“Valen!” Sam frowned deeper.
Valen grinned, pulling Sam into a hug. He wriggled closer to Harris, too, wedging them all closer together. And now the soap suds had smeared onto Harris’ skin.
“He deserved it,” Valen said.
“I won’t disagree,” Harris said. “But you aren’t leaving Sam again.”
Valen rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“But if we’re back together, then we’d have to get married, won’t we?” Sam frowned. “Before the birth?”
Harris blinked. With everything that had happened the past two weeks, he’d forgotten about that. “You want that inheritance, Sam?”
Sam blushed. “No! I mean, Valen was worried about it,” he mumbled, looking at his belly. “I’m just saying... if we’re getting married at some point, we may as well do it sooner. But only if you want to.”
Valen chuckled, nuzzling Sam’s neck. “I figured the inheritance isn’t important. You are. But if wanna get married... it doesn’t matter when. I want you to be my omega, Sam. And I want Big H as my alpha.”
Harris’ pulse raced. “You serious about that?”
Valen met his eyes. “Hell, yeah. Is there a state where alpha-alpha marriage is legal?”
Harris hesitated. “There’s a couple in the east.”
“Then we’re marrying there,” Valen said. “You’re gonna be my husband, Sam. And you too, Big H.”
Sam beamed, his cheeks pink. And Harris’ heart swelled, more than he thought it could.
The bonding with Sam had been accidental, the one with Valen, not so much. But reaffirming those bonds again? Harris wanted that. Wanted to prove that he was truly sorry about leaving them.
“That’s if you don’t mind me being some nobody at the station,” Valen said, his smile self-deprecating.
“You aren’t nobody.” Sam narrowed his eyes. “You’re perfect, Valen.”
“Harris is way better than me.”
“You’re both different,” Sam said, nuzzling Valen’s throat. Then he touched Harris’ chest, and kissed his jaw. “Valen jokes, but he’s always been there for me. And Harris is full of wisdom and kindness.”
“You’re just talking us up,” Valen muttered, his ears turning pink. “Sam is the best.”
“‘Sides, Sam needs a young alpha to carry his babies.” Harris squeezed Valen’s thigh. “That’s you, V. Five years from now, you’ll have two kids on your shoulders, and another on your leg.”
“And you’ll be carrying two more, won’t you?” Valen grinned, punching Harris back.
“You’re really okay with that?” Sam exchanged a look with Valen. “I mean...”
“Yeah,” Valen whispered, cupping Sam’s jaw. “I’ll be here, however many children we have.”
Sam relaxed, a brilliant smile spreading through his face. Harris admired him, the joy in Sam’s eyes, the strength he had, carrying a baby they didn’t know the future of.
So Harris reached forward, leaned in, and pressed a kiss to the top of Sam’s belly. “Thank you,” Harris murmured. “For your patience and your strength.”
Sam blinked hard, his mouth falling open. “Oh, Harris.”
“And for putting up with us,” Valen said, leaning into Sam. “And for taking me back.”
As much of a kid as Valen was sometimes, he pulled himself together where it mattered. Knowing the sort of family Valen had grown up in, Harris was proud of him, too.
“Thank you for accepting me,” Sam said, returning Valen’s kiss.
“Not letting you go again,” Valen breathed. “Does this mean... you’re my omega?”
“Yeah,” Sam said, his blush darkening. “I would love to be.”
Valen growled, closing his mouth around the scent gland on Sam’s throat. Then he sucked, and Sam gasped. “I wanna,” Valen breathed, “wanna mark you again.”
“Please,” Sam said, his eyes locking with Harris.
Valen bit down, and Harris watched as Sam’s eyes squeezed shut, his body jerking. He felt it in his own veins, that whisper of pleasure, the ownership Sam must’ve been feeling.
“Mine,” Valen whispered, licking Sam’s broken skin. He slid his wrists down Sam’s chest, down his belly and his growing cock, marking him with sandalwood.
“We just agreed to marry, V,” Harris said, cracking a smile. But bonding was different, though, more primal than legal words on paper.
Valen turned, eyeing the scar on Harris’ neck, where Nicholas had marked Harris. “Sam and I never bonded back with you.”
Harris’ heart stopped. Didn’t dare to hope for more.
“I wasn’t sure you wanted it.” Sam squirmed, meeting Harris’ eyes.
“Same here,” Valen said, his smile lopsided. “I didn’t think I was good enough for you.”
Harris swallowed, his throat tight. Wasn’t sure what to say. “I never thought I was good enough for you.”
“But you are, Big H. You’re good enough for Sam and I. So... Does this mean I can mark you?” Valen asked, hope lighting his eyes. He squirmed even closer to Harris, leaning in to sniff at his neck.
“And me?” Sam asked softly.
“Yeah,” Harris said, his voice tight. “If both of you want to. I’m all yours.”
Matching smiles broke through Sam and Valen’s faces. “We’ll have to mark him at the same time,” Valen said. “But I think we should both have his wrists.”
Sam smiled touching his fingertips to the scent gland at Harris’ wrist. “Can I mark you now?”
“Whenever you want,” Harris said, heart thumping.
“At the same time as I do,” Valen said, meeting Sam’s eyes. “And then we get him so hard he creams all over.”
Sam laughed, and Harris snorted.
“This isn’t about me,” he muttered.
“You’re our wounded hero,” Valen said, his gaze drifting down Harris’ stitches. “We’ll get you all sated and happy first, and then it’ll be Sam’s turn.”
Sam shivered, musk coiling from his skin. He looked down at Harris’ wrist, massaging it with his thumb. It felt good; Harris growled.
They brought his wrists to their lips, Sam nuzzling Harris’ scent gland, Valen sucking lightly on it.
Harris had been marked a long time ago, but this—this was different. He had both his alpha and omega, and a baby on the way. Couldn’t believe they were doing this.
“I’m counting to three,” Valen said, grinning impishly at Sam. Sam grinned back. Then Valen dragged the points of his teeth over Harris’ wrist, and Sam did the same, his breath hot on Harris’ skin. “One, two,
