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“Tired,” she croaks. “Hot.” She wrinkles her nose down at her rumpled scrubs. “I’m all sweaty.”
I cannot tell her that I’ve been fantasizing about licking the sweat from her body for the last hour or so. Definitely not.
“Did you... expect this?”
Her eyes find mine only to widen, looking taken aback. “What?No! I had no idea. I’ve never...” Her eyes drift closed as she makes a quiet sound, one that feels like it touches me all over. “Definitely never had one come all of a sudden like this.”
“How off schedule?”
“A month? Maybe? It’s barely been six weeks, and they usually come like clockwork. I promise, I wouldn’t have ever kept this from you.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” I assure her. We both know how irresponsible it might be to dive into something like this without any sort of caution; surely she is as aware as I am of how many mating bonds occur like this, only for those same couples to be undergoing painful procedures later on to break the bond when they realize they’re no good for each other. “But it doesn’t make sense,” I tell her truthfully. “I’ve never heard of a heat coming so off schedule.”
She shakes her head. “Neither have I.”
“There weren’t any signs?”
“None that seemed super obvious,” she says. “I’ve been a little flushed since yesterday, but I thought that was just because you—” She blushes, and as much as I’d like to beg her to finish that sentence, I keep quiet, letting her talk. “I didn’t think anything of it. I had a horrible headache earlier, too, but even that’s weird. It’s never been that bad before a heat.” She looks at me intently. “Have you ever heard of anything like this?”
I shake my head. “Never.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I think... it might be one of those consequences I mentioned that we couldn’t have possibly known when we... added our little addendum.”
She averts her gaze, sounding almost disappointed. “Consequences?”
“That doesn’t mean I regret the addendum,” I tell her immediately, needing her to know. “But it does mean I have no idea what we should do.”
She looks more placated now. “I know.”
“Does it still hurt? Your head?”
“Not as bad. Not since—” She blushes again. “It got better when you got there. I think your scent is helping.”
“That part, at least, makes sense,” I muse.
We’re both still, both looking at each other from across my bed with what is likely the same question on our tongues. Even if neither of us seems to be able to come out and ask it.
“You’ll need to shift,” I say. “It’ll start to hurt if you don’t.”
“I know,” she sighs. “Usually, I book a stay at the heat retreat at the edge of town, but there’s no way they’ll be able to work me in on such short notice.”
I have to physically restrain myself from prodding about how she took care of this in the past, who she took care of itwith—focusing instead on what’s happening right now. I know if I let my mind wander too much in that direction it will be hard to keep as calm as I’m attempting to be for her sake.
“I know a place,” I tell her. “It’s not far. Maybe two hours. We could go there. If you want.”
Her eyes look rounder, brighter, like she’s curious. “We?”
“That is—” I clear my throat, looking away from her. “I didn’t mean to imply that—I just meant—Fuck.” I run my hands through my hair. “I don’t know what the protocol is here. I could still make arrangements for you to go alone, if that’s what you want.”
“And that... You could do that?”
It’s almost agony, imagining sending her away from me the way she is right now, but I remember my promise to Parker, and Iremember that I amnota fucking animal despite what I am, and I nod heavily. “If that’s what you want. I will do anything you want me to, Mackenzie.”
She looks down at the sheets that are rumpled around her waist, her finger teasing the edge of one as her teeth imprint slightly against her bottom lip. I watch this intently, battling urges to nibble at that same lip myself before I use my mouth elsewhere. Does she have to smell so goddamngood?
“And if...” I can hear her swallow, see the way she shifts her body minutely. My eyes track every little movement. “And if I wanted you to come with me?”
