by Jayce Carter
Truth be told, Kieran had already broached that topic with the other alphas. He had no intention to sell his home, but they’d discussed moving into Marshall’s house as it was the largest and had more than enough rooms for each to have their own space. He would rent out his house during the year, and Kane could sublet his apartment.
Marshall also was a good choice because he was less territorial than the other two. His house felt more like neutral ground than either of the other.
The idea of moving into Marshall’s felt strange, but not as negative as he’d have assumed. Moving never was a comfortable idea, and while it was only for a year, he had enjoyed the company. He enjoyed when he was up late and found Kane in the kitchen, searching for food. He liked that if he rose early, Marshall would be poring over some book. Yes, he liked the relationship with Tiffany, the sexual tension and passion, but the stranger comfort was that of the household unit.
However, with the way Tiffany bit softly at her nails, he had no doubt she planned to say something none would be happy about.
Kane, as usual, had sat himself on the kitchen table. He never did seem to know how to operate furniture properly. Marshall was seated in a chair he’d pulled out from the table, one ankle crossed over the other knee, the vision of calm. On the other side of that was Kieran, who leaned against the wall to hide the tension inside him.
“Out with it, doll.” Kane swung his long legs.
Tiffany took a deep breath, her small hands drawing into fists. “I talked to the FBI. They’re sending over an agent to get the drive tomorrow morning.”
Kieran had figured they’d come soon. The information on that drive, once they decoded it, would be invaluable to the task force that handled omega crimes at that level. Of course, that couldn’t have been all there was to the little talk.
He waited for the other shoe to drop.
“And I’m going with them, too.”
Like hell. The thought came so fast, Kieran couldn’t hide the growl that passed his lips at the thought of her going anywhere.
Kane was faster, though. “The fuck you are. You giving a statement? They can do that here. They need you at their office? We’ll drive you there, make sure you’re safe. You’re still in danger until those fucks are caught.”
Tiffany didn’t wilt beneath the rough words or harsh looks. “They’re taking me into witness protection. There isn’t anywhere safer I could be than that. They’ll get the information off the drive, do whatever they can with it, but I’ll be somewhere safe.”
“The contract—”
“—is transferable. The agent already assured me they have alphas in place in their witness protection network who are qualified to take over the contract.”
Kieran didn’t trust his temper, so he remained silent.
Marshall, always the even-tempered one, didn’t even shift in his seat as he answered. “Why would you want that? I can’t imagine a stranger would be a better choice than the three of us, who you already know.”
She met Marshall’s gaze, and wasn’t it obvious she avoided Kieran’s? “Because I need to move on. I can start over after this, and I won’t be putting anyone in danger.”
“Fuck danger. If it’s dangerous, that’s the exact reason we ain’t going anywhere.”
“I can’t risk you guys. None of you asked for this, none of you wanted me to walk in and screw up your lives, and if I stay, that’s all I’ll do.”
“You aren’t screwing up our lives, Tiffany.” Marshall finally leaned forward. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m not feeling particularly put out by having you in my life. Don’t make a rash decision because you are hurt or angry or afraid.”
Rash. That’s exactly what she was. Despite him not being willing to promise any sort of future, did that mean she should rush off like this?
“I…” She sighed, her shoulders slumping, and that hurt him worse than anything else. “I can’t stay. Please, stop asking me to. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” With that, she pulled in a trembling breath and turned glassy eyes toward the ceiling as if to stop tears from falling. Her soft steps followed her, then the click of her door as she shut it.
Kane turned the sort of glare on Kieran that would have normally worried him. “The fuck did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“I saw the way she looked at you—or rather didn’t look at you. Clearly you two had some disagreement, and enough for her to go into hiding over it. Make no mistake, she isn’t choosing that because she is afraid of whoever is after her. She’s doing it to get away from you,” Marshall said.
Kieran didn’t respond. What was he to say? They were right.
Kane jammed a finger toward Tiffany’s bedroom. “Get in there and make it right! I ain’t losing her because you’re an idiot.”
“I can’t. What she wants isn’t possible. It’s better she realizes it now instead of later.”
Kane’s lips pressed together until the seam turned white, then he released a vicious growl and stormed off toward Tiffany’s room.
Marshall rose, more controlled, as always.
“What, nothing to say?”
The other man shook his head. “What would be the point? You’ve made up your mind, and if you are determined to allow fear to control you, there isn’t much anyone can do.”
“I’m not afraid,” Kieran argued, voice hard.
A sad chuckle left Marshall as he went to follow Kane toward Tiffany’s room. “Of course you are. No one gives up what they want most except for fear.”
The door opening didn’t surprise Tiffany, and neither did the scents of the two men. Of course, Kane and Marshall would come to find her, to check on her.
Not Kieran. No, he’d be sat out there, stoic as ever, as if the entire thing didn’t matter to him.
Maybe it didn’t.
I am not going to cry. I’m not some damsel, damn it.
She dropped the clothing she’d taken from the drawer into the bag she had open on the floor, hoping the simple chore would distract her.
The thought of leaving broke her heart. Could she turn away? Could she walk out and never see the three of them again?
