Page 73 of Full Moon Frenzy

Adriana gasped. The heat that had just begun simmering in her veins didn’t just make her ache for him physically. It amplified all of her emotions, including the ones she took daily medication to control. “That was the night I moved to town! Are you . . . are you monkey-branching with me?! Oh, my gods, you are! Do you still talk to her? Wait, were you cheating on her? Are you even single now? How do I know you ever actually divorced VanderCunt?! I’ll bet you cut your toenails on the sofa too, don’t you? A bar of soap probably hasn’t seen your backside in a year!”

“What?!” Trapp was gaping at her, refrigerator door wide open, forgotten. “I don’t even know what monkey branching means. Did you . . . you think I have a dirty ass??”

“Well, I don’t know, Trapp! How could I know?!”

She was breathing hard, heat crawling up her cheeks, up her nose, across her forehead until she felt as though steam might start pouring out of her scalp. She felt itchy in her skin and uncomfortable in her bones. The refrigerator door began to beep, making her jump.

“Okay, let’s just sit down.” She didn’t want him to touch her, but her knees were shaking, she realized, allowing him to lead her to the sofa. “Baby, you are burning up. You need to drink something. Whatever suppressant you are taking, it is not strong enough.”

“It’s because of you! I’ve never had heats like this before, never once! I . . . I take medication for anxiety, but by this point in the month—”

“It’s already burned out of your system. It probably started burning off a week ago. Do you have that bottle of Suppresene I got you?”

She nodded, shakily. “It’s in the bathroom upstairs. But maybe I don’t need that? Maybe you just need to give me your—”

Trapp leaned in until he was able to capture her mouth, silencing her with a kiss, holding by the chin inspecting her eyes critically. “That’s not a good idea. You are shaking with fever, Adriana. Your eyes are already blown out. You weren’t even this bad on the rig! That’s kind of the definition of questionable consent, and I don’t do that.”

The smell of him was invading her lungs, pine and black pepper, making her eyes roll back. It was two full days to the moon. He was right — she needed a much stronger dosage. Either that, or you need him to commit fully to fucking you through this every month, since he’s the one causing it. She shivered. “Are you sure? Because I think that would be a really good idea. Did you take your girlfriend to the cabin for the change?”

Trapp didn’t answer until he had returned with a bottle of cold water. “My ex. My ex-girlfriend. Every once in a while. As I said, it wasn’t very often.”

“But she was a wolf? Did she let you knot her?”

“She was a human, and no, she didn’t.”

“What?!”

Trapp only shrugged, disappearing as he jogged up the steps to the bedroom. When he returned, he was shaking the little pill bottle. “Right now. Two of them. Before you ask me my body count next.”

“Do you know it?”

“No! I don’t! And I don’t care! I don’t care about yours, either!” He stopped, dropping his head back, eyes closed. “I think we need to table this conversation until later. I will tell you anything you want to know, Adriana, but not while you’re burning up with heat. I can’t believe you think I don’t wash my ass.”

The pills didn’t work as quickly as the shot, but they worked well enough. The grogginess was immediate. Trapp placed a cool rag on her forehead, kissing her gently. “Just close your eyes. This week you need to go up to the offices and have one of Shay’s doctors write you a stronger script.”

When her eyes opened, it was dark. She was sure she’d only closed them for a few minutes. You were further gone than you realized. Trapp sat cross-legged in the armchair across from her in a firehouse hoodie, his feet bare, black reading glasses perched on his nose, his laptop’s glow the only light in the room.

“And you wear slutty little glasses. How much more don’t I know?”

His chuckle was warm as he set the laptop aside, taking one last sip from his coffee cup before moving to where she lay. “How do you feel?”

He would have been an excellent doctor. The back of his hand checked her forehead, her neck, his index finger pressing lightly behind her ear before laying two fingers across her jumping pulse, calm, soft smile never leaving his face. The effortless bedside manner she had struggled with her whole career.

“Heart rate’s still a little high, but your fever’s come down.”

When her hands cupped his face to pull him in, he didn’t pull back, meeting her lips.

“Wait, that doesn’t taste like coffee.”

“That’s because it’s not. Spirulina, creatine, protein powder, almond milk. Do you think this body comes out of a coffee pot? And I only occasionally wear slutty little glasses this close to the turn, because I have a mild astigmatism that was not helped by being punched in the head. It’s getting worse as I get older. And my knees are going. I’m probably going to be feeble by the time I’m fifty, just so you’re aware.”

Adriana laughed, relief flooding her almost as thoroughly as the suppressant had. He hadn’t left, despite her panic. Trapp engulfed her in his arms, lifting and twisting, turning them until he was reclined on the couch and she was tucked against him, wrapped in his arms. Safe and secure.

“My girlfriend was a human. We were together not quite four years. I didn’t realize until after she was gone, but we never actually made it to that anniversary. Yes, it was right before you started at the clinic. No, I’m not monkey-hanging you, or whatever it’s called. This isn’t a rebound fling for me. I can tell you more about our breakup, but just to warn you in advance, it’s going to make me sound like a piece of shit.”

Adriana lifted her head. “You don’t have to, if it makes you uncomfortable.” When he sighed beneath her, she moved with him.

“Yes, I do. Because if you’re going to panic over things you don’t know, then—”