Page 53 of Daisy

Chapter 16

Daisy

Ican't sleep.

I'm lying here staring at the ceiling, my mind drifting back to the van ride. How we played cards together, how Hawk made me laugh when he called me a natural card shark, how even Dante smiled when I figured out his tells. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere. Like I was just Daisy.

After all of that, I should be exhausted. Should be grateful for this real bed, safety, the soft blanket August must have tucked around me after Hawk carried me inside and I fell back to sleep feeling so safe.

And I am grateful. But something about tonight feels different.

But my body feels restless, like there's electricity humming under my skin. The grey sweater and jeans I'm still wearing from today feel too warm suddenly, clinging to my skin in a way that makes me want to squirm. My pulse seems to flutter faster than normal, and even my scent feels different somehow. Richer. Like something inside me is awakening after years of being locked away.

I need to cool down. A shower. That would help wash away this strange, restless energy and maybe help me find some peace.

I slip out of bed quietly, my bare feet silent on the carpet as I pad toward the small bathroom that connects to our room.

The moment I step inside and close the door, the world shifts.

His scent surrounds me like a warm embrace I never knew I needed. Sandalwood and wild fig, but underneath it something deeper. Something that makes my chest flutter and my knees forget how to be steady.

Hawk was here. Recently.

Understanding crashes over me. He didn't just shower in this space. He touched himself here. The knowledge should embarrass me, should send me running back to bed.

Instead, it does something else entirely.

Warmth pools low in my belly, spreading outward like honey through my veins. My breathing turns shallow, each inhale bringing more of him into my lungs. The scent of his need mixed with his strength fills every corner of this small space, and something inside me responds in a way that's completely foreign.

Something that whispers want in a way I've never felt before.

My underwear grows damp. Not just damp… wet in a way that's never happened before. Slick, my mind supplies from those clinical lessons about omega biology. This is what slick feels like.

I've never slicked before. Ever. The medications kept my body locked down, prevented from responding the way it's meant to. But now, surrounded by his essence, my body is awakening to something I don't understand.

I need to cool down. Get control of myself. A shower will help wash away this strange feeling and clear my head.

I strip quickly, my hands trembling as I turn on the water. The cool spray hits my overheated skin, and for a moment, I think it might work. That I can wash away whatever this is and go back to being normal.

But his scent is everywhere. In the air, clinging to the walls, mixing with the steam now rising around me. And instead of helping, the water sliding over my skin only makes everything more intense.

Twenty minutes later, I give up and turn off the water. My body is humming with need I can't ignore anymore.

I wrap myself in a towel, but it doesn't help. Nothing helps.

This feels different.Stronger. Like my body knows something I don't.

The slick between my thighs pulses with every heartbeat. I shift my legs and gasp at the sensation. I know what Hawk did in here. I can smell it, understand it. But I never knew... no one ever said omegas could do that too. Could touch themselves and find relief.

My hand hovers near the wetness, trembling. I think about the crude things I overheard at Uncle's events. The way those men talked about what they did when they needed relief. Disgusting, predatory alphas who made my skin crawl. But this is different. This is me, and this is Hawk.

When my fingers brush against myself, my knees buckle. I have to grab the wall to stay upright.

Oh.Oh.

I slide down the wall until I'm sitting on the cold tile, my towel falling away. My legs shake as I spread them wider. If alphas can do this, if Hawk did this right here... maybe I can too?

My fingers find the slick again, and this time I'm ready for the bolt of sensation. Not ready for how good it feels. How my whole body seems to light up from that one touch.