They bit into Harris at the same time, sharp teeth breaking Harris’ skin, marking his scent glands.
Pleasure jolted up Harris’ spine, down through his body. Harris jerked and swore, blood swooping between his legs. He panted. Watched as Valen licked the new wound, and Sam sucked on it. Harris’ cock throbbed.
They were bonded now, all three of them.
To think this had all started because of a cooking instructor... Seemed like it should’ve been impossible.
Valen growled, glancing up at Harris. “My alpha.”
“Mine, too.” Sam pressed a kiss to Harris’ scent gland, his cheeks pink.
They were both his. They kissed up Harris’ arms, up his shoulders and his throat, to his lips. Then Sam slid into Harris’ mouth, and Harris groaned, tasting him. He dragged his wrists down Sam’s belly, over the curve of it, marking him. Sam groaned, leaning into his touch.
Valen closed in when Sam leaned away, biting on Harris’ lip. Then he slid his fingers into Harris’ hair and claimed his mouth, aggressive. “Mine,” Valen murmured. “You aren’t gonna ditch us again.”
This was what belonging felt like, when you had two bondmates staring at you, warmth in their eyes. Harris’ chest squeezed. “Guess I’m not.”
“Good,” Valen whispered.
Then he grabbed Harris’ balls, and grinned at Sam. “C’mon, Sam. Kiss me.”
Harris stared as Valen squirmed down onto all fours, dragging his tongue up Harris’ cock. “What are you doing?”
Sam grinned. “Show you our appreciation.”
Sam knelt, too, lowering his shoulders. Harris slid his hand under Sam’s belly so he wouldn’t be lying on the cool tub. Sam purred, and Landon kicked.
“You are both insane,” Harris breathed. Leaned back a little, so they could both access his cock.
Then they met at his tip, their tongues soft and deft, their mouths meshing around him. Harris groaned.
“This is how three people kiss,” Valen whispered against Harris’ cock.
Harris tried not to smile. For a welcome home, this really wasn’t too bad.
37
Sam
In the days following, they moved back into Harris’ mansion.
Valen’s things took minutes to shift from truck to closet. Sam’s took more time—Kade had helped move his microwave and pots, his baby clothes and pregnancy wear. On the second trip back from Kade’s place, Sam’s mom showed up, and Harris and Valen apologized.
Mom had sagged, relief in her eyes. Bonding means you learn to trust, she had said. And believe in the future.
She hadn’t said much about Valen and Harris together, but she’d smiled as they moved boxes between them, navigating through doorways and down the stairs.
The ultrasound photo had gone back on the bedside table. Harris had arranged for a photo shoot with a photographer in town, and they’d brought the Parmesan wheel along to the studio.
Sam had perched naked on the wheel, cradling his belly. It had felt odd being alone in the wide space, strobe lights going off with soft pops, leaving afterimages in his eyes. Then Harris and Valen had stepped in, wrapped their arms around him, and it had been worth all the sitting alone against the white backdrops.
Most of those pictures went in a family album. Some, with kisses between Sam and his alphas, were tucked away in a private collection.
As the days passed, it became easier to believe that things had turned out for the better.
Valen and Harris kept their staggered shifts at work, so one of them would be home with Sam at all times. And as his belly grew fuller and his feet ached, Sam switched to working part-time at the drive-in.
Sometimes, Valen would drive out to the store when Sam craved food, and he’d bump into Harris there, grabbing groceries for the station staff. Harris would send Valen back with an extra bag of cookies, or snacks for Sam.
At nine months, when Sam woke up to sunlight streaming through the bedroom, he found the bed empty.
Sleeping with Harris and Valen, the king-sized bed seemed almost too small for all three of them. But by himself, the bed was too large, almost lonely.
Sam whimpered and cradled his belly, turning over. That was difficult, too, with his belly so heavy.
Then he froze, staring at the giant gift box to the side of the room. It came up to waist-level, its red-foil sides gleaming, a huge golden bow on its lid. The box had small holes punched into its sides, close to the base. Something shuffled inside.
“Valen?” Sam asked, his pulse thudding. Valen was supposed to be home today, and Harris at work.
There wasn’t an answer. Sam assumed he was supposed to open the gift, then.
It couldn’t be a cot—they already had one in the nursery. It couldn’t be a mobile, or a car seat—they had those, too. With some difficulty, he rolled off the bed, getting to his feet. Sam tugged on the bow, watching as it flopped off the side of the box. The shuffling in the box had stopped.
Sam held his breath, wondering if he needed to pull some clothes on. It couldn’t be a large dog—Valen and Harris knew he didn’t have the strength to care for one right now.
Well, maybe it was Valen, and he’d decided that a better way to surprise Sam was with an even bigger box.
Sam lifted the lid. Musk flooded his nostrils and coiled inside his body, swooping down between his legs. He panted.
Inside the box, he found two alphas looking up at him, stark-naked, save for scraps of white lace around their hips.
“What?” Sam asked, a laugh bubbling through his chest. “Harris, I thought you were working today!”
But that was the least of Sam’s concerns, when Valen’s wrists were tied to his knees, thick coils of hemp holding him down. Harris was next to Valen, stroking between Valen’s legs, trailing his fingertip down Valen’s straining cock. Sam’s throat went dry.
“Surprise,” Valen panted, grinning. “Get Big H off me, he’s been tormenting me for hours.”
“Hours?” Sam said. Couldn’t help staring at Valen’s bare chest, then the damp spot on the cardboard beneath his cock.
“He’s exaggerating.” Harris smirked. “Been less than an hour.”
“I’ve been needing to come the entire
