Page 271

Oh fuck, I was going into heat.

I’d been through this a few times, when I got close to someone, when my beast pricked up her ears and started seeing mate potential. It was my clue to get the fuck out of town, my mum having hammered the knowledge into my head from a young age.

This was why I’d been so damn clammy since Shaun arrived, and so bloody responsive.

My Tirian saw his pretty and just wanted to sink her fangs into him.

We’d gone to bed after the shower, tangling our limbs in each other’s, and engaged in a long, slow, sensual fuck, him staring into my eyes as I felt every flex of his hips deep inside me.

“I’ve never…” he said, looking somewhat stunned. “This has never…”

“Shh…” I’d said, reaching over and covering his mouth with mine.

I couldn’t take it, the soul deep stare, the intensity there.

I couldn’t deal with his words or his thoughts right now if I was to keep my cool, forcing myself to just focus on this, the way our bodies moved together.

I wanted to speed things up, bring us both off to a stunning climax, and then run the fuck away.

But of course, I didn’t.

Heats came on slowly for me. One minute, I was fucking someone, then the next, it had turned into an all-nighter marathon where we broke the bed and I was lit on fire. Nothing mattered but him, me, all the pleasure, all the feelings we could wring from each other. All I wanted was more, more, more.

Which was half the reason why I lived out here in the middle of nowhere.

No one came out here. Charles was my best bud.

There was literally no one for me to fixate on, so I’d thought I was safe.

But as Shaun’s strokes grew longer, deeper, faster, as he stared into my eyes, not letting me retreat back in my head, as he forced me to be fucking present for every single thrust, I felt like I’d reached the end of the road and somehow, that was a relief.

I stared back, feeling it, all of it, all the confusing instincts and needs and wants I’d kept stuffed down, daring him to see it, warts and all, and look away.

But he didn’t, did he? He saw it, saw me, and didn’t look away for a second.

Not when his hips and mine stilled, not when I clasped him tight, not when he jetted his release inside me, our gasps mingling.

Instead, it was me that was forced to look down, to prise our bodies apart, the distance feeling weird and unnatural right now.

I busied myself with cleaning up, anything other than having to face that bright green gaze.

When I did look up, he drew me into his arms, wrapping his body around mine, as he pulled us under the covers until there was only darkness and him.

I didn’t wake for some time, sleep reaching up and yanking me down into unconsciousness all too soon, but I burned, twisting and turning under the blankets, them and the feel of his body too heavy, too hot against mine.

My pillow felt damp and clammy against my sizzling skin, my fingers and hands searching for him.

When his mouth descended, when I felt his kisses leaving an even hotter trail, when he pulled me tight, then hissed at the feel of my skin, none of it helped.

I needed more.

“Holy shit,” I dimly heard him swear, “you’re going into heat!”

Then I was moved, held standing under a torrent of cool water until I was shivering, yet still, I burned.

“Just sit here for a sec,” a comforting voice said, laying me down on the cold, wet tile. “I’ve gotta make some calls.”

I didn’t like that, the separation, my hands reaching out weakly, but there was nothing to hold. There never was. I slumped down on the floor of the shower, letting the ice-cold water slide over me, and when I cried, my tears were washed away down the drain with everything else.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, how long I’d been crying, but when the water turned off, he swept in. I was hauled up into strong arms, held close against a rigid chest.

“It’s OK. I’m gonna get you some help. Just hang on.”

I wasn’t sure what ‘hang on’ meant, but it was accompanied by a lot of jostling, being carried somewhere until I was laid down in a dark place that smelled of Shaun. I writhed against the soft blankets, the feel of them not enough to satisfy the fire burning under my skin.

“Y’there, Ophelia? I’m gonna floor it home, should be there in a few hours, and I’ve got company.”

“Company?” an aristocratic female voice said down the line.

“An outsider. Didn’t know what she was until we… She’s going into her first heat.”

“Then you need to bring her to us. Drive safely.”

I was on fire. Every nerve ending, every muscle, every inch of my skin burned.

I’d been through heats before, enjoyed the heightened sex drive and responsiveness, but it was nothing like this.

I was caught in a timeless place of pain and need.

I knew what I needed. I could feel it deep inside, if I could just get it.

