Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gideon

I had no idea what was going on. Between Fletcher’s heat, my own heat, and Artemis helping both of us, I could hardly catch my breath. I was terrified. I was aroused. My heart bled for Fletcher, and my insides screamed for what I now knew only Artemis could give me.

I knew Fletcher was not only hurting, he had reached a crisis point. After that first wave that Artemis took him through, he turned anxious in a way I’d never seen before and strangely withdrawn. Even when he took me through my next heat wave using the Heat Lightning system, even though everything inside me urged me to be brave enough to request that Artemis take me personally.

I couldn’t ask for what I needed, as much as I wanted to. Hours and two more heat waves had passed, but I couldn’t shake the agony I’d felt at the look on Fletcher’s face when I’d called out for Artemis instead of him. That feeling was worse than anything I’d ever felt when I was trapped in the house of the alpha my father had picked out.

That was the other reason I couldn’t just ask for what I needed, even when the third wave after Fletcher’s heat started and I knew it would be a bad one. Fletcher had also had three waves in the hours since then, and watching the way Artemis serviced him in those waves was…overwhelming.

I couldn’t think of any other words for it. Watching them stirred all of my old fears. Artemis was brutal with my husband. It was like he was an entirely different alpha. He was hungry and lustful. He tossed my strong, brave, wonderful husband around like he was a rag doll, thrusting into Fletcher’s mouth and hole like he was possessed. He embodied some of the more erotic episodes of my omega fairy tales so vividly that…that I came more than once just watching them.

I couldn’t tell Fletcher. I couldn’t let either of them know how aroused watching them fuck made me. Because as fierce and potent as Artemis was, Fletcher loved it. I knew my beloved well enough to know when his screams were because he felt pleasure. I knew him like my own soul, so I could see that his grimaces and facial contortions as Artemis pounded into him were ecstasy.

I was so happy for him. I was so miserable. I could never do that for him. I could never cause him to make those faces.

And Fletcher could never cause every fiber of my being to throb with desire the way just watching Artemis did.

But my heat still dragged on, pulling me into that crazy abyss where I knew everything I needed but was too afraid to ask for it, and where keeping my need to myself was breaking my heart and Fletcher’s.

It was probably breaking Artemis’s heart, too, actually .

“This isn’t working,” he said in an exhausted and far too defeated voice near the end of my second day and Fletcher’s first.

“We’ll be fine,” Fletcher said. “Everything will be fine.” His words rang hollow, and the haunted look in his eyes as he glanced at Artemis was even worse.

We were all in bed together, although the bed had become so mussed and disheveled that it wasn’t more than a sticky, crusted pile of sheets and pillows. Fletcher sat with his back against the headboard and I was curled into his arms. He stroked my arm absently, but as affectionate the gesture was, I could tell he was beaten. Going into heat had broken the last of his resolve to be strong for me.

And there was something else, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

“I respect you, Fletcher,” Artemis said, shaking his head. “You know I do, but everything is not fine.”

He glanced at me and I squirmed. My next heat wave was building already, and again, I could tell it was going to be a hard one. Each one since Fletcher had gone into heat had been more intense and harder to get through than the last.

“The Heat Lightning system isn’t enough for you anymore, sweetheart,” Artemis told me, compassion in his eyes.

He reached out a hand to my foot, which was the closest thing to him. Instinctively, I jerked it away from him.

Seconds later, when Artemis sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, I wished I hadn’t.

“I’m sorry,” I said, sniffling to hold back my upset. “It’s an automatic reaction. Here.”

I extended my foot cautiously to him again .

Artemis stared at it for a moment, then sent Fletcher a weary, questioning look.

Fletcher nodded stoically, and Artemis continued to reach.

I gasped when he rested a hand over my foot. My womb tightened, and a gush of slick seeped from my hole. But my heart also raced with fear, even as my next wave raced to crash over me.

“I need it,” I said, not completely certain what I was saying.

I needed Artemis’s touch. I needed him inside me. All of him, not just his seed. I needed to feel the friction and the force. My womb cried out to be breeched and bred. I wanted a baby, and despite the promises of the Heat Lightning system, that hadn’t happened yet.

But my memories of being forced and abused rang loudly in my head even as I felt the pull to submit. That’s what had been so horrific with him. My body had bowed to him, reacting with base need, while my heart and head had howled at the violation.

It was too much, and I pulled my foot away again.

Artemis sighed, and Fletcher sagged under me.

It was too late, though. My wave had arrived.

I pulled away from Fletcher with a moan, writhing on the bed as I tried to sit on my own. It was like some unseen hand was trying to fold me into the omega mating position and force me to present myself to Artemis for breeding. Which was what I wanted. I wanted a baby. But I was so scared. The instinct to mate within me was making me lose my mind. Fighting it only had me weeping in frustration.

“We can’t go on like this,” Fletcher said, misery in his voice.

“No, we can’t,” Artemis agreed .

But instead of sinking with depression, like Fletcher and I were, Artemis shuffled to the side of the bed and stood.

