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

If I wasn’t halfway to combusting, watching Zane scramble like this might be a little funny.

He’s so effortlessly sensual all the time—seeing him stare down at my body like he doesn’t even know where to begin is as entertaining as it is flattering.

Also painful. Because, you know, he needs to get in me right now.

My second whine snaps him out of his stupor. A choked snarl catches behind his heaving chest, dark eyes flashing as he rearranges me. Gently pushing until I balance on my elbows; then, clutching at my thighs, pulling me toward him as he slides home.

“Emma, baby,” he gasps, “Fuck.”

Rock-hard heat spears into my aching muscles. They scream and sigh, franticly twitching around the throbbing warmth of his shaft.

I whine and thrash, wanting him to pound me—but he pins my hips with his big hands and bends over my torso. His head dips, those soft lips and that talented tongue finding the tip of my breast. He licks at the pattern he drew there, sending a dart of need straight to my clenching core.

It must taste as good as it feels, because he hums and sucks my entire nipple into his mouth. I moan, and he matches the sound, snapping a hand up to cup the full weight of my breast in his palm while he sucks me.

A sharp cry jolts out of me, my body mirroring his ravenous draws with pulls of its own. The inner walls tug at his girth as my pussy gushes around the heavy length. Zane feels me slick his cock, curses under his breath, and starts to move.

Oh. Holy. NIGHT.

I probably shouldn’t be surprised after watching all of his videos a dozen times… but this alpha knows exactly how to fuck a woman right out of her mind.

His body rolls, the motion of his hips powerful and fluid in a way that’s still somehow filthy. Every ripple presses his hard knot against me, and the undulating motions stroke his hot, swollen flesh over my slick, buzzing clit.

With a desperate sound, he leaves my clean nipple tingling and switches to the other. I whine once more, pumping my hips into his rhythm, already so close to the edge that it’s embarrassing.

“Zane!” I squirm against him, frantic need building in my middle. “I—I⁠—”

I want his knot, but I can’t bring myself to ask for it. No one’s ever knotted me outside of my heat because no one has ever wanted to. Besides, am I really going to ask an alpha this beautiful if he wants to be locked inside of me for an hour? Or two…?

When I can’t finish my request, he pulls off my nipple and slants his glittering gaze up at me. Whatever look I have on my face turns his perfect, rolling thrusts into shallow flexes of his hips.

The hand holding my tits floats up to my cheek. He frowns. “What is it, shona? Too much?”

I shake my head, swallowing the urge to cry.

He’s just so perfect. Sweet and sensitive and fun. And look at him! What the heck is he doing with me?

Watching him straighten doesn’t help. It just offers me a glimpse of his full glory.

The muscles stacked over his quads, the ladder of his abdominals, all the cut lines of his sides, and the grooves carved over his groin. Not to mention the thick, solid weight expanding at the base of his shaft, spreading my pussy lips wide.

I want it, I want it, I want it.

“Mm,” he murmurs, automatically pistoning into me with more purpose while we both watch. “You want my knot, gorgeous? Right here?”

The shrill whine that shatters out of me is almost as desperate as the way my body closes down on his. Zane’s head falls back on a pant.

“You do,” he growls, thrusting faster. “I can feel it. Fuck. Tell me, baby. Tell me you want my knot.”

My words get choked by a scream when he changes angles, grinding the base of that full, perfect swell into the clutch of my opening. I shake and buck, fighting to get closer, but I can’t overcome the deep-seated fear that asking out loud will elicit a “no.”

It always has. And if this alpha turned me down… I just don’t think my heart could take it.

Zane lifts his head to look at me, his brows creasing as he slows again. “Emma,” he murmurs, much softer. “Hey, come here.”

Within seconds, he has me off my elbows and in his arms, the length of his torso pressed into mine as he kisses my face and purrs. The vibration smears the icing between his smooth chest and mine, but he doesn’t seem to notice, scent-marking my forehead with a gentle hum.

“You feel so good,” he whispers. “Perfect, shona. I want to knot you and stay inside you all afternoon. Is that okay?”

I still can’t say anything, but I nod as hard as I can without head-butting him.

Well, without head-butting him much…

“Goddamn it,” Zane breathes, grinning as his gaze sinks into mine. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I know I’ll do anything to keep you.”

His words unlock mine. The tears gathered at the corners of my eyes spill over. I ignore them, smiling back and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Knot me, Alpha? Please?”

Zane’s fingers weave into the hair at the nape of my neck while his other hand drops to my hip. He holds me steady, keeping our eyes locked as he pushes the thick swell of hot flesh past the opening of my pussy.

Never having taken a knot outside of a heat haze, I brace for pain or pleasure or maybe something in the middle.

