Page 50 of No Escape

I have another round of vomiting as Omen holds my hair away from my face and soothingly pats my back. After that’s through, we repeat the cleanup process. Only, this time, he helps me brush my teeth.

I’ve never had someone physically care for me when I was unwell, at least not since I was little and my mom was alive.

It’s strange.

I’ll be self-conscious about this later, but for the moment, it’s reassuring to have someone looking after me.

A shiver runs down my spine, and my skin aches as I tremble. I was freezing when I first lay down to go to sleep, but I’m sweating so badly, I bet my shirt has sweat rings.

“We need to take your temperature, and it wouldn’t hurt to get you out of that shirt,” Omen says, guiding me back into the room. Everything is hazy, and I wobble, leaning into his chest for support. “Hang here for a moment, but don’t topple over.” He props me up against the ladder to Valor’s bed and ducks under the loft.

The room spins, so I close my eyes and hold on to the ladder for dear life.

What is wrong with me?

Last time I went into heat, I have vague memories of being hot and miserable, but it was more of an achy, needy feeling.

This is like having the flu, complete with body aches and nausea. It has to be a reaction to stopping the suppressants so suddenly. Nothing else makes sense.

I’d rather feel the heat symptoms than this. Being trapped in my room at home would be awful, but being here in this place is a different kind of hell. Even if something is really wrong with me, I doubt they’ll allow me to see a doctor. Then again, they did leave that button-alarm thingy to put on the door if my fever gets high enough.

Omen’s scent hits my nose, and my eyes pop open. His face is hazy, but the concern marring his sharp features is easy to see. “Okay, pretty girl, arms up.”

“What’s your real name?”

There’s no way his mother named him that…

He chuckles. “I was born weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces at 6:06 a.m. on June 6th, 1996. My mother viewed it as an omen.” He shrugs. “Combine all that with the fully white hair I had as a baby…” He pulls me close to his chest and tugs the shirt up and off me. “She was essentially convinced she birthed the Antichrist. I can only imagine how horrified she would have been if I was born ten years later. By the way, you have fantastic tits.”

My skin burns with the weight of his gaze, which would distract me if what he said wasn’t so upsetting. “You were just a baby.”

“Indeed.” He runs his hands down my sides. “God, woman, you’re scalding my skin. Would you like to lose the joggers or keep them? I picked them when I thought you would be cold.”

It takes several seconds for my brain to catch up. We speak the same language but clearly have different words for certain items.

“Off.” I nod. “Definitely off. I feel like my brain is frying inside my skull.”

He curses under his breath, shoves the sweats down my hips, and follows them down until he’s squatting by my feet.

My forearm braces against the bar of the loft for support as my head spins.

His skin feels cool against mine as he plants a hand on my hip and pats my other ankle. “You’ll have to lift up a little if I’m to get these off of you.”

“Sorry,” I whisper and comply. “This all feels a little like a fever dream.”

Omen grunts and repeats the process on the other side before standing. “I’m torn between taking your temperature and getting you into the shower. The water is always cold, which could help lower your body temp, but that could prove to be painful…” He sighs. “I barely know how to look after myself. How am I supposed to take care of someone else? I know virtually nothing about omegas.”

“Take her damn temperature and go from there,” Valor growls from inside Omen’s loft.

“Yes, Daddy.” Omen huffs. “Well, you’re nude, and if those fuckers next door realize, they will take a peek. How about you lift your arms for me, pet?”

I gasp.

He’s right.

I forgot that I’m not in underclothes. Not that standing in front of him in my bra and panties would be much more appropriate, considering we barely know each other.

Omen helps me into another large shirt that smells like Valor.

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