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The crease between her brows smooths away almost as fast as it appears, but I know she doesn’t believe me. That’s fine. I don’t need words to prove I’m right.

A quick readjustment has me palming her thick ass, hips lifted so I can lick her clit and fuck her on my other hand at the same time. Daphne fucking loses it, whining and thrashing, begging for more like she can’t bear to stop.

This is the chaos of an omega’s heat. Desperation. Lust. Borderline insanity. It’s as terrifying as it is beautiful to see Daphne so utterly vulnerable beneath her body’s needs. Lost to the world.

Lost to me.

Hands on my body while I sleep, too exhausted to care.

My fingers dig into Daphne’s skin, keeping me in the present.

I’m not back there. I’m in the nest with the sweet omega who deflowered my best friend in a public setting.

I use Daphne’s scent and taste to reinforce every word, pulling me into the present and an entirely different set of problems.

“Connor. Bite. Bond.” She chants it over and over, circling in my head

Connor. Bite. Bond. Connor. Bite. Bond.

Her whines get worse, hands digging into my hair as she rolls her hips along my tongue and I’m ready to burst out of my skin. It’s not natural for an alpha to ignore an omega’s pleas, but we’ve known this woman for less than two hours. We cannot bond her. That doesn’t mean we leave her wanting, though. I wentmy entire marriage without bonding Shelby. I’ve learned a few tricks.

My teeth sink deep into Daph’s thigh, just shy of too far. Thank fuck for whoever invented teeth caps.

At first, the almost-bite works. She comes on my fingers, my tongue, my face. Slick drips down my hand and onto the sheets below us. She’s breathless and sweaty, happy until she realizes I didn’t actually mark her.

“No, no, no. Please, no more teeth caps. Not again.”

Again?

“Daph?”

She doesn’t hear me. Her eyes are clouded, scent souring. I hate the way it permeates the nest and the worry that overtakes me. A feral omega is an entirely different beast in heat. As much as I’m trying, I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

She grabs for me, sobbing. “Bite!”

Damn it.

I crawl up her body and drop, caging her under my full weight because that’s what her system demands. “Not yet, angel.”

Desperation to get closer, to claw her way under my skin and stay there is clear on her tear-stricken face. I nip her neck, suck bruises on her throat, give her everything but the bond I know she wants. The rejection sensitivity threshold becomes almost nonexistent for omegas in heat. I didn’t think about it, but being scent-sympathetic to the whole pack may make everything harder. We could struggle with this until her cycle breaks.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Everything’s fine. Redirect her attention.

Since she just had Dez’s knot, she can take some teasing now. I roll my hips between her thighs, catching her clit and making her spine bow. Teasing without actually entering.

Over and over, I taunt her with my cock, only to pull it away. Soon, Daphne’s sobbing for a whole new reason. “More, please.”

“Are you going to listen?” I ask.

Daph nods. “Yes, just…inside. Please, I can’t take it.”

Her scent’s sweetened up again, but my worry remains. What pushes an omega to bond an unknown alpha? Why would she have a breakdown at the sight of teeth caps?

Not your problem, I tell myself. Not sure I believe it, though.

I’m covered in slick, and I want to rub it into my skin. Embed her scent into my very being.You know what? Fuck it.Maybe having it all over will help her without a bite.