28. Juno

JUNO

Julian stood at the door to Juno’s nest nervously. Eying the threshold like he was expecting it to burst into flames or slice him with lasers the moment his toe crossed it.

“If you want me to leave, I completely understand. I’ll go back home and you can continue your life here with your pack like normal.” He spoke like he had rehearsed the speech in his head on the way up.

Juno would have to nip this in the bud immediately.

“But who will write me letters? Send me voice notes?” She took his hand and led him into the room, showing him he would not be obliterated instantly if he did so.

“Your pack is all wonderful, I’m sure someone—”

“Who will tell me about the pigeons on his balcony?”

Julian mumbled. “Technically not me, since I don’t live in that apartment anymore.”

Juno gave him a look. Stop missing the point on purpose, dummy.

“Will you tell me what you discussed with Isaac?” She held on firmly to him, despite his clammy palm.

As Julian spoke, she got her truest glimpse into how deep his devotion to her ran. The reason for the threads of fear laced through every action and interaction.

“I stayed away because I wanted to keep you safe. I still do.”

She ached to be worthy of it all. To be who he seemed to think she was.

“But whether I’m with you or not…” Julian looked at her like she was the axis upon which his world spun. “Not loving you has never been an option for me.”

Juno sucked in a sharp intake of breath. Her omega had wanted him for a long time. Her instincts did not understand what was taking so long to know how this sweet, doting beta kissed and touched and fucked.

He sank to his knees in front of her and something clicked into place. The part of her that dwelled in the darkness rose up within her as he lowered himself. The part that found beauty in the macabre. The part that desired a spiked heel into his chest rather than help him back up. She wasn’t wearing one, so she did the next best thing.

Juno unfastened the buttons of her shirt and let the fabric fall. Her skirt and bralette followed, a soft whisper as they hit the floor.

“Omega, please.”

She’d never heard herself addressed like that. Breathed as if she was an empress instead of a lesser being to be controlled. Power surged through her, reclaiming her designation as he waited. Reverential, ready to serve.

“Have you ever eaten pussy, Julian?” she asked off-handedly, like she was asking him a mundane question about his day rather than licking up her slickened cunt.

He exhaled raggedly before finding his voice. “No,” he answered, thinly.

Juno hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties, slid them off and tossed them to the side. She ignored his stuttered profanity and settled herself into her nest, taking the time to make sure she was comfortable.

“Would you like to?” She watched him over her bent knees, closed tight to obscure his view.

“Only if it’s yours, omega.”

Oh, he was very good. Juno always knew he was something special. “Good answer,” she approved, her voice a wisp of smoke. “But first, I want the kiss we should have had.”

He poured everything into it. Everything he wished he’d done, all the ways he thought he was lacking. Just gave himself over to her wholly, ready to be left with nothing if she did not accept him. Her body may have been bare but his soul was too. She drank his surrender from his lips, drunk off the power it gave her.

He was trembling slightly when they parted. Shattered by the threshold they’d just crossed. Tractable. Pliant. She was going to build him back up again piece by piece.

Juno directed his gaze downward with an imperious press of her finger. She spread her legs slowly, appreciating his wounded groan as she did so. “Time for your first lesson.”

Julian stroked a shaking hand along her inner thigh as he brought his mouth closer. He looked up at her with anxiety filled eyes. “T-tell me what you like?”

“Of course, angel.” Juno caressed his cheek delicately. Her grip tightened suddenly. “Now. Taste me, Julian,” she whispered.

His eyes fluttered shut at his first exploratory lick, but popped back open immediately after so he could watch her reactions. Uncoordinated and messy at first, Juno guided his technique with gentle instructions. Less pressure. Even less than that. Bit higher. Longer strokes. Feeling his hot breath panting as he diligently adjusted his technique each time was like liquid eroticism straight to the vein.

Soon, she was teetering right on the edge. “I’m going to come,” she bit out, her whole body tightening. “Keep going exactly like that, don’t you dare fucking stop.”

He listened so well, not going faster or harder, obeying her perfectly as he continued lapping at her cunt. Juno gasped as she came, her thighs locking against his ears and grasping his hair as she bucked against his tongue.

Julian was licking his lips clean when she finally released him and opened her eyes again. There was the unmistakable glint of pride in his eyes. She was changing him. Remaking him.

Gripping his chin in one hand, she opened her legs again and guided him back to her centre. “Give me another one. See if you can make me come faster this time.” He began eating her out once more without hesitation, his hot tongue wide and flat like she’d taught him. “Yes, angel,” she encouraged him, breathlessly. "Show me everything you’ve learned.”

Juno drenched him with her slick the second time, feeling him swallow with each pulse of her pussy. She cast her eyes over him, still fully dressed, pupils blackened and soaked in her arousal from the chin down. Utterly, utterly delicious. If it were socially acceptable, he would always look like this.

