Page 184 of Beasts of Mine

“Do you want the knot?” Tavian asked, pressing his forehead against mine as he slowed, his voice strained with the effort of holding himself back while every line of his body stayed tense around me.

“Yes—don't stop—” I answered Tavian immediately, tightening my legs around his hips as another shiver worked through me and my fingers dug into his shoulders.

He didn't. The knot pushed against my entrance, thicker and heavier until one final deep thrust locked it inside me. The stretch was sudden and complete, and I cried out as my body shook with another wave of pleasure. Tavian's entire body shuddered above mine, and I felt him come in hot pulses, his knot throbbing in time with his heartbeat and sending aftershocks through both of us.

He collapsed carefully against me while still locked deep, purring hard enough that the vibration traveled through my chest. For a moment I simply held him, listening to his breathing gradually lose its ragged edge while Luca's hand stroked along my thigh and Malek stayed close enough that his cedar scent surrounded my other side.

I wasn't ready for the moment to end, and apparently neither were they. I reached for Luca first. He was already hard, the head of his cock flushed and slick with precum, and I wrapped my hand around him and stroked slowly while watching his green-gold eyes darken. Luca made a low sound and leaned in to kiss me as I pumped him in time with the residual pulses of Tavian's knot inside me.

Malek shifted closer on my other side, and I turned my head while keeping my hand wrapped around Luca. Cedar surrounded me as I took Malek into my mouth, the salt of his skin filling my tongue while his scent grew heavier around us. I hollowed my cheeks and took him deeper, humming around his cock. The vibration of my croon made his hips twitch, but the hand he settled in my hair stayed gentle, holding rather than pushing.

Tavian remained locked inside me, still purring and occasionally shifting just enough to send new sparks through the sensitive place where we were joined. Luca's cock throbbed in my hand as I stroked him, while Malek's low groan above me told me he was getting close. I worked them both—mouth on Malek, hand on Luca—while Tavian's knot kept me full and pulsing. The wet sounds of my mouth and hand mixed with the softer movement of Tavian's body against mine until I stopped trying to separate one sensation from another.

Malek came first with a deep, controlled groan, spilling across my tongue. I swallowed and kept him in my mouth until the last pulse faded before turning my attention fully toward Luca. I stroked him faster and tighter, my thumb sweeping over the head on every upward pass. Luca's breathing roughened before his hand covered mine and guided the pressure he wanted, and a moment later he came with a quiet, broken sound, hot streaks landing across my stomach and the sheets.

Only then did all four of us settle. Malek's hand returned to my hair, Luca kissed my cheek and then the corner of my mouth, and Tavian remained locked deep with his face buried against my neck, careful even now not to bite. Nobody seemed eager to get away from the mess, the heat, or the weight of everyone packed into the nest. Tavian's knot kept us joined while Luca lay along my side and Malek stroked my hair away from my face, their purrs overlapping until I couldn't separate one vibration from another.

Malek eventually brought water while Tavian was still tied to me, and Luca adjusted the blankets around my legs without moving anything I'd deliberately placed earlier. When the knot finally eased enough for Tavian to slip free, he immediately collapsed half across my thigh like he'd just completed an exhausting personal mission.

“You're heavy.” I told Tavian as I pushed weakly at his shoulder, managing to move him approximately half an inch before my arm gave up.

“You like me.” Tavian replied without opening his eyes, his voice muffled against the blanket as he made absolutely no effort to help and somehow managed to settle more weight onto me.

“That doesn't make you weigh less.” I told Tavian, giving his shoulder another useless push before surrendering.

“It should.” Tavian muttered, shifting until he was apparently comfortable and leaving me to deal with the consequences. Luca returned with water and held the cup until I had a secure grip.

“Drink.” Luca instructed me as he settled beside my hip, keeping one hand beneath the cup until he saw me lift it and watching with the quiet determination of someone who would sit there until I complied.

“Yes, Mom.” I told Luca before taking several long swallows, watching one of his eyebrows rise over the rim while cool water eased the dryness in my throat.

“I'll accept that if it gets you to drink.” Luca replied, completely unbothered by the accusation as he waited for me to finish before taking the cup.

“Terrifying.” I told Luca as I handed it back, wiping a drop of water from my lower lip.

“Hydrated.” Luca corrected me with quiet satisfaction as he placed the cup somewhere I could reach it again without leaving the nest. Malek returned with fruit and something salty enough that my body immediately reminded me how much energy I'd just used. He settled behind me again after I ate, one hand returning to my hair while Luca cleaned the worst of the mess from my skin and adjusted the blanket across my legs.

Tavian somehow ended up partly on Malek and partly on me, one leg stretched across Malek's thigh while his shoulder remained wedged against mine. Malek tolerated the arrangement for almost a full minute before his gaze dropped to the offending limb.

“Move your leg.” Malek told Tavian eventually, looking down at it while Tavian continued lying there with his eyes shut.

“No.” Tavian answered Malek without opening his eyes, making absolutely no effort to obey as the faintest hint of amusement appeared at the corner of his mouth. Malek stared at him for several seconds, then picked up Tavian's leg and moved it himself. Tavian waited approximately two seconds before putting it back in almost exactly the same place.

I started laughing, and Luca joined me immediately. Malek looked at Tavian again before apparently deciding he wasn't worth the effort and left the leg where it was.

“You love me.” Tavian mumbled to Malek, still without opening his eyes as satisfaction crept into his voice and his purr rumbled faintly against my thigh.

“I tolerate you.” Malek corrected Tavian, although the deep purr vibrating through his own chest weakened the claim considerably.

“That is basically the same thing.” Tavian replied, sounding completely satisfied as he settled farther into both of us and finally stopped moving.

Their purrs eventually softened as the room darkened around us. I lay in the middle and looked at what I'd made, taking in the blanket I'd moved repeatedly before finally deciding where it belonged, now twisted around all four of us. Malek's shirt remained near the pillows, carrying enough cedar that I could smell it beneath the stronger scent of the man himself. Tavian's seed and shell sat on the low shelf exactly where I'd placed them, Luca's blanket was tucked beneath one of my legs, and my own shirt had become part of the soft mess surrounding us.

Across the room, my camera equipment sat safely at the worktable. The cases were closed, the cards protected, and one battery glowed quietly in the charger within easy reach. My work was still there, along with tomorrow morning's shoot, Mara's expected check-in, the assignment I would eventually finish, and everything that came after it.

None of it had to disappear for this to fit.

The word slipped into my thoughts before I could stop it.