Page 170 of Beautifully Scarred Omega

She tucks her face into my neck. I kiss her hair, her forehead, her cheek. My hand traces the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist, comes up to cup her breast, then settles flat over her heart.

I listen to her breathe. I feel my knot pulse inside her, tying us together, and I think about the night we met and how I spent weeks looking for her and how it was through the smallest sliver of luck that we ever found each other again.

“Sweetheart?”

“Mm?”

“I’m really glad it was you.”

She smiles against my neck. “Me too, Finn. Me too.”

CHAPTER 43

Ethan

Watching Sophie take Max’s knot was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever witnessed.

Not the act itself—though that was enough to make my cock so hard I thought I might pass out. It was her face. The moment the knot locked inside her and she let herself feel it completely, the expression that moved across her features was trust. Pure, unguarded, absolute trust. Something I thought I’d never see on her face.

She trusts us now. And I know she isn’t here because she’s in heat. I would know. I’ve spent over a decade studying the biochemistry of it, the hormonal cascade, the pheromone markers, the elevated body temperature that signals a true heat cycle. Sophie has none of it.

Her suppressants are failing because she’s surrounded by us, and this—the way her body responds to us so perfectly and so easily—this is desire, not biology.

This is choice.

She’s choosing us.

I have to take my glasses off and press my fingers against my eyes. She survived things no one should have to survive, had every reason to never trust an alpha again, and she’s choosing us because she wants to.

I look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My hair is wrecked, my eyes bright, my cock straining against my boxers so hard it borders on painful.

Patience. She needs care right now, not another knot.

When we built this part of the house, Finn had insisted on a separate kitchen, bathroom, everything—and that it all be big enough for four. At the time, I didn’t think it made sense. Now, I am more than grateful.

The bathroom alone is enormous. A walk-in shower that can fit all of us. A deep, freestanding bathtub set against a wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors that reflect the soft lighting. I dim the lights until the room glows amber, turn on the taps, and add soap, watching the water rise and steam curl off the surface.

I hear footsteps in the hallway, and then Finn appears in the doorway with Sophie in his arms.

She’s cradled against his bare chest, her head tucked under his chin, her body loose and completely relaxed. Her eyes are half-closed, a small smile on her lips, and she looks like someone who has been thoroughly loved.

Finn steps to the edge of the tub and lowers her into the water carefully, his arms submerged to the elbows, holding her until she’s settled.

“That feels so good,” she breathes, her whole body going slack as the warm water envelops her. A small moan escapes her lips and my cock twitches behind the sink where I’m gripping the porcelain hard enough to hurt.

Finn leans down and kisses her forehead. “Ethan’s going to take care of you, sweetheart.”

“Go get some rest,” I say. “I’ll take care of her.”

Finn looks at me on his way out, and I feel it—the steady pulse of trust that has connected the three of us for as long as I can remember. He pulls the door closed behind him.

The room is quiet. Just the soft lap of water and the drift of steam, the mirrors fogged at the edges. Sophie is in the water with her dark hair twisted into a messy bun on top of her head, loose strands curling against her damp neck.

She opens her eyes and finds me standing by the sink.

“Eth,” she whispers, smiling. “Come here.”

I cross the room and kneel beside the tub. She looks so beautiful like this—the warm water lapping against her skin, the soft light catching the swell of her breasts just below the surface, soap clinging to the curves of her collarbone. Her cheeks are flushed from the heat, her eyes soft, her lips swollen from hours of kissing.