“Do you want to fuck me?” She laid back on her mountain of pillows, wiggling slightly so she sank into them. The two orgasms had only made her ache more to be filled. His cock was straining against his pants. It looked painful. It would be irresponsible to leave him like that.

“I’m so close,” Julian rasped, a slight frown on his face. “I don’t know if I can last.”

“That’s not what I asked you, Julian.” Juno traced a fingertip over the hardened tip of her nipple, a naughty thrill running through her as his eyes inevitably followed before jerking back up to her face. “I said, do you want to fuck me?”

“Yes,” he replied immediately, making up for his earlier error. “Please.”

“Then take off your clothes.”

She had always thought him beautiful, her Julian. Seeing more and more bare flesh revealed only confirmed it further. Lean and smooth, a thatch of dark hair and a pretty, pretty cock jutting out of it. His hand reached down to grip his length and she sat up sharply.

“Don’t touch. That belongs to me.”

Julian released his cock hurriedly. “Yes, omega.”

Juno crooked a finger at him and he darted towards her, stumbling over the wrinkled blankets at the base of her nest. He knelt between her spread legs, waiting for her next command. Just the most lovely, eager-to-please boy. She cupped his cheek, rewarding him with an indulgent kiss. He tasted and smelled like her, covered in her slick and bathed in her perfume, so she kissed him and kissed him until his soft, fresh pine came through.

Once she was satisfied, her hand snaked between them and gripped the base of his shaft.

“Watch,” she purred.

His chest rose and fell with the effort of keeping calm as she guided the head of his cock into her juicy entrance. Only the head, no more.

“Fuck me with just the tip,” she teased him, pulling him back out before sliding him ever so slightly back in again.

“God, Juno,” Julian whispered hoarsely. He obeyed, sweat beading his forehead as he fucked her with the most minute thrusts of his hips, staring entranced at where his cockhead disappeared inside her.

It was torturous for them both, but necessary.

Juno brushed the hair out of his eyes and traced the delicate features of his face. “Do you think you deserve more?”

Her words struck him like a blow to the chest. His shoulders caved in and he slipped out of her. “I don’t deserve any of this.”

The next few moments were critical. Juno would not let him fall into a pit of despair ever again, pulling him back as he hovered on the edge.

“You’re mine, Julian,” she rolled her hips against his, feeling his cock nestle back between her legs. “Are you saying I can’t have you?”

He shook his head emphatically, even though he was unable to look at her. “You have me, Juno. You always have.”

“Then you deserve to be mine,” Juno declared. Even though he was a beta, stress pheromones were pouring off him. Sex seemed long forgotten, whether he was hard or not or if she was slick or not didn’t matter. Juno kept stroking, caressing, soothing him. Tucked his nose into her neck to let him breathe her calming scent and kissed his hair. “Say it.”

“I-I’m yours, Juno.”

“No, angel,” she interrupted softly. “You deserve to be mine. Say it.”

Julian squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them, they were brimming with emotion. “I deserve to be yours,” he said, thickly.

With a small smile, Juno slowly stroked him back to hardness, murmuring encouraging words in his ear. When a dribble of precum leaked from his slit and smeared along her thigh, she dragged his tip along her slit towards her entrance. With a guiding press on his lower back with her other hand, he slid home with a vulnerable shaky groan. She fused their lips together, her tongue sliding along his at the same time as she roughly gripped his hair, bombarding his reeling mind with sensations until he was lost to them.

Their bodies found a grinding rhythm as she began to lose herself in him as well. Pushing and sliding, sweaty heat and breathless cries pounded from her lungs. He watched as she swirled her fingers around her clit, no doubt memorising her technique for next time. She graced him with a feverish moan of his name as she came, the sensation molten and honeyed down her spine.

“Fuck, I can feel everything,” he hissed, arms tensing as she dug her nails into his ass so she could squeeze the life out of his delectable cock. Another firm pull, encouraging him to continue thrusting even though she’d finished.

Juno eyed the strained column of his throat and something told her to curl her hand around it and squeeze the sides lightly. Wasn’t her kink — she didn’t like the claustrophobic feeling — but her sweet angel boy might love the reminder of exactly to whom he belonged.

“Holy shit.” Julian pumped into her with a wild, rough rhythm and she tightened her grip. “Holy fucking shit,” he wheezed.

“Give me your cum,” she demanded, hotly. “I’m a greedy little omega, Julian. I want everything from you.”

Julian let out a long, low groan as he filled her deep, his hips canting forward with short, jerky movements. His scent filled the air, stronger than she’d ever experienced it. A freshly splintered branch and the ooze of sharp, biting sap.

Broken, then life forged anew.

Juno cradled his head between her breasts and held him. “I think you’re the only one who can bring out this side of me,” she confessed as she nuzzled his damp hair. “I need you as much as you need me. Never doubt that.”

