No Reservations—Part One Read online

  Ambrose grinned. “I can totally put on an addition. I have one drawn up already and have tentative planning permission.”

  Argus murmured, “We could buy Ford’s place. It is really huge and adjoins the rescue.”

  Olivia sighed. “Can’t we just call the Omega Centre and see if there is a doc around that can implant a new one? They aren’t exactly uncommon.”

  Dexter sat up. “They can do that?”

  She leaned back against Argus. “Yeah. The one that came out should have made me inhospitable for a while yet. Sorry for the initial panic, but I have myself under control now.”

  Ambrose frowned. “I’ll make the call. I’ll be right back.” Naked and unconcerned, he left her nest.

  Argus stroked her belly. “Did it hurt?”

  “No more than normal heat cramps and far less than what I used to go through, so... yes?”

  Dexter scowled. “It hurts when you go into heat?”

  Olivia took his hand and wove her fingers with his. “Everything stretches, fills with slick, prepares for a marathon. It is a deep ache, but my body starts it suddenly. It is like two hundred sit-ups in under a minute on a full stomach.”

  Dexter winced. “I am sorry.”

  “Don’t be. With all of that going on, the ovaries launch and the uterus preps for visitors.”

  Argus chuckled. “You would have been fun to share a desk with in health class.”

  Dexter leaned down and licked at her mark. She twisted, and her breath shuddered out of her in a rush.

  She squirmed against him, and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her thighs around him and ride him until he roared.

  Olivia looked at him and Argus and blinked. “Uh-oh.”

  She fed them some of her heat, and they both stared at her. She passed it along to Ambrose, and she heard a thud and then, “Damnit!”

  She chuckled. “So, that works.”

  Argus murmured, “Are you playing with us?”

  “No, just trying to find the remote control to the bonds before things get weird. Hot. But weird.”

  Dexter opened and closed his mouth. “What... what was that?”

  Olivia smiled. “That was a teeny, tiny portion of what you are going to be feeling in the next six to twelve hours, and you will be feeling it for three to six days. Your nerves will be on fire, your skin will take every touch as pleasure, and if you rub up against one of the other guys, it is going to be nearly as hot as touching me. You are going to want to get inside me every moment that my body is calling yours, and it is going to call constantly.”

  She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “You guys are going to fuck me until I pass out, and as soon as I wake up, you are going to start again. I won’t eat, I will barely drink, and when it’s over, I am going to need some alone time, or I might want to just crawl into a pile of my mates and sleep there. I have no idea. I just have gone over forty-three recorded descriptions of heats by different omegas, and this is the average I have figured out.”

  Dexter grinned. “I know; I just like hearing you say it. Best. Weekend. Ever.”

  Argus murmured, “And part of the week. You might want to warn your parents. They tend to fuss.”

  Dexter groaned. “This is not a call I thought I would have to make. Hey, Mom and Dad, you know that nice lady you just met? I have to fuck her until her heat’s over. Don’t worry, I will be screwing around with our other bond mates at the same time. What? Oh yeah, I will see if they can all make a family dinner next week.”

  Argus leaned in as Dexter got to his feet. “He likes to rehearse.”

  Dexter flipped him off and left the room.

  Olivia sighed. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. They warned us two days ago that it was imminent. The only unexpected part was the birth control failure, and considering the circumstances under which it was inserted, I am not surprised it crawled loose.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Neither am I. I hope Ambrose has some luck.”

  Ambrose walked in and headed to her closet. He walked out with some fabric over one arm. He was wearing a long, heavy silk robe.

  “You know, for an omega in heat, they have someone who makes house calls. She’s on her way.” Ambrose smiled. “Get up, precious. We have twenty minutes, and we may want to take care of that other matter since it is going to be a long weekend. Dexter is ordering groceries. Argus has to let his family know as well, though their pack will be highly amused that he ended up with an omega, a bond, and a heat in the same twenty-four hours.”

