Page 85 of Knot Your Pawn

“I guess you’re lucky I’ve got a thick carpet in my room.” Now I’m sure he’s telling the truth that he’s not hurt, I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close, putting my nose against his neck to get even a sliver of his wisteria pheromones.

Vera sits between his legs, looking at him with worry in her eyes. “Why did you want to check on us? Is something going on?”

He nods, looking down, his body tense. “People have been trying to hack our security feeds. They shouldn’t have gotten through, but I’m not taking any risks. I wanted to quickly check on you, make sure you were okay, without waking you up.”

Hacking the security feeds?

“Anything we can do?” I have no idea how long we’ve slept, but I’m too wound up now to go back to sleep.

“Not really. Timothy and the others are working on it. Derrick has doubled the security around the house, just to be safe. But there’s not much the rest of us can do but wait.” He leans back against me, relaxing, his breathing slow.

“Maybe we should move to the bedroom and sleep?” Vera stands up, holding out her hand to Mathew.

He laughs, but accepts her hand and stands up too. Then they both look at me, holding out their hands.

I shake my head as I wave them off. “You two go to sleep. I’m going to clean up here and then get some more work done.”

The two Omegas look at me for a few moments, then lean in and hug me between them.

“Don’t stay up too late.” Vera’s voice is soft. Then her lips are on my cheek, Mathew’s on my other cheek.

“You too.” I grin at them, knowing that there’s about a fifty-fifty chance they’ll have sex for the rest of the night instead of them going to sleep. “Sweet dreams.”

I watch the two Omegas leave my bedroom, hand in hand, looking so cute.

While I’d love to join them, I’ve got way too much adrenaline rushing through my body right now.

Going back to sleep is not an option.

Time to get some more work done.

6

Luca

I slowly blink against the pale light of a screen. Warmth and low rumbling are trying to pull me back under, but something niggling at the back of my mind is trying to get me to wake up.

I have to wake up now.

My body jerks into action, but an arm over my shoulder makes it hard to move, keeping me in place.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep.” Caleb’s deep voice has a soothing tone, the same he uses with Vera and Mathew, and it almost works on me too.

Until my brain starts to become louder and louder. Anxiety setting in.

Caleb’s soft grey eyes fully focus on me and he immediately lets me go, reaching for the drawer next to the couch, taking a clean mask from the box. “Fuck. Didn’t realise how long it had been.”

I now sit up straight. My brain’s screams become louder. My body tight, frozen in fear.

“Hold your breath.” He reaches out slowly, carefully, but I flinch all the same.

A different fear shoots through me, irrational, but there all the same.

What if he gets angry?

“Luca.” Riley slowly gets up from her place in front of the couch, right in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed her there. “Let me help.”

This time, I make sure not to flinch, and she carefully takes the old mask from my face. I notice her dark red rose pheromones pooling around me, and take shuddering breaths, trying to fill my lungs with it.