Lena can’t come home, but where can I send her?
Another wave crashes through me, stronger than the first, stealing my breath. My skin prickles with sweat, clothes becoming too rough, too constricting. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, fast and frantic like a trapped animal.
My legs shake as I stumble down the stairs and then the hallway, one hand trailing along the wall for balance. The floor tilts beneath my feet, the air thick as honey around me. By the time I reach the bathroom door, my shirt clings to my back, damp with sweat.
I slam the door shut behind me, fumbling with the lock. The click of metal sliding into place offers a moment of relief that dissolves under a fresh surge of heat. My back hits the door as my knees threaten to give out.
“Fuck,” I hiss through clenched teeth.
The bathroom light burns too bright, the hum of the ventilation system, the drip of the faucet, and the rasp of fabric over my hypersensitive skin are all amplified. I strip off my shirt, the cool air a momentary relief for my overheated flesh.
The mirror above the sink reflects a stranger back at me. Flushed cheeks. Dilated pupils swallowing the gray of my irises. Sweat beads along my hairline and trickles down my temple. The leather nape guard sits dark against my skin, too tight, too restrictive.
This isn’t a normal Heat. Not the gradual buildup I’ve experienced since puberty. This is a flash fire, consuming control and reason with frightening speed.
I sink to the floor, flattening my bare back on thecool tile wall. The contrast between the cold surface and my burning skin sends a shudder through me. My thighs tense as slick begins to gather, the first telltale wetness between my legs.
I need Rowan. His hands. His pheromones. His weight on top of me.
A whimper escapes my throat, high and needy in a way that would mortify me if I had any capacity left for shame. My dick strains at my jeans, already hard and leaking, while slick dampens my underwear. My arousal floods the small space, thick and sweet with the need to be filled by an Alpha.
Then the fever ebbs, and I gulp air into my lungs, using the brief reprieve to think through my fogged senses.
Lena. I need to make sure Lena is safe before I lose my mind again.
My phone. Where’s my phone?
Patting my pockets, I find it there by some miracle. My hand trembles as I unlock it with clumsy fingers.
I pull up Rowan’s contact, thumb hovering over the screen. What do I say? How do I explain?
Another wave builds, and my fingers shake as I type.
Ash
Heat. Can’t stop. Take care of Lena.
The message sends as the wave crashes over me. My phone slips from my grasp, clattering to the floor as I double over. Heat floods my system, turning my blood to liquid fire. My dick throbs, trapped behind the zipper of my jeans.
I stumble out of the bathroom and to Rowan’s bedroom, collapsing onto the bed. This time, I don’t fight the keening moan that claws up my throat to fill the room.
I drag Rowan’s pillow down, curling my body around it, breathing in his pheromones.
Minutes feel like hours as waves of Heat crash through me, each one stronger than the last, until I’m reduced to the painful throb of my untouched dick and the emptiness inside that demands to be filled.
The lock clicks in the front door, and my head snaps up. Through the open bedroom door, through the haze of Heat clouding my senses, I catch my Alpha’s pheromones.
My body responds before my brain can process, a fresh surge of slick soaking my already ruined jeans. I bite my lip hard enough to taste copper, the pain temporarily breaking through the fever.
“Ash?” He comes closer and appears in the open bedroom doorway, his amber eyes raking over me. “Well, don’t you just smell like a treat, all flushed and panting.”
“Lena?” I pant as I roll onto my back, spreading my legs.
“Saint will pick her up from her study group.” His tongue comes out to sweep along his bottom lip, and a rumble rises from him. “She’ll be enjoying the billionaire life for the next few days.”
Confusion fights through the fever fog. “Billionaire? Saint?”
“Don’t worry about it,’ Rowan soothes. “She’s safe and will be spoiled.”
