The rumble of his laughter moved through me, and I let myself settle and drift, nearly drowsy. “I didn’t know that about you, from dinner. I’d planned on asking, but I didn’t know.”

When it was Avery’s turn to speak about himself, he revealed his upbringing wasn’t all sunshine and roses. He started out in foster care and bounced around, saw some terrible shit before he landed with his parents and they adopted him and changed his life. They let him pursue his passion for painting, and the rest was history once he met Ben and Rylan.

“I want to meet your parents,” I said. “They sound nice.”

“They are, and I promise they’ll love you.”

“Have you told them about me?” I instantly regretted the question, because I wasn’t sure which answer I wanted.

He tilted my face up to his and kissed me, deepening it slowly, bearing me back onto the cushions and weighing me down with his body. My Alpha teddy bear was also a weighted blanket. I could get used to this.

“I didn’t, because I didn’t want them to celebrate early. But they know now.” He was grinning. “Your picture with Ben took care of that.”

“Oh my god, I’m sorry.”

Avery looked at me in that way he had, stripping everything back to the core. “Did I say I was upset about it?”

“No.”

“I’m not. And you should know we are getting a copy of that photo printed for the house. It was shitty the way it happened, but it’s hot as fuck.”

I flushed red. “We can’t just have that where everyone can see it.”

“Everyone’s already seen it, baby girl. Not much you can do about it.”

“Fair point.”

The way he was lying on me, his arousal was clear, but his movements were still slow and deliberate, peppering me with kisses and dragging his hands down my skin. “When I ask this Esme, I expect an honest answer.”

“Uh-oh.”

He smiled. “Are you too sore from last night? If you are, I have no problem making this a night of cuddles and different kinds of pleasure.”

“I’m not,” I said. “Honestly. That’s not what’s sore.”

“Oh really?” A hand drifted down my stomach, fingers slipping beneath the elastic of my underwear. “Spread your legs, baby girl.”

I shuddered. His commands weren’t any less powerful than Kade’s or Luke’s, but they hit differently with their sweetness. Obedience wasn’t a question. I parted my thighs and let him between them.

“I think you need some soft and slow.”

I whined, arching into his hand. “What does that mean?”