CHAPTER FIVE - Lyla
I tried sleeping on the cot, but every time I curled up under the blanket, it felt like I was a Christmas pudding being covered in steaming caramel sauce. Hot, cold, hot, cold. Perspiration had my hair sticking to my face. I didn’t know if it was stress or if I had caught a virus.
When I did fall asleep in the chair, my dreams were like cheesy porn videos.
Jason tugging off his shirt to reveal his ripped abs and kissing downward along my body like he might eat me up.
Then lit by candlelight, Ozzi circling me and kissing my neck as his hands ran up over my naked body.
That was topped by the two of them, hands all over me, filling me from both sides with their knots. So hard and thick and…
I was very tempted to run outside and throw myself into a snowbank. Naked.
Rarely did I remember my dreams, and the spiciest ones I’d ever had only involved kissing because that and some clumsy groping was the most I’d ever done with a guy. And those guys had been Betas. Sure, they were good-looking men, but nowhere near as smoking as Ozzi and Jason.
Several splashes of cold water didn’t help. The t-shirt under my sweater was sticking to my skin. I was tempted to ask a nurse to take my temperature, but if I was sick, I wouldn’t be allowed to be in the hospital with Miss Eloise.
I ate an orange as I waited for the sun to rise.
Jason and Ozzi had been sweet to get me food and magazines.
I’d thought maybe they were nice like that to everyone they helped, but the night nurse chatted with me for a bit and grinned when she said she’d never seen them do anything like that before.
A wave of tingling heat went through me as I recalled talking to Jason and how easily our conversation flowed. He was friendly and funny, and so fucking totally an Alpha. He’d strolled into the room like he’d owned the place. Perhaps he was being sweet to me, but he might be a pompous ass.
Ozzi, on the other hand, kept his distance, but his dark sexy gaze bore into me. Every time I glanced at him, his eyes said ‘come here, darling, and let me devour you.’
Ack! Why was I even thinking about them?
There were far more important things I had to occupy my mind.
Like how I was going to have to deliver the gifts to Big Sisters for Miss Eloise and finish the rest of the baking.
There was caroling on the weekend, shopping that needed to be done, and the last of my completed orders to mail out. What I really needed was coffee.
I flipped through the magazines waiting for eight o’clock to roll around and for Mariska to show up. If there was ever a person who was consistently punctual, it was my bestie. She’d have coffee and sweets and a change of clothes. Together we were a pack to be reckoned with. We’d get stuff done.
Yet the clock hit eight and no Mariska.
Eight-ten.
Eight-fifteen.
I sent her a text asking where she was. Maybe it was slow going on the streets. The wind was howling outside, and snow could have blown on the roads overnight.
At eight-thirty, I paced the small room as I called her. No answer.
I called the neighbors, but they claimed no one was home at Primrose House. Then I texted Emberlee, but she hadn’t heard from Mariska either.
What if Mariska had an accident? What if she was lying in a bed unconscious somewhere else in the hospital? Or frozen on the side of the road?
I left another message for Mariska and probably like a dozen texts.
My chin trembled and tears burned my eyes.
After what happened with Miss Eloise, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing my best friend.
Santa wouldn’t smack me with a double whammy on Christmas, would he?
I was one of the good girls. Well, I silently promised I’d stop reading smutty books if Mariska was okay.
Pfft. Let’s be realistic. I promised to stop reading smutty books out loud to my friends and doing all the bad accents and sex noises.
A knock at the door had me spinning around with a leap of joy rising in my chest. I’d been ready to rush to my bestie and hug her like a madwoman when I realized there were two big muscular bodies filling the doorway, and they didn’t belong to the Silver Tree Farm pack.
Jason and Ozzi. Out of uniform and carrying a tray of steaming coffee and boxes of food.
I’d always thought I was a sucker for a man in uniform, but these Alphas in butt hugging jeans were making me drool. Every nerve in my body seemed suddenly alive and thrumming. As much as I wanted to fling myself into a snowbank, I wanted to do the same with them.
Yup, I was truly a madwoman.
“Good morning.” Jason’s smile was the star on the Christmas tree. Bright and warm and beautiful. He set his boxes on the tray table and wheeled it away from the wall. “We come bearing gifts.”
“Hi Lyla.” Ozzi’s soft baritone had me squeezing my thighs. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Wow. Thank you. I slept a little. That smells amazing.” Fuck, they smelled so good.
While the aromas of coffee and pastries chased away the antiseptic odor of the hospital, it was their Alpha scents that hit me the hardest. Rich caramel and myrrh threading with lavender and the summer woods.
“Good morning. What’s this? I didn’t realize part of a paramedic’s job was taking care of the, uh, witness. ”
Clearly fashion was my best form of expression and not words.
“Only for you.” Jason presented the table of deliciousness to me. He gestured first to the three large coffees. “Here we have three kinds because we weren’t certain what you liked. A black coffee, a chocolate espresso, and a gingerbread vanilla latte.”
“The latte, please. I am a sugar addict!” My giggle made me sound like I had taken a puff on someone’s weedy vape.
I gratefully took the latte, needing something to do with my hands which itched to touch them.
Sipping it, the warmth flowed through me as well as the sugar energy.
“Perfect. Thank you. I didn’t get much sleep last night. Just bits here and there.”
