Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)(23)

He stood with her in his arms, naked, sweaty, sated, and hers.

No matter the future, no matter what his visions showed him, this was what he would remember until the end of his days. The feel of this woman in his arms…and in his soul.

He just prayed this wouldn’t be the last time he felt it.





Chapter 7


Gibson was horny. There wasn’t another word for it. He was finally healed from everything that had hit him recently, and because he’d done his best to stay secluded? he hadn’t had to deal with too many emotions.

Yet there was one thing he couldn’t change on his own.

Oh, he might have been able to rub one off to take care of the itch, or at least part of it, but he hadn’t wanted to, not with Oliver and Mandy right there.

Of course, the two of them had already been with one another so they at least knew what the other felt like. Gibson, however, had no clue. It might have been his own fault because he’d wanted to make sure Oliver had been taken care of during his time of need, and he knew Mandy would be perfect for it, but it didn’t make his dick any less hard.

And the fact that he was thinking about his dick and not that he had to control this new gift of his, or that Claire was dead, or about who hurt him in the first place, or about the fact the SAU guards had remained a silent presence, told him he needed to get his priorities straight.

Not everything was about getting off.

But sometimes it sure as hell felt like it.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He probably should get it cut, but Mandy had commented that she liked it so he kept it. They weren’t even mated, and he was already doing things for her to make her happy. If he’d been an *, he might have resented her for it. But he wasn’t, and he just wanted to make sure she stayed happy.

It wasn’t easy when the world was going to hell around them, and it wasn’t as if they’d started off in a great place to begin with.

With a sigh, he got up from his kitchen table and put his cold coffee in the sink. He hadn’t remembered to drink it when it’d been hot since he’d been trying to untangle a few threads of emotions, and now he was tired, grumpy, and in need of caffeine. Cold caffeine would have to do. He pulled out an off-brand soda from the refrigerator and popped the top. The humans didn’t let them have brand name things since it was just one more way for them to flaunt their power, so off-brand had to do. Sometimes, they snuck in the good stuff, but he didn’t have any at the moment.

That morning, he was supposed to work on a thigh piece for a fellow wolf, but the other man had cancelled, telling Gibson in apologetic tones that as the new Omega, he probably needed rest.

It grated on him that the other man had been right, but he did his best to ignore it. He hadn’t done a tattoo since becoming the Omega, and he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to at all. It was bad enough he could feel tension, hurt, and anger from others when he walked past them. What would happen when he was the one inflicting pain from the needle of a tattoo machine? He wasn’t sure he would be able to handle it, and because of that, he knew he’d have to take a break from the one thing that had centered him within the Pack.

Of course, he now had this new connection, but he didn’t know what to do with it. Nor did he know if he’d be able to fully control it. For all he knew, he’d break along the way, or worse, break someone he cared about because he didn’t know how to handle this so-called gift.

If he’d been born with the power or had known about it growing up like other Omegas in the past had, it would be one thing. But this had been dropped in his lap at a point in his life when he hadn’t been ready for it.

He had barely been ready for Mandy and Oliver. Let alone the ability to handle the emotional and physical health of an entire Pack and two more that were slowly joining theirs.

“Knock knock,” Mandy said from behind him. He turned at the sound of her voice, his wolf pushing against him for even a glimpse of her.

He smiled despite the weight on his chest at the sight of her. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair in wild waves around her head, and he thought she’d never looked sexier. She smelled of that delectable sweetness that was hers, wrapped in the warmth and strength that was Oliver.

Gibson wanted his scent mixed with the two.

And he would make that happen.

Soon.

He prowled toward her like he was a damn cat instead of a wolf and cupped her face, lifting her chin so he could look down into those eyes of hers he loved.

“Good morning,” he rasped before taking her mouth with his. She leaned into him, her breasts pressing into his chest.

“Good morning,” she breathed before leaning back to fan her face. “I swear, between you and Oliver I’m going to need a nap at some point so I can catch up.”

Gibson grinned. “Yeah? We too much for you, are we?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not too much. Just enough. Though sometimes I guess it feels like too much. And then at those times, I guess it will be up to you and Oliver to…play.”

Gibson licked his lips at the thought. “It does help that there’s always someone waiting in the wings in case we need to tap out.”

She snorted and hugged him around his waist. “Yes, because it’s just like a cage match.” She sighed into him and inhaled. “You smell…happy.”

He laughed. “Oh, really? How can I smell happy?”