Page 23 of Jace

I was on fire, and somehow, that transmuted the pain. My skin, my muscles, my body burned, sweat breaking out, making my hands slip on the floor, leaving me to bake in some kind of haze, when Em appeared.

“Here, you look terrible.” I opened my eyes a crack, the effort making me flinch, as it felt like the light stabbed into them like sharp knives. “How much did you drink last night?”

Not enough and too much, that was the correct answer, but I couldn’t voice that right now. I popped the pills, then drank the water down in greedy gulps, anything to put out the fire inside.

“You’re dehydrated,” Em said with a nod, then produced a two-litre bottle of cold water. “Come on, let’s get you into bed.”

Bed, yes, that. Instincts seemed to move my limbs when I couldn’t. My sister helped me up, but I walked to my room on wobbling legs, the heat in me flaring once I got to my bed. Em moved briskly, pulling my curtains, the room descending into darkness. Instantly, I felt a little better, the drapes reducing the room down, making it smaller, more cocoon-like.

“Sleep, Sloane,” Em said, shooting me a gentle smile. “And thanks for last night. It was…wild.”

Something fragile, pleased, almost giddy crossed her face, only to be shoved away, and if I were in my right mind, I’d have questioned that, hard, but I wasn’t. I just watched her move away dully, falling onto the bed when Em left, the door closing with a snick, the sound of a phone ringing coming from deep within our place.

But not for long. I felt the wrongness as soon as the soft surface cradled my body. That was right, but the sheets? Prickly, bumpy, with little pill-like indentions I could feel all over me. I tore them off, then pawed at the satin cover of the bare mattress. Close, but not right. I threw open my closet, shoving hangers and clothes to one side in my search. Dresses, pants, shirts, anything that had the right feel was tossed on the bed, and when I turned around, I saw it.

A nest.

Not right yet. I frowned, feeling the curl inside me tighten, grow more restless. It was closer to what I needed, a low ache in my pelvis flaring hotter as my skin did. It had to be finished. It should be perfect. So I crawled onto the bed, pawing at the fabrics, shifting them around on the mattress, until finally, they felt right.

What are you doing? a shrill voice asked in my mind. You’re not a bloody animal!

No, a deeper one answered. You’re an omega.

That was all it took to set the fire that had been banked hard inside me ablaze. His voice, even just an imagined version inside my head, had me writhing on the bed, curling my body tighter within the confines of my nest when that afforded me some relief.

“Jace…” I panted, almost able to feel his hands on my body, between my legs, teasing me, pushing in and opening my arse. Slick oozed from me, coating my skin, my thighs, readying me, and my fingers played in it, trying to ease the ache inside me, but every stroke of my clit only wound me up tighter, and not in a good way. I ended up on all fours, head down, butt in the air, the angle easing some of the pressure off in my pelvis, but also it opened me up. I felt every slight breeze over my overheated folds like some kind of wisp-like caress.

Frenzy…

When a female omega meets a viable alpha mate and things start to proceed in a satisfactory way, she could tip over into frenzy. Increased sexual responsiveness and need, higher basal temperature, reduced inhibitions, it was all leading to one thing—a heat. I’d lose my fucking mind, become some animal thing, craving alpha cock, any cock, and willing to do anything to get it. When he knotted me, shoving that brutal base of his deep inside me, only then would I be able to settle, working myself over and over on his shaft, as far as that massive protuberance would allow, gushing slick and crying out for him.

For him to bite me.

Mark me like a bloody dog, ‘claiming’ me as his.

Like that was even possible. It was the subject of many overheated romance novels, but the reality? I saw those hardened faces of the girls back at Jace’s bar, the way they looked at me with a shitty mix of concern and pity. Omegas were currency in the zone, to be passed around as a form of coin, worthy only for what we could give an alpha.

Suppressants… the remains of my poor beta brain squeaked out. Dawn Agency.

An institution where omegas went in and were cared for but rarely seen. The thought of it had my fingers clawing at my nest materials, but what were my options? My new nature had plenty of answers for that.

I could almost feel him enter the room, stalking over, just staring at the position I’d put myself in, following the pearly trail of every drop of slick sliding down my thighs. His fingers, they’d collect some of it, rub it across his fingertips before those full lips would part and he’d lick them clean, greedy as a child. Then he’d go back for more.

I remembered him dragging my panties to his nose and inhaling like they were a drug. He still had my underwear somewhere in his apartment, since I hadn’t found them this morning and I’d been too embarrassed to ask.

I gushed helplessly as I pictured him bending over, sniffing the air, drawing my scent in, his tongue moving restlessly over his bottom lip because he knew what was coming—my taste, taken greedily from the source. My fingers stroked my clit anew as I saw his fingers digging into my arse, keeping me split wide as his tongue lashed everything from butt to clit, no part of me able to escape his oral inspection. He would eat me alive, sucking my slick straight out of my cunt, only for me to gush more. A high-pitched whine escaped my lips as he pulled back, face glistening, smiling down at me like some kind of savage god, while he palmed that ridiculously huge cock that I fucking craved.

Like all single women, I had a few dildos and vibes in my bedside table, but I knew none of them would be worth using anymore because they didn’t have what I ached for. I’d never been a size queen before, but now? I needed that stretch, that feel of him pushing me to my limits, just pushing himself in at first, only to withdraw, growing harder, deeper, faster with every stroke. I’d ride him, shoving myself back, chasing more, listening to his deep growls as I fought to take him, finally relenting when I wouldn’t be gentled. Then he’d stop thrusting, holding me still with iron hands as our bodies fought and his won. I’d part for him, taking that fucking knot.

My whines were loud and getting louder, a muffled sound at the door breaking my spell.

“Sloane, are you okay?”

Jace

It had been a shitty, fucked-up day all around. Despite Ryder’s declaration that he had Sloane’s sister’s number, it wasn’t doing us a whole lot of fucking good. Whoever Emma was, she wasn’t into answering calls, and even though we had Sloane’s credit card details, which you’d think would be enough, it wasn’t like we made a habit of hacking for a person’s address and phone number. So I was right back to square one—trying to track Sloane down the hard way.

On top of that, something was kicking off over on the other side of Desparion. Our sources said Snake was mobilising his forces. What I didn’t know was why.

---