  She extended her hand to Ambrose, and he took her wrist. She collapsed as her body reacted to the grip on her mark. Argus hissed. “Easy, Ambrose.”

  “Oh, sorry, man.” He picked Olivia up and set her on her feet. He tucked her into her robe and escorted her dazed self to the restroom. “Come on, Olivia, before you want to slap the hell out of me.”

  * * * *

  Argus was still laughing twenty-five minutes later when Ambrose’s cheek was still glowing slightly. It seemed that the lust-haze had worn off mid-prep, and Ambrose had said the wrong thing.

  Olivia was sitting on the edge of the kitchen island—grumpy—and the doctor was going through all of the pros and cons of the IUD placement.

  “Given the failure, I would recommend a pregnancy test in a few weeks, just to be sure. Are you sure that you want to use this? Your mates could use condoms.”

  Argus nodded. “We will, but we would like a backup.”

  Dr. Ursel smiled. “Good. Sensible. I wish more alphas would think like that. Most are in a breeding frenzy. How long have you been together?”

  Argus smiled. “Less than a day, but we have been pledged for five weeks. She also had medical complications during her last heat, so they asked us to make sure that she could have an uncomplicated one.”

  Dr. Ursel frowned. “Let me make a call.”

  The doctor left for a moment, and Olivia made a face, glaring at Ambrose. “The kitchen island?”

  He grinned. “If you want me to set up an exam table with stirrups, I can have one here in an hour.”

  She paled. “No, that’s fine.”

  He leaned in. “That’s fine...”

  She glared at him. “That’s fine, sir.”

  He chuckled and kissed her slowly, she caressed his jaw, and when he leaned back, she tapped his cheek. His grin was unrepentant.

  Argus asked, “So, what do you think Dr. Ursel is doing?”

  Olivia sighed. “Getting my medical history or the salient points.” She looked at him. “If the doc comes back grey, she got the details.”

  They were all in their robes, and Olivia was wearing light silk that Ambrose had picked out for her. Argus had thought that having pride robes with their favourite beasts painted on them was ridiculous, but he was happy for the option to get down to skin the moment the doctor was gone. He looked at the robe Olivia was wearing, the fabric outlining her tight nipples. She needed a matching robe, but he couldn’t figure out what her cat would be if she even had one.

  Dexter returned with the groceries, and he put them away, keeping a stack of sports drinks aside. Argus asked, “Dexter, if you looked at Olivia and had to figure out her big cat, what would it be?”

  Dexter grinned. “Easy.”

  He walked over and whispered it in Argus’s ear, and he shouted with laughter. It was pretty dead on. Argus said softly, “Let Ambrose know.”

  Dexter walked over to Ambrose, and after a short glance at Olivia, he went and grabbed his phone. The artist was about to get an email.

  Olivia took the opportunity to ease to the edge of the counter in preparation to jump down, but Argus stopped her and said, “Just a few more minutes, kitten.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I want you inside me now.” She stroked his chest in the vee of his robe and pulled at the fabric, yanking him to her.

  Argus was surprised by the aggression, but his omega had a need, and he was duty-bound
to fulfill it. He tried to soften her heat with gentle kisses, but if he didn’t mistake himself, she was spelling his name against his lips with her tongue. “Oh, fuck, kitten.”

  A feminine throat cleared. “Olivia, I understand the need for this device, even as a temporary measure. Argus, was it? Please stand aside. Oh, you might want to hold her hand. This is not comfortable.”

  Olivia sighed and lay on her back, pulling her feet up and tucking her heels next to her hips. He had never seen her from that particular angle, and it was perilously close to presenting to her alphas. The doctor took a look and sighed in relief. “Well, at least you haven’t been at her yet.”

  Argus and the others looked at each other, “Uh, doctor, we have been at her for the last twenty hours. What are you seeing that we aren’t?”

  The doctor set to work, and Dexter went to hold her hand. The doctor spoke conversationally. “You are feline alphas, and your knot has a ridge of small abrasive spurs, right?”

  They all agreed.

