Page 70 of Knotting Autumn

Sawyer lay on the bed, Cole kneeling over him with one hand bracing beside his head as he stared down at him. Both were shirtless. I swallowed, taking in the spidery neotribal tattoos over Cole’s pale chest melting into the black outline of a ribcage over his anatomy. Twin silver barbells glinted at his nipples.

“Oh, shit,” I murmured, twisting Thorne’s shirt in my hand.

Neither of them looked up at us, and I couldn’t help but stand there and stare. Sawyer was gorgeous with his flushed, gleaming skin, dark eyes, and parted lips. Cole looked down at him like he was deciding how he wanted to devour him.

“I know you don’t want me,” Cole growled. “And I’m not trying to take advantage of whatever the fuck is going on with you.”

“Please,” Sawyer whined. “I need you.”

Teeth bared, Cole shoved off of him, rising to stand at the foot of the bed. “Fuck your other mate, then. And if you can think clearly for five damn minutes and still want me, I’ll reconsider.”

Sawyer glanced my way, and my lungs constricted. I couldn’t get a deep breath as he stared with his glassy eyes, pupils blown.

“Please, Autumn,” he said softly.

My pulse pounded in my ears, the desperation pounding through our bond making it impossible to think. Thorne’s hands tightened on my hips, cautioning me. He dipped his head, pressing his lips to my shoulder before biting down lightly.

“I’m here,” I said. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

Slowly advancing toward the bed, I reached for Sawyer, and he pulled me down, rolling us so he was on top of me. His weight pressed me into the mattress, the scents of all three of them overwhelming me.

Thorne let out a warning growl, but I raised a hand to signal I was fine.

Hooking a leg over his hip, I clung to Sawyer. My head fell back as he licked over my throat, fixating on the still-healing marks from his claim bite. My body tensed, anticipation growing as that intense, all-consuming need blotted out everything else.

Sawyer thrust into me roughly, fully seating himself in one movement. I gasped, my back arching and breasts pressing into his chest. He nipped at my neck, pulling back and slamming back in.

It was all I could do to hold on, my nails scratching at his back and my legs falling open. He shoved us up the bed until I reached one hand above my head and braced us.

He was relentless, and I lost all sense of time and space. Sawyer groaned into my neck, his teeth biting into my skin every so often.

Tension built, the heat in my core unbearable, until finally, I shattered, pulsing around him. Moaning, I clawed at the blankets, fighting the orgasm rolling through me.

Blearily, I looked to Thorne who sat on the futon, his chest heaving as he watched. Cole stood beside the bed, his mouth twisted into a scowl. His gaze connected with mine, and even without a direct bond between us, I could feel the turmoil—gratefulness for my help, jealousy, and rage at being rejected.

Sawyer growled into my neck. “I can’t. Fuck! Something’s wrong with me. I can’t finish.”

Frustrated, he sped his pace, sending aftershocks through me. Eyes squeezed shut, I submitted, going limp as he made me come a second time. Sawyer slowed and stopped, rising up to his knees and panting.

“Fuck!” he snarled. He pulled out of me and pivoted, glaring at Cole. “What’s wrong with me?”

Despite getting my brains fucked out, I was thinking clearer. Maybe it was the double orgasms easing that inferno inside of me.

Sitting up, I reached for Sawyer’s arm. “It’s not his fault. Neither of you planned this. But it’s going to be okay.”

Thorne cleared his throat. “Cole, just fuck him.”

Cole jerked back like Thorne had suggested murder. “I’m not going to be with a mate who doesn’t actually want me. He just wants sex because he’s in heat.”

Sawyer snapped. “That’s the problem. I do want you, and I hate it. I hate that I wished you were there too when I claimed her. That wasn’t the plan. It was always going to be me and Autumn, and then you came out of nowhere.”

Cole took a step closer.

But Sawyer wasn’t done. “And I hate that I can’t stop thinking about you, and that I dream about you and not her.”

His eyes glistened, his throat working as he finally ran out of words.

My mouth fell open. Sawyer had seemed preoccupied, but I never imagined Cole was filling his thoughts like that. But after my experience with Thorne quickly taking over my dreams and desires, I completely understood what he was going through, probably more than anyone else could, except maybe Cole.