She smiled as she watched him begin to nod off.

* * *

Juno awoke in darkness, the bright glare of her phone informing her it was far from morning. 1:42am. Julian was curled in a protective little ball next to her, the blanket tucked neatly under his chin. She gave his nose a light stroke and slid carefully from her nest, padding downstairs to the kitchen in search of a drink. And if a snack somehow found its way into her hand as well, it would be an inconvenience not to eat it.

She was headfirst, ass-up in the pantry searching for the box of her favourite cereal she swore she had seen hidden behind the canned goods when a deep, sleep-roughened voice interrupted her.

“Juno?”

She shrieked and leapt up, hitting her head on a shelf and dislodging a poorly resealed bag of flour. It fell over, the momentum apparently enough to pop it open and rain a cloud of white all over her. Isaac stared back at her in stunned silence, both of them unable to speak as the fine powder settled prettily over her.

“This must be how bank robbers feel when they open a boobytrapped bag,” Isaac commented dryly.

“What the fuck, Isaac!” She could barely see him from the flour all over her lashes. Despite the logical part of her brain telling her that it was all just an unfortunate accident, the devil on her shoulder picked up the half-filled bag from the floor and piffed it straight at him.

By the time Juno had fully realised what she had done, the flour was already airborne. She could only watch in horror as it landed squarely in the middle of his bare chest, before exploding outwards like an elegant firework. Up into his shocked face, all through his rumpled hair, and down his stupidly low slung pyjama pants.

“If this is about Julian, I can’t say I agree with how you’ve dealt with it but I’ll take it on the chin.” He wiped a hand along his jawline, shaking the flour off his fingers onto the floor. “Literally.”

This fucker. He was like a little fucking parasite in her mind, just reading her internal thoughts and feelings before she even had a chance to have them. Just once she would like him to be a little bit less of a know-it-all but that would make him less Isaac-y, she supposed.

“He’s mine,” she hissed at him. Thinking of him still sleeping in her nest smelling of her was giving her a feral little edge.

“I agree with you entirely.”

She stared at the flour-coated prime alpha before her. The way he led by putting everyone else in his pack first. Even right now standing there waiting for her to speak instead of rushing off to clean up.

He’s ok, I guess.

Alright, he was everything a prime should be for their pack and definitely someone Julian should have in his corner, however he wanted that to look like.

Juno crossed her dusty white arms. “He’s mine. But you can have him too if you care for him the way he deserves. And Miles is ok with it.”

His shoulders sank and a little flurry of powder fluttered downward. “I would never do anything to hurt either one of them,” he pacified her, brows knitting together. “And Miles and I have, er, talked.”

Juno snorted knowing exactly how Miles would have spoken to Isaac. “He have a nice long conversation with you then?”

“Well, not the first time,” Isaac admitted, pragmatically. “But the second time, yes.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to,” she chanted to herself. She peeked out one eye to see if she’d managed to rile Isaac up. Nothing, unless you counted his mouth pressing together in a slightly firmer line than before. Maybe one day she would crack that perfect veneer of his. Although if covering him with flour didn’t do it, she didn’t know what would.

“Julian feels like pack to me, Juno,” Isaac admitted, quietly. “If you feel he belongs with you—”

She nodded vigorously.

“Then he belongs with us too.”

Juno pulled the tea towel hanging off the oven door and wiped her face with it. She walked over and did the same for Isaac so she could really look at him.

“I’m glad you feel that way.” She smiled up at him. “You should tell him tomorrow.”

“I will.” He took the tea towel from her and dabbed a spot she’d missed on her chin. “Now can we go get this godforsaken flour off of us?”

Their ruined pyjamas were dumped in the laundry. Juno (with her eyes firmly shut) kept calling out “don’t look, don’t look, don’t look” while Isaac (also with his eyes shut) kept exasperatedly pointing out that she was the one who had managed to find a giant shirt of Everett’s to wear. He was still fucking naked and could she please, please just throw some clothing — any clothing — at him.

Despite several bathrooms in the house they could dash off to separately, they settled on squeezing into the powder room together (to minimise locations they had to clean up). Of course that meant they squabbled like children over the basin and single hand towel. Afterward, Isaac vacuumed while Juno ate a bowl of ice cream and threw M&Ms at him for him to catch in his mouth.

“I don’t know how you can go back to sleep after that much ice cream,” Isaac tutted as they made their way back upstairs.

“Like you didn’t eat about seventeen M&Ms on your own,” Juno retorted.

“Hmm, you’re right. I’ll just wake Miles for round three, I guess.”

Juno immediately began to thump her forehead against the wall of the corridor. She felt his hand squeeze her shoulder and the ghost of a chuckle flutter across her neck.

“Good night, Juno,” he murmured, before disappearing around the corner.