Another cramp seizes me and I double over with a sob. The whine that comes out of me is pitiful. Desperate. The kind of sound an omega makes when she needs her alpha.
Alex growls. The sound is desperate and wanting and barely controlled.
Then his hand appears in the gap under the door. Fingers stretching toward me.
I grab on immediately. His fingers are warm. Strong. He holds on just as tight as I do.
"I'm right here," he says. "I'm not leaving."
"Please." I'm begging now. "It hurts. Help me."
His thumb traces circles on my palm. Slow. Deliberate.
"When this is over," he says. "When you can think clearly. I will explain everything. I promise."
"I can think now."
"No, you can't. And I won't take advantage of that."
I sob. The heat is burning through me and he's right there but he won't come in.
Hands rest on my shoulders from behind.
Malcolm. He's awake again.
"Come back to bed," he says. "Let me help you."
"I want Alex." The words break apart.
"I know." Malcolm's hands are careful as he lifts me. "But he can't right now."
I hold onto Alex's fingers as long as I can. Our grips tighten. Then Malcolm carries me far enough that I have to let go.
I watch Alex's shadow through my tears.
He doesn't move.
He stays there.
Malcolm lays me back on the bed. His palms skate across my skin, his fingertips mapping my body.
"I've got you baby," he murmurs. “Trust in me.”
He enters me again. Slow and deep. His body covers mine.
I close my eyes and feel the phantom weight of Alex's fingers.
The circles his thumb was tracing on my palm.
Malcolm works me through another wave. He swells and locks us together as I come apart under him.
At some point we both pass out.
The heat doesn't break.
It keeps going.
And somewhere on the other side of the door, Alex is still there.
