Orri (Intergalactic Surrogacy Agency #3)

5. Heat

HEAT

ISABELLA

W arm, fuzzy feelings surround me. And not the good kind, either. The sharp, stabbing pain subsides with each step Orri takes and I burrow deeper into his embrace, well past the point of thinking logically. His strong scent is clouding my mind.

Why did this have to happen to me? To me, of all people? I came to Aesirheim as a last resort. As a way to put my abusive ex behind me and start a new life for myself.

So why did I feel like I was the one being punished? Heat racks through me in unrelenting waves, leaving me panting and sweating and writhing in Orri’s arms. I know I must look a mess, but I can’t help myself. My body’s moving on its own, and right now it wants — no, needs — the touch of an alpha.

Too bad this was exactly the type of thing I’d hoped to avoid with Bjornick. Hooking up with a random alien without any thought to how he would treat me as a person? That’s part of the reason Bjornick and I wanted to wait and form bonds of affection before I became pregnant. He really was too good to me…

But with Orri carrying me fireman style, growling and stomping away from the scene while heat threatens my very sanity, it’s kind of…attractive?

I try to remember Orvox’s promises. That I don’t have to do anything I’m uncomfortable with. That I can back out or call for help at any time.

But as much as I don’t want to admit it, their type of ‘help’ isn’t what I need right now. I need an alpha to hold me, treasure me, and breed me until I can’t see straight. I need him to roar out my name as he pumps me full of load after load of hot, sticky cum.

I need to lose myself in the immeasurable pleasures only an alpha can bring to his omega, and dammit, I need it now .

Orri isn’t my assigned mate, and he’s definitely not my heart mate, but he will have to do until I can get through this heat. Because I’m definitely not going back in the med pod. It was creepy enough the first time, and gross slime that seemed to have a mind of its own? So not my jam.

Orri smells…right. I can’t explain why it’s instinctively perfect. In the swirling inferno of lust and fear, something about him calms me. He’s my anchor in the storm, a lifeline when I need it most. If someone asked me what he smelled like, I don’t know that I could even describe. It’s a subtle combination of all my favorite things — chocolate, a crackling fireplace, and some spicy scent I can’t place…

Wait, does this guy actually smell like a s’more? With cinnamon graham crackers?

That delirious thought is the last one that stays with me as my eyes droop closed and I nuzzle into the warmth of his neck, letting instinct take over.

He’s here.

He’s an alpha.

And he’s going to make sure I’m okay.

* * *

When I come to, I’m in my old cottage, the one I shared with Bjornick, I realize with a pang in my chest. Some of his old clothes are still there, draped over the back of the chair. I remember scolding him about it. It was all in good fun, of course. I told him an alpha needed to be more organized, and he told me he was , just in his own special way.

It was an endearing little quirk…and now even that was gone.

The sound of a growl wakes me completely, and I gasp, pulling the covers up around my chest. Memories of the last few days rush back in in an instant.

Bjornick is gone. I was in heat.

Oh, and this growly alpha was gonna ‘help’ me through it.

What a sacrifice, I think while rolling my eyes. Really taking one for the team. But my snark fades when I see him sniffing Bjornick’s discarded sweater.

The growl that resonates from his chest is deeper than any sound I’ve ever heard. It rattles around in my chest and settles deep into my belly, the warmth there reaching inferno levels.

This isn’t right to be lusting after some alien alpha I just met. But then again, isn’t that what I signed up for? It was only through a quirk of timing that I had more time to get to know Bjornick, but somehow, that little miscalculation had brought me here, laying in bed with a hulking golden alien snarling at me.

“These clothes,” he says with a scowl. “They reek.”

Okay, so Bjornick wasn’t the best-smelling alien, true, but…

“Just put them over—“

“No.” It’s a hard, cold word that leaves no room for argument. “I do not like smelling another male in your nest. Not while you’re with me.”

Oh. I open my mouth to retort, but find that I can’t. My pussy contracts at his possessive words, and I’d be lying to say it didn’t steal the breath right from my chest.

He wants me.

And, despite everything, I want him too.

“Get up.” He strides to the bed and scowls at the blankets like they might bite. “Now.”

Before I even have time to move, he gathers me in his arms and gently sets me in the plush chair before returning to the bed. With a single motion, he tears the sheets and blankets off of the bed, tossing them into a corner.

“What are you doing?” I ask when I finally find my voice. “How are we going to—“

Orri rounds on me, his demeanor savage but his touches are nothing but gentle. He eases me out of the chair, holding me close in a way that speaks to all of my omega urges. He leans down so that his lips brush the shell of my ear. I shiver at his boldness.

“If I’m going to take you, I will not do it with the smell of another male in my omega’s nest.”

I suck in a breath. His omega. I wasn’t. Not really.

But when he said it like that?

Maybe I could be. At least for now.

My thoughts wander and I find myself thinking about Orri with another woman in his bed. Pleasuring her, whispering all the sweet nothings into her ears just as he had into mine.

To my surprise, it frightens me. No, more than that. It enrages me in a way I have never felt before.

A small growl of my own rips free before I can stop it. I didn’t even know I could make those kinds of noises. But Orri pushes all of my buttons, even the ones I didn’t know I had before.

Heat crawls up my neck and centers on the point where his lips meet my ear. With a ragged sigh, I can’t hold it back anymore. I melt into his touch, and whisper to him with just the same ferocity, “Then let’s get started.”