Knot Your Damn Omega: EPILOGUE

“Fuck you,” I snapped. “Fuck every single one of you.”

Ben pulled the tattoo machine away from my arm and leaned in for a kiss. “I’m almost done. I promise. And you know this is the last one. You don’t have any more.”

I grit my teeth. “It doesn’t make it any less painful, Ben.”

He looked down at Luke. “She needs more.”

“What if someone finds out about this?” The words were more a moan than anything else as Luke went back to consuming my pussy like it was his favorite meal. Which it was, according to him and the rest of my pack.

Kade chuckled from across the room. “Find out we fucked our Omega in our studio? What are they going to do about it?”

The sleeve on my arm was almost complete. We started right away, with them designing it. It began with tentacles like Kade’s octopus flowing over my shoulder, and one of Rylan’s calligraphy lines coming out of them and spinning around my arm down to my wrist. That one had hurt like a bitch, with the concentrated black.

But they’d come up with what they thought was an excellent plan—fuck me through the sessions, giving me pleasure to combat the pain. And it was as delicious as it was hot, but it didn’t make the agony of tiny needles being jabbed into my skin any better.

Avery’s watercolors covered the rest of my skin, with geographic shapes, leaves, and the traces of animals peeking out in his trademark style. Luke’s swallow flew away from Rylan’s line, chasing it across my wrist—right over his claiming bite.

He’d had a good time with that one.

Now Ben was finishing his cupcake on the side of my forearm. The piece was stunning, and I loved having their ink on my skin just as much as I loved their bites. But fuck, I was ready for it to be over.

Luke sealed his mouth over my clit, drawing deep and reaching out to stroke over his bite at the same time. I jerked in the chair, the combination of stroke and tongue setting me on fire. “What are you doing to me?”

Sitting back, Luke licked his lips. “I thought it was obvious, sweetheart. But If I’m not distracting you enough, clearly I need to try harder.”

He slid two fingers inside me and continued with his tongue, still stroking my wrist with one hand, forcing me up and over the edge far, far too easily.

The little private room echoed with my orgasm.

“Good girl.” He licked my clit slowly and lazily, like it was a lollipop. “Now stay still for Ben.”

Buzzing sounded next to me, and I closed my eyes. It was almost over. They were right. I could make it. And the orgasms did help, even if it felt weird to be entirely naked in their studio.

Being wholly naked wasn’t necessary, but they insisted.

But after tonight, we would have to be careful. The show started filming next week, starting with Eva’s first tattoo appointment. She’d wanted a full back piece, but her agent said no, so she talked him into a half-sleeve.

There wouldn’t be cameras in the studio all the time, but like hell was I getting naked in here, just in case.

Regardless, people were excited about the show, and it was going to be amazing both for Eva and my guys. A win for everyone. Eva got her edgier image, the studio got exposure, and I got to watch everyone I loved shine.

Eva and I had quietly swapped images, slowly switching, so by the time the show aired, she’d be in full bad bitch mode, and I got to wear the soft pretty things I’d always wanted. And no one was calling me a copycat now.

Biting my lip against the pain, I looked over at the wall at the pictures. I used them as a distraction every time I was in here, sinking into memories and trying to relive those instead.

There were pictures from our bonding session, which we ended up doing in Thompson Park, ironically. And they were stunning. The other photos were darker and hotter, cropped so you couldn’t totally see they were us, but we’d done the shoot they wanted with a photographer Eva knew who did sexy photos for the stars and had a reputation for zero press leaks.

So far, her reputation was intact.

The full photos were in the house in various places. I couldn’t convince them to take them down, but whenever my mother came over, I managed to hide them.

In one photo you could see a tattoo peaking out on Rylan’s shoulder. It was the matching bonding tattoo I’d designed for them—a nautilus shell, but in my classic, chunky style of painting. The shape and colors were a little different for each of them, but they had my art on their bodies just like I had theirs.

I hissed, and Ben held my arm still. “Almost there. It looks great.”

“Okay. I’m talking to distract myself. Avery, do we have what we need to cook for Mom?”

“Yes, we do,” he said, coming to stand beside me. “Is there something you’re worried about?”

“No, just… trying to make conversation.”

Mom had been trying, and it was getting better. We had dinner once a week at either our house or hers. And predictably, every one of my pack had won her over. I was pretty sure she liked them more than she liked me now.

Avery leaned down and kissed my forehead. “You’ve got this, baby girl.”

