He kisses me, his lips lingering against mine while his thumb traces my jaw, and the tenderness of it makes my chest ache. The part of me that spent her entire life convincing herself she didn’t need this—that she was better off alone—goes quiet.
Behind me, Ethan shifts onto the bed. His chest settles against my back and I press into him too, wanting the contact, until I’m enveloped by them. Finn’s cock is pressed to my belly and Ethan’s thick and rigid against the cleft of my ass, and the sensation of being held between two bodies makes me dizzy. Ethan’s mouth finds the curve of my neck, kissing me there slowly, like he’s savoring my taste, and his hand moves over my hip to my ass, stroking, over and over, a rhythm that makes my breath catch.
I turn in their arms until I’m facing Ethan. His hand comes up to stroke my face, and the look on his face, stripped of all his usual control, undoes me. Finn shifts behind me, his lips on the back of my neck, his arm draped over my waist.
“You know what amazes me?” I whisper. “I had accepted that I was going to be alone, always. That that’s just how it was going to be. It was just my life. And it’s exactly what I wanted.” I swallow, closing my eyes. “And I thought I was happy. I really did. Never in a million years did I think I would find a pack. That I would have this. That I would love someone so much.” My voice breaks on the last words. “I didn’t even think I was capable of loving someone. And somehow I found you three.”
“Sophie,” he whispers against my lips, and his gray eyes are shining. “I love you. You have no idea how much I love you.”
I kiss him. His mouth tastes like cedar, and Finn’s lips are on my shoulder, and their scents surround me, and just like that—the heat starts to climb again.
It builds fast this time. The warmth blooms low in my belly and spreads outward, and within seconds it’s not warmth anymore—it’s fire. My skin flushes, my pulse hammers, and a sharp ache blooms between my legs so suddenly that I gasp and curl forward.
“Ethan, Finn—please—” My voice comes out ragged. “It’s coming back. It’s—”
The cramp hits me so hard I cry out, my hands gripping the sheets, my whole body clenching. Sweat breaks across my chest and the ache deepens, so intense I can barely think.
“We’re right here, sweetheart,” Finn says behind me, his hand on my hip.
“I need—” I’m sitting up now, panting, my skin on fire. “I need—I can’t—”
They’re both around me instantly. Finn’s hands steady on my shoulders, Ethan in front of me, his palm on my cheek. I look at them through the haze—their cocks thick and rigid, the rut written across every line of their bodies—and my pussy clenches so hard it hurts.
“I think I need both of you,” I say, the words coming out hoarse. “At the same time.”
Finn is already grasping my hips, pulling me toward him, helping me straddle him. His blue eyes lock onto mine, fierce and tender and barely holding.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he says, his voice rough. “Sit on my cock.”
In one swift movement, he pulls me down onto him, and the relief is so intense I sob. The stretch and the fullness—my body takes him like it was starving for exactly this. I’m shaking before he’s even fully inside me.
“Finn,” I whisper, gripping his shoulders.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” he says, and he cups my face and kisses me—slow and achingly tender, even as his hips roll up into me. His scent deepens around us, sunlight and honey thickening in the air, and somewhere beneath the heat I feel it—the second tether, Finn’s bond, reaching for me, pulling taut.
Then the rut takes him. His hands grip my hips and he’s thrusting up into me, his eyes wild. I brace my hands on his chest and ride the force of him, crying out with every stroke, and he is beautiful and savage and completely gone.
I lean forward, pressing my chest to his, and expose my ass to Ethan. I look back over my shoulder at him.
“Eth,” I breathe. “Please. I need you too.”
“Sophie.” Ethan’s voice is wrecked. His fingers find me, slick and circling, and his hands are trembling.
“Please,” I say again.
Ethan moves closer, working one finger inside me, then two. I turn my head and he catches my mouth in a kiss that is desperate and shaking, and I melt into it.
“You’re ours, Sophie,” he says against my lips. “And we’re not going to stop until you feel it everywhere.”
“God, yes,” I moan, leaning down onto Finn’s chest, giving Ethan better access, and when he slides a third finger inside me the stretch is easy and perfect and I moan so loudly that Finn groans beneath me.
“She’s ready,” Max says. His hand moves to my face, stroking my cheek, his green eyes on mine. “Your alphas will take care of you now, little one.”
Ethan withdraws his fingers and the blunt head of his cock presses at my entrance. He enters slowly, and the stretch of being filled so completely, from both sides, is almost more than my body can hold.
“That’s it, sweet girl,” Ethan murmurs, his hands on my hips, his voice shaking. “Breathe through it. God, you feel so tight.”
I take a breath and I feel the moment my body decides to open. Everything releases at once, and Ethan slides deeper, and the fullness floods me with something that isn’t just physical—it’s love, pouring in through both places where the bonds are forming. Finn’s, bright and fierce beneath me. Ethan’s, patient and enormous behind me, the love of a man who has been waiting for me since before I knew I was lost.