Chapter 16
16
A stifling heat engulfs me as I gasp awake, sweat clinging to my skin. Damien’s arms wrap around my trembling form, his body a furnace fueling the fever in my blood.
Careful not to rouse him, I slip out from under the blankets and stumble to the bathroom on trembling legs.
The cool tile leeches some of the heat from my bare feet as I fumble for the faucet in the dark. With shaking hands, I fill a glass and gulp down the ice-cold water, rivulets trickling down my chin. It does little to quench the rising inferno inside me. The glass clatters on the counter when I set it down to splash handfuls of water on my flushed face.
When I raise my head, fever-bright eyes and flushed cheeks reflect back at me from the mirror.
Realization hits me like a punch to the gut. My Heat. It’s starting.
Memories of disgusted sneers from Alphas assault me.
Ugh, that stench! Keep that defective Omega away from me.
Gross, I’m not touching that. It reeks.
Their cruel words replay in my mind as I grip the sink, knuckles white. Rancid. Undesirable. A broken Omega.
Panic claws at me as I stumble to the bathroom door and close it, locking the handle. I can’t go back out there. Can’t go near Damien like this. The thought of seeing revulsion twist his handsome features… My eyes squeeze shut against hot tears.
I’d rather die than have him reject me, too.
A soft knock startles me.
“Seven?” Damien’s sleep-roughened voice calls from the other side, and the doorknob jiggles. “Are you all right?”
I swallow hard. “I’m f-fine. Go back to bed. I’ll…I’ll be out soon.”
Please leave me alone, I silently beg. Don’t make me see the moment you realize how repulsive I am. I can’t take being rejected by the man I’ve grown to trust, to love.
“Okay. If you’re sure…”
His footsteps retreat, and I exhale in relief.
But the momentary reprieve shatters as a searing wave of heat crashes over me. I double over, gasping. Slick trickles down my thighs, the cloying scent of my pheromones filling the small space.
Oh, no, it’s never been this intense before.
Frantic, I lurch toward the shower and twist the knob all the way to cold. Icy water cascades over me as I huddle under the spray, still clothed. Violent shivers wrack my frame, but it barely registers through the blistering fever consuming me.
I scrub at my skin, nails biting into flesh. Have to get rid of the stench. Can’t let him smell me like this. Broken whimpers spill from my lips, muffled by the downpour.
Please let it stop. Please don’t let him find me.
A sudden bang jolts through the room, and I flinch as the bathroom door slams open, nearly torn from its hinges. Through the glass shower wall, I see Damien standing in the doorway, chest heaving.
He spots me curled up on the tile, water pounding down. “Seven! What are you?—”
When he surges forward, yanking open the shower door, I throw out a hand to stop him.
“No! S-Stay back!” I recoil until my spine hits the wall. “D-Don’t…Please don’t come any closer!”
I can only imagine how I must appear, soaked in my pajamas and shaking, stinking of Heat and desperation. Utterly pitiful. I can’t bear to see the moment when disgust sets in, when he realizes what a worthless Omega I am.
“Just go,” I beg, ducking my head in shame. Anything to keep him from smelling the truth of what I am. “Please…leave me alone.”
He ignores my plea as he steps into the shower, uncaring about the frigid deluge soaking him in seconds. The water plasters his red-brown hair to his head, and hunger darkens his handsome features. “No. I’m not leaving my Omega to suffer his Heat alone.”
The fabric of his shirt rips as he yanks it over his head, discarding it onto the wet floor. His pants follow, revealing rock-hard abs and the same muscular legs I ground against earlier. His cock juts between his legs, harder than I’ve ever seen, with pre-cum glistening at the tip.
My vision zeroes in on the pulsing length, and my breath catches in my throat.
Damien fists his base, squeezing another bead of cum from his slit. “This is what you want, right, sweetheart?”
A needy whine escapes me, and I spread my knees open for him, my body knowing what it desires.
When he kneels before me, crawling closer, I cover his nose with trembling hands, desperate to mask my scent. “No, no, don’t?—”
His lips brush my palm, hot and hungry as he licks and nips at my skin, and the need for him burns brighter. His hands slide down my stomach, fingers trailing along my hipbone.
“Mine,” he growls as he peels me out of my pants.
“Damien, please,” I whimper, not sure anymore if I want him to stay or leave.
He lifts me without effort, gripping my hips as he positions me over his thick, pulsing cock. I let out a needy whine, my body aching to be filled. With one swift motion, he sheathes himself deep inside me, stretching me wide.
A cry of pure relief tears from my throat, and my hands fall from his nose to clutch his shoulders, legs wrapping around his waist to pull him closer.
One hand on my ass, he rises to his feet, the change in angle driving him deeper. I throw my head back with a wanton moan. Damien reaches out to adjust the water, and blessed heat cascades over our joined bodies.
His lips brush the shell of my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. Don’t be afraid.”