“I’m sure the cot didn’t help either.” Jason snagged the chocolate espresso and took a drink.
I couldn’t look away as he licked his lips.
“We brought you one of our camping cots if you’re going to stay another night.
It’s in our truck if you want it. It’s way more comfortable than the clunky things they have here. ”
Holy not-so-secret Santa. They thought of everything.
“We also got a bunch of different things to eat as well.” Ozzi opened the first box to show a stack of fluffy pancakes shimmering with syrup and whipped cream with red and green sprinkles on top.
“Pancakes here along with sausages and bacon in this other box. Some orange cranberry scones and eggnog muffins. Also, if you’re wanting something light, Greek yogurt and fruit. ”
I hadn’t been thinking of food until they’d walked in. While my body was yelling it was hungry for something else, I reached over and took a scone. “This is fantastic. You brought a feast. This is enough food for the whole day.”
“Just a typical breakfast for us.” Jason shrugged and winked as he sipped his coffee.
“For you.” Ozzi gave his friend a smirk. “Some mornings I make spanakopitas, and he’ll devour like three of them.”
“Hey, they’re like breakfast pizzas. So good. I can’t help myself.” Jason popped open the meat box and plucked a piece of bacon out of it, folding the strip into his mouth.
“Those are for Lyla.” Ozzi closed the box as Jason reached for another.
“No, help yourselves. This is too much for me.” I smiled at how they were so much like brothers. They couldn’t look more unrelated, but their closeness reminded me of Mariska and I. Speaking of which…
I checked my phone. No messages except from people asking about Miss Eloise. My shoulders sagged, and I stuffed a big piece of my citrusy scone in my mouth to distract me from the distressed surge of emotions which washed over me.
Then suddenly there was an arm around me. A large muscled arm. Jason.
“Everything’s going to be okay. If you’re sad that I might eat all the breakfast pizza, know that I would always share it with you.” Jason rubbed my shoulder as a soft purr rumbled in his chest. Quiet as it was, it slowly rolled through me and eased the tension inside.
As much as his purr soothed me, I was keenly aware that an Alpha was touching me. Not like a handshake or a brush of an elbow, but a whole arm that pressed the side of me to his side. It was like someone had thrown a switch and zapped every inch of my skin with electricity.
I fought the urge to turn and mash my body against his. I wanted to taste the chocolate on his lips and have his hands grab my ass.
Even as I vibrated with Jason’s closeness, my gaze was on Ozzi across from me. He’d frozen in mid-sip. His eyes went wide as Jason made physical contact.
An Alpha was touching an unclaimed Omega. It was against the rules.
Even if one tried to reason Ozzi was a chaperon, it wouldn’t have counted since he was an Alpha too. An Alpha I wanted to get on my knees for and see what he was packing in those jeans.
My legs trembled, feeling suddenly weak. My heart pounded as my breaths became quick. Something wet my panties and both men audibly inhaled.
The monitors made an odd beep. A dry gasp from the bed shook me free from whatever carnal spell had overcome me.
“Miss Eloise!” I dropped my latte as I rushed to her bedside. Jason’s quick reflexes were the only thing that kept it from falling to the floor. I took her hand in mine and tried not to squeeze it. “Miss Eloise, can you hear me?”
She slowly turned her head and blinked her eyes several times. It was as if she’d aged twenty years since yesterday, and I choked back a sob. But she was awake. Awake!
“I’m going to get the nurse.” Ozzi hurried out of the room as Jason came to stand beside me.
“Good morning, Eloise. We’re all so happy to see you awake. Lyla here has been incredibly worried. She hasn’t left your side since we brought you here.” Jason didn’t touch me, but his arm was less than an inch away from mine. The pull just to lean on him was insane.
Miss Eloise managed a small smile and tried to speak, but her voice cracked. I reached for the cup of water beside her bed with a straw in it, but Jason shook his head.
“Don’t give her any liquids yet. She could choke or swallow wrong and aspirate. Let the nurse see her first.”
“Right, okay.” Good thing I had a paramedic here to keep me from doing anything stupid. If I’d given Miss Eloise the water and she had choked, I’d never forgive myself. But it was hard, knowing how parched she must be. I only wanted to take care of her.
Ozzi was back with a nurse in tow. She shooed us all away from the bed and checked over Miss Eloise.
I wrung my hands together, waiting for the verdict.
Apparently the nurse knew my housemother as she was telling her about the charity event for the children at the hospital and how everyone loved Mariska as the new young Mrs. Claus.
I reached a shaky hand out to my phone and texted Mariska and Emberlee that Miss Eloise was awake. There were still no replies from my bestie, and I swallowed my anxiety over that as the nurse turned with a smile.
“Eloise is doing excellently. I’ll have the doctor come in and see her, but if you want to give her some water, you can do so. I raised her bed a little. If the doctor gives her the allclear, we’ll transfer her out of emergency and away from this wall of machines.”
“Thank you!” I flew forward and hugged her, much to her surprise. I didn’t care. Miss Eloise was going to be alright.
The world was shiny and bright again. Angels were singing Christmas songs and elves were dancing around the North Pole.
Sure, Miss Eloise was still in the hospital with a long road of recovery ahead of her, Mariska was missing in action, and I was having porn fantasies about two hot EMTs, but yup, all good.
Mostly.
Why was I feeling so hot again?