He was a sight to behold, all glorious and sexual. He had the strength to force me to do whatever he wanted, and his protruding cock was a weapon that I wouldn’t be able to resist, physically or mentally. But he had amazing control, and instead of lunging for me, he took a step back.

“I have an idea,” he said, inspiration sparking in his eyes.

“You do?” I felt a sudden surge of very similar inspiration from Fletcher.

“I need you,” I moaned. It wasn’t what I’d intended to say, but that was the heat wave taking over.

Artemis seemed to understand what I was saying anyhow. “I might know how to resolve all this if you’re willing to trust me.” He looked right at me as he spoke.

That in itself had my hole gushing and my womb radiating desperation. All I could do in response was nod at him.

“We can use the milking chair,” Artemis said.

I grimaced, disappointed that he only meant we could milk him for seed again.

“What do you mean?” Fletcher said, leaning forward in a way that made me think I’d misunderstood Artemis.

“Strap me to the chair,” Artemis said with renewed energy. He turned and headed into the dressing room.

Fletcher and I exchanged glances, then Fletcher moved to follow him. He turned back to me once he was off the bed, love and desperation in his eyes.

I only hesitated for a second before scooting to the edge of the bed and taking his hand when he offered it. We walked into the dressing room together, Fletcher’s arm around me, guiding me.

Artemis had already sat in the chair and was leaning forward to fasten the restraints around his ankles.

“Strap me in completely,” he said. My body heated noticeably just watching him. “Secure me in every way. Make it so that I can’t move an inch.”

“Milking you again isn’t going to help,” Fletcher said as he brought me nearer to the chair.

Artemis shook his head. “Not to milk me.” He moved up to the buckles around his thighs but glanced at me as he worked. “Mount me,” he said.

I sucked in a breath, instantly understanding what he was suggesting.

“I don’t understand,” Fletcher said, frowning and radiating exhaustion.

Artemis looked at him, and while there was communication in his eyes, it was a moment before he said. “Gideon needs the real thing. The Heat Lightning device isn’t enough for him. He needs me inside him, needs all the hormones and skin-to-skin contact.”

“But he’s terrified of alphas,” Fletcher said. This time, he didn’t say the words like they were an explanation, but rather like he’d just put two and two together.

“I’ll be completely immobile,” Artemis said, lying back and fastening the strap just above his hip bone. “You can help Gideon climb onto me and impale himself on my cock. I’ll be completely unable to move. Gideon, you’ll have to do all the work yourself, but you’ll be safe knowing that there will be no possible way I can touch or grab you. My cock will be yours to use, and I’ll be able to knot you.”

I suddenly couldn’t catch my breath. It was the perfect solution. I could get everything I needed and I’d be completely safe while getting it. No hands would grab me or hold me down. I doubted Artemis would spew foul words at me and call me a disgusting whore as the heat wave made me come over and over either.

“Gid?” Fletcher asked, turning to me with hope and worry in his eyes.

I nodded. That was the only response I could give him.

“Alright,” Fletcher said, regaining some of his former confidence as he stepped away from me and moved to help Artemis with the last of his restraints. “I think this will work.”

“Please, hurry,” I whined, rocking slightly as need built quickly inside of me.

“Don’t worry, baby. We’ve got this,” Fletcher said.

I believed him. I trusted him. Despite the need raging inside of me, I felt safe and positive again for the first time since my heat had started.

They worked together to strap Artemis in as tightly as possible. He didn’t look at all comfortable to me, but I could smell his arousal as the intensity of his alpha scent picked up. His cock was so hard and large as it strained up over the restraint crossing his hips. Cum was already starting to dribble out of it.

“Hurry,” I moaned, not just for my own sake, but because I didn’t want Artemis to suffer longer than he had to.

“Come here, baby,” Fletcher said once he secured the wrist straps that would hold Artemis’s hands and arms in the long, leather sleeves.

I raced to him. Fletcher stepped back from the side of the chair, then moved to the end. The leg part of the chair split open, forcing Artemis’s legs wide, but I realized that capability wasn’t for his sake .

“Right here,” Fletcher said, holding out his hand to me.

A sudden wave of fear shot through me. Was I ready for this? The flashes of my heats with him kept coming at me. They had been horrible. The feeling of his cock in me had been humiliating. Would I feel the same way with Artemis?”

“Baby?” Fletcher asked.

I sucked in a breath, fighting the urge to scream. I could do this. I closed my eyes for a moment and thought of Prince Leo from the fairy tales. He had been strong and brave in the face of his heat when the diamond dragon prince, Diamant, wanted him. If Prince Leo could do it, so could I.

Resolved, I hurried around one of Artemis’s feet and stepped between his spread legs. There was actually a small step near the center of the chair. Fletcher directed me to use it to climb over Artemis, then pointed out a couple of other footholds so I could straddle him.

