“So I can, um… warm up…”
Too fucking clever by half. “Oh, you knowrightwhere you want it, don’t you?”
He squirms and mouths, “Yes.”
I lean back and take a deep breath. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I want you to go do your best to tire yourself out. To get it out of your system. If you fall asleep in there, I’ll be very proud of you. But if you really can’t… if you come back out into the living room… that collar had better be on and tight and locked, do you understand me? Because I amnotgoing to be able to control myself.”
He nods.
“I won’t be able to slow down, or change angles, or stop halfway. It’s going to be all or nothing. The odds of you getting manhandled and bruised are very high. Got it?”
His eyelids flutter. Fuck, I’m about to shatter this glass. I sigh a bitter laugh. “Oh, you arehopeless.”
“I understand,” he says, mustering confidence. “I really do.”
My voice is quiet. “You need to understand that if I break you, I won’t forgive myself.”
“I know,” he says, pressing a hand against the glass. “You won’t break me.”
“Now, go get it out of your system,” I say with a tilt of my head towards the bedroom door. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”
He folds the collar in his lap and nods. “I’ll do my best.” The words are as sincere as ever.
Jamie disappears into the room.
That was close.Waytoo close.
I thought I could manage the scent trigger… buteverythingabout Jamie triggers me.
I lean back in the intact deck chair, closing my eyes and counting my breaths. Each exhale brings me another hair’s breadth back from the edge.
Jamie is safely in bed with plenty to keep him occupied. I’ll spend the next few hours getting myself back under control. Then, I’llmake sureeverything else goes according to plan.
A singular sound lances straight to my primal core, shattering everything—Jamie’s moan, clear even through two doors and the glass.
Fuck, he wasn’t kidding when he said he was loud.
The beast knows why.
He’s calling out for an alpha. He needs it. He needs me.
Pain crackles down my spine. The beast is so close to the surface.
A tolerance break, Jamie said. Maybe that would work for another alpha. But I’m too far gone. If I let the beast out again, it might never go back.
Another loud moan finds my ears, and my skull tingles asmy skin goes tight.
I might not get a choice.
Chapter 36
JAMIE
Eileen was overjoyed at my cashing in on our pinky promise—and absolutely professional about it. I have no idea how she managed to go from the links I sent to the bag containing everything I asked for in under thirty minutes, but she made it happen. I can see why Morgan likes her so much.
Those are the last of my rational thoughts as I stumble into my room.
I think I’ve gone into heat. It shouldn’t be possible—I haven’t missed a suppressant dose, and it’s still a week before I’d normally be due.
