Page 92 of Feeling the Heat: Part Two
He pulls back, lips hovering a few inches from mine, as he searches my face. “That okay?”
“Yeah,” I croak, voice thick from how okay it was.
His free hand comes up to cup my neck, and our mouths fuse together again, less tentative this time. He still doesn’t demand anything from me, but I can feel him against my stomach. He’s hard from kissing me. And I guess my body is less nervous about this than my mind is, because my dick is thick in my sweatpants, too.
River groans against my mouth, his fingers gripping me tighter. His desire mixes with mine in the bond, but after a few more seconds he releases me and steps back with a shuddering exhale.
For once, I have no words. My best friend just kissed me, and I loved it. I want more.
I move to close the distance between us, but the sound of the front door opening has me freezing. Dolly’s barks echo from the living room, and a few seconds later Ambrose and Camille round the corner into the kitchen.
“Oh thank God,” Camille says when she sees the pancakes in progress. “I’m starving.”
River raises a brow. “I thought you went to dinner?”
“We did, but apparently the fancier the restaurant, the smaller the portions. It wasn’t even enough food for a toddler,” Ambrose grumbles.
River moves past me to go give his mate a consoling kiss on the cheek, and as he does, he brushes his hand across the small of my back. It heats my blood and reassures me we’re not done with our conversation. That it wasn’t a stolen moment but something important we’ll come back to.
I head back over to the stove, a smile on my lips. “What would you all do without me?”
“Perish from hunger,” Camille says with a giggle.
Ambrose snorts. “Probably have fewer grays.”
River takes a moment to consider, and my heart pounds against my ribcage with the new knowledge of how it feels to be kissed by him. “We’d be lost without you.”
35
When I wakeup for work Monday morning, sweaty and a bit crampy, I almost call out sick. All I want to do today is lie in my nest surrounded by my pack, soaking up their scents and their touch, but it seems none of them are on the same page because when I get up, they’re all already bustling about. River has a mandatory staff meeting, then therapy. Ambrose has his usual shift at the clinic, and is booked with appointments the whole day. And even Jackson, the one who is always ready to drop everything to be with me, can’t play hookie because Pulse is meeting for negotiations with the firm today. Negotiations, which I thankfully don’t need to be present for because I think I’d perish if I had to deal with whatever bullshit they’re going to claim about me while I’m fighting off my impending heat.
So, I go to work. Thankfully, my office has its own thermostat, I can control the lighting, and there’s industrial-strength scent-filtration in every room. My only client meeting today gets rescheduled, so I’m able to hole up and get as much done as I can in advance of my heat. It’s daunting knowing I’m goingto be missing multiple days of work, but the good thing about working with omega clients and having an omega boss is no one bats an eye when you tell them you’ll be out for a week. I don’t even have to feel guilty about leaving clients in the lurch or stressed about all the work that I’ll have to catch up on when I return, because Lauren has structured our team to be able to cover for each other when someone is out on heat leave.
Maya’s new pack she’s dating sent her a gourmet muffin basket that she’s doling out to all of us, and I’m mid-devouring my second one of the morning when there’s a rap on my office door. I startle, a shower of muffin crumbs falling down onto my blouse and into my cleavage.
“Come in,” I call, brushing the mess away.
The door swings open to reveal not any of my coworkers, but Astrid.
“Oh, shit.” I totally forgot we were having lunch together today. She even texted me yesterday to confirm.
A blonde brow quirks. “So happy to see your best friend. I’m touched.”
I shake my head. “I am! I’m just, uh, running late. Give me a second and then we can head out.” As much as I’d rather stay in my cool, dark office and eat muffins until it’s time to go home, I haven’t seen Astrid in a few weeks, so I’m not about to cancel on her.
She eyes the muffin wrappers still strewn on my desk, but doesn’t say anything as I pretend to finish an email before getting up and grabbing my purse.
Astrid pulls me into a hug, and my omega lets out a tiny purr at the comfort, which makes her giggle. “Alright, kitty, let’s go get you something to eat.”
The restaurantAstrid chose is too stuffy and loud, packed from the lunch rush. The second we step inside, I have to stifle my omega’s whine of discomfort. By the time we’re seated, I’m queasy and my head is throbbing. My eyes won’t focus on the menu, and I recoil when an alpha walks by our table and brushes against my arm.
“You look pale. Are you okay?” Astrid asks, brows knitting together.
“I…” It takes all my willpower not to shove down my discomfort for the sake of seeming like my “normal” old self, and shake my head. “Can we go somewhere else?”
Astrid frowns. “If you didn’t want sushi, you could’ve told me. I’m fine with eating whatever.”
“It’s not the sushi. It’s all the noise and smells and people in here. My omega is freaking out.”
