Chapter 11 Fallon
FALLON
My head hit the pillow and all I saw as I closed my eyes were swirling numbers and symbols. It was as if I had taken a drug and I was seeing pictures on the inside walls of my mind. But even though they were equations, I couldn't make sense of them. I couldn't think.
Heat suffused my body. I probably had a fever with this cold coming on. I'd done what Keir had asked of me and taken some cold medicine. I lay back and tried to relax, waiting for it to hit.
Instant panic set in. I had to go back to work. It was the day before the day before Christmas Eve. The strange storm was close. Keir was counting on me. Santa was counting on me.
I wiped my hand across my brow trying to clear my mind.
There had to be something I could do, a solution to stave off this problem for the next day and a half.
Mind over matter? That might work during a heat for the first few hours, but that was all.
Plus, I was working with an alpha. It would affect him. But maybe I could work from home.
First, I needed a cold shower. It wouldn't feel good, but it would help.
I forced myself into the bathroom and under the icy running water.
My inner reindeer could only compensate for my human form for a few minutes before I began shivering, my teeth rattling.
I stayed under the spray for as long as I could stand it.
Which wasn't long. Cold water hammering bare skin stung like mad. Pain radiated everywhere.
I got out and rubbed myself down fast and hard, then wrapped my body in a flannel robe.
I needed to move fast, get back to my computer. First I really needed a hot drink. I longed for cocoa with marshmallows but I knew it would just make things worse. Sugar was a comfort. But also, a stimulant.
I fixed myself decaf coffee and hurried in my favorite fluffy slippers to my laptop which sat on my new coffee table.
Immediately, I emailed Keir. I told him I had come down with a bad fever and that I would need to work from home.
It was a lie, but I felt justified. He didn't need to deal with the truth right now.
I received an answer within two minutes. He asked if I needed anything, medicine, food, a doctor.
Quickly, I typed.
No. I have cold meds. Hopefully they will keep my brain clear. Can you send me all the updates?
I hoped changing the subject to focus on work would get him to stop asking questions. But I was worried. Hearts were unpredictable for me. My mind could get lost in a haze. There was nothing, not even cold meds, I could take for that.
I received a document and immediately began to read it. For now, I could concentrate despite the powerful ache between my thighs. The cold shower and the hot coffee helped. I'd put a folded towel down on my couch so I wouldn't leak slick onto it. I was set for now.
The updates on the storm in the last hours were brutal. Everything was changing before my eyes. It was almost useless to try to keep up with it. I was constantly going back and rewriting the nav programs to compensate.
Every hour, Keir emailed me and asked how I was doing and if I needed anything. I couldn't tell him to stop. That would have been rude. But the more he asked, the more my omega instincts responded. Arousal returned through the roof.
It was the alpha's job to take care of his omega mate. That protective and caring instinct was everything I craved right now. Even though Keir was not my mate, my body didn't know that. It wanted him with every cell.
For just a moment, I closed my eyes and put my head down on a pillow on the couch. The computer fell to the side.
The next thing I knew, my phone was buzzing. When I looked with my bleary eyes, I saw a bunch of missed texts and three missed calls. It was just around noon. I'd gotten through the first six hours but I didn't think I could last six more.
I poked my phone trying to listen to the most recent message. I missed a few times but finally got it to play. Damn, I was out of it.
I leaned back and listened.
“Fallon. Are you there? This is my third message. I'm assuming you're not all right. I'm on my way over to check on you.”
I sat straight up, shock coiling through my body. Keir was on his way here? That couldn't happen.
I heard my own voice as if from far away. “No no no no.”
I poked hard at my phone screen, losing my way as I tried to find the icon to call him back. This was bad. Real bad.
Finally, I found the right icon and just as I heard a ringing there was a loud knock at my door.
I jumped up, my entire body shaking, my arousal making a prominent tent at the front of my robe. I ran to my door and peered through the peephole. Keir stood just outside. I could only see his upper body. He had his laptop case slung across his shoulder.
“Oh no,” I mumbled.
I cracked the door open.
“Fallon? Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” I swallowed against the dryness creeping up my throat.
“You aren’t well. You need someone to take care of you. And while I’m doing that, we can work together on this weather problem.” He smiled and lifted his hand which I couldn’t see through the peephole. He held a bag. “I brought sustenance and fever reducer. Let’s get to work.”
“Um. Hi.” I gulped again, holding onto the edge of the door. His alpha scent rolled over me. So enticing. My knees became unsteady. “Keir. You can’t come in.”
“Why? You think you’re contagious?”
“I—I don’t have a cold.”
“What?”
“I—I’m in heat. That’s why I couldn’t come back today. I swear I can work through it. At least, I think I can. But not with you here.”
Keir’s expression tightened. “Fallon, sorry. I didn’t know.” He sniffed the air, then caught himself, blinking hard as if embarrassed.
“I should have told you the truth. I didn’t know until early this morning.”
“But when I didn’t hear from you—” He stopped. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to work.”
He was right. I’d fallen into a heat-induced stupor for the past two hours.
“I can try.”
He shook his head. We stared at each other a little too long. I stepped back, fearing for my balance. His tall alpha stance sent images through my mind I shouldn’t have been having. My body wanted to bend over right here and now. Slick ran down the naked backs of my thighs.
