Alfie lifts the small platinum disk near the clasp, turning it so the low light hits it just right. What I see makes me gasp. There’s no maker’s mark or insignia. Instead, there’s a field mouse engraved into the metal.
He had this made for me. He thought of me and what I’d like, and had something made out of precious metal and gemstones just for me.
I was already shaky before, but now I’m shaking for a whole different reason.
Alfie closes the jewelry box and sets it down, turning to me. “May I?” asks a velvet voice as I blink back tears.
I prop myself on an elbow and then use my core to pull myself into a sitting position. I raise my arms above my head without him asking me to do it. He pulls my singlet off over my head and sighs quietly as it drops to the floor. He strokes my face, leaving a ghost of a kiss on my forehead as he tugs at my drawstring. I dig my heels into the mattress and raise my hips, squirming in apprehension as the waistband almost touches my aching erection. Because he’s Alfie, he understands that I can’t handle even the lightest touch yet, so he’s careful with me. I sit back down, knees parted slightly. It’s hard for me to sit still and be seen like this, but I can’t seem to move. My dick is dark red and weeping, and when he looks down at me, a trickle of slick leaks out.
He’s seen me naked before. Well, he’s seen parts of me naked, but he hasn’t seen me like this. Naked everywhere, all at once.
“Jensen.” His voice shakes almost as hard as my knees knock. “Oh, Jensen, you’re beautiful.” His sincerity is so profound that I have to clasp a hand to my mouth to stifle a giggle. “I’m serious,” he says, slurring slightly, “You’re… Oh God. You’re so beautiful.”
A seam rips as he tugs his top over his head, balling it tightly and throwing it onto the floor. Reams of skin, rippling muscle, and thick dark chest hair are revealed. My arousal ratchets up violently.
He loses his pants without taking his eyes off me.
“Sweet Jesus,” I squeak, sitting back slightly. My jaw drops and I swallow hard. My breath rushes out of me in a faintsplutter. “Okay. Um. Yes. Okay, good. So…that’s what we’re working with.”
I haven’t seen Alfie naked before. We’ve shared a bed every night since I got lost on the moor, but our clothes have stayed on because we both wanted to wait until I went into heat before doing anything more than we’d already done casually.
Aside from the couple of hours the day I got hurt, Alfie has been constantly medicated around me. I’ve felt his bulge against my hip once or twice, but I’ve never felt it hard—erectile dysfunction is a known side effect of the drug.
I wasn’t aware that I had a dick of my dreams. I can’t say I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. Not consciously, at least. But looking at the noble appendage jutting out at me, I realize that I definitely do have a dick of my dreams, and it’s aimed squarely at me right now.
I press my fingertips to my lips to suppress a whimper. “That’s…um… It’s… Well, I can see why you might be a little full of yourself.”
His shoulders rise and quake as a soft rumble froths out of him. “Are you flirting with me, my mate?”
I smile lasciviously. “Just stating a fact, Lord.”
He curls up in the nest beside me, his body not quite touching mine. The proximity alone is enough to ratchet the heat in my blood up to impossible levels. Unbearable levels. Unsurvivable levels. I was hot before we entered the heat chamber, and I’ve been burning since I opened my eyes this morning, but now I’m more. More than hot. More than burning.
I’m not on fire. I am fire.
I want to touch him, but I don’t trust myself to do it. My mind is an elastic band that’s been pulled as tight as it can be without snapping. If I reach for Alfie, if I curl my hand around that thick, veiny cock, I’m going to lose it. I’m going to jump on top of him, and I know for a fact that I won’t be in control of what I do next.
My entire body trembles from the strain of containing my desire. It took days for me to get to this point the last time I went into heat. Days. This time, it’s only been a few hours, but already, I’m not sure how much more I can take. Everything is hot and constricted. Everything aches and burns.
“So hot,” I whisper. “Burning.”
“Want me to help you, my omega?” It’s a kind, likely very generous offer, but I can hardly form the words required to reply.
“Ngg,” I say, shocked by how quickly I’m devolving.
Alfie leans against the wall and pulls me into his arms. I’m sitting more or less in his lap, facing away from him. My back against his chest. His rock-solid cock stabs against my ass, not helping me calm down at all.
I start squirming in earnest, rubbing my cheeks against him, crying out from how forceful my need for release has become.
His hands are on me in a flash. Big, warm palms making me burn more than I already was. Soothing me deeper than I ever thought the simple act of hands stroking my arms could achieve. My head lolls back against his chest as my spine stiffens, tension leaving certain parts of my body and gathering hotly in others.
His fingers dance over my skin, down my arms, and then up again. He holds my hands in his, straightening my fingers to expose my palms and raising them to his lips. He kisses me lightly, stealing a breath from near my pulse point and sighing contentedly as my scent hits him.
His scent is strong now. A roar rather than a whisper. It’s invaded the entire chamber, filling not only every inch of the space, but also my mind and body. Quite simply, I’ve never smelled anything I like more. It’s abject affection, want and desire, humanity and every animal instinct in existence all rolled into one.
“You’re so warm,” he murmurs softly, pressing his lips to my temple. “So soft and hard anddelicious.”
His hands wander down my chest, up my thighs. My legs fall open wide without so much as a light tap from him. The world goes away. My home in Seattle fades first, then the ocean that separates me from that place. The sky and the earth on this continent fade next. Then the moor around us, the stables, and the gardens. Finally, Beaumont Craven House crumbles, the walls and ceilings evaporate, and it’s just him and me left. An alpha and an omega hurtling through space with a blistering heat descending on us.
