Page 17
Story: Mask and the Magnolia (Fiends and Floras Omegaverse #1)
Evie gets what I need and she hooks me up to the IV that essentially guarantees I don’t feel a thing and just sleep for a week when the time comes. She stays with me through all of it, too. Just to be safe. Benefits of having a best friend who is going to be a doctor, I suppose.
I always offer to do the same for her but Evie used one of those services several years ago that places an omega with an alpha strictly for when they go into heat and she’s never looked back.
She says the medication to get us through makes her sick, which is true, and it works better for her schedule to be able to plan things that way, but I know that’s not all of it.
Evie doesn’t date and has a schedule more regimented than most, so that service is the only way she can make time to get laid and I’m convinced it’s how she’s trying to find her way out of her own contract.
She might not be shackled to a bastard like her brother, but her dad holds the power to choose when he thinks it’s time for her to settle down, and Eve is secretly hoping she’ll find her scent match before that happens. So, heat service it is for her.
And despite having my cycle on her calendar right along with her own, I know Evie would never have told Camden something like that. She hates her brother as much if not more than I do and I know she’d never do that to me.
Which makes it even more unsettling to think Camden has acquired the schedule of my heat cycle. That definitely cannot be good.
“Not quite.” I clear my throat and lift my purse higher on my shoulder. “I still have a while.”
Bracing myself for impact, I hold my breath as he leans in and kisses my cheek like always but when he grabs my biceps and holds tight as his mouth moves by my ear,
I start to panic.
“I’ve restricted Evelyn’s access to Cynalhexin,” he whispers, his nails biting into my bare arms as he goes upright.
Camden maintains that phony smile while speaking quietly but I swear I see the devil in his eyes.
“I should have done it sooner, immediately after Byron announced our engagement and while I can’t change my lapse in judgement, I’ve corrected it moving forward.
” He tugs me closer, his grip so tight I can tell it’s going to bruise then leans down until his lips are almost touching mine.
“The next time you go into heat, it’ll be in my bed, or you suffer. ”
Then he’s kissing me.
Camden Blackhurst is kissing me for the first time ever, he’s doing it in public, and I can’t stop him. Not without getting myself into a lot of trouble.
His tongue pushes against my lips, trying almost in vain to part them where they’re pressed firmly together, and I manage to hold him off for a few moments. Right up until his fingers curl against my arms, his nails biting into my flesh hard enough to draw blood, and I gasp.
Camden pulls me flush against him, using my reaction to force his way into my mouth, nearly shoving his tongue down my throat while I stand there frozen.
Sloppy, wet, open mouth. Aggressive and angry.
He kisses me like he both has no idea what he’s doing, and as if he’s taking something that belongs to him. Something he’s owed. Something he will never give up no matter what it takes.
In the back of my mind, I know that’s exactly what this is, too.
Camden’s entitlement has reached a new level, one where I’m no longer safe with this man, and the idea of him taking what he thinks he has a right to regardless of how he gets it is terrifying.
My heart is hammering away in my chest, my stomach churning as his hands move to my face, cupping my cheeks hard as he tilts my head to get a better angle and just when I’m convinced I’m going to throw up in his mouth from how awful he tastes, my phone goes off in my purse.
“I should get that,” I choke out as I break the worst kiss of my life. “It could be my dad.”
Camden nods, his eyes burning into mine before he watches me put space between us and start digging. “Wouldn’t want to keep Byron waiting.”
It’s not my father.
He doesn’t contact me unless he absolutely has to and since Dr. Lowe is essentially mandated to report back to him at the end of every work day, there’s no reason for him to call me.
It’s not like we chat just for the hell of it.
DR. LOWE: Meeting is running over. Inventory discrepancies. Dr. Ridgeway is concerned.
Shit.
That’s not exactly what I wanted to see, either, but it’s better than Dean Reynolds lighting up my screen.
“Everything okay, Magnolia?”
I nod absently and force myself to smile. “Just reminding me about a meeting. I’ll talk to you later.”
My nose and throat sting as I turn away, my eyes welling with tears I absolutely cannot shed.
I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before.
It might have only been a kiss, but no one has ever taken what I never offered, never, and not only is that exactly what just took place, it was initiated by one of the worst humans I’ve ever met.