  “Well, Olivia hasn’t any of the signs of abrasion or inflammation that I normally see after a woman has entertained one of your sub-designation. Felines don’t easily breed for that reason. It is hard to get repeat matings.” She finished what she was doing and withdrew her tools, putting them in a bag.

  Olivia was breathing heavily, and Dexter was stroking her forehead.

  “The pain and cramping will subside in a few minutes, possibly an hour. If there is excessive bleeding, call me. If you dislodge it again, call me, but you might want to consider just taking your chances if chemical contraception won’t hold, risking the ten percent chance of conception during your heat might be a suitable alternative.”

  Argus was shocked. “You are telling her to just roll the dice?”

  “More or less. She’s an omega; they were born to breed with alphas. You are alphas, and you have found an omega who can tolerate your particular mutation. Enjoy it. My granddaughter has been fighting her designation and has found nothing but misery. Olivia has a terrifying back story, but she has the men she wants.”

  Argus grunted. “Are you sure about that?”

  Dr. Ursel took out a set of scissors, and she was about to cut the strings when Olivia muttered, “Cut them as short as possible and roll them up, Doc. I am pretty sure that the last one got... uh... snagged on someone.”

  The doctor paused. “Right. The barbs. Excellent logic, Olivia.” The strings were clipped and rolled up before she tucked them inside.

  Dexter helped their mate sit up, and she winced and got her robe back into concealing lines.

  She gave Argus a smile. “Well, that dumped some ice water on my hormones.”

  He rubbed his cheek against hers and purred. He looked to Dexter and Ambrose. “Group hug.”

  Argus held Olivia in his arms, and Dexter and Ambrose came in. They started to purr, and Olivia looked up at him. “Oh. You bastards.”

  He grinned, and their purrs got deeper and rougher. Dexter slid a hand to cup her groin, and she shrieked, and her knees gave way.

  The doctor was looking at them as they chuckled and parted, leaving Argus holding their throbbing mate.

  Dr. Ursel looked at them and nodded. “Wow. That is the first time I have seen that move. I can feel your purr at the back of my throat from several feet away.”

  Olivia mumbled, “My throat is not where I am feeling it.”

  Argus chuckled. “Give us time, kitten.”

  She bit his chest lightly and looked at him, a slight grey ring around wide, dilated pupils. “Time is something that just ran out.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The standard ibuprofen was taken, and she had a snack while the guys looked at the instructions on the pamphlet from the IUD.

  “You guys are sure hooked on pamphlets.” She finished her veggies and dip after they had expressed their dismay at how things had been done in the wrong order.

  Argus smiled. Ambrose answered. “Most men say that women don’t come with instructions, and if they did, they wouldn’t read them. We are determined to gain any insight into you, and if it only comes in pamphlet form, we will read it.”

  There was something that had happened during the doctor’s visit that was sending little curls of pleased lust through the links, and she could feel it in all three. “You guys are happy about something. What?”

  Ambrose grinned. “We didn’t hurt you.”

  She snorted. “With the amount of slick you have been inspiring, I would doubt that you could.”

  Argus chuckled. “She couldn’t tell that we had been frolicking for nearly a day.”

  “There were intervals.”

  Dexter rumbled, “But you weren’t stretched out or swollen or anything.”

  Olivia covered her face with her hands. “Right. Got the idea. Thank you. Armour-plated, latex vag. Got it.”

  Dexter snorted. “Not hardly. You are all slick, soft satin, and tight, eager muscle.”

  She thudded her forehead against the table.

  Dexter murmured, “Shouldn’t I have been honest?”

  Ambrose chuckled. “You described her very well. I would have gone with oiled velvet, but yeah, she clenches hard enough to grip a single finger, so no wonder she can milk a knot. The miracle is that she has space for a knot at all.”

  Olivia got up abruptly and said, “Uh, I don’t need to be here for this discussion, do I?”

  She headed out back to the brick patio, and the boys ran up to her. They had an enclosure at the house, but they knew how to open it.