Maybe, in a year, when she was free…
Maybe what? Maybe Kieran will have changed? I doubt it. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks and I doubt he listens well enough anyway.
Her eyes stung.
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, twisting her to and pulling her closer to a wide, warm chest. Kane. She breathed him in, his hands grasped her close, and when another hand stroked through her hair, she knew it was Marshall.
Even still, she refused to cry. What would tears change?
“Shh, doll,” Kane cooed to her, voice surprisingly soft. “Whatever’s going on, we’re here for you.”
Tiffany pushed back enough to look up and into his familiar face. “I’m leaving in the morning. Nothing is going to stop it, but morning is still a lot of hours away.” She slipped her fingers into the waist of his pants, a question on her face.
Kane answered the question with a deep groan and a kiss that made her breathless and wanting. Marshall ran his hands up her sides, slipping his fingers beneath the fabric of her top to stroke her skin directly.
They both gave so quickly, and Tiffany allowed herself to be swept up by the moment.
She tugged at Kane’s pants until the button came loose, then pushed at the waist. Her lips never left his as they stumbled backward and he collapsed onto the bed, her over him.
Marshall pulled her up then stripped her of her shirt. He made short work of her bra, his agile fingers undoing the hook.
Kane’s palms enveloped her freed breasts, and he sat, so he could bring his hungry lips to them. He snaked his tongue out to flick at the nipple, then raked his teeth over the nub.
Meanwhile, Marshall had moved to her pants. He didn’t bother to take them off, not at first. Instead, he dipped his hand into the front of the loose sweatpants and against he
r pussy. Her body wasn’t drenched, not yet, but at the first brush of his seeking fingers she knew it wouldn’t take long.
She couldn’t wait long. Morning was coming and she was leaving. It sat in the back of her mind like a clock that wouldn’t stop ticking. No matter how much she struggled to ignore it, it kept going, kept taunting her.
She didn’t want to take it slow, didn’t want to waste a single second. It made her desperate, so she pulled at the men, at their clothing. When one slowed, she urged them on. When one hesitated, she begged.
Pride didn’t matter, not when faced with the reality that it was their last night. They each knotted her, their kisses and sweet words and rough touches seeing her through it all.
At the end, once they’d come, once she’d come time and time again, she curled into a ball on the bed.
Kane’s heavy hand rested on her hip as he sat at the edge of the bed, a helpless look on his face. “Stay, doll. You ain’t gotta go anywhere. You got a place with us, always.”
She shook her head and shut her eyes. “I can’t.”
Marshall pressed a kiss to her temple, his lips pressing against her skin for longer than needed, as if he didn’t want to break the connection. “Do you want us to sleep in here?”
“No. I think some time alone would be good for me.”
It wasn’t the truth, but it wasn’t a lie, either. Getting used to being on my own is probably good. The depressing thought made her want to take back what she’d said, but she let it stand.
Every second would only make the next day harder on them all.
Kane squeezed her hip but said nothing else as the men left, her body chilled and her mind in chaos. The warm cum they’d left inside her had leaked onto her thigh, and she couldn’t find the energy to wipe it clean.
Instead, she tried to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The dark shape of someone in her room woke Tiffany. She bolted upright, a scream already in her throat, before the scent hit her.
She swallowed down the scream. “What do you want, Kieran?”
His body language gave nothing away, especially with the darkness. Neither did his voice when he answered. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”
She shook her head and brushed her hair from her face. “You didn’t come into my room in the middle of the night to watch me sleep.”
“Are you sure? Because if you are so determined to leave, that may be all I get to see of you.”
“If you’re trying to make me feel bad, don’t bother.” Even as she said it, the guilt clawed at her. And why was that? Why should I feel guilty when he is the one who doesn’t want me? Just because I walk out, that doesn’t change that he’s holding the door open.
Still, facts didn’t matter against her wounded feelings and his still-distant voice.
A sigh left him, deep and unhappy, before he sat on the side of the bed. “I don’t want you to feel bad. Whether you believe it or not, I’ve always wanted what is best for you.”
“If you try to tell me that’s why you won’t even try us, that it’s for my own good, I swear I’ll scream.”
“I suppose it doesn’t matter now, does it?”
“I guess not.” Tiffany inhaled and grew wet at the scent of his arousal. Then again, that didn’t surprise her. Kieran might try to hide how he felt, he might not want her for anything serious, but he’d proven again and again that he wanted her body. “Strip,” she ordered.
Even in the darkness, even without being able to see his features, she could swear she felt his eyebrow lift. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not here for conversation. You didn’t come in here to talk me out of leaving because you know you won’t give me the only thing that would make me stay. You’re here because you want me one last time.”
“Won’t this make it harder to leave tomorrow?”
“Probably, but what does it matter? I’m not leaving because it’s easy, after all.”
“I don’t want to make it more difficult, though.”
Tiffany couldn’t help the dark and humorless laugh that left her at that, as if Kieran had nothing to do with her leaving, nothing to do with why she had to in the first place. She wished she could see him. She wanted to stare into his eyes, to see his strong jaw, his dark hair and solid frame. How pathetic was that?
