“You’re lucky you’re so good-looking,” I murmured against his skin.
“Don’t I know it.” He turned and gently cupped my face, pulling me into a kiss. It was heated, his tongue already pressing into my mouth.
“Kenai, you need rest,” I managed to say against his lips as his fingers tightened around me. The scent of fresh snow and cardamom became overwhelming as he pushed me back against the counter.
“Rest?” Kenai’s laugh was low and breathless as he pulled back just enough to look at me, pupils blown wide. “No, that’s not what I need.”
He pressed his forehead to mine, his breathing ragged. His scent had changed too, I realized suddenly—deeper, muskier, almost overwhelming in its intensity. His hands trembled slightly where they gripped my waist, and I could feel the heat radiating off his skin even through my bathrobe.
Understanding crashed over me like a wave. “Oh,” I breathed, cheeks flushing. “You’re in rut.”
It made sense now—the post-Christmas letdown, all that adrenaline and overtime finally catching up to him now that the pressure was off. His body was demanding what it had been denied during the busy season. I ran my fingers through his hair soothingly, even as my pulse quickened.
“The spare bedroom. Now. Before you wake the others.”
Though knowing Taimyr and Aleksi, they’d probably sense it soon enough anyway.
His mouth moved to my neck, sucking at that sensitive spot over my scent glands until my legs were shaking.
“Nah, right here is fine.” He slid his hands down over my ass, gripping the backs of my thighs and lifting me onto the counter. “I’m going to put a baby in you, omega.”
Oh yeah, he was definitely in rut—and once again, I was grateful for my IUD. They all got like this during rut, and…I didn’t hate it. It reminded me how much he’d held himselfback when we first met, how hard he’d worked to keep me comfortable.
Luckily, we’d learned a lot about each other—and our preferences—over the past year.
I held onto his antlers, pulling him closer, my tongue meeting his. I bit gently at his lower lip, and his hips jerked forward, those cute pink pajama pants hiding nothing.
“The little one’s all riled up,” Aleksi mused, a low chuckle from the entrance to the kitchen. His voice was thick with amusement but rough. I could smell the musk rolling off him too.
Kenai spun away from me immediately, charging the other alpha. “Don’t start with me, alpha.” He tried to lock antlers with Aleksi, but the larger man caught him by the shoulders, spun him, and pinned him against his chest with one broad forearm.
“Kisu…” He called to me in that deep voice as Kenai struggled against him, all writhing muscle and frustrated growls. “I think our mate needs some help.”
Kenai huffed, but it broke into a desperate sound when Aleksi’s other hand fisted in his white hair, holding him firmly.
“Now stop trying to fight me,” Aleksi said, his mouth against Kenai’s ear. “You’re herd. You’re ours. And we take care of our own.”
The fight went out of Kenai all at once, replaced by trembling need. I crossed to them, running my hands up Kenai’s heaving chest. “Bedroom,” I murmured. “Let us take care of you properly.”
Aleksi’s eyes met mine over Kenai’s shoulder, dark with promise. “Merry Christmas, indeed.”
Between the two of us, we guided our overwhelmed alpha down the hall, Kenai’s protests dissolving into needy sounds with every step.
Aleksi tossed him onto the bed, and I caught the legs of his pants, yanking them until his leaking cock sprang free. Aleksi slipped off my robe as I moved to straddle Kenai, stroking him until he was writhing.
“Sylvie, please…” His knot was already pulsing, swelling as I ran my tongue around the head of his cock, poking under the skin until another bead of precum appeared for me to lick away.
Behind me, Aleksi wasted no time in getting undressed, grinding against me, his length dragging through my slick. “Want me to prep her, Kenai?” he asked as his fingers teased my clit.
Kenai shook his head. “Can’t wait. Need to knot her…now.”
He was hot under my palms, flushed and sweating. This rut had hit him hard, and he needed relief. Understanding passed through the bond between Aleksi and me—one of his hands guiding me over Kenai, the other spreading my cunt open as he pressed me down over the desperate alpha.
Kenai groaned as I took him in, stretching around him. Aleksi pulled my hair to the side and kissed my neck as I swirled my hips, trying to work Kenai’s knot into me.
Then Kenai gripped my hips and rolled me underneath him, thrusting aggressively. Aleksi’s jaw tightened, and I felt his protective instincts surge at Kenai’s rough treatment, but I soothed him through the bond, gesturing for him to come closer. He relaxed a little, and a smirk broke over his face as he climbed onto the bed beside my head.
Now it was his turn. He brushed strands of hair back from my face as I swallowed him, letting Kenai’s thrusts push me deeper onto him. His fingers tightened in my hair as he grew harder in my mouth, my tongue tracing the vein that ran up the side of his shaft.
