Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(52)

I hummed in thought. "How old were you?"

"Twenty-two. Way too young to want a pack, way too horny to fuck up and lose a job that good."

I tiptoed my fingers across his broad chest. "Did you have regulars?"

"A few, towards the end."

"Was there ever an omega you…wanted to bond?"

Bear purred, started to roll and push me to my back. "No," he said, voice low and heavy. "We always wore the muzzle, it was mandatory. But even without it, there wasn't anyone I would've bitten."

My breath was frozen in my chest as Bear shifted us, not bothering to guard me from his weight, from the dark pressure of his gaze on mine.

"Why did you leave?" I asked.

"I stopped feeling…human, I think. I felt like a tool. It's not about the alpha during an omega's heat, at least not in the agency. Sometimes, even just at home alone, I forgot how to be myself, serve myself."

My brow furrowed and I reached up, cupping Bear's face above mine. He was a little hazy, but something had been happening during the heat. I wasn't sure if it was just Molly's guess being correct—that I would heal with the right medications and time—or that this good alpha above me and all his purring was doing the trick. Either way, I was grateful to be able to study him now in all his richness and strength.

"I quit and left town, searched for a way to be selfish again," Bear said.

"And ended up tripping over an omega who can barely function, who doesn't know how to manage her first heat," I said, a little bitter worry slipping out in the words. Would Bear resent how much I needed him?

If he did, it didn't show in his broad smile, in the glitter of his gaze as he settled his hips into mine and ducked his head to whisper in my ear.

"Butterfly, if you think I'm not being selfish by stealing this time with you, you haven't been paying attention."

I gasped as the head of Bear's cock dipped inside of me. His hands stroked down my sides softly before taking a sudden bruising grip of my ass, pulling me onto his length.

"If you think I'm not taking very personal enjoyment from fucking you…" He paused, groaning and thrusting into me a few times, my whines immediate and embarrassing. "That I'm not kissing you ‘cause I love the taste of you," he added, mouth claiming mine as we moaned and moved together.

My legs wrapped around his hips, the space he filled so familiar to my muscles now that my inner thighs understood the ache of his hips as a fact. His hand slid back up to my back, arms circling and tightening around me.

"Even holding you is selfish for me, Butterfly. I wanna be good to you, I do. Wanna do right by you. But there's nothing about the way you feel right now, the way that you're looking at me, that I'm not enjoying selfishly."

"Bear," I gasped, riding him as he gazed down at me. "Bear, I want you. I want you to be—"

His head dove down, lips colliding and caressing mine in a hushing, possessive kiss.

"I know, Butterfly. I know. Just a few more pieces to put together first," he whispered against me. "And this," he said, stroking in and out of me. "This first."

I caught his face in my hands, pulled him back down for another, bit and sucked at his lips as he fucked me gently, thoroughly, until neither of us could stand it and our bodies grew urgent and demanding again.





I woke to the sound of growling, stiffening between the broad male frames that surrounded me. But then the hollow gnawing of my stomach clawed through me and another growl echoed.

Oof. I was starving.

The frenzy of the heat had renewed after a few quiet hours and my conversation with Bear, and I couldn't remember now the last time I'd eaten.

Bear and Chance were collapsed on either side of me. Chance had dark stubble coating his cheeks, soft red scratches on his chest and sides, and chapped lips. Bear's dark circles under his eyes had grown, and his lips were bruised too, his normally tidy beard a little unruly around the edges.

I'd worn them out. And with a quick glance at myself—beard burn over my chest, my inner thighs red and abraded, my sex still swollen—I realized I'd worn myself out too.

Which would be fine, except that…

My cunt clenched as my stomach growled, twin cravings pounding through me, and I swallowed my whimper.

The heat wasn't over.

I crawled to the foot of the nest, searching for the snacks Chance had stashed, but all I found were empty bags and wrappers and bowls. Behind me, my men continued to sleep soundly, bodies weary. I knew if I woke either of them, they'd press me down into the bed again, feed at least one of my needs for the moment. But they looked so exhausted.

Bear's words from hours or days ago echoed through my head.

Just a few more pieces to put together.

I wasn't sure what all of them might be, but I was confident about at least one.

Tentatively, I parted the curtain in front of me, wincing at the bright sun streaming through the window. The air outside of the nest was a little fresher, but still comfortingly familiar, and my eyes widened at the sight of a cooler sitting in the corner.

Reinforcements!

I grabbed Bear's shirt up off the floor and slid it over my head, crawling over to the cooler. Inside were apples and a jar of peanut butter. Crackers and cheese slices. A can of the sparkling water Bear knew I loved too. I helped myself to a small feast, feeling a little like a scavenger, sitting alone on the floor, stretched and sore and starving.