drew his chin up, still holding him tight.
“They would’ve given up everything for this,” Viper said quietly.
Ice closed his eyes for a moment, and then he reached out for Arsenal’s hand.
Arsenal tugged Ice forward. There was one moment of hesitation, and then Ice moved, falling right into Arsenal’s arms. At my side, both King and Malakai relaxed.
Ice’s voice was choked. “Thank you.” He looked up to Malakai and King for a second, letting them know it was for them, too.
“Are you alright?” Arsenal murmured.
Ice wrinkled his nose, tucking his face back into Arsenal’s chest then shook his head. “I think I just need… a moment.”
FIFTY-TWO
Ice
“Are you okay?” Arsenal asked as we closed the door to the nest.
My breathing still wasn’t right, but I didn’t care. He’d barely turned to me, but I was already launching myself at him. And this time it wasn’t for a hug. His back hit the door as I pressed my lips to his.
There was one moment in which he was clearly startled, and then his grip was digging into my waist dragging me against him, the other hand tangling in my hair as he spun us, pinning me against the door now as he drove his tongue into my mouth. A growl rose in his throat that sent stars shooting through my veins.
“I want you,” I breathed, the moment his lips broke away. “Now.”
His eyes darted between mine in one lingering moment of uncertainty, and then he was carrying me across to the bed. Before I knew it, he was caged over me, my wrists tight in his grip as he pinned me to the bed on either side of my head.
I stared up at him, lips parted, my chest heaving. I felt safe. Completely safe. I wasn’t back in my nightmares because he was the one who’d pulled me from them.
Lust seeped into my veins, into every pore of my being.
I needed him.
I watched his pupils dilate as his gaze traced my body, down to the half open buttons of my shirt, to the evidence of my want of him. He leaned down, crushing his lips to mine more aggressively this time, and I released a growl of my own, straining against where he had me pinned, desperate to touch every part of him.
He gathered my wrists in one hand and pressed them above my head. I hissed, a snarl on my face as I bucked against him furiously. I wanted to explore his body just like he was so clearly wanting to mine.
A cocky grin lit his face as he watched me struggle, and heat coiled in my stomach.
He undid the buckle of my jeans with his one hand as I tossed my weight against his grip, but he didn’t let up.
“I want you.” My voice had devolved into a whine.
His eyes met mine, then he kissed me once more. His touch slid down my stomach.
Briefly, he paused on the scars across my chest. The ones I’d shown Onyx the day we’d met her. Claw marks across my torso.
I saw his eyes darken for a second and panic gripped me. But then he pressed his lips to mine again, and his hand slid to my cock, getting a breathy moan from me. I fought the grip he had, trying to kiss him, but he didn’t let go.
It didn’t take long before he’d tugged my jeans off completely. I tangled my legs around his waist as I tore his t-shirt from over his head.
I felt his finger first, pressing into me and stretching me open. We didn’t have prep in here, but it didn’t matter, I was wet with slick. I whined at the burst of stimulation from the alpha I’d dreamed of for years.
His gazed traced every inch of my face as he began pumping into me with two fingers.
“Fuck me,” I panted. His eyes flashed, already blown pupils dilating further. “I’m ready.”
He withdrew his fingers, then flipped me over with ease. There was a moment in which I heard a rustle of his jeans, and then I felt his chest against my back and his cock press against my entrance. I let out a gasp as he pressed past the tight ring, my fists bunching on the sheets.
He let out a breath of pleasure as I bucked back, needing more, and my own slick made the movement easy. I groaned as I felt him enter me all the way.
“I love you, Ice,” Arsenal breathed in my ear. “So fucking much.” His kisses trailed my shoulders, but I shifted, exposing my neck to him so his lips brushed the bite. The one he’d given me after he’d claimed pack lead all those years ago.
There was a moment’s pause, and then I felt his teeth there. I moaned, bucking back further against him, feeling his knot. His grip on my hips tightened.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I’m yours.”
