Over and over the silicone dick thrusts in. Her strength gives out eventually, leaving me to finish her. She screams and her legs thrash against my elbow as she finally comes. I drop my head onto the smooth floor, panting with effort.
Almost immediately, Red whines and rolls over, rubbing her soaked pussy on my arm. My breath catches. This is why omegas need alpha knots during a heat. She needs our pheromones and big knots to break the fever. The orgasms themselves are like scratching an itch.
I start all over again, dragging the toy through her pussy over and over. When I come from the overwhelming scents and sounds, I smother my release on the dildo in the hope it soothes her.
But the effort of fucking her with my hands costs a lot. My arms shake and my wrists ache from the clenched position. I don’t even know how long I’ve been lying on my belly with my arm through the opening while sweat pours into my eyes. A whimper escapes me.
“Want me to take over?”
I sob with relief and roll away from the door. I didn’t even hear Callisto return. I fold my soaked, numb hands across my chest. “Yeah, I just need to—” My words are slurring. I must have been here longer than I realized.
“I brought the mattress down. Have a Hydrolyte and a nap.” He slips one end of an icy block between my lips. My eyelids droop even as I suck on it. “Just for a minute, then,” I murmur.
Red swears at us for taking too long and Callisto rushes over to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. He drops a towel down on the floor to soak up the puddle of her slick under the door, then reaches through.
The needy omega immediately demands his fist and the muscles in his arm bunch as he obeys. My eyelids droop low, obscuring the view of my best friend laying on his belly to pleasure my omega under a locked door.
Pain flares up my arms as the overworked muscles let me know we’ve done quite an intense workout. And it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet. This will be an uphill battle, but I’m not alone. Callisto’s here with me, just like he always is when it matters most. I want to thank him, but I can’t seem to form any words, and my eyes won’t stay open.
I’ll catch just a little rest, and then trade places with my best friend. Together we’ll see Red through this.
A smile catches on my dry lips. This omega is quite the handful.
Chapter fifty-four
Red
Sixty-six hours.
Heat fever ravages me for sixty-six hours—not counting the ones I cut corners with thanks to suppressants—keeping me hostage to a dark past that burrows into my mind with relentless destruction. And then, near dawn on the fourth day, it vanishes like a phantom.
I jolt awake, clear-headed but weak. The fever’s gone, but in its wake burns a single throbbing need. I wince as I sit up and take in the broken clock strewn across the floor and the stained cushions. Empty water bottles litter the room, twinkling under the downlights, and at some point, I hauled a bunch of books off the shelves. And fuck, the stench. Powerful omega haze combines with slick, sweat, vomit, and other bodily functions I don’t even want to think about.
Then my gaze falls on the hacked-off doorway. Callisto really sawed up his own house to accommodate me.
I need to overcome this, or next time I really might burn the apartment down.
Gingerly I roll to my feet, swaying as a wave of lightheadedness hits me. When I step forward, a protein bar skitters away from my foot, sliding across the floorboards. I can see one empty wrapper on the floor, but other than that, all I’ve had is water and some chocolate milk for three days.
I rest my hand on the door handle and suck in a deep breath as the lock clicks open.
Someone dragged a mattress downstairs. Callisto and Rickon lie there spooning, Callisto with one arm over my alpha’s hip, snoring heavily in the semi darkness. Or maybe they’re both my alphas now? That’s something Calli and I will need to discuss because one crazy heat doesn’t change the fact he rejected me.
Between them, these two men kept me company for every waking moment of my evil heat.
Spread around them is evidence of the vigil they’ve kept with me: towels, water bottles, extra blankets, wipes. Their discarded shoes jumble in a heap at the foot of their mattress. I whisper their names, but they’re so deeply asleep neither one stirs. Damn, they’re cute together. Let them sleep.
Love blossoms in my heart. To repay these men, I need to fix what’s wrong with me. And that starts with tracking down the alpha voice wailing inside my brain.
Without disturbing them, I tiptoe upstairs and quietly shower, and then pack myself a backpack. When I head back downstairs, Rickon’s turned over and nuzzled into his childhood love’s chest.
When I find a pen but not paper, I scribble a message on the wall behind the door, blow them a kiss, and silently let myself out, sucking on a yogurt pouch I found in the fridge. It’s dark and cold out, but Rickon’s favorite knitted sweater blocks most of the chill as I take the lonely subway.
Dawn rises while I’m underground, and the new day greets me as I emerge at the junction near the studio. I buy more breakfast to soothe my grumbly stomach at the twenty-four-hour station cafe; then I take my time walking the mile to the studio.
It’d be nice if I could soothe the grumbling voice in my head just as simply, but that’s not how life goes. My other alpha is out there somewhere, and they’re in trouble.
The morning staff wave sleepily to me as I head into the studio. After a week of table reads and fittings, I’m a familiar face around here. Familiar enough to let myself into the costume shed, as everyone calls it, and help myself to wardrobe outfits I might need where I’m going.