"My body doesn't get to make that choice."
"What about your mind?" I cupped her face, forcing her to look at me. "What does Harper want? Not the doctor, not the professional, but you?"
Her breath hitched. "That's not fair."
"None of this is fair. But we're here, and you're in pain, and I…” I stopped, trying to find words that wouldn't scare her. "I need to help you. It's killing me not to help you."
"Why?" The question was barely a whisper.
"Because everything in me recognizes you as mine." The confession tore from my throat. "Since the moment you walked into that training room, my entire existence has narrowed down to you. Your scent, your voice, the way you look at me like I'm dangerous but you're not afraid."
She was trembling now, but not from the fever. "Knox..."
"Tell me you don't feel it too." I pressed my forehead to hers. "Tell me this is just biology, just pheromones, and I'll go back to my room. I'll lock the door and let you suffer through this alone."
"I can't," she breathed. "I can't lie to you."
"Then let me help. Please, Harper. Let me take care of you."
For a long moment, she was silent. Then, so quietly I almost missed it: "Okay."
The word destroyed me and rebuilt me in the same instant. "Are you sure?" I had to ask, had to be certain. "Because once we start.."
"I know." She met my eyes, and beneath the heat fever, I saw clarity. "I know what I'm asking for."
Finally, I carried her to my bedroom because hers smelled too much like pain and fear. Set her on the bed gently, like she might break, even though every instinct screamed at me to claim, take, possess.
"We go slow," I said, more to myself than her. "You're in control. If you need me to stop, I will. No matter how far gone I may be, I’ll stop.”
She pulled me down for a kiss, cutting off my words. The contact was electric, four weeks of tension and want exploding between us. She tasted like vanilla and need, and when she nipped at my bottom lip, I growled.
"I don't want slow," she gasped against my mouth. "I want you to make it stop hurting."
My control, already fragile, cracked further. I kissed down her throat, finding the spot where her scent was strongest. She keened when I sucked at the skin there, her hands fisting in my hair.
"Please," she whimpered. "Knox, please."
I pulled back to look at her. Flushed, trembling, so beautiful it hurt. "This might hurt.”
"I know," she said. "I know what could happen. The bond, the claim, all of it." Her eyes were clear despite the fever. "I want it anyway."
Those words broke the last of my restraint.
Shedding the clothes from my body, I heard them land in soft piles somewhere behind me. All I could see, in a daze, was Harper, the omega that was built for me.
Built for me fucking her.
Slowly, I dove between her legs, kissing my way down each of her thighs until I was at her molten core. The second my tongue darted out to touch her pussy, slick coated my tongue.
Eagerly, I began to lap it up like I was a dog at a water bowl. With each lick, Harper mewed, and finally wound her fingers through my dark locks pushing my face deeper into her pussy.
The taste of her was some sort of ambrosia, sweet like nectarines and vanilla. My licks to her clit became so strong that I could feel her thighs trembling.
“Fuck yes,” Harper gasped as she lifted her hips from the mattresses. “I need all of it, Knox. I fucking need all of it.”
A growl tore loose from my lips, the vibration making her whimper a little more.
Reaching down I grabbed at my dick, slowly stroking it. Pre-cum was leaking out the tip, leaving a little mess on the white sheets below me.