It was in that moment that I wanted more. I wanted a bite from more than Viper and Arsenal. My chest tightened at that thought, the bond opening with my own lust and joy.
Arsenal’s teeth dug in, just enough to send a thrill of pleasure through my system. He pressed me down into the sheets, teeth still grazing that bite as he began fucking me hard. I moaned loudly with each thrust, and I came the first time when his hand circled my waist and gripped the base of my cock.
But Arsenal didn’t stop. I didn’t want him to. Heat was already building again as he slammed into me harder. His aura wasn’t out, but through the bond I could feel it shifting. I tensed, panicked momentarily. He was only days out of his rut. What if he—?
But then his lips brushed my shoulder and his palms pressed against the sheets on either side of mine. He slowed his pace, a low, rumbling purr vibrating from his chest and right to where our bodies were connected. His aura was shifting, but not into a rut. It was the opposite.
If anything, it felt more stable than before.
When we were spent, I lay in his arms, breaths heaving and a deep sense of peace in my heart. I hadn’t asked him to knot me. I was eager to ask Onyx to come in and didn’t want to overwhelm her.
“I want them…” I whispered. This was my nest. I felt closer to Arsenal than I ever had, and I needed the rest of them here.
Arsenal sent a text, then lifted me in his arms and carried me to the shower. I didn’t argue, happy to hold onto him as he turned on the hot water. He kissed me as water cascaded around us, the full beauty of his massive tattooed body caging me in. I wrongly assumed I was spent on energy and orgasms, because it didn’t take long for me to get hard again. It was his fault for being too fucking hot, soaked black hair sticking to his forehead, reaching his eyes.
He noticed my hard-on instantly. I knew my pupils were blown, and roses and cookies probably warred with the shower steam for space in the air.
“How many times can you come for me, Little Omega?” he asked, nipping my ear as he gripped my cock hard in his fist. I arched toward him, but he held me harder against the shower wall by my chin, holding me in place as he worked my cock so he could watch my expression tense up as I found release again.
When I sagged in his grip, he kept holding me up, kissing me deeply once more as I held onto his wrists to stay steady. “I love you,” he murmured.
He could say those words a thousand times and I don’t think the butterflies would stop taking flight in my stomach. He drew back, water still cascading down the rugged edges of his tattooed face. I found my gaze drift to the small black knife just to the left of his eyebrow. Then his next words drew my attention back to his hazel eyes.
“You deserve that card,” he said. “And the whole fucking world that comes with it.”
FIFTY-THREE
Viper
Arsenal and Ice vanished.
Their connection through the bond was shut off.
I was feeling shaky.
My relationship with Ice was important—there was something between us I couldn’t explain—but sometimes I worried it might create obstacles with the rest of the pack.
At first, the others were worried, but then we felt a few faint spikes of lust from Ice and Arsenal. I wasn’t the only one who relaxed. Malakai had a faint trace of humour on his lips, and King’s purr, which had picked up when he began holding Onyx, intensified.
“So… about the bite?” King asked after a while. “Does that mean you aren’t a duchess anymore?”
Her brows pinched for a moment.
“Technically, I think your aura still stays all… siren-like,” Mal said.
“But no pack will want me,” she replied. “Not with a bite on my neck.”
“Shit… I guess that’s your whole job…” King muttered, his arms coming around her tighter.
Still, I swear I caught the faintest smile on her lips as she looked at me. “I never wanted to be a duchess,” she said, finally. “The job was just… there, with my aura. I didn’t really have anything else.”
Her hand crept up, tracing my bite on her neck.
“For the record, we want you,” King said.
She swallowed, and through the bond, I could feel her nerves, but they were less frazzled than before. After a moment, she sank further back into King’s arms, and his fading purr picked up once more.
I couldn’t help but smile. They were so cute together.
After another short while, we got a text.
Arsenal: he wants company
A grin spread on Mal’s mouth as he read it.
