Page 71 of Torment Me Knot
“I think she expects to be dumped, is what I think,” I say. She’s held back for a reason. She looks at the omegas as though it might be the last time she’s going to see them. She thinks she’s on a time limit.
“She’s fucking not. I’m not going to give her up. Her scent, it’s… under my skin.She’sunder my skin,” I say.
“She's down the hall right now and I know where she is, the same way I know where the omegas are, and I don't know when that became true but it's true,” Ezra says.
“Necessary's the word,” Kev says. “That's the right word for what she's become.”
“That's the word. And she doesn’t fucking know because we’re assholes,” I say. “This ends. She needs to know how we feel about her. Patience hasn't worked. Patience has been bullshit. We stop giving her space and start showing her that she’s very much wanted.”
“I doubt she’s going to know what that looks like,” Kev says.
“Then we work at it. Weshowher we deserve her,” I say.
Her bedroom door cracks open and we all go still. Bare feet on floorboards. Her scent reaches the kitchen a second before she does as though fate has drawn her to us. She comes through the doorway in the same clothes she had on yesterday. Curls pulledback at the nape of her neck. Shadows under her eyes that go all the way down to her cheekbones. Phone in her hand, screen down. She doesn't look at any of us.
“Morning, Sera,” Ezra says. Casual. Level. As though we hadn't been talking about how shoddy we’ve treated her.
“Coffee,” she says, and crosses to the pot without looking at us. Our treatment of her is so obvious in that alone.Gods we are stupid fuckers.
She pours. Turns her back to us and stands at the counter, drinking from the cup like the act of standing in our kitchen is something she's prepared to tolerate for ninety seconds and no more. The three of us look at each other across the kitchen. She drains half the cup. Sets it down. Picks up the pot to top it up so she can take it back to the room.
I cross to her before she can move away, bracket her hips with my arms. She goes very still and I drink in her scent, feeling it lock more under my skin. “Sera. I need you to put the mug down for a minute.”
Her amber eyes lock on mine. I haven’t even asked her how she got that scar through her eyebrow. “I'm in the middle of something. I came out for coffee, that's all.” My gaze drops to her mouth. Pink. Plush. Kissable.
Why haven’t I noticed her lips before? Why was my head up my ass so much?
“I know you're in the middle of something. You’ve been in the middle of something for days,” I say.
“And you know why I need to get back to it,” she says.
“You don’t have to do it alone. You’re a part of this pack, Sera. We share the work,” I say.
“I’m not in the mood for this conversation.” She tries to push against my arms and I step against her, jamming her against the counter with my hips. There’s no way she can mistake my erection. She drops a hard gaze down to where I’m rammedagainst her and drags them back to my face. A thrill races through me at the fire in her eyes. “Step away from me, Lex.”
“No more stepping away. Or back. You’re pack, Sera and we’ve been very remiss in telling you. You don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to do anything alone,” I say.
She lifts her scarred brow. “And what’s your erection got to do with tracking down Ethan Wallace?”
“Nothing. But it has everything to do with you,” I say.
“If a hard cock was all it takes to find a criminal, I’d be of no use to the force,” she says.
“That’s not all we want you for,” Ezra says.
I send him a look and tag the moment he realizes what he said. “Speak for yourself, Ez. My cock is very much interested in our alpha. And you just told me yours is too.” I turn my attention back to our alpha. “You’re not alone, Sera. You have us and we’re done being the males who let you think you’re not wanted. Because you very much are.”
She turns her head. I trace the line of her jaw with my gaze. The curve of her throat. She is so beautiful it's hard to keep my hands on the counter.
How did I let her stand in doorframes instead of beside us?
Her gaze drifts past me. Past Kev. Past Ezra. Out through the kitchen window. To the patio chair. To her omegas.
“I think there are two omegas who need you more,” she says, attention trained on our precious omegas, the way it always is. Never on herself.
I lean in. Just enough to put my mouth near her ear.
“Look at me, Sera.”