My fingers snagged on the blankets, my limbs seeming to only tangle me further.

“It’s OK,” he said as a whine escaped my lips. I was trying so hard, but I felt like I was sinking into quicksand. “We’re nearly there, nearly where the help is.”

But that’s not it , I thought as I was sucked down into senselessness. I needed him.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” someone said as icy, icy water sluiced over my skin. “Fuck, Sen, help me out here!” he barked. Who the hell was Sen? Something twisted inside me as I smelt something dark and spicy, my fingers reaching weakly for the source.

“You’ve got this, mate,” a deep voice said. “I don’t know her, haven’t got her permission to jump into a shower with her, and besides, I can’t go back to Flick stinking of another woman. I’m ringing Ophelia to find out what’s keeping her.”

“You sure?” I twisted, hearing that familiar masculine voice so near, feeling it vibrate through every cell in my body. That, I needed to get closer to that.

“I’ve never seen a woman go through a heat like this, and if this is her first? The matriarchs need to get involved, you know that. Did you service her?”

“Service? We made… We had sex. It was fucking amazing. Hottest I’ve ever had.”

“Yes…” I panted, over and over. Sex, that word galvanised me.

I moved shakily across the tiled floor, but it felt too hard, too cold, and too slippery.

My hands found it difficult to grip, slipping only for hands to swoop in and stop me from smashing my head down on the hard floor.

“Yes…yes…!” I kept moaning as I was swept up, plastered against hot flesh covered in wet clothing.

“Then you don’t need me,” the other man said. “I don’t have her consent. I can’t get it right now, and to be blunt, I don’t want it. She’s beautiful, this girl, and she’s pumping out enough pheromones to make a statue hard, but she’s not for me.”

“And how do I know if she’s for me?”

I turned slowly, oh so slowly, my fingers going to claws as I tried to reach for him, his scent crisp and clean and flooding my nostrils, flooding me.

I was so wet and swollen and needy, but he wasn’t giving me what I wanted so much.

I finally got purchase on his shirt, using it to lever myself up until I could feel his breath on my face.

It came fast, rapid little pants that reflected my own heart rate, the hands holding me tightening, trying to keep me from doing what I must. I sought him blindly, my lips grazing across his stubble before he took pity on me and took my mouth with his.

A long, muffled groan escaped me as I took everything he gave and more.

I could get lost in this, something inside me twisting tighter and tighter, until it began to ache with a low throb.

Lost in his taste, in the feel of his mouth on mine, hands sliding up my back, tangling in my wet seaweed hair.

“More…” I gasped out when he pulled back. “More.”

“That’s how you know,” the other man replied. “You don’t need me, you just think you do, but Flick, she does. Don’t let your fear get in the way, Shaun, because I’m done doing that myself.”

I heard the door close, listened to Shaun’s heartbeat and the hiss of the shower before he rasped out, “Fuck it.” That was a signal of sorts, hands and fingers raking over my skin, sending a sharp thrill through my body that only deepened when he pulled me close.

“You smell so fucking good, feel so fucking good. I need to lick every damn inch of you, memorise your feel, your taste. I need?—”

A sharp knock on the door stopped it, stopped cold the deluge of heat that I needed so much.

“Shaun, it’s Ophelia. Can I come in?”

No, no, that wasn’t what I wanted at all. I squirmed and made inarticulate noises of discomfort, which made the arms that held me wrap tight, holding me still.

“Yep,” Shaun replied, his tone sharp. “I’ve just got her in the shower because…”

I heard the door creak open, footsteps on the tiles before I turned, opening my eyes a crack. And there she stood, tall, straight, a long ponytail of iron grey hair pulled back tight, a cool, calm gaze meeting mine.

“Hello, Bec,” she said, crouching down low, so as to be at eye level. “My name is Ophelia, and this is my town, Sanctuary. Shaun’s going to turn off the shower now, dry you off, and give you something to wear, then we’ll have a little talk.”

It was as if someone dropped me in a pool of ice water, my mind, my focus, my awareness all coming abruptly online. I blinked, taking in the strange bathroom, a very pale-looking Shaun, and the strange woman standing in the doorway, and just nodded, not trusting myself to speak.