“Oh wow.” I’d never asked any of this, and it was good to know how they’d found each other. “What about Luke?”

“Another chance meeting. When we started Nautilus, years ago now, before we had the house or the current studio and we were a hole in the wall on the other side of town, we knew we needed a traditional specialist. So we put out a call and set up tests. Luke wasn’t even on the schedule. He’d heard about it and walked in. The rest was history. We grew together, the studio grew, we all got better, and now we’re here.”

I bunched my fingers in his t-shirt. “I’m sure that’s a huge simplification.”

“It is. But the rest isn’t that interesting. We worked our asses off to get where we are and have the freedom to do what we want with our careers. Including spoiling an Omega.”

They were spoiling me, and I loved every second.

“I will tell you, though, when we were naming the studio, we had to overrule Avery. He wanted to spell Nautilus with a K.”

“What? Oh my god. Knot-ilus.” I laughed. “That’s funny.”

“It is. We just wanted to be taken more seriously than that.”

Breathing him in, I couldn’t help turning my nose into his shirt and getting a more direct hit of his scent. “Why the name?”

“Nautilus? It has some nice symbolism. The perfect precision and geometry, the way it wastes nothing in its growth but also continues to grow no matter what. Some people consider it a symbol of perfection and beauty, too.”

What a lovely thought. To grow with nothing wasted. I hoped it would be me. Or me and them together.

Sliding down, I laid my head in Rylan’s lap, thoroughly enjoying the way he ran his fingers through my hair. Long, luxurious strokes which had me relaxing, and nearly falling asleep surrounded by the scent of summer. Shades of freshly cut grass, lemonade, and strawberry jam.

My mouth watered. God, why was my entire pack so edible? I made a mental note to ask Eva how she felt about that. The craving was so sudden and so strong, I needed it. Right this second. I wanted the taste of him, and I wasn’t going to be able to breathe until I did.

Turning, I grabbed the waistband of his sweats and yanked. “Down.”

“Es, you don’t—”

“I swear to God, Rylan, if I don’t taste you this second I’m going to combust.”

He lifted his hips, letting me slide the sweats down his legs. His cock sprung free, hardening already, and I dropped my mouth onto him. Pleasure spun through me along with cold, sharp relief.

My Omega soothed at the taste of him and the feeling of his skin. I didn’t question the impulse—fighting my Omega had only caused me trouble.