Page 62 of Tangled In Tinsel & Knots
No. This isn’t my heat. My cycle isn’t due for weeks. This is just me being horny because I kissed an attractive Alpha and my body is overreacting. Except it feels like I’m drowning.
I strip off my dress and bra, then turn on the ceiling fan. Cool air washes over my burning skin, teasing my sensitive nipples, and I gasp at the sensation. It helps for maybe a minute before the ache intensifies again, burning hotter.
I try lying on my side in bed. My back. My stomach. Nothing is comfortable. Every position deepens the ache, makes me more aware of how empty I feel, how much I need to be filled.
This is exactly why Omegas shouldn’t live with unmated Alphas. Our bodies betray us, needing what we can’t have, demanding what we shouldn’t want. I’m soaked between my thighs, and I stumble toward the bathroom, thinking maybe cold water will shock my system into submission.
But halfway there, pain curls sharp and deep around my core, and I moan, gripping the doorframe to stay upright. I’m shuddering with arousal.
In that moment, I know what I have to do. I snatch one of the sheets off the bed, wrap it around my naked body. The fabric is soft against my oversensitized skin, and even that simple touch has me moaning.
I know I’m desperate and I’ll probably regret this in the morning. But I can’t bring myself to stop. My feet carry me to the door, and I pull it open without letting myself think, without letting doubt creep in.
The hallway outside my room is dark and quiet. Everyone is asleep.
I pad barefoot down the hallway, and I don’t let myself hesitate with only Noel on the brain.
10
HANNAH
I’m sneaking down the hallway like a criminal, clutching a sheet around my naked body, and every logical part of my brain is screaming that this is a terrible idea. But the logical parts of my brain stopped being in charge about ten minutes ago when the ache between my thighs became so intense that I couldn’t think about anything else.
My skin is on fire. Every nerve ending is screaming for touch, for friction, for an Alpha’s body against mine. My inner thighs are slick with arousal, and I’m pretty sure I’m leaving a trail of scent behind me that would make any Alpha in a one-mile radius lose his mind.
This is insane. Desperate. Exactly the kind of behavior I’d lecture someone else about, and yet here I am, padding barefoot down a dark hallway toward Noel’s room because my body has decided it needs him right now or it’s going to spontaneously combust.
The first door I cross is slightly ajar. That has to be it.
My heart is pounding so hard. My entire body is trembling with need. Pure, primal, overwhelming need. Not want. Not desire.Need.
I’ve never felt anything like this before. Never been this out of control and desperate for touch.
Nothing insane about showing up naked in someone’s room because your body has decided it’s going to die without them.
I reach for the handle and stumble, catching myself against the frame. The wood is cool under my palm, grounding me for half a second before the heat surges back.
“Calm down,” I whisper to myself.Just… ask for help. He offered. You’re just taking him up on it.
My voice sounds strange in the quiet hallway. Breathless. Desperate.
I push the door open slowly, wincing at the small creak of hinges.
A strange scent finds me immediately, and I nearly moan out loud. Pine. Rich and clean and grounding. It’s coming from a small ceramic diffuser on the bedside table, white vapor curling up from it in delicate wisps. The room is dim, lit only by moonlight filtering through curtains and that small warm glow from the diffuser.
I can barely make out details. Dark furniture. Minimal decoration. Very masculine. Very Noel.
And there, on the massive bed, Noel is shrouded in night.
He’s sprawled on his back, one arm thrown over his face, the other stretched above his head. His legs extend from under the blanket, and even in the shadows, I can tell he’s huge. The size is right. The build is right.
My body recognizes him on some instinctive level.
I stand at the end of the bed, frozen between rationality and desperation. The ache intensifies, cramping low in my belly, and I bite my lip to keep from whimpering.
The sheet around me slips from my fingers. It pools silently at my feet, and I’m completely naked in Noel’s bedroom, and this should feel wrong, but all I feel is burning need.
I climb onto the bed as carefully as I can, trying not to jostle him awake yet. The mattress dips under my weight, and I freeze, but he doesn’t stir. Just keeps breathing deep and even.
