Her Knotty List (MVP: Most Valuable Pack Book 4)

Kissing Emma is ten-thousand volts, electrifying my blood.

It’s remembering what it’s like to want. And wish. And maybe, for a second, believe.

The last six months have felt like trying to swim through quicksand. Just an endless, impossible slog. Exhausting; and so fucking futile. Everything worth doing just felt infuriating.

But… Emma.

Emma is every last good thing left in the world, all rolled together and wrapped up in blonde curls and guileless green eyes.

Our kiss starts out urgent but softens into something sweeter the second I feel her little hands rubbing my lower back. Hugging me, I realize.

No one’s done that since…

My mom.

That one thought has my chest shuddering. Emma feels it and makes a reassuring sound, scent-marking my forehead while she squeezes me.

Tenderness bleeds behind my sternum. My hands go from clutching at her to smoothing down her curves, exploring every dip and relishing the give of her body.

She feels like everything I’m not—a soft place for all the hard, sharpened edges I’ve honed over the last year. They’ve been effective at keeping everyone else away from me.

But not Emma.

She absorbs them effortlessly, opening up for me. Like I’m just a man. And not a big thorny tangle poised to poke her.

We break apart, both of us panting. The muscles of her face flinch against my fingertips as she winces. “I should probably tell you,” she whispers. “I kissed Zane, like, twenty minutes ago.”

The honest trepidation in her eyes hits my heart head-on, but the way she cringes makes me want to laugh. Just like her questions did earlier.

She’s funny—and so innocently honest about everything.

Who she is; what she thinks. Even things that embarrass her.

It almost seems like it doesn’t occur to her to lie. Which is fucking adorable in the sweetest damn way.

My mouth curls into a half-smile, reassuring her with a gentle nuzzle along her cheek. When I pull back, I quirk a wry look. “Zane, huh?”

Her teeth nip her plump lip, sending a bolt of heat to my hard cock. “Yeah,” she admits. “Is that—I mean, I don’t⁠—”

My hand wanders back to Emma’s hip, tracing its perfect fullness all the way to her ass. Which is a handful in the best possible way.

Goddamn.

Imagining her all up on Zane does strange things to my body. My Alpha rages and roars, jealous and possessive beyond all reason. But the images make me just as hard as the ones I was slobbering over in the shower.

She looked hot as fuck with her pretty pussy spread over Micah’s big cock. And the way she squirted on the floor when Zane hit the right spot with his tongue?

Fuck.

I may want her all to myself. But I can’t deny that, during my suspension from the team, I’ve missed this feeling.

The rush of determination, the thrill of a worthy opponent.

A growl slips up my throat as my lips spread into a sharp grin. “Em,” I warn, crowding closer. “You’re forgetting one important thing.”

Her beautiful features blink in surprise. “What?”

“I’m a pro hockey player, baby.” My hands drop down to the backs of her thighs, grasping them easily and lifting her into my body. She squeaks as I set her on the nearby counter and lean down, putting us eye-to-eye.

“Competition doesn’t scare me. It makes me fucking hard.”

Sucking in a loud breath, Emma practically leaps at me. Which would be cute if my knot wasn’t about to explode.

I wrap my arms around her, snarling softly when my torso presses into the pine-scented fabric of Knox’s sweatshirt and not Emma’s bare skin. But I wasn’t kidding—having other alphas all over her makes my cock ache.

Her hands drop to the edge of the towel wrapped around me while our tongues glide together. My mind reels, awash in a haze of fantasies, along with all the ideas from her list.

A lot of them actually require one of these other assholes. Spit-roasting, DVP, something about watching two alphas jack each other off.

Half either have location limitations—like exhibitionism—or imply a longer stretch of time. Cockwarming could take hours…

There was one thing, though. I think it was number four.

Panting, I break our kiss to skim my lips down her neck, leaving gentle bites behind. “You wanted to learn how to juice a knot?”

I remember those words very specifically. Juice a knot. I’d probably be snickering if she didn’t look so heartrendingly excited about it.

“I’ve tried before, but…” She swallows thickly, her scent burning at the edges. “I think I did it wrong.”

I can’t imagine that. “Why?”

The cinnamon singes even more. Her voice sounds small as she peeps, “They… they never liked anything I tried to do.”

I’ve never wanted to punch someone I haven’t met until now. What a bunch of dick-headed doorknobs. They had this beautiful angel of an omega willing to learn how to touch them, and they criticized her?

My heart flops. This is my fault. If I hadn’t run off that night…

“Fuck, Em. I’m so sorry about leaving like that. I swear I didn’t mean to reject you. Honestly, I didn’t even scent you; I just saw you start to perfume and panicked.”

Her features screw up, then crack into a sudden snort. “You panicked? Aren’t you supposed to be some famous playboy?!”

If she wasn’t so amused, I’d probably feel like a total fraud. Instead, it’s just a pinch of embarrassment. “I’ve dated a lot, but, uh…”

There are reasons I’m still single, and most of them have to do with being exactly the sort of oaf who would accidentally knock his mate into a swimming pool. With a grimace, I stumble for a more artful explanation. One that’s just as true, but definitely not as humiliating.

“Theo,” I grumble. “I saw you react to me, and you were already so fucking pretty and warm and—shit.” I shake my head, remembering. “I figured I better get out of there before I wound up mauling my buddy’s baby sister.”