That was it. As soon as I understood what I needed to do and how, nothing could have stopped me. I moaned and panted as I tried to find the right position, then sighed with relief when Fletcher braced me from behind. He helped guide me, and within seconds, the head of Artemis’s cock was right at my gaping hole.

Fletcher continued to brace and balance me and hold Artemis up as I lowered myself, gingerly at first, then with astounding hunger, onto Artemis’s cock. Inch after thick inch bored its way inside me, and I tilted my head back and cried out, it felt so good.

I wasn’t the only one making sounds. Artemis growled and grunted with my first, tentative movements. He strained and pulled at his restraints, like he was trying to speed things up and buck into me. He’d passed the point where he could control himself and he was wild with rut, but he couldn’t do anything about it. I was the one in control.

It made me feel powerful and hot. I was the one in control. I was the one with the alpha at my mercy, for a change. I could use him to sate the needs of my body instead of the other way around.

Years worth of fear melted, and as soon as I got the hang of the motion I needed to get what I wanted, I rode him like there was no tomorrow. I bounced and jerked on him, working him deeper and deeper as my insides stretched and soaked for him. I made every kind of wild sound, too, crying out with need and pleasure.

Best of all, I could feel Fletcher behind me. He’d pressed himself against my back and had his arms wrapped around me. He had me. He was keeping me safe and getting me everything I needed and more.

All three of us were making sounds, and it was perfect. I closed my eyes at first, reveling in pleasure like I’d craved for ages. I bounced harder and harder until I could feel the head of Artemis’s cock pushing against the opening of my womb. I vaguely remembered squeezing so tightly when he had taken my heat that there was no way he’d ever get in, but I didn’t want that with Artemis. I wanted Artemis in. I wanted his baby in me.

I opened my eyes, and instead of avoiding the alpha under me, I focused on him. Artemis was so beautiful and so good. Even restrained as he was, he radiated power and strength. He would make an amazing sire. His bold eyes staring back at me, locked with mine only confirmed that for me.

When it happened, I think I stopped breathing. My womb opened and Artemis pushed inside. His knot formed, and I was suddenly filled with the sensation of lava filling me as his seed spilled into my womb. Every fear I’d ever had evaporated in the intensity of that flame. Nothing else mattered and nothing else existed but the pleasure that flooded me.

It went on and on, radiating like the sun in my core. But it was more than that. I was vaguely aware of Fletcher making sounds as something warm and wet hit the small of my back. Not just that, Fletcher had reached around and was stroking my cock as I came over and over, painting Artemis’s restrained stomach.

So much was happening, and we were all together for it. My body was alive with ecstasy and possibility. I wanted to feel that pleasure and bathe in it for ages. I had never felt so sexual, so much like a god as I did in that moment. I wanted to stretch and writhe and pose and give Artemis my body, a thing of beauty and light, to watch and get off on. I felt so good it was transformative.

Underneath that sexual power, I felt something else as well. It was like something caught and quivered deep within me. Artemis was still exploding seed into my womb, so much that my belly grew visibly bigger, but it was superfluous. I was swimming in that pleasure, but I wasn’t the only one. I felt ripe and blessed, like I’d won the biggest prize the world had to offer.

It felt so magnificent that I passed out for a moment in sheer bliss. I was a good omega after all. I wasn’t broken or defective. I was everything my husband needed me to be, everything my alpha needed me to be.

When I came around, the world was quieter. All three of us were panting, and Fletcher felt heavy against my back. I still straddled Artemis and his knot was still firmly inside me. It was lovely, but not quite perfect.

“Can I,” I started. I paused to catch my breath, then leaned forward a little, shifting Fletcher. “Can I lie forward?” I managed to ask him.

“Of course, baby,” Fletcher said sleepily.

“Of course,” Artemis echoed, radiating welcome.

I leaned down, splaying my exhausted body over his, enjoying the touch of his skin against mine wherever there were no straps.

Fletcher leaned forward with me, and together, we were a Gideon sandwich. I liked it so much I almost laughed as I closed my eyes and sank into the sweat and hay scent of Artemis’s body. I could have stayed there forever, enjoying the comfort and protection all around me.

I hadn’t known it would be like that. I’d never had a breeding orgasm before, but I’d heard of them. I’d resigned myself to never having one, since only an alpha could give an omega that much pleasure. I felt smug and giddy, knowing I’d had one and remembering how good it had felt. Call me greedy, but I wanted another one. I wanted them all the time, in every position. I wanted more of Artemis.

It was strange, really, I thought to myself as sleep began to overtake me. I was happy right where I was, with Artemis and Fletcher’s bodies touching mine. I’d always had post-heat aversion to touch, even when it had just been Fletcher and the Heat Lightning system servicing me. My heat was over now, and I felt deeply contented, particularly with Artemis touching me. That wasn’t supposed?—

I caught my breath as my eyes snapped open, but I stayed frozen where I was, careful not to alert or upset either man with me. My heat was over. It had ended suddenly and miraculously. I didn’t feel sad or like I was a failure either. There was only one reason that happened when an omega finished heat.

I was pregnant.