“Lo—”
She gasps, clutching her chest like she’s been punched from the inside. Her pupils blow wide, her whole body shuddering, and a strangled whimper tears from her throat. The suppressants didn’t taper.
They’ve failed.
Catastrophically.
“Oh no,” she pants, “Hayes, something’s wrong?—”
I wrap my arms around her just before she collapses. “I know, I know, beautiful. I’ve got you.”
My arms grip her uselessly for a heartbeat before instinct takes over. I scoop her up, steadying her as another wave wracks her body. Heat sweat slicks her temples already, her pulse hammering under my fingers.
Her scent iseverywhere. Filling me and drowning me. Clawing at every rational thought I’m trying to hang on to. I’m a Beta. I’m supposed to be the safe one. The calm one. But with her like this? My mouth waters with the need to taste her.
No. Focus.
“Breathe, beautiful,” I whisper as I move quickly to the bedroom. “It’s okay. Just a few more steps.”
Her eyes, glassy and wild, lock onto mine.
“It hurts,” she chokes out. “Hayes, it hurts so bad. I’m so empty. I don’t want to be empty.”
Her nails dig into my shoulders, desperate, and it’s all I can do to settle her into bed. She gets onto all fours, stumbling about as she tries to crawl toward me. Every line of her body screams with need. Heat sweat is already dripping down her face. My heart slams against my ribs. The room is a furnace, her scent a demand I can’t ignore.
My knees touch down against the edge of the bed as her nails dig into my arms, frantic, and the way she leans into me is pure instinct. Her body is begging for relief. Begging for me. But I don’t have a knot for her.
My calm is cracking fast, her scent clawing past every wall I’ve built.
“Lo…” My voice is already rough, frayed. I mean for it to be steady, but it comes out as a plea.
She whimpers my name in return, broken, and that’s it. That sound guts me. I cup her face, thumb brushing the hot trail of her tears, and then her mouth crashes against mine.
It’s not gentle. It’s desperate, open-mouthed and wet, her fists gripping my shirt like she’ll tear it off if I don’t move fast enough. She tastes of salt and sugar, the burn of her heat laced in every kiss.
“Hayes… please,” she gasps against my lips, and I don’t even know if she knows what she’s asking for.
Doesn’t matter, though.
I know.
I haul her into my lap, her thighs bracketing my hips, and she arches. She can’t stand the space between us. My hands slide up her back, anchoring her as she rocks against me, helpless, her body already trembling with need.
“Shh, I’ve got you,” I whisper, but I break on it, because I’m just as far gone. I need to get to the toy I bought a few towns over when Ford came back with that mating mark on his neck.
She moans when my mouth drags down her throat, when I nip at the flutter of her pulse. I kiss the mating mark Beck left behind, and the keening sound it pulls from her pulses my cock against the zipper of my pants. Her head tips to the side as she offers herself to me, and fuck, my control is paper-thin. She’s slick with sweat and something juicier under my palms, her dress bunched high as I grip her hips.
“More,” she pants, grinding harder against me, her breath ragged. “It hurts, Hayes, I can’t…”
“You can,” I growl before I even realize it, my clothed hips surging up to meet hers.
The sound she makes, wrecked and needy, snaps the last thread of my restraint.
I whip her around and pin her against the mattress, the world narrowing to her wide eyes and the way she clings to me. I’m the only thing keeping her together. She is fire and sugar, all instinct, all demand, and I’m burning with need for her.
“Tell me you want this,” I rasp, my forehead pressed to hers even as my hands shove fabric aside.
Her nails bite into my shoulders, her breath hot and wild against my cheek. “I want you. Please… I need you, Hayes. All of you.”