It’s really fucking scary.
And that’s coming from someone who spends most of her time with bonafide murderers.
If Camden didn’t think twice about that, there’s no telling what else he’ll try to do because he thinks he can.
DR. LOWE: I’m not sure how long I’m going to be. You can go ahead and get started in the common room if you like, or you can wait for me. It’s up to you, but I doubt Nurse Ratchet is going to let any of the residents roam free without us for very long if she can help it.
I smile despite the lone tear that manages to escape as I turn away from Camden, mumbling a quick goodbye while I rush out of the restaurant.
Isaak has started referring to Nurse Hubbard that way recently and I can’t really argue with it.
I wouldn’t anyway, that woman is awful, so the nickname is pretty spot on.
Plus, it’s a nice little insight into a side of my mentor I rarely see.
ME: I’ll get in and settled, then help in the common rooms. Do you know who’s out?
DR. LOWE: Unsure. O’Brien was going to see who was willing and best behaved before they let anyone start working.
ME: So, definitely not the Rooker boys.
DR. LOWE: No, I imagine they’re still on the guard’s shit list.
The only reason Bishop and Lochlan made that list was because they were busted having sex and instead of stopping like most people would once caught, they finished.
All over O’Brien. Who had to separate them then walk through Ward C covered in alpha jizz.
Something nearly all the staff give him hell for now.
I don’t expect those two to come off the shit list any time soon.
Aside from that, they’ve been well behaved. All of them have been.
It’s impressive to see what kind of response you get from someone once you start treating them like human beings and not the feral animals most think they are.
I pull my sweater closed as I push through the revolving door out onto the sidewalk, stopping to take a deep cleansing breath in order to hold myself together.
DR. LOWE: I sent Hawthorne back to bed after morning medications. He still doesn’t seem to be feeling well.
I frown as I swipe at a few more tears then start toward the shuttle stop.
That’s been going on for a while now, and I really don’t like it.
Neither does Isaak.
Honestly, both of us have been a little too concerned over Desmond’s mysterious illness and the longer it goes on, the closer we are to doing a complete overhaul of his diagnosis and medications just to find a starting point.
DR. LOWE: How was breakfast?
A small smile tugs at my lips despite the fact that I’m on the verge crying.
Isaak’s tone came through loud and clear in that text, and I can’t help but be a little flattered by it.
Every time Camden comes up in any way, the good doctor’s entire demeanor changes, whether he would ever admit it or not. Which is a boost to my very bruised and defeated ego.
In the beginning, I assumed the attraction was one sided because that’s how it felt.
He wouldn’t talk about anything personal, wouldn’t entertain the idea of even a working lunch or dinner. Isaak would put space between us as often as possible, and there was a short stretch where he wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
That has all started to change and while I know it’s pointless, it’s kind of nice to know he’s most likely awkward because he’s attracted to me. We’ve become friends, though, and I’ll take that for now.
I’m sure it won’t last thanks to Camden.
With a sigh, I send Isaak a short response and calm down long enough to catch the right shuttle to the asylum but as soon as I’m seated and heading that way, I lose what little composure I had.
I don’t know how much longer I can do this.
It was one thing when it was just my parents and their bullshit. Having them hate me was so normal for me that I didn’t have to worry about anything other than getting away from them. My father is intimidating, he’s always had me on a leash, but I thought I’d be able to get away one day.
So, I kept looking for a loophole, for something in that goddamn contract that would allow me to do just that, but then Byron dropped a bomb on me in the form of Camden Blackhurst.
I think I’ve hated him my entire life and when I was told he was going to be my mate, I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a sick joke.
I should have known better.
Especially when I finally saw the entire physical contract with every detail I’ve had thrown in my face spelled out for me.
But that’s what it took for me to start fighting back. Quietly and behind the scenes. I began scouring that contract for a way out, one I thought I found when I was accepted into the program at the asylum.
I was strong in my resolve, determined to do what I had to do, but the more time that goes by, the less hopeful I feel. Right now, I feel fucking hopeless.
Hopeless and scared.
I’m not sure I can keep fighting.
It doesn’t feel like I have reason to.
Table of Contents
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- Page 17 (Reading here)
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