I’m not at all prepared for the whole world to end in a flash of glittering white.

That’s how it feels, though. He shoves that wide warmth inside of me and it pops right against a thousand different nerves I didn’t know I had. They all sing and shriek and snap, spasming around his smooth width in slick ripples.

“Fuck, Emma. Yes. Just like that. I’m going to come so damn hard in this sweet pussy. I want to last longer, but you feel so good. You want it, baby? You want my cum in you? Fuuuuuck, squeeze me. Just. Like. That.”

I shatter before I can even catch my breath, screeching out a moan while Zane curses again, rolling his hips into mine even though we’re already locked together.

The tiny tugs send one climax cascading directly into another. He fumbles to get his hand between our bodies, stroking the top of my clit until I collapse into a third and take him with me.

His groan reverberates through my bones as his teeth find my shoulder, nearly breaking my skin. His knot explodes, hot washes of cum glaze the deepest parts of my pussy. I feel myself release again, squirting slick until my vision blurs.

When I blink my eyes open again, we’re on the floor. Zane sits directly on the cold tile, but he has my legs wrapped around the small of his back and a nearby apron dropped over my body. A slow, soothing purr rumbles behind his decorated chest.

For a long moment, I’m embarrassed. But then I feel him nudge my temple with his forehead and see his soft smile.

“There you are,” he murmurs. “I was sure you passed out on purpose to avoid me after that disastrous performance.”

He’s too sweet to be referring to me. And when he gestures at the mess he made of both our bodies—not to mention the countertop—chagrin fills the lines of his features.

He shakes his head, cringing. “I swear, I’m usually much smoother than that.”

A giggle snags in my throat. “Well I’m never smooth, so.”

It’s impossible to feel anything apart from joy when Zane grins so widely. “You’re the sexiest, sweetest woman in the world. No smoothness needed.”

He nuzzles my nose as my eyes wander to the sprinkles scattered across the floor. Oops.

“Don’t worry about it,” the alpha shrugs. “I’ll tell Knox it was my fault. I’ve never made Christmas cookies before—there was bound to be some sort of mess.”

My fingers find the silky black hair at his nape, combing through it. I think back over all of his Knotty Chef videos, recalling the hundreds of dishes he’s perfected. A furrow creases my brow. “You’ve really never baked Christmas cookies before?”

He sighs, slumping into the cabinets. “Nope. I was an only child from a single-parent household with a workaholic dad. The holidays were pretty bleak.”

Snuggling closer, I breathe the toasted edge of his scent and note the unfocused way he stares at the oven, remembering. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Did it ever get any better?”

Zane scoffs lightly. “Nah. I tried to get his approval and his attention for a long time. Eventually, I accepted that I’d never be what he wanted me to be and started cooking. He thought being a chef was a bogus career; once he found out about the uh, style of my videos, he cut off all contact. I haven’t heard from him in years.”

My pitiful omega purr starts up, shaking the tears at the corners of my eyes loose. “Zane,” I whisper, touching the perfect planes of his face. “I’m so sorry.”

Pain flashes through his answering smile while sadness dulls his dark eyes. “It is what it is. But I’m here now, with you. Any chance you have a kick-ass family I could get in on, gorgeous?”

I nod, emphatic. “Oh yeah. My family is very big on holidays.”

Zane smirks at my discarded googley-eyed snowman socks. “I never would have guessed.”

When I laugh, it tightens the way our bodies are locked together. I gasp and Zane groans, the ragged sound rolling into a purr that draws my face to his chest. He cuddles me into the vibrating rumble, kissing the top of my head.

I close my eyes, thinking back over all the holidays I’ve celebrated with my parents and siblings. It looks like this year will be different—and part of me will definitely miss some of our traditions. Like Mom’s famous roast beef and Theo’s absolutely atrocious gift-wrapping. Lucy’s off-key singing voice. My dads fighting over who gets to kiss my mother’s first kiss under the mistletoe.

Nuzzling closer, I offer, “There are some traditions I can teach you while we’re here. Just in case…”

In case you’re still with me next year.

Zane envelopes me in a hug, banishing any hint of doubt as he husks back, “I would love that, shona.”

I tip my chin up, catching his gaze. “What does that mean? Shona?”

He truly is the most beautiful man alive, especially with that soft smile curving his lips. “It’s Hindi,” he replies. “The literal translation is ‘gold,’ but it can mean different things. ‘Precious.’ Or sometimes, ‘treasure.’”

I already feel like I may swoon back into unconsciousness—then he bends to scent-mark my forehead with his. Tingles skitter over my skin, my core clamping around his knot.

Zane only smiles wider, radiating pure contentment as his eyes fall shut. “The name seemed fitting,” he adds, “for the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”