  She went to a lounge chair and had a seat, the boys on either side, their heads on her lap. She must have fallen asleep because a voice she didn’t know called her out of her nap.

  “Well, well, where did they find you?”

  She jolted awake and saw the man standing six feet away. He was living midnight, and his expression was admiring. He had a nice scent. Baked apples wafted toward her.

  She looked at his black hair, blue-black skin, and dark amber eyes. “Hello.”

  He smiled and walked toward her. “Ford Rathsmussen at your service, dear creature. Did I catch you before or after one of the cats mauled you?”

  She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  He crouched next to her, and he chuckled. “Which of the pride do I have to negotiate with for your body. I will only deter you for a few hours, days, weeks. Probably weeks. I am very generous with my lovers. You will be compensated for your time.”

  She pulled on her links and swallowed. “Um, I am not interested.”

  He leaned forward and was speaking when he realized, “Your scent tells... wait. Where is your scent?”

  She sighed in relief when she heard the rustle of her guys behind her.

  She got up and walked around the chair, straight to Argus’s arms.

  Ford came toward Argus. “If she’s frigid, I can thaw her out for you.”

  Ambrose snorted. “Not necessary. Our omega can withhold her scent.”

  “If that is an omega, I am going to hang up my dancing shoes.”

  Argus chuckled, and Olivia saw the question in his eyes. He kissed her and purred. She was ready in less than a minute, panting and rubbing against him.

  Ford spoke while she was making out with her favourite mate. “Peaches? You find an omega, and she smells like peaches?”

  She said, “When Dexter, Ambrose, and I get together, it is like a fucking bake sale.”

  Ford paused. “Is she making a joke? She has a sense of humour? I had pinned her more for an inflatable doll.”

  Olivia growled and started to turn to smack Ford when Argus pulled her back.

  Argus held her with an arm under her breasts, and he licked at Ambrose’s mark before he tended his own.

  “Bonded? I just meet the love of my life, and she is already bonded?” Ford chuckled. “How are you two dealing with that?”

  Dexter joined them and kissed her softly, sliding a
hand inside her robe to caress her hip, which nearly exposed her to the other omega. Ambrose wrapped himself around the other side. “She’s our bonded mate, and she is in heat, so do excuse us, neighbour.”

  His eyes gleamed with excitement. “Wait. So, she’s a pride mate? Are you accepting pride applications? I have been looking for some boring men with a fun female to attach to. I come with four alphas of my own, none bonded.”

  She frowned and didn’t know what kind of a joke he was making.

  Ambrose had frozen in place. Dexter’s hand squeezed, and her body throbbed, and she whined, slowly moving her hips against Argus.

  “We are heading inside. We’ll be in the nest.” He lifted her carefully and nuzzled her neck before nodding to Ford and carrying her inside.

  Olivia held tight to him as he carried her up the steps and down to her nest at the end of the hall.

  “Why was Ford here?”

  “He was probably here to borrow some lube or liquor or both.”

  She laughed. “Was that flirting? I am not really good at spotting it.”

  “Yes, kitten. That was flirting; I thought there were elements of seriousness in it. He’s been looking for a female omega to partner up with, and I am delighted that you were bonded to us first. He has a powerful draw.”

  She smiled as he set her down in her nest. “Does he? I didn’t notice, and what? Two omegas together? That would be non-stop screwing.”

  He grunted as he untied her robe. “Yes, please.”

  She chuckled. “You wouldn’t get anything done.”

  He groaned. “But... it would be so nice to have you two to watch.”

  She pinched him; it took a bit to find a piece of skin that wasn’t taut over muscle. “You haven’t even seen me through a heat yet.”

  Argus leaned in and nuzzled her cheek. “How hard could it be?”

  She sighed and let the rising heat bleed into their bond. “Let’s find out.”

  His eyes went wide as she shared the full force of the burning in her blood, and he slipped her robe from her shoulders and pressed her back into the softness of her nest. When he slid into her, she started the countdown. She normally burned for three days, so she was curious to see what an actual free heat was like.