“I’m worried about this year’s flight. You were my ace.”
“I—I know. I can focus. I just need another cold shower.” My voice shook. “I think.”
“We need you. I need you. What can be done?”
There was nothing. No meds. I had to go through the heat. “You know there’s nothing for it,” I whispered.
More powerful alpha waves of warm spiced sugar. Like maple syrup. My stomach clenched in hunger, in need. I loved hot pancakes with lots of syrup. But I wasn’t hungry for that as much as I desired… him.
“Fallon. Let me in. Let me help. I promise I can control myself.”
He didn’t understand at all. It was me who couldn’t control myself. “No. I can’t.”
“We can work this out together. But I need you. I don’t think this flight will make it without you.”
“You’re good. Clea and Drake are very good. You can do this. I can help. But I have to stay here. Alone.”
“We can be in separate rooms. I’ll stay in the living room. You can go in your bedroom. We’ll have our phones on to communicate.”
“We can do that from further away.” My voice came out slow, soft.
“If you stop responding, I can check on you easier if I’m here. Get you in the shower. Anything you need. We can’t let Christmas be cancelled this year. We can’t.”
Had it ever been cancelled? I hadn’t heard of such a thing. Christmas would always be here. Wouldn’t it? Santa would never allow it to be cancelled.
Keir looked a little lost outside in the hallway. “It’s up to you.”
“Me? No.”
“Yes. You have an understanding of this storm no one else possesses. Including me.”
I opened the door wider. More slick dripped down my legs. He had to smell it. His face remained serious but concerned.
“I’m sorry this is happening right now. I didn’t expect it.
I’m off-schedule.” I was blabbering now, trying to explain things to this alpha—this alpha my body and mind was craving—things he didn’t need to know.
“It might last two or three days. I don’t know.
I can focus. I can try to focus. I’ll help. I promise. But you have to leave.”
“You shouldn’t be alone. I already told you I can stay out here in your living room. Just to make sure you’re all right. Hydrated at the very least. And fed.”
He wanted to take care of me. That was a bad sign. Nice of him, for sure, but proof he was already falling into the alpha/omega hormonal and energetic mode that happened when an omega went into heat. The alpha yearned to care for all the omega’s needs. All of them.
Gods help me, I yearned for that, too.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Fallon. It’s the only way. Let me in.”
I stood back, giving him space. He moved past me, bustling a little, setting his bag on my kitchen counter. I shut the door and turned to see him removing his laptop tote from his shoulder.
He faced me, his gaze not quite meeting mine. “All right. Are you hungry? Do you need more coffee?”
My fingers curled, the nails digging into my palms. I was so drawn to him I almost ran and threw my arms around him. Instead, I said, “I haven’t eaten since last night.”
“All right. I know it’s afternoon. But how about a nice breakfast. It’s easy and fast.”
My mouth salivated at the thought of it. “Pancakes?”
“Do you have the mix?”
I nodded. “And eggs and bacon.”
“Coming right up.” He practically ran around the counter, switching on my kitchen light.
“I need to go clean up.” I exhaled sharply.
“Go. Do whatever you need. This will be ready in a minute. I’ll leave a tray for you.”
“Um. Okay.” I practically ran to my bathroom, slamming the door. I turned the shower to cold and let my robe drop.
It was awful. Painful. Standing in the cold spray and trying not to scream when a beautiful, healthy alpha was only yards away. One wall separated us. Only one.
I bent over in the shower to let the coldness hit my ass. Maybe it would slow the slick. Instead, the beat of the water felt good. Not the iciness, but the pounding of it, the rhythm.
I reached back and spread my cheeks, letting the water slice down my crack. My teeth rattled. I nearly cried.
I could only take it for a minute before I jumped out and roughly toweled dry, my body nearly convulsing. I wrapped my robe around me, put on my fluffy slippers, and warmed up. It was the heat-fever that got me warm so fast.
I opened the door and peeked out. I smelled bacon and pancakes. My stomach growled. My balls moved as my cock bobbed against the flannel of my robe. My crack was wet but nothing dripped to my legs. Yet.
Then I remembered. I had a towel on the couch. Right where Keir would be working. My face heated even more and I ventured from my room with the intent to grab it.
I ran past the open kitchen area to the couch.
“Fallon? Do you want the food in your room?” Keir’s voice sounded strained.
Snatching up the towel, I spun so fast I fell onto the couch, immediately sitting up.
Keir had seen. “Are you all right?”
I nodded, rolling the towel and putting it under my arm. I grabbed my computer and stood. “My room is fine.”
I ran back to my room to my unmade bed and froze before it unsure what to do. Get in the bed? Sit on the floor on the other side and hide? Maybe under the bed?
I could work anywhere if my mind was clear. The heat threatened that clarity.
Slowly, I sat on the edge of my bed, setting the towel next to me until I found a more permanent spot for myself. I heard footsteps and looked up.
Keir appeared in the doorway, tray in hand. The food smelled delicious. But it wasn’t food I wanted. Keir looked more delicious than any hot serving of pancakes and syrup. My mouth watered. The slick began to run.