Jace

“Maybe I was,” I rasped out. “And…?”

“And then I touched you, and I didn’t fucking care about anything that came before.” As if to reinforce his point, he placed a careful hand on my arm, his grip tightening when I didn’t pull away. “I’ve touched omegas before, picked them up when they were hurting, grabbed their hands to pull them out of the way of dickheads who’d hurt them, but none of them felt like you.”

The other hand, the back of his knuckles grazed down the side of my arm, just barely.

“All the usual alpha shit happened—my cock nearly punching through my zipper to get to you, my fangs aching to sink deep into your skin. But, Sloane…”

He tipped my chin upwards so I was forced to meet his eyes, and I was surprised to feel that didn’t make my eyes ache now. I could stare at Jace all day without a problem, and wasn’t that scary?

“That’s enough to send an alpha into rut, not enough to make him mate you.” His finger traced the line of my jaw. “It was you, beautiful girl, with that big fucking heart that was looking out for your sister, no matter what was happening to you, those sad eyes that seemed to hold a world of pain I couldn’t help but want to wipe away, and that steel spine” —his hand slid down my back— “that had you kicking that prick Snake in the side. This should’ve been simple. I knew you were mine from that first moment, but I fought it.” His brows creased at that. “I fought it for you. Everything I knew about the mating process was brutal, harsh, and painful for the omega in question. I couldn’t feel what I feel for you and want that for you, but at the same time, everything I did to hold that back fell to shit. An alpha protects, that’s what we do, and I thought I had to protect you from me.”

I shook my head, feeling his words washing over me, just focussing on my breathing for a second, before facing him again.

“I don’t deserve that.”

“No, love, I know that now.”

“I deserve a mate that’s all in.”

“You’ll have it. I’ve got no fucking boundaries left. I’m done with that shit.”

I stared at him now, hoping to use every ounce of my will to push my message home.

“I won’t accept anyone, any mating mark, any bond…” I hadn’t realised that was a possibility until the words spilled out, but as I saw his eyes widen along with mine, somehow, I knew that to be true. What we had was…fragile, could break if not tended. “With anyone who’s not one hundred percent in with me. You feel the need to mark, claim, breed me, because that’s what alphas do. They don’t only protect, they provide us with exactly what we need, what I need, Jace. Can you do that for me?”

“Fuck, baby, I feel like every fibre of my bloody being is geared up to do just that. To give in.” Pain scored his voice. “To surrender.”

“To surrender,” I agreed, and at that, I was swept up into his arms and marched through his sister’s living space, over to the elevator, Dane standing by it with a smirk on his face.

“Good choice, brother.” He nodded to Jace, then jerked himself away at my mate’s territorial growl. “I think I’ll catch the next one down,” he said as the elevator arrived, which was just fine because when it did, when we stepped inside, there was an enclosed space and him and me.

“Baby…”

That was all the warning I got before I was pressed against the smooth walls, the number of our floor punched in, his lips trailing down my neck as we went down.

“You’re go

15

Jace

I had some making up to do, I got that. I’d fucked up. I should’ve stayed with Sloane, should’ve been there when she woke up, but instead, I’d run off to fight the demons that didn’t really exist, upon reflection. And now? Now I felt strangely free, like a weight had been lifted that I’d never even realized had been holding me down.

There was a sweet omega in my arms, clinging and kissing me, showing me with her body and telling me with her words that she wanted to be mine, and I was so all in. Distantly, I heard the elevator ding as we arrived at my floor, then we somehow got out the door with her still in my arms, straight through to the bedroom, where I dropped her with a little whoosh on the bed. Her hair flew, and she huffed a little breath as she brushed it out the way

It was then that I noticed somebody had been in and cleaned the place. Doubtless, Ma had been involved in this. The bed was devoid of all bedding, but beside it was a great big pile of blankets, pillows, soft cushions, and throws—nesting materials. I wasn’t the only one staring at it. Sloane’s eyes slanted to the side and then popped open a little bit.

“Jesus!” she said.

“Do you want to…?” I swallowed, weirdly nervous about her potentially making a nest. “Do you want to use them?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never made a real nest before.”

“It’s okay, baby. You don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to.” I came down beside her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The rushing emotions that had been gripping me changed in that instant. Was this what being an alpha was about? Wanting to comfort your omega above anything else?

My dick throbbed. There was no doubt about that. The thought of her making a nest, of fucking her in it? Yeah, that interested me a lot, but only if that was what she wanted to do.

“Do you want to try?” I prodded. “See how it feels?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I think that I do.”

She wriggled away from me, getting to her feet and kicking off her shoes.

“Fuck,” I muttered roughly as her top came up and off, over her head. No bra, just creamy skin littered with the marks I’d put there.

She sent me a haughty look, one that dared me to try and touch. I swiped a hand over my face. “You’re go

She gri

I groaned as she turned her back to me and shimmied out, giving me a perfect view of her little heart-shaped arse, throwing a look over her shoulder that was pure temptation. I took in all of her beauty, the marks upon her skin, the flush to her cheeks. She was ready for this, and I was ready for this too.

“No,” she said. “I’m going to do it like this.”

She made a little shooing motion to me. “Get naked,” she said. “I want to try this on for size.”

I nearly fell out of the bed, I moved so fast, fingers flying to my waist and shucking my pants off, cock already leaking. I was damn near embarrassing myself by how much I was into her making her first real nest.

She was tentative at first. I watched her out of the corner of my eyes, yanking my shirt over my head before tossing it to the floor, captivated by my omega. It was like she’d forgotten I was there, her focus was so absolute. The pillows went in first, making an edge of sorts, followed by the softest throws, and yet more pillows, layering, making it deeper.

There I stood, mesmerised, thinking about how I was going to fist her hair as I rutted her…about how I was going to ruin the nest, ruin her in it.

Jesus! How much stuff was she going to put in? The nest seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as she worked. “Baby?” I said cautiously, almost terrified of rousing her from her task, but I was fucking impatient. She was kneeling in the centre of it, palms brushing over the softness with a cute, little smile on her face. “Baby?” She threw a look over her shoulder, eyes glazed. “Can I come in?”

She smiled, and there she was, with me again, my Sloane. “Only if you promise to be very gentle with it,” she said.

“You won’t believe how gentle I’m going to be with it.”