"This is affecting you too," I realized now what he must’ve been going through as well.
"Your scent is..." He closed his eyes, jaw working. "It's taking everything I have not to..”.
"Not to what?"
Knox’s eyes snapped open, and I could see how black they gone."Not to give you what your body is screaming for. Not to claim you right here on this couch. To fuck your brains out.”
Heat flooded through me at his words, so intense I gasped. My body was producing more slick, preparing itself, and the shame and need were at war inside me.
"I can't," I whispered. "Knox, I can't."
"I know." He pressed another cold cloth to my neck. "I'm not going to do anything you don't explicitly ask for. But Harper, you need to know, this is going to get worse."
"How could it get worse?"
"The fever will spike. The pain will intensify. Your body will start shutting down if it doesn't get what it needs." His thumb stroked my wrist where he was holding the ice pack. "I can help without... without going all the way. There are ways…"
"No." But even as I said it, another cramp hit so hard I doubled over. "Oh God!"
Knox caught me again, pulling me into his lap. I should have protested, should have pushed away, but his presence was the only thing keeping me sane. His scent wrapped around me, and for just a moment, the pain eased.
"Your body is recognizing me," he said quietly. "That's why it's hitting so hard. You're compatible with me on a biological level most Omegas and Alphas never achieve."
"True mates," I whispered. "That's just a myth."
"Is it?" He looked down at me, and the raw need in his eyes matched what I was feeling. "Because I've never wanted anyone the way I want you. Never felt like I'd die if I couldn't touch someone."
I was shaking now, my whole body trembling with need and fever and the effort of fighting against what every cell was screaming for.
"Knox..."
"Tell me what you need," he said. "Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just tell me."
Chapter 8
Knox
She whimpered my name in her sleep, and I once again felt my dick get so hard, I could carve my name in concrete with it.
For three long hours, I’d set holding her while her fever rage.
Occasionally, I'd pressed ice to her burning skin, to her that everything was going to be alright, even though I was so sure.
With every little whisper, Harper etched herself into my mind and skin.
Then she said my name. It wasn’t in some angry sounding way but a soft tone.
A needy tone.
"Harper." The way her name had slipped out of my own mouth was one of need and want.
Her eyes fluttered open, glassy with heat fever. "Knox?"
"I can't watch you suffer to much longer, Doc" I swallowed hard, my whole body shaking.
"I'm okay," she lied, even as another wave hit and she arched against me.
"You're not. You're dying by degrees and I'm just sitting here letting it fucking happen." I shifted her in my lap, and we bothgroaned at the contact. "Your body knows what it needs. It's screaming for it."
