I manage to get Jo to eat some of the plate I made before she falls back asleep, and I can’t help but chuckle.
Cute but dangerous, indeed.
twenty-two
Jo
My body is sore, but in thebestway.
WhyI had ever been so afraid to go into heat is beyond me.
Stretching my arms over my head, a small little groan leaves me, and there’s instant movement in the bed.
“Are you okay?”
“Do you need another knot?”
West holds the back of his hand to my forehead. “Your…your fever’s broken.”
A big grin lights up my face. “Yep! I feel good as new. How ‘bout you guys?”
Everyone besides West lets out a guttural groan, falling back into the mattress. My brows furrow as I look around, and that’s when I see it. Red marks litter each man's chest, back, and arms. They have bags under their eyes. They look like they haven’t slept in weeks.
My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp. “What…what happened to y’all?” My good mood quickly evaporates as tears sting my eyes and realization sets in. “Did…did I hurt you?” I only have brief flashes of what’s happened the last… “How long was I in heat for?”
“Five days,” Hayden sighs dreamily. “Don’t get me wrong, Fireball, they were some of the best five days of my life, but now I feel like I could sleep for about a week.”
I crawl over to him, wincing slightly at the sticky mess of my body. My hands gently run down the scratch marks that I made. “I amsosorry, Darlin’. I had no idea—”
“Nope.” He pops the p, turning onto his side to look at me. “You don’t get to apologize. Not for this, and not for anything else. These are markings I will wear with damn pride. I might even ask Kole to tattoo them on me before they fade.”
“Your omega…” West huffs a breath. “It’s only natural that she would be extra…demanding during her first heat when it had been put off for so long. It’s nothing you could have helped, Siren.”
Still, I frown as I look at Kole and Sam, who are sporting the same marks as Hayden and West. “I want a doctor to look at those.”
Both men scoff. “Please. I have had worse injuries during my training with Alexei.” Kole shakes his head. “No doctor is required.”
“It’s gonna take more than that to wipe me out, Trouble.” Sam gives a tired smile. “Even if I am an old man.”
I frown again. “We’ve been over this. You’renotan old man.”
“Yea, Daddy-O,” Hayden grins, stretching. “Totally not old.”
“But you feel okay?” West asks. “Does it feel like…like you’re done?”
Taking stock of my body, I close my eyes, tilting my head. My body is sore, yes, but like how it gets after a good workout. My omega is a sated little bundle of happiness in the corner of my mind, and even though I smell of sweat and sex… “I think so.” I open my eyes, nodding. “Though, I really need a shower.”
Hayden snorts.
“What?” I ask defensively.
“The last time we tried to get you to shower—two days ago—you ended up fucking Hayden on the bathroom floor,” Sam offers. “And then nearly bit my head off when I tried to get you in the water. So, this will be the first shower you’ve taken since your heat started.”
My nose wrinkles. “Ew. Sorry.”
Sam raises his hands. “No need to be sorry, Trouble. Like West said, your omega’s been waiting five years for this. Of course she’s going to be a voracious little thing.”
“I can see it now,” Hayden puts his hands in front of him like he’s reading a headline. “Dangerous. Voracious. Cover Omega.”
