We pass nearly two hours talking about zombies and strategy, then somehow move on to our parents, our childhood, and anything else that comes to mind.
Those are not two constant hours of conversation. One kiss leads to me rolling her onto her back and forgetting about everything except making her moan for the next several minutes.
We fall asleep wrapped in each other's arms, and there’s nowhere else I would want to be.
This, right here, is heaven.
Chapter 18
Maisie
I’ve pulled the bedding from my bed and half-finished my task before I stop, wide-eyed and afraid when it hits me what I’m doing.
I am building a nest.
An omega only builds a nest when she wants to nest, and she only wants to nest when her heat is on its way.
It’s been a week since I moved in with four alphas, yet it didn’t occur to me at any point that my biological needs might start asserting themselves.
I kept my heat at bay since I was eighteen, when I first perfumed. I was with Derek then, and only an alpha could have helped me through the painful sexual need that hits all omegas every three months. Derek is a beta, so I went to my doctor and asked for suppressants so my body wouldn’t spend five days craving sex with an alpha the way biology designed it to. But I haven’t been taking my suppressants.
Not for days now.
In Nevada, when Derek was waiting to choke me in my room, a motel worker intervened, saving my life and nearly costing him his. I left everything I had behind in my room. All I thought tograb, and only because it was inches from the front door, was my purse.
I had money and my suppressants, the only things I really needed, so I was fine. I’d already left my cell phone behind in Oregon. Since Derek knew everyone I would call, I didn’t bother getting another cell phone. Who else would I call?
I had my purse with my suppressants in my apartment above the flower shop. I can’t remember what I did with the purse, though. Was it hanging on the hook beside the front door? Or did I leave it on the counter between the living room and the kitchen—potentially the worst place of all?
I stare down at the pillows and comforter I laid out on my bedroom floor. Then I pick everything back up and put it on the bed again. I don’t want to do it. But I ignore the biological urges flooding my body and make myself do it anyway. Once I’m done, I cross the room and duck into my adjoining bathroom to check my reflection in the mirror.
My cheeks are rosy, but it’s not super noticeable unless someone knows me really well. The four alphas in this house pay close enough attention to everything I do that they absolutely would notice.
And Lawrence, the deputy sheriff, who sometimes sits outside the house when Hunter, Elias, Knox, and Wyatt all have to go to work, would have been trained to notice people behaving strangely. Usually, we chat for a bit when I take him snacks before I head back into the house to continue baking pies. With my heat on the way, I see myself thrusting the drinks and snacks at him and running back inside. He’s a beta, so I’m not likely to want to jump his bones, but if he sees arousal in my eyes, would he try to jump mine?
My lips are red, at least the bottom lip, from biting on it more than usual.
There’s a slight…
What is that?
I lean closer to the mirror to get a better look at my pupils.
Neediness, I decide.And arousal.
My pupils are slightly dilated. Not a good sign.
I’m hot even though I’m in shorts and a tank top. Bad sign.
And my breasts are at least one size bigger. When I touch my nipples, I wince. Swollen and sore. Heavy and achy. Worst sign of all.
Turning from my reflection, I lean against the sink and wrap my arms around myself, chewing my lip as I ponder what I intend to do about it.
I need heat suppressants.
Getting hold of more in a big city was easy. Almost any doctor can and will prescribe heat suppressants for an omega who requests it. Omegas don’t have to be slaves to their needs like they were before someone invented suppressants, safe to take for an omega’s whole life without side effects, if she wants them.
The thing is, most omegasdon’twant to be taking suppressants all their lives.
