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Kill me.
A surprised chuckle rumbles beneath my ear, but otherwise Archer doesn’t seem scandalized. His scent deepens as he hugs me closer. “Hmm. I guess that would make sense, with all of us slobbering all over you constantly.”
I appreciate the self-deprecating joke. He slips a hand over my side while he goes on. “If you ever wanted to try that—which is not a requirement, or even an expectation—we would thoroughly prep you for it. Although, during heat, your body will be prepared for us with very little effort. You’ll produce enough slick to make the whole thing fairly easy. If that’s something you want to explore.”
The stern tone of his voice is both comforting and confusing. “Is that… not something you guys would like? Sharing me?”
Archer strokes his fingertips under my chin, tilting my head back. His eyes are warm and electric. “I can guarantee, any of us would give anything just to witness that. You’ll probably have to referee a fight over who gets to go first.”
A shaky giggle quivers out of me. “H-how does that work with?—”
“Knots?” He raises a brow, gracing me with a flirty grin. “During heat, our knots will release much faster than they normally do. It’s our bodies reacting to your needs—you’ll need more knots, so we’ll adjust to give them to you.”
My throat feels thick. The idea of all of them servicing me, their knots and cocks at my disposal…
I cringe at the burst of perfume rising off me. Archer grunts quietly, shifting under me. He grips the long bulge along his thigh and holds his breath.
After a long exhale, he goes back to stroking my spine. “Have you ever taken a knot before, sweetheart?”
I try to burrow my way into his body as I shake my head, hiding my face and the shame splashed over my cheeks. “No.”
His whole body goes taut again. I feel him forcing himself to relax. “That’s okay. We can work up to that before your heat. There are ways to practice.”
“Like what?” I ask, sounding small.
The strength of Archer’s spice is making me woozy. I hear him bite back an instinctive growl before he speaks.
“I’ll show you, if you’d like. But ask me your other questions first. I’m not sure how focused either of us will be after the knotting lesson.”
A giddy flutter flips my belly. Pure excitement provokes my next question. “Is there any other prep I should be doing for the heat? Like, physically?”
He nods. “There are workouts to help get your endurance up. Of course, we’ll always be there to make sure you’re not over-taxing your body. I’ll monitor your vitals and hydration the entire time. But some stretches and a light cardio regimen leading up to the nesting phase may be a good idea.”
After showing me a few stretches on his phone, I ask him about what happened with Theo the night he snapped into a rut and why it hasn’t happened since. Archer explains that my heat perfume increases the likelihood of ruts for them but assures me that prolonged access to me will help them avoid losing control.
It’s like immersion therapy essentially, which makes sense—ever since Theo and I started being physical with each other, he hasn’t edged close to another rut. And I know Ronan likes his time with me in the mornings for many reasons, one of them being that it helps him satisfy his Alpha so he can stay in control of his impulses.
According to Archer, bonding helps, too. Apparently, bonded alphas and omegas get on similar cycles—when an omega spikes, her alpha’s chances of hitting a rut spike as well.
Of course, he notices the way I shrink down when he brings up bonding. A somber frown pulls at his mouth. “Not that I ever want you to feel pressured about bonding,” he adds. “I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it. I just want you to have all the facts.”
I nod, swallowing around another new lump in my throat. “It’s okay. I—I do have questions. About bonding. About how it works for omegas.”
The look he gives me is complicated. There’s a surface-layer of surprise—because, let’s face it, I should really know this stuff—and a bit of horror? Like he can’t believe whoever raised me was so negligent.
Little does he know that person was me.
Below all of his dismay, I see concern. And steady resolve. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, sweetheart.”
For a long moment, I struggle, not knowing how to ask him to explain literally everything to me. Luckily, his emotional intelligence is unmatched. It only takes a beat for him to recognize my overwhelm and take over for me.
“Bonding would make you the center of our pack,” he murmurs, voice soft. “You and Ronan would bond first since he’s the pack alpha. Then the rest of us would follow. It can be done one-by-one or all together. But basically, once we bond, we’ll all be tied to you. In you. Through you. You’ll be able to feel what we feel. We’ll be able to feel you, and each other, to a lesser extent.”
He sees the flicker of fear on my face and hums. “It sounds like a lot, I know. But, from what I understand, the bonds aren’t intrusive.
“It’s more like… You’ll have access to a chamber—a round room with four doorways. Only, instead of doors, the passages are covered by curtains. We can leave our curtains open and let whatever goes on inside each of us flow freely between our chamber and yours. Or we can close that curtain, mute everything down to a hum until someone waves their hand through and asks permission to come inside.”
I find it’s easy to imagine. When he sees I understand, he goes on. “There are also mental techniques for temporarily sealing the doorways. That’s helpful for people like Theo or Declan, who need absolute focus during games and such.”
