Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Solana
Kade disappeared down the hallway about ten minutes ago.
I stayed in the living room, curled up on the couch, trying to process everything that just happened.
The image of Kade and Dustin in the office keeps replaying in my mind, the raw intensity of it making my body heat in ways I'm not sure how to handle.
When Kade returns, I look up automatically and immediately regret it.
He's changed out of his jeans into a pair of soft gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips, the waistband revealing a strip of dark skin and the defined V of muscle that disappears beneath the fabric.
But it's the lack of a shirt that really gets me.
His chest is bare, all that smooth dark skin stretched over muscle that shifts and moves as he walks, a tattoo over his heart that I noticed before but can now see clearly.
A family crest of some kind, intricate lines forming a shield with symbols I don't recognize. It looks old, like something passed down through generations but also rich, like old money in the magazines we’d sometimes to steal at Harmony.
But it's not the tattoo that has my attention fully captured. It's just him. The way his muscles move as he heads toward the kitchen, relaxed in a way that makes him seem more approachable than when he's in his usual dark jeans and fitted shirts.
My body heats up even more, a flush spreading across my skin that has nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with the growing arousal pooling low in my belly.
I press my thighs together, trying to ignore the slick building between my legs.
It's getting worse, more pronounced than it was this morning when Dustin had his mouth on me.
I never realized what a problem it could be until today, until I'm sitting here soaking through my panties while watching Kade move around the kitchen like he doesn't know exactly what he's doing to me.
Harmony House told us that slick was a bad reaction, something that happened when Omegas lost control of their baser instincts.
They said it was shameful, that proper Omegas didn't produce excessive amounts because they had learned to regulate their responses through discipline and suppressants.
The message was clear even if they never said it directly—if you were slicking heavily, you were doing something wrong.
You were being too sexual, too responsive, too. .. Omega.
But I never believed that, not really. Not when every time an Omega managed to whisper about their experiences in the few unsupervised moments we had, they talked about slick with this reverence in their voices.
Like it was something magical and beautiful, tied to pleasure so intense it bordered on religious experience. They talked about Alphas they managed to snag on our outings who appreciated it, who praised them for it, who lapped it up like it was the sweetest thing they'd ever tasted.
I had only felt that way once, before I even entered Harmony House.
I was nineteen and stupid and so desperate for connection that I let an Alpha I barely knew touch me in ways I probably shouldn't have allowed.
But when his fingers slid inside me and my slick coated his entire hand, the look of wonder on his face made me feel powerful instead of ashamed.
He told me I was perfect, that my body's response was the most incredible thing he'd ever witnessed.
Then two weeks later, my family turned me over to Harmony House and I never saw him again. Never felt that blissful experience again either. Years of suppressants and being told my body's natural reactions were wrong had convinced me that something fundamental was damaged inside me.
Until this morning. Until Dustin put his mouth on me and I came so hard I saw stars, slicking all over his face while Kade watched. Dustin lapped me up like I was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, groaning against my pussy like my slick was a gift he'd been waiting his whole life to receive.
Now I'm here, watching a half-naked Kade make my lunch while my body continues to heat in ways that are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
He's pulled out bread and sandwich fixings, moving around the kitchen with efficient grace.
Every movement shows off more of those muscles, his back flexing as he reaches for something in the upper cabinet, his arms shifting as he slices vegetables.
I know I'm staring but I can't seem to stop. My eyes trace the line of his spine, following it down to where it disappears into those low-hanging sweatpants. My fingers itch with the desire to touch, to run my hands over all that smooth skin and feel the muscle beneath.
Another rush of slick coats my panties and I shift uncomfortably on the couch, my thighs pressing together tighter. This is getting out of hand. My body is responding with an intensity that feels almost dangerous, like I'm losing control of my own reactions.
That's when I realize what's happening. At Harmony House, suppressants in every meal kept our heats from triggering.
Without them flooding my system, I'm powerless to stop this.
An actual heat, triggered by being around compatible Alphas and finally feeling safe enough for my body to do what it's designed to do.
At Harmony, they sedated us through heats, making the whole thing happen while we were unconscious.
They said it was for our safety, that heats were dangerous for unmated Omegas.
But the drugs never worked fast enough for me.
My body metabolized them too slowly. I'd spend hours in the medical wing, burning from the inside out, cramps tearing through me, begging for unconsciousness before it finally came.
This time, there's no drugs.
A small cramp tears through my stomach as panic spreads through my chest. I need to get to the hospital. I need medication before this gets worse, before I'm writhing in agony like I always do when the heat hits full force.
Before these Alphas decide that I’m not worth the trouble because I can’t control myself.
Another bout of slick coats my panties, so much that I can feel it soaking through the cotton and starting to slide down my inner thighs.
Embarrassment floods through me as I push to my feet.
The sudden movement makes my head swim slightly, my vision blurring at the edges and I stumble, catching myself on the arm of the couch.
Kade looks up from where he's preparing lunch, his knife pausing mid-slice. His eyes are so dark they're almost black, his nostrils flaring as he scents the air. The look on his face is terrifying in its intensity, predatory and focused entirely on me.
"Sweetheart..." His voice comes out rough, strained like he's holding himself back from something.
"No, I'm sorry." The words tumble out in a rush, panic making my voice shake. "We have to get to the hospital. I... fuck!"
The cramp that tears through me, this time, is worse than the previous ones, sharp enough to make me gasp. I need to get out of here before something bad happens.
I rush down the hall and blow past Dustin who's coming out of the bathroom, his eyes widening as I barrel past him. I shove through the bedroom door and slam it closed behind me, silently begging for relief but being locked in here is worse.
The room is saturated with their scents, cedarwood and leather from Kade, hay and honey from Dustin, all of it mixing together and wrapping around me. The nest in the corner calls to me, every instinct screaming that I should be in there, surrounded by their scents and soft pillows.
I double over, my hands hitting the floor as I drop to my hands and knees. Another bout of slick fills my panties, so much that it's not just soaking through anymore. It's running down my thighs in rivulets, coating my skin and dripping onto the hardwood floor beneath me.
A scream tears from my throat, horror and panic and embarrassment all mixing together into one overwhelming emotion.
There's no warden coming to save me from this.
And Harmony House most likely didn't give my Alphas any sedation medicine when they signed the papers.
They probably did it on purpose too, knowing this would happen.
Knowing I'd go into heat without suppressants and my Alphas wouldn't know what to do with me.
It's the perfect excuse for them to demand I be returned, to claim that Kade and Dustin are unfit to care for me if they can't handle something as basic as an Omega's heat.
Another cramp tears through me, this one bad enough that I cry out again.
I try to scramble backward as the door opens, some irrational part of my brain convinced that it's a warden coming to drag me back to Harmony House.
But then strong arms scoop me up, cradling me against a familiar chest. Dustin's scent wraps around me, hay and honey blocking out some of the overwhelming intensity of the bedroom's combined scents.
My nose presses into the crook of his neck instinctively, seeking comfort in the warmth of his skin.
For a moment, everything calms. The cramping eases slightly, the panic receding just enough that I can breathe.
Being in his arms feels right in a way nothing else does, like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be during a heat.
"Why didn't you say you were going into heat?" Dustin's voice comes out gentle despite the concern evident in his tone.
"Because I didn't know," I gasp out, my fingers digging into his shoulders. "You have to take me back for the medicine. So they can sedate me. Please, I don't want to hurt like this."