Page 57 of Freed

“Mmm,” she moans, her mouth pliant as I kiss her slowly, showing her how I feel. When I pull back and open my eyes, I see hers filled with tears.

As a few break free, I use my thumbs to wipe them away as I search inside her. It’s not sadness I feel there. No, it’s overwhelming joy and love.

“I love you too,” I whisper before kissing her again. Our arms find their way around each other as I roll us to our side, holding her tight as I bury my face in her hair, not wanting this moment between us to end.

After lying in silence for a while, she sighs.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask as I push a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“How good it feels, to finally be connected to you all.” My hand stalls on her cheek a moment before it starts to move again.

“I hadn’t even thought about the fact that you weren’t just reforming your bond with me, you were reforming it with your final mate.” I hook my finger under her chin and tilt her head up to mine as I search her eyes for any sign of pain or pressure. Then I remember I can literally feel her emotions.

She’s happy, happier than she ever felt when we were previously bonded, which is extremely gratifying to know. And I sense no power fluctuations. She seems… stable.

“I feel more grounded now,” she says, confirming what I feel. “Almost as if before, I was tense and full of worry. And now, it’s like I can finally take a full breath for the first time… ever.”

I feel my knot start to deflate and I slowly pull it from her. She lets out a small whine of displeasure, and I grin as I scoop her up into my arms and stand. “Don’t worry, little omega. I’m not done with you yet.”

I head into the bathroom with her and kick the door shut behind us. After that, I spend the next forty-five minutes making sure Cherry is very clean, that is, after dirtying her up a little more first.

“Finn brought that over for you,” Hunter tells Cherry, pointing to a book on the living room table. “He said it’s from Lexi.” Cherry gasps as my own curiosity piques.

“A book?” I ask, trying to play it cool. “What kind of book?”

Chase snorts, shaking his head as he tosses a bottle of water in my direction. I swipe it out of the air and step up to Cherry, holding it to her lips. She looks at me in surprise, but when I tell her to “Open up,” she does so without question, tilting her head and letting me pour some of the water into her mouth.

Pulling it away, her eyes boring into mine, I tell her, “Swallow,” and when she does so again, obeying me so easily, a barrage of ideas suddenly comes to mind on what else I could command her to do.

Suddenly, Bain snatches her up, dropping to the couch and pulling her sideways into his lap as he nuzzles into her neck, making her giggle. The sound and sight soften me as I smile at her.

“What’s the book about?” Bain asks, reminding me of the book she’s currently clutching to her chest.

“Oh.” She pulls it out and runs her hand gently down the cover. “When I met Lexi, she mentioned something about omegas and alphas that I didn’t know. When I asked her about it, she admitted there was one book that she had purposely kept from the library because she didn’t want anyone else to get their hands on it.”

I stare at the book, my curiosity on full alert now. Then she thrusts it out toward me. “Will you read it, Gage? And tell us what you learn?”

Unable to refuse such pages of knowledge, I gingerly reach out and take it from her, surprised that she doesn’t want to read it herself.

“Are you sure you don’t want to read it first?” I ask her, even as I flip open the cover and skip the first page.

“I’m sure. I’d just have to try and explain to you guys what I read anyway. This way, you can summarize the important parts for us.” I smile, leaning down to kiss her head before marching over to an empty armchair and dropping down as I start to read.

“You’re going to do it right now?” Hunter asks, sounding surprised.

I furrow my brows as I look up at him. “Why wouldn’t I do it now?”

He shrugs, his eyes glancing to Cherry before looking back at me as he says, a little less confidently now, “I just thought we might celebrate Cherry completing all her bonds.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling dumb. I glance at her and she looks as surprised as I feel.

“That’s okay, the book is important,” she says, giving me a smile that says she’s not upset.

“I’m up for some celebrating,” Chase says as he drops down beside her and Bain on the couch. “Especially if it’s anything like how we celebrated last night.” Cherry’s cheeks turn red and Chase squeezes her calf and smirks at her.

I drop my eyes to my book and start reading, letting the sound of the five of them bantering fade to background noise.

It only takes me about ten minutes of reading to know why Lexi and her mates were smart to hoard this book. I also have no intention of ever letting it find its way back to the library.