Page 7 of Fight or Fly

“I know,” he said, and reached for my unfinished salad and entrée.

When everything was gone, he took the plates and silverware downstairs to wash. I let him, figuring I wasn’t really fit for company tonight. At least, not for company that wasn’t him. Since there was really nothing else that needed to be done, I grabbedThe Unbearable Lightness of Beingfrom the corner table and dragged it down into the nest with me to read. Cocooned in two fuzzy blankets and propped on a small mountain of pillows, I made it through about nine pages before I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, myskin felt hot and prickly. I remembered this feeling from before, and the bad associations made my heart speed up until it was thudding wildly against my chest.

“Good morning,” Kam said. “It’s almost nine-thirty. The alphas will be here in about half an hour. How are you feeling?”

I blinked gritty eyelids open, revealing our cozy nest lit by soft red bulbs. I couldn’t help but compare my surroundings to my untimely heat where we’d been held captive in the cave and at risk of discovery at any moment. Aside from the obvious upgrade in comfort and luxury, this feltsafe.

I was grateful to be in a remote house where no one would be able to find us. My packmate extended a glass of orange juice in my direction, and the earlier adrenaline spike subsided to a generalized feeling of shakiness. I wriggled out of soft blankets that suddenly felt as irritating as burlap and took the glass from him.

“Umm,” I rasped. “Not great? It’s definitely coming on soon.”

The orange juice tasted off, like my taste buds were screwed up or something. I drank it anyway.

Kam gave me a sympathetic nod. “Your scent’s starting to change. If you want a shower, you should probably have it now. I’ve already had one. I even left you some hot water.”

“It’s a tankless heater,” I pointed out.

“Like I said, I left you some,” Kam said, and took the half-finished glass of juice when I handed it back.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but I did stagger upright and shuffle off to the bathroom. In the end, I settled on a lukewarm shower as being the least irritating option. Hot water made my already feverish head swim. Cool water made my nerves feel like someone was running sandpaper over them. I gave myself a cursory wash and kept my hair as dry as I could. The idea that someone might wash it for me later sent an unexpected jolt through my belly, and a pulse of slick dribbled down my leg.

O-kay, then.

I turned off the water and dried myself with one of the fluffy towels from the rack. Kam had left a fresh oversized T-shirt on the vanity for me. Well... maybefreshwasn’t the word. It was worn to gossamer softness from repeated use, almost translucent in places, and it smelled like sitting in the woods with a steaming cup of mulled cider. With a jolt, I realized that Flynn and Jax had taken turns wearing this shirt without washing it in between.

Holy. Shit.

I buried my nose in the fabric and breathed in. I might as well have been snorting a line of coke. Eventually, I emerged from my pheromone high enough to pull it over my head. Even the well-worn cotton irritated me, but the scent made up for it. And while it might have been perfectly acceptable etiquette to welcome your heat partners into the nest while buck naked for all I knew, I wasn’tquitethere yet.

My hands trembled a bit as I filled the cervical cap with spermicide and put it in, cursing under my breath the whole time. When it was finally in place, I straightened and moved to stand in front of the mirror, looking at my reflection as though it belonged to a stranger.

Flushed cheeks. Parted lips. Dilated pupils. Nipples threatening to drill holes through the ancient T-shirt. A cloud ofeau de desperationforming an almost tangible aura around me as my body pumped out its honey-flavored perfume.

Welp. As Kam had said, this was going to be... interesting.

I let myself out of the bathroom and immediately walked into a wall of alpha pheromones. They were already here. Three sets of eyes fell on me as though drawn by a magnet.

“Hi,” I said nervously, trying to ignore the fact that I wasn’t wearing underwear and I’d just dribbled out another pulse of slick. Flynn’s nostrils flared.

“Hello,” Jax said, his gaze dipping to the hem of the borrowed shirt.

Alex was the first to tear her eyes away. “We’re just getting everything in place. But I can finish up with that. Make yourself comfortable, and you can hash out any final details. Beckett’s gone, by the way. We’ve got the place to ourselves.”

The melding of delicious alpha scents in the air was threatening to steal my higher brain functions right there and then. I unstuck my feet from the floor and descended into the sunken nest area, wading through fur and cushions. Wanting the feel of all of that softness around me, I sunk down next to where Kam was sitting primly on the sectional, pressing my shoulder against his knee.

He rested a hand on the back of my neck to soothe me. His thumb rubbed gently across the sensitive skin as I drank in his reassuring presence.

Jax and Flynn entered the nest and sank down across from me—Flynn lowering himself smoothly into a cross-legged position. Jax moved more slowly, still favoring his left side after the muscle damage he’d suffered from an experimental nerve agent.

“We’re gonna take care of you,” Flynn said, his voice a low basso rumble. “Both of you. But Jax wants to ask you first if there’s stuff you particularly like or don’t like.”

I raised an eyebrow, struggling to hold onto rational thought beneath the onslaught of pheromones. “Just Jax? Not you?” I asked.

Flynn grinned at me. “Nah. I’ve got a pretty good idea already. I was doing more than sitting in the corner jacking off last time, you know.”

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