Page 6

ANGELL

C ambry slept in my arms all night until the orange light of dawn peeked through the window and I quietly got up and tiptoed back to my room.

I knew the schedule of the house dads backward and forward. I could slip by them like a whisper on the wind and they never knew I was out of my bed.

When I got back to my room, I sat on my bed for a while wishing I could have talked more with Cambry.

Something had happened. He said he was fine and everything went well, but no one serviced Alphas in the Burn for a single afternoon.

Not ever. They usually spent at least one night with their Alpha partner before returning back to their room.

I wanted so badly to hold his hand and feel what he was feeling, sign him my gentle questions and listen to his responses.

I wanted to tell him of the odd dream I'd had while he was gone.

How he had appeared to me in my mind clear as if he was right in front of me, calling my name in the throes of passion.

Was it a dream? I was drowning in pleasure, as if his weight was on me and he was slowly moving against my body, his heat my heat, a fever between us drawing us to each other until we were one.

Omegas did not experience the Burn like Alphas did. But we were taught that our bodies responded to Alphas as if the Burn was contagious. We would feel it in our bodies, and if we were truly compatible with our Alpha partner, our minds would flame, as well.

Yesterday afternoon, I had awakened in Cambry’s bed burning up all over, radiating heat, slick running down my crack to my thighs. The air in the room embraced me like an inferno. For a moment, Cambry was there with me.

I heard him. I knew I did. He called my name.

Maybe I had just missed him that much. Maybe I was jealous. Thinking of him with another man left me bereft. But I knew it was his duty, and we’d discussed it. Servicing Alphas was just a job, and the act was nothing like what we had shared and would share in the future.

I checked my clock. I still had time for a shower before breakfast.

Due to the generosity of our new owner, an Alpha named Orion who’d bonded and married one of our own, I now had a tablet and access to e-mail. I shot one off to Cambry.

How are you feeling? I'll be at the 7:00 breakfast. Join me if you get this in time.

I'm anxious to talk. I hope you are too. I had a weird dream while you were gone. I felt you with me in your bed, your scent, your skin pressed soft against mine, arousal. In my mind, you called my name and I wanted to go to you, but I couldn't.

It wasn't an unpleasant dream. Then you came back so soon after leaving just a few hours before for the Mating Hall. I couldn't help but think something went wrong and you don't want to talk yet.

I am here for you whenever you need me. Always.

Love, Angell

I sent the e-mail, and my heart flinched a little. That was odd because I could tell Cambry anything with total trust between us.

We had promised. Nothing could touch us. Our relationship was solid. But something deep inside me already sensed a new barrier. Sudden and inflexible. Like a door slammed. A window quickly shut, the curtains drawn.

Maybe it was my imagination.

We needed to talk.

When I left my room, I went to breakfast as if it was an ordinary day.

Nothing had happened. Other Omegas I worked with chatted and joked, oblivious to the undercurrents of shock and curiosity running through my mind.

My silence was normal to them. A few had learned how to sign some words but mostly, though we didn't communicate much, they accepted me as one of them.

Only Cambry had ever taken the time to learn the entire alphabet for signing.

He was fast and fluent, and it was just one more thing I loved about him so much.

I picked up my eggs and bacon, my heart stirring with every thought of him.

Please be okay my love, I thought. Please.