My hand lifts on its own and lands against his chest. His skin is hot and smooth beneath my palm, my fingers dragging slowly like I’m learning the shape of him by touch alone. He sucks in a sharp breath.
“Goddamn,” he mutters.
He smells like pine.
The scent crashes over me, and suddenly I’m somewhere else, memory bleeding into the present.
Fernbridge. Cabins tucked into the trees. Wood smoke and damp earth and pine needles crushed under bare feet.
My first heat, terrified and desperate and young.
Dorian fucking me into the mattress. The feel of his fingers inside me.
My core twists up with need.
Alpha. Only an Alpha can help me.
“Pine,” I mumble. “You smell like Fernbridge.”
Jude’s voice comes from somewhere above me. “Norah, sweetheart, stay with me.”
I nod, even though I’m not sure what he means. My hand is still on Ryker’s chest, and I can’t make myself pull it away.
His skin jumps under my touch like it’s affecting him too, and the knowledge sends another wave through me.
“I don’t mean to,” I say, words tumbling out. “I can’t stop it.”
“I know,” Ryker says hoarsely. “I know.”
I push myself upright and then forward, body moving before thought. I crawl into his lap, knees pressing into the couch on either side of his thighs.
His hands come up automatically, gripping my hips, fingers digging in like he’s grounding himself as much as me.
Jude is saying something. Asking questions.
“Have you been taking your suppressants? Norah, look at me.”
I try.
I really do.
But Ryker’s neck is right there. The curve of it. The heat of his skin.
I lean in and press my mouth against it, tasting salt and soap and him. Everything else goes hazy, edges blurring until there’s only sensation and need.
“Norah,” Jude says sharply. “Hey. Focus on me.”
Ryker lets out a low sound, his hands flexing against my sides. “Fuck.”
I cling to him, breathing him in, my world narrowing to pine and warmth and the unbearable pull under my skin.
I know they’re talking. I know they’re trying to help.
I just can’t make my body listen anymore.
The room feels too bright and too close all at once.
Jude’s on the phone, pacing, his voice sharp with panic and anger. I’m half-draped across Ryker’s lap, my skin buzzing like it has been lit from the inside.