“I think…” Onyx stood from King, still clutching her half finished glass of wine. “I think I’m going to wait out here for a bit before…” She didn’t finish, not making the promise that she would join them.
“Me, too,” I lifted my beer to them. “See you in a bit.”
They deserved a bit of time with Ice alone. Mal nodded, but King looked torn.
“But we have…” King trailed off, clearly not wanting to push it. He’d been the worst of all of the pack, unsure of why he couldn’t just go down and demand she listen to how much she was wanted.
“Maybe we can peek in soon?” I said.
I knew how much they wanted to show her what they’d done. He was just as impatient as Hart used to be…
I shook the thought as soon as it came, but it didn’t hurt like those thoughts used to.
Besides, Onyx was out here with us. Tonight was going well. I could feel her softening around the edges. King’s eyes drifted to me, and I nodded. His tense expression relaxed a little, and then he was hurrying after Mal.
When they were gone, Onyx returned to sit beside me.
It was hard to explain how complete I felt knowing that she felt safe near me; an ancient ache finally satisfied.
We didn’t speak for a while, both taking a few more sips of our drinks in silence but for the light spitting rain on fresh tiles.
“You offered me the bond,” she said, at last.
“Yeh.”
She frowned. “But only pack lead can offer a bond.”
“Well, uh…” I said. “We chatted on the drive over to get you back. Once we’d figured it all out, we thought we needed to close the loop. The best way would be for me to offer the bond.”
“So… Arsenal gave you pack lead?” she asked.
I nodded sheepishly. “I mean, I tried to give it back to him.”
“But?” she asked, frowning.
“He, uh… didn’t want it.” Actually, he’d laughed in my face, then carried on watching the soccer, beer in hand.
“Oh. Weird. Well, you were lead… with… our old pack.” Briefly, when she spoke, her voice weakened, but she finished anyway. She was so strong, and I could see she was trying to face her monsters.
We sat for a little time more, and I just held her before my phone buzzed.
It was the group chat.
King: He’s asking for you guys
King: Especially Onyx
I caught her staring at it, chewing her lips in concern. The phone buzzed once more. I glanced back down to see the next text from King: a single sad emoji.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Onyx sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment and setting her glass down. “Okay.” She swallowed. “Yes. Let’s do it.”
Onyx
I drew up as we stepped back into the garage.
Okay. I’d heard the construction, but this was much more than I’d expected. It was, I realised, what I’d drawn out for Arsenal at the mall.
There was a balcony overhanging the huge garage, which easily fit under the tall ceiling. A whole half floor had been put in.
“How many days was I down there?” I stared, stunned, at the floor ahead where we’d stopped. There were three doors.
That wasn’t all. I could see active renovations on the rest of the garage. I thought they might even be installing a proper kitchen.
But Viper was leading me along the balcony. “Maybe a week? But I can pay for rush jobs and Arsenal didn’t believe I could do it in five days.”
I halted in the doorway, my pulse thready as I looked in.
A nest.
It was a vast room with an expansive circular pack bed. It was a little bare—as if Ice was just starting to fill it—but the ceiling and walls were hung with fairy lights and there were piles of colourful chunky knit blankets across the bed and floor.
More than that, it was filled with their scents, and most of all, his.
Roses and cookies. Content. Safe. More even than in the makeshift nest in Malakai’s room.
And they were all on the huge pack bed.
Arsenal and Ice both had wet hair as if they’d just climbed out of the shower. King had been cuddling Ice, while Mal lay on his back on Ice’s other side. Arsenal was propped up against a pillow beside him.
The moment the door opened, though, Ice leaped up and crossed the room toward me.
“He’s complaining there’s too many alpha hormones in here,” Mal grunted from the bed.
“Ice…” My words were stuck. “This is… It’s amazing. Everything you deserve—”
“Fuck that shit.” Before I could do a thing, Ice had picked me up by my waist and was carrying me into the room. I gripped his shoulders, steadying myself right as he dropped us both onto the bed.
