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“Oh, this is bad,” Jensen muttered.

“No shit!” I snarled, reaching for another projectile, but was stopped by Gideon lightly grabbing me and pulling me toward him. He likely intended for me to just go near him, but as soon as I was in his vicinity, my omega took over, and I launched myself at his chest, burying my face in his neck, inhaling lungfuls of that delicious scent.

“Fuck, you smell good,” I groaned, pressing myself against him. Old paper and blackcurrant. Fresh but musty. It was a paradox, but I fucking loved it. I wanted to lick his neck, to see if his skin tasted like he smelled.

He clearly didn’t mind, seeing as his cock was pressed firmly against me, and he was excited.

A growl rumbled in Gideon’s chest as he turned to Jensen. “Go make sure Joey is okay, and call Cullen. He needs to get homerightnow.” He barked the order in that bossy voice that made me melt.

I liked the sound of that. I liked it a lot.

Chapter 20

Gideon

There was no doubt that Bethany was rapidly going into heat. When she opened the bathroom door, the smell of slick and arousal hit me in the face so strongly, I was amazed I managed to keep control of myself.

The fact she was calling herself a chore also probably had something to do with my restraint. The idea that Bethany could consider herself a task to be done was baffling. How did she fail to see herself clearly?

As Jensen disappeared down the hallway to check on our daughter, I wrapped my arm around Bethany’s waist and dragged her in the opposite direction.

To my bedroom.

I could have taken her to any of the rooms in the house for a little privacy, but my alpha was in control of that decision. With her smelling as good as she did, I needed her in my space. I wanted her scent in my room. Was it the responsible thing to do? No, but I still did it. It was hard to maintain any semblance of control when I had Bethany throwing herself at me, smelling like pure sex.

“Bethany?” I pulled back to look her in the eye, but she was determined to stay glued to me.

Fuck.

Every curve of her body was amazing, pressed up against me.

I wanted to run my hands over her, to touch every inch.

Usually I had the answers. I was a levelheaded alpha, and I trusted my gut. Only, I had no idea what to do in this situation. Was Bethany lucid enough to consent? According to Joey, they’d been having a conversation only minutes earlier, which would insinuate that she wasn’t too lost in the heat haze yet, but judging by the smell, she was barreling straight into a deep heat.

It wasn’t unheard of for a heat to come on suddenly without any warning, especially in a situation like Bethany’s, when she’d never had a heat before.

“Bethany, we need to discuss this,” I said, my voice firm.

She shook her head, plastering her face against my neck. Part of me considered locking her in a room and leaving her to ride it out, but that would just be cruel. Omegas could go through their heat solo if they were medicated and had been through a few before, but if it wasn’t treated carefully, an omega going through a heat alone would end up with a host of health issues.

An adorable growl escaped Bethany, and she spoke, her face still pressed against my neck. “Is this sensible? No, I am aware enough to know that. But my fucking god, this hurts, Gideon, and you have the ability to make it stop. If you don’t want to knot me, just leave me alone. But don’t stay here and torture me.”

Her voice broke at the end, and with it, my last thread of resolve was destroyed.

We were in this now.

There was no way I could let her suffer.

My hands tangled in her blonde mane of hair, tugging her face away from my neck so we were nose to nose.

Her breath smelled just like her—sweet, crisp apple.

Our lips crashed together in a frenzied movement. I wanted to take my time with Bethany, but she clearly had other ideas as she wrapped her legs around my waist, pressing her denim-covered pussy against my length.

“Please, don’t go slow,” she whined against my lips.

I didn’t want slow. I wanted fast, hard. Control was something I craved, but it wasn’t the time. Bethany wasn’t used to being in heat, so she needed to be treated gently.