She arches an eyebrow, grinning as she calls me out. “It didn’t have anything to do with sending me into the deep end?”

Busted. I flinch into a wince. “Well, that wasn’t great…”

Emma huffs another giggle, hugging me again. “I forgive you, Hot Shot. Trust me, no one understands embarrassing yourself and then freaking out about it better than I do.”

Her easy forgiveness and that nickname make my chest clench. The ache there doubles when I recall what she admitted about her old pack.

A purr rumbles behind my ribs, and Emma moans quietly, falling against it. My cock kicks, trying to reach her through the towel. When she notices, perfume swells into the most incredible, gooey cinnamon.

My voice rasps as I nod at our bodies. “Do you want me to show you what I like?”

I expect more embarrassment, but instead, genuine delight beams from her green eyes. “Really? No one’s ever shown me what I’m supposed to do! Is there more than one way?”

God, she’s sweet. So full of light, I think, staring down at her.

A deep jolt of affection has me smiling again. “There are lots of ways,” I confirm, kissing her cheek with my grin. “I’m sure the others will show you their own—if you ask them.”

“That wouldn’t… bother you?” she breathes, fluttering her lashes. It’s clear she’s nervous, but her expression stays open and attentive. Truly listening—caring about how I would feel.

It puts a warm stone in my throat. “Denying you something you need would bother me,” I rough out.

My vulnerability is so fucking worth it. The fear falls off her face. She licks her lips, glancing at my towel with pointed interest. It’s so goddamn adorable, I’m still grinning when she flashes me a shy look. “Will you show me?”

I don’t even have to think. I rip my towel off in one tug.

Cinnamon sugar warms the steamy air swirling between us as she perfumes, scooting to the edge of the countertop and spreading her legs to make space for my naked body. Her eyes drop directly to my straining cock.

I’ve had puck bunnies cooing over me for years. I’ve made winning goals, had my picture on magazine covers. But nothing—nothing— has ever made me feel quite as tall as the way Emma gapes at my package.

“Fuck me, you’re so cute,” I grunt, cradling her face between my palms and kissing her again. “Stop looking at me like that, or I’ll end up coming all over your lap.”

Emma giggles, the sound rushing right to the blank space where my soul used to be. It lights up and glows as she makes a little space between our bodies and floats her hands to my hips.

“Like this,” I murmur, guiding them around the base of my shaft. She curls her fingers lightly, her breath catching when I twitch in her grasp.

A pearl of pre-cum beads at the buzzing head. I feel the pressure of her fingertips like separate pulses, each point pounding as my blood beats in desperate throbs.

She skims her touch along my length. A low growl vibrates out of me.

“Want to know what I was thinking about?” I ask, distracting her as I rearrange the fit of her fingers and smooth out her glides with my hand wrapped over hers.

“What?” she gasps, watching more creamy wetness seep from the head.

“Your pretty pink pussy, gushing all over Micah’s big-ass knot,” I grunt, dragging her touch down my entire shaft, showing her how to make a ring with her fingers and pop it over the hot, swollen mass at the base.

Fuck, it feels so good. So much better than my own hands, even if hers are hesitant and infinitely more gentle than mine.

This little omega has good instincts, though. As soon as I release my hold on her, she goes to town. Stroking my throbbing knot, working both palms up to slick themselves with my pre-cum. When she glides one to my tingling head and slides the other to pop over my knot at the same time, I forget to breathe.

She repeats the motion easily, moaning softly when my head falls back on a groan. “You’re going to make me come so hard,” I tell her, widening my stance and bearing down, thrusting into her slippery fists. “Fuck, Emma. Make me stop, or I’m going to⁠—”

For a moment, I think she’s obeying. Her grip releases me for half a breath—just long enough to yank her own pants off, presenting me with the soft roll of her belly and the bare perfection of her glistening pink cunt.

My mouth drops open. Sensation cracks down my spine and draws my balls up. When she stacks her closed hands around my cock and tugs from the bottom of my knot to the wide, ruddy head, I lose it.

Ropes of cum erupt across smooth skin, melding into her pale, naked stomach, her luscious thighs, and that goddamned gorgeous pussy.

I watch it all drip down her abdomen, my Alpha shoving impulses at me. “Are you on birth control?” I ask.

Before she finishes nodding, I scoop my release onto my fingers, painting it over the swollen bud begging for attention at the top of her plump folds.

It’s like an out-of-body experience. Utterly fixated, I rub my essence over her thrumming clit, memorizing the way she mewls.

“Did stroking my cock make you wet, Em?” I purr, skimming my touch over her soaked slit.

She chokes on another moan, clutching my forearms. A burst of perfumed slick dribbles from her hot, clenching core. I press two fingers to her opening and roll her clit with my thumb, ensuring my cum covers the entire⁠—

“Gunnar!” she cries.

Her pussy sucks at my fingers, pulling me into her as she comes all over my hand. And the floor.

Squirting all over.

We both look down at the hot mess we’ve just made. Mate, my Alpha chuffs, nodding at the sight of her cream mixed into mine. As if that’s some sort of cosmic proof.

It isn’t. I know that.

But a moment later, when we both gape at one another and start laughing at the exact same second…

Maybe that is.