Then he moves, hips surging in a fast, deep rhythm that paints stars across my eyelids. Each thrust burns away the fear of rejection, replacing it with molten need. Thick as honey, it coats my veins, consuming every cell until all I can think about is being filled, claimed, and bred by my Alpha.
“That’s it,” Damien growls as I move with him, meeting his thrusts with rising desperation. “Open up for me, Seven. Take what you need.”
Pleasure builds at the base of my spine, my body yielding under his commanding touch. The heat of the water only adds to the inferno raging inside me, sweat mixing with steam on my fevered skin. I cling to him like he’s the only solid thing in a world turned liquid and hazy with desire.
Nothing else matters except my Alpha.
Damien’s breathing becomes ragged in my ear, and his grip on my hips tightens, nails digging into my sensitive skin. His heartbeat thunders into my chest like a drum. Or is it mine? I can’t tell anymore where I end and he begins as my muscles coil tight, Damien’s body pushing me higher until I spill over the edge with a cry of pleasure.
With one final thrust, Damien buries his cock deep, and pulses of hot release flood my channel. Still clinging to him, I shudder and gasp in the aftershock.
Damien shuts off the water as he grasps my wet hair, tilting my head up for a searing kiss. His tongue tangles with mine, deep and claiming. His cock slips free of my body, and my inner muscles clench, desperate to keep his seed inside me.
His hold on my hips shifts as he steps away from the glass wall. My legs tighten around his waist, my arms around his neck, as he carries us both out of the shower. He grabs one of the bath sheets and wraps my wet body in it as he sets me down on the marble counter.
Before I can protest, he yanks the wet shirt over my head and discards it to the floor before wrapping the towel back around me.
“You smell amazing.” He buries his nose behind my ear, inhaling deeply.
My cheeks flush, his words thrumming through my veins. I’ve been told I stank for so long that I’d never expected to be desired for my scent.
Damien’s hands are everywhere, hot and possessive, as he dries me. Then he pushes me until my back hits the cold mirror. With a hungry groan, he drags my hips to the edge of the countertop, thrusting deep in one smooth thrust.
A strangled cry escapes me, my body heating once more.
Damien sets a punishing rhythm, hips snapping against mine, plunging his cock into my slick channel over and over. I grip the edge of the counter, knuckles white, taking him harder, deeper.
The rock of our bodies dislodges the towel, and it falls open, exposing all of my scarred body to him. So many silvery marks mar my skin. Cuts, burns, needle tracks. The ugliness of my past laid bare.
Instead of recoiling, Damien bends to press a soft kiss to each one. “My beautiful Omega.”
His lips travel up to my chest, his tongue flicking out to lave my nipple. He suckles the sensitive bud, and pleasure flares white hot, my back arching off the counter.
“Damien!” I gasp his name, hands flying to his hair as pulsing heat crashes through me.
When he lifts his head, I stare down in shock at my dick, standing at attention for the first time, milky fluid dripping onto Damien’s abdomen.
“Fuck, you’re perfect, sweetheart.” He grinds into me. “You feel so damn good. So tight, so wet, so mine.”
My inner muscles clench around his thick shaft. “Mark me, Alpha. Make me yours.”
With a possessive growl, Damien pulls out of me. I whine in protest, but only for a moment before he flips me onto my stomach on the countertop. My toes don’t reach the ground, leaving me at his mercy as he thrusts back inside me.
Pressing my palms and cheek to the mirror, I lock eyes with his reflection. The sight of him taking me so roughly sends another wave of desire through me. His muscles bulge and ripple with each surge into my body, and the wet slap of our bodies coming together echoes off the tiles.
He spreads my ass cheeks, staring down at where our bodies connect. “That’s it, Seven. Take it all.”
I moan, bracing myself against the mirror. As he pistons into me, harder and harder, I moan his name, desperate pleas falling from my lips.
Damien leans forward, his large hand engulfing my straining length, his callused fingers electric on my sensitive skin as he pumps me in time with his thrusts.
Overwhelming sensations flood my body, the thick glide of his cock stretching me open, the friction of his hand stroking me, his warm breath panting on my neck. It’s all too much. My lashes flutter shut, the pleasure cresting.
The weight of Damien’s muscled torso presses me into the counter as his teeth graze my nape. I shudder, tilting my head to bare more of my neck to him in submission.
A deep approving rumble vibrates through his chest, and then his teeth clamp down.
White hot ecstasy explodes behind my eyelids. I scream, my release pulsing over Damien’s fist as he claims me, body and soul. Lost to the bliss, I’m only distantly aware of his hips stuttering, his seed filling me once more.
Damien releases my neck, lapping at the wound, his tongue wiggling into the bite, his saliva mixing with my blood to ensure the Mark takes.
“My Omega,” he growls with rough satisfaction.
“Yes,” I moan, my body clenching around him. “Yours, Alpha.”
Picking me up off the counter, he carries me out of the bathroom and to our bed, where we fall together in a tangle of reaching hands and ravenous lips, sealing our bond over and over.