I did have it. A few minutes later, Ben shut off the machine. “Done.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He grabbed a mirror and held it up so I could see the final product, and a laugh burst out.

It was a cupcake. So real it looked like he’d stuck it beneath my skin. Yellow cake, vanilla frosting, just like I’d wanted the first time I met him. “It’s amazing.”

“I know.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my pants, putting them on. “Aww, why?” Rylan asked. “I was enjoying the view.”

“You can have more of the view at home,” I laughed. “I have a question, and I need to be dressed for it.”

All of them looked at me, and I felt the sudden anxiety. Not about the question, but about whether I was okay. “I’m fine,” I answered, still not fully used to living with other people’s emotions in my chest.

It was strange, but it made everything better. There were fewer fights because we already understood where everyone was coming from, and it made sex absolutely unbelievable. And it had been amazing before.

“I found this at the house.” When I said that I meant my house. As well as working on paintings, I’d slowly been going through my house and moving everything over to ours. I was getting rid of a lot of old stuff, but there was plenty I wanted. Like the little note I found. “It’s a note from my dad.”

Through our bond, their emotions turned sad and careful. “It doesn’t even matter what it said. It was a reminder not to be home too late because of some kind of dinner we were having. But he signed it ‘love you, dad.’”

Ben was the first one to understand. I felt it. “Esme.”

“I’m not sure which of you would be the best one.”

“The best what?” Rylan asked.

Kade scrubbed a hand over his face. “To tattoo it. Right, baby?”

I nodded. “Here.” The inside of my other wrist, where I could always see it. “It’s his handwriting. I just thought…”

Pushing off the wall, Kade came over. “I’ll do it. I’m probably the best at mimicking like this. Me or Ben.”

Ben put up his hands. “I’m better at the photographs. Handwriting is all you.”

“It won’t take long,” Kade said. “Promise.”

I took a breath. “For this, I can take the pain. And now you know why I couldn’t be naked,” I laughed to lighten the mood.

“Yeah,” Rylan chuckled. “Definitely.”

Kade took the note and scanned it and made a transfer before fitting it to my wrist. “Does that look good?”

“It’s perfect.”

“Good.” He turned my face toward him and kissed me briefly. “Thank you for letting me do it.”

I couldn’t speak now. It was already too much seeing his handwriting on my wrist. He positioned my arm, and the buzzing started, and the pain. But this was bearable.

He hadn’t lied, it only took a few minutes with the simple lines, and when I opened my eyes, it was there.

Love you, Dad

I blinked away the tears as Kade took me in his arms. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

All of them came to me, embracing me and burying me in comfort. “I love you.”

The responding purrs broke the somber mood and made us all laugh. The tattoo was perfect, and it felt like finally, I was dealing with it. He was always with me, even though he was gone, and I knew—I knew—he’d be proud of where I was.

“Okay.” I hopped off the table. “Home? I’m starving.”

“Same,” Avery called. “And I don’t want to cook. I’ll order ahead.”

“Chinese, please. And add some cupcakes?”

He nodded, pulling out his phone, and I stumbled on the way out of the private room, catching myself on the door frame. Luke was by my side instantly. “You okay?”

Pain pulsed low in my stomach. Sharp, accompanied with a burst of warmth.

Shit.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m fine. But my heat is coming.”

Luke’s concerned face turned into a smile. He was beaming. They were all fucking beaming.

“Why are you all so happy about this?” I asked.

“Because.” Rylan hugged me from behind. “It’s your first bonded heat. Just imagine how it’s going to feel.”

God, I wasn’t going to survive it.

Another pulse of pain had me bending over, which conveniently shoved my ass right into Rylan. “I mean, we can start early if you like.”

“Smart-ass,” I said through my teeth. “At least we won’t have to rush to get the nest ready this time.”

“Nope. Whenever you’re ready, we’re ready. Now let’s get you home and some pain meds.” Avery guided me out the door with a hand on my lower back. “I’ve got a whole heat stash of gifts waiting.”

I laughed. “You did that?”

“It was going to happen sooner or later. Best to be prepared.”

The burst of love from all of them through our bonds nearly put me on the ground. “Thank you.”

Ben picked me up and carried me to the car as another stab hit me. “You don’t ever have to thank us, Esme. You’re ours, and we’ve got you.”

I curled into his chest, letting his purrs soothe the rising pain, and hid my smile.

I was theirs, and they would always have me.