This isn’t sitting well with me.
I want to ask if she’s about to have her heat. She hasn’t had it in the past year and well, it should be starting soon. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I hold it back. Heats are a delicate and private matter. If she wanted me to know it was happening, she would have told me. After all, we’re friends, right?
A little seed of jealousy blooms. Is she about to have her heat with someone else? A growl rises up in my throat at the unwelcome vision of her naked in a bed full of alphas, none of whom are me.
I want to remind her that I had been pre-med in college before switching to computer science. I had even taken Heat 101 and Heat 102 at the encouragement of my mother, who did her residency at an omega hospital nearby years ago.
I would be the perfect alpha to see her through her heat.
To see her through this life.
Do any of the other alpha clients who buy her time like her half as much as I do? Do they get to see her more than once a week?
I won’t ask her about her heat, but I also won’t let her know that I’ll be out of town this week, in case she needs me. I’ll keep a private plane on standby in case there’s any chance she might call.
My friends will understand. Alric will understand.
“Please, let me help you home.”
Her eyebrows tighten at that—a reminder that I may pay her rent, but I don’t know where she lives or who she lives with, other than her cat, Bellini. “I have a really cozy guest room here, too,” I offer, a little too eagerly.Shit.
She shakes her head. “I have a headache,” she says. “It was nice to see you tonight. Thank you for the setup.”
My shoulders fall and I try not to let my disappointment show beyond that.
“Was I too rough? Are you sure you’re okay? It wasn’t from the chair, was it?” I ask, hoping for honesty.
She stands up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “No, you were perfect as always, I need some extra sleep tonight. Have a good week, Zachary.”
Her skin is so much warmer than it’s been all night. Another sign her heat is near.
The alpha in me screams to forbid her from leaving. Beg her to take me home with her and knot her all night till her nest smells like me. Like us.
We head back downstairs. The elevator ride is awkward and I want to say something, anything to make it better. My hand slips in with hers and it’s clammy. The car I called is waiting but I hold her back from sliding into it, pulling her a step towards me, needing one last minute with her. “If you needanything from me this week, call me, okay?Anythingat all. If I’m unavailable, my assistant, Aaron, will get in contact with me.”
She squeezes my hand, nodding. I lean down for one longing, lingering kiss before she slips into the back of the car with one final little wave.
I’m left with the sinking feeling that I might never see her again.
Chapter 5
Madi
I’m burning up, barely making it to my apartment door. Bellini meets me at the door with a long meow that grows louder when I stumble past her without her normal snuggle greeting.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I whisper, heading straight to my bedside table to grab my knotted dildo and then to the bathroom, stripping as I go. A cold shower is exactly what I need right now. The freezing water washes over me and I close my eyes. It lessens the fire on my skin, but it does nothing for the inferno within.
I’m so fucking horny.
Groaning, my fingers slide in between my thighs. Maybe I should have stayed at Zachary’s. He could have bent me over that couch of his and fucked me in the way I need right now, but I knew if I stayed there, I wouldn’t leave. He’s busy with work and I’d be the ultimate distraction. And I’ll never let alphas come back to my place.
Sugar baby rule number seven.Alpha-free home.
An ache shoots through me right to my center, my pussy throbbing. I gasp at the sensation. Stupid faux heat.
My fingers swirl around my clit, more sensitive than it’s ever been. I come so easily but my body’s demand to be filled—to be knotted—remains. I growl in frustration. Fuck.
The pink, sparkly dildo has a suction cup at the base, and I slam it against the shower wall with far more strength than is needed. It wobbles dramatically, the shower spraying it. Slick slides down my legs as I bend down and press against the toy, holding on to the side of the tub. I moan as I take each inch.