Instead of arguing it—What’s the point?—she ignored it. “You’re in my room to fuck me, Kieran. Let’s not pretend it’s anything different than it is. It’s what it’s always been.”
The silence between them was full of anger, of lust, of all the things they wanted but couldn’t have. She dared him to deny it, but no matter how much of a bastard Kieran could be, he wasn’t a liar.
Sure enough, he stood to remove his shirt, then shucked his pants and underwear in a quick motion. Even in the darkness, the width of his chest, the outline of his body sped Tiffany’s heart. How he could make her want him, she didn’t know.
She was worn out from Kane and Marshall, sore from taking each of their knots, their scent still clinging to her, yet all she wanted was to pull Kieran against her and have him, too.
Kieran’s body covered hers as he pinned her with his bulk, his warm skin against her still nude form. His cock, hard and leaking pre-cum, pressed against her stomach like a tease. “This isn’t just about fucking you.”
Tiffany reached down, her hands curling around his hips, her nails digging into him as if she could punish him with them. “Don’t talk. Don’t explain.”
“You seem to think you’re in charge, but as I recall that isn’t how this has ever gone.”
She wrapped a leg up and around his thigh. “And you’ll risk this for some proof that you’re in charge? I doubt it.”
He lifted his body enough that he could stare down into her eyes. It looked as if he’d say something, but Tiffany didn’t want to hear it. She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled. When he wouldn’t budge, she rose to take a kiss, to silence him with it.
She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to hear his excuses or his reasoning or anything else.
Those things weren’t going to change his choice or hers. He wouldn’t even try to promise her a thing, and she couldn’t stay.
So, she turned the kiss aggressive to distract him. Let him have the rough sex he craved, and he’d stop trying to talk, stop trying to fix things, stop leaving her with words that would only repeat in her head for years. She pressed her demanding tongue to where his lips were together, and, on a groan, he opened for her. Traces of beer lingered on his tongue, and she stole them.
His cock slid along her stomach as he rocked his hips forward, rutting against her without finesse or though. Instead, he did it like he couldn’t not do it, as if the need to have her ran so deep he couldn’t stop the motion. Wetness was left on her skin from his cock, and she moaned at the waste. She wanted to taste it, didn’t want to lose a drop.
Kieran broke the kiss, breathless and panting. His silhouette above her, chest heaving and lights catching the reflection of light from the window, made him look like a monster.
That was fine by her. She’d let him consume her. The less of her left, the less there was to hurt.
Her thighs spread for him as if she had no part in it, as if she didn’t need to even consider it. He ran a thick finger roughly up her slit, then pressed it into her. She moaned and arched her back, sore after Kane and Marshall but unwilling to ask him to stop.
She wanted him with a strength that made discomfort a trivial concern she wouldn’t listen to.
He hooked his finger up then withdrew it, stroking against the front of her pussy as he pulled free. “Marshall and Kane both knotted you.” When he stroked again against her folds, she knew his fingers held not only her own wetness but also the cum from the other alphas
Tiffany nodded, despite it not being a question, and gasped when his slick fingers found her hardened clit.
“You’re too sore.” Even as he spoke, he trac
ed her labia, sliding against her and teasing each part of her entrance without pressing inside her. “Taking three knots in a single night when you’re not in heat would be too much for you. No matter what you think of me, I don’t want to hurt you.”
His words didn’t register at first, not with how warm he was, with how deftly his fingers stirred that need inside her. Wait? He’s turning me down?
She forced her sluggish brain to work, then took her lip between her teeth as an idea came to her. A shove to his chest had him pulling back enough for Tiffany to twist, rolling onto her stomach beneath him.
His growl from behind her made her cunt tighten down, a whine from the deep ache inside her.
His hands cupped her ass, large and impossibly strong. “You said no last time. I don’t want you doing something you don’t want to.” Even as he spoke, he kneaded her ass, spreading her like he had when she’d been over his lap.
“If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have suggested it.” Venom dripped from her words, laced with hurt.
His hands slowed, as though he heard it and didn’t care for it. Still, he didn’t mention the tone before pulling back.
Her breath stilled at his retreat. Would he leave, now? Would he walk out on the last chance they had? How could he steal away this last night?
He delivered a swift swat to her ass, the sting pulling a strangled yelp from her. “Stop overthinking, girl. If I’m going to fuck your ass, I can’t do it dry, now, can I? I’ll be right back, and I expect you to be in this same position when I return.”
His fingers, sure and confident, ran up her cunt in a slow and possessive stroke before sliding across her ass like a threat.
She shuddered at his dark chuckle before he rose from the bed.
What did I get myself into?
Kieran held the lube when he re-entered Tiffany’s room to find her where he’d left her. Her legs were spread slightly, her feet hanging off the end of the bed, her cunt visible in the light from the bathroom across the hall.
Damn, she was beautiful. The thought of her walking out, of him never seeing her again, dug deep. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to watch her drive away with an FBI agent, to sign the paperwork to relinquish any claim to her. It made him consider how it would feel for her to have a new alpha.