Page 71 of Shifting Fate
Arias
There were certain tell-tale signs that let me know when my heat would hit. Hot flashes. Mood swings. Stomach cramps. And that was on top of a deep-seated urge to get laid. No. More than an urge. Aneed.
Stressed out was an understatement.
I paced the floors of the small cabin, yanking at my hair. Why now? The Dreadhunters could attack at any given moment and my stupid body had decided thatnowwas the perfect time to get all keyed up and horny?
“Ugh!”
“Hey.” I didn’t know where he’d come from, but Tristram was suddenly beside me. He rested a firm hand on my shoulder, and I had to resist the urge to growl and yank out of his grasp. My inner-beast was cagey. My entire body felt tight and hot. I swallowed and glanced up, meeting his eye. Understanding shone there.
“I hate it,” I bit out.
“I know.”
“Why now? Why?” I shuddered, another wave of heat prickling down my spine, ending at my tailbone. I clenched my ass and took a deep breath. A growl escaped me. “Stupid body.”
“How about this?” Tristram began. “Dallon can stay here for a week or so. I’ll shack up over at Westwind, so you two can get all the wild monkey sex out of your systems.” He knew. He knew how badly it sucked to suffer through your heat alone.
“Just be careful.” He handed me a box. I scowled when I saw the label. Condoms. Great. “The last thing you two need is a baby. Especially now.”
I grimaced at the thought, knowing just how much Dallon couldn’t stand Roslyn and Paxton crying in the middle of the night. Not to mention the thought of carrying a living being inside of me weirded me the hell out. I squirmed again, need thrumming through me. Shit.
Tristram nudged my shoulder with his. “Go on. Go take the edge off. I’ll pick Dallon up and we’ll get takeout for dinner, how does that sound?”
I grumbled, but nodded. I wasn’t hungry. Not for food, anyway. Tucking the box of Trojans beneath my arm, I sulked down the hall to my bedroom. I yanked the covers off my bed until only the sheets remained, then stripped naked and crawled beneath them.
The coolness of the cotton soothed my heated skin, but the friction was almost too much. On a groan, I reached down and started jerking myself off, needing release in any way possible. I knew as the day wore on, the urge to mate would only grow as hormones flooded my body.
I’d bottomed a few times, but the only time I ever really enjoyed it was during a heat. I always made sure to sleep with a human, just in case. Humans couldn’t get Omni pregnant. Only other shifters. It was the magic of the knot, or something like that. That’s what Mom told us when we got the “birds and the bees” talk.
I thrust my head back against the pillows with gritted teeth as liquid heat pooled between my thighs. I didn’t need to touch myself to know that I was slick, my traitorous body preparing itself to be bred. Apparently, it didn’t realize we were right on the edge of a goddamn apocalypse. All it could think about was making a baby.
I groaned, my muscles clenching up. I slid my other hand between my legs, my finger tugging at my rim. I was wet, leaking onto the sheets. I’d probably change them a dozen times in the next couple of days. I pressed my middle finger inside and my entire body gave a shudder, clamping down around it.
I pinched my eyes closed and worked a second finger in, the other hand still stroking my cock. I could feel the pressure building. I snared my bottom lip between my teeth and let out a whine.
I came, but it did very little to ease the urgency. With a growl, I threw the pillow across the room and stalked naked down the hall, into the bathroom. Beneath the hot spray of water, I came a second time. My forehead thunked against the tile wall as I gasped for breath.
In a few hours, I’d be frantic and desperate and totally not in control, and I hated it. I could only hope that Dallon’s knot was magical and he’d fuck me right out of this lust-induced haze.
I groaned out loud. “Fuck…”
