Chapter 2
Meeting a new client was always a bit nerve-racking, but meeting a client that was going to be having their first heat was doubly so. Most of the omegas I took care of were deeper into their cycles.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be right in.” I hung up with Muriel and did a quick survey of my home.
I lived pretty close to the clinic, and I kept my place meticulously clean because I never quite knew when I would need to use it to host an omega. Tidying away a few dishes into the dishwasher, I deemed the space ready and hopped in my vehicle to head over to meet my new client.
Muriel was on her feet as I stepped through the door. “Oh, good, you’re here. Your client’s name is Allison Carmichael. She’s nineteen and this is her first heat. The poor dear is quite nervous. I think she almost had a panic attack. She’s also late for scheduling. I’m not even sure we’ll be able to help her, but I didn’t want to cause additional stress by saying so. I’ll defer to your judgment, though.”
I’d worked with challenging clients before. There was a reason heat helpers were nurses as much as we were sex workers. Not everyone took the best care of themselves, and it was our job to get them through their heat regardless of what condition they showed up in.
“I’ll be extra gentle,” I promised.
“Oh, hey. You’re here for the new omega?” Carla asked, sweeping down the hall. The blonde alpha was another heat helper, and one of the few people I considered a friend among my coworkers.
“Yeah, just about to head in,” I replied.
“Poor thing is right on the edge. I had to haul out the de-scenting spray so she didn’t freak out the other clients before the ventilation system got her scent swept out of here.”
I searched for hints of her in the air. A fleeting whisper of her fear lingered, priming me to care for the omega waiting for me.
“She’s in the meeting room,” Muriel told me. “You can go in whenever.”
“Good luck,” Carla said with a smile. “I hope it all goes smoothly. I’ll cross all my fingers and toes for you.”
I crossed my own fingers as I walked past her to the meeting room, letting my fingertips rest on the doorknob and taking a few deep breaths to make sure my energy was as calm as possible.
The omega was curled up in a ball on the couch when I pushed open the door, her energy frenetic, and her brown eyes wild. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a whine left her lips. The omega clapped her hand over her mouth before burying her face in her hands with a groan.
Fuck.
Every cell in my body reacted to that sound, protective alpha instincts roaring to life so strongly I swayed on my feet.
She needed me.
A cloud of honeysuckle and ginger wafted off her so thick, I felt as if I could touch it.
Be chill.
If I were her partner I could immediately attend to her needs, but I wasn’t. There were protocols and procedures in place that had to be followed before I could give her what she craved.
“Nice to meet you, Allison.” I offered her a smile and moved as slow as possible so I didn’t accidentally spook her. Omegas weren’t always rational when they hit this stage with their hormones, and first heats were even more difficult with everything being so new. They had no idea how to handle everything they were feeling.
“Allie,” she corrected, her voice cracking.
“Allie.”
Her scent flooded when I said her name, and she curled her fingers, digging the tips into her jeans.
“Can I sit down?” I asked. It was best to approach slowly, getting as much consent as I could wrangle from her hormone-steeped brain through our introduction.
She nodded, dropping her gaze, and I took the opportunity to perch on the chair across from her. Her breathing was ragged and every inch of her trembled.
“Easy does it,” I murmured softly. “Do you want to come closer?”
She was out of her seat before I could blink, but I wasn’t about to protest as she climbed straight into my lap and pressed her nose to my throat. My cock tented beneath my jeans and a primal edge of desire rolled through me.
“Fuuucking hell, you smell so good. Why do I feel like this?” Allie plastered herself to me, hips wiggling, breath taking in as much of me as she could.
Remember your training.
For the love of all that was holy.
I held my breath, giving myself the smallest of breaks from her honeysuckle and ginger scent to let myself think. It wasn’t usually so difficult for me to keep myself focused with clients, but maybe it was harder because this was a first heat and her hormones were more haywire than others’ had been.
“You’re very close to your heat.” I ran a soothing hand down her back, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Allie tensed under my touch and her perfume grew stronger. There was no way she was in a right enough mindset to sign the paperwork. “You’re going to have to take a suppressant to sign a contract.”
It wouldn’t stop her heat by any means, but it would delay it enough that I could still do my job. The only other option was to medically sedate her and that was never the ideal since it would make subsequent heats worse if the body never properly settled.
“Contract?” she asked hazily.
“I can’t help you without a contract, and you need to be clear-headed to sign it.”
Her eyes flickered out of focus.
Clients didn’t usually come in this late in the game, but I’d had enough training to manage it. I threaded my fingers through her hair, and let my own scent blossom in response to hers, encouraging her to breathe me in. It would help her get comfortable with me quickly, and she’d be more likely to cooperate with the measures we had to put in place.
Allie didn’t fuss at all as I gathered her into my arms and carried her over to one of the locked cabinets. I punched in the code, gathering both a dose of suppressants and a glass of water for her.
I felt a tiny bit guilty about giving her the medication without her being entirely aware, but it was either that or I called for a hospital transport and she wouldn’t be able to consent to that either in her current state. I set the pill in her hand and she popped it into her own mouth at my instruction, following it with gulps of water. Allie pulled away with a gasp and I checked her mouth to be sure she’d swallowed the pill.
“Good girl. Take a minute.” I sat back down on the couch with her and let her cuddle as close as she pleased. Allie was warm and sweet, her nerves still present even when her mind had temporarily checked out of the situation. I let my purr rumble, and she melted against me, her own purr kicking on to match, whines sneaking out whenever she wriggled closer.
I never had particularly strong opinions about my clients. We weren’t allowed to date them so it seemed silly to even contemplate the idea of any of them beyond the assistance we provided. Still, the thought snuck in all the same as Allie nestled in my lap, fingers curled in my shirt, tiny whimpers moving past her lips while we waited for the medicine to take effect. Most of my clients came to me for the satisfaction, but a lot didn’t crave this same level of gentle care.
It made my alpha instincts happy to be able to cradle Allie and give her this comfort. Hopefully, when she was clear-eyed, she would want to do this with me. I’d only known her for about half an hour, but the idea of one of my colleagues taking point with this heat made me a touch queasy.
It was easy to tell when she came back to herself because all the relaxation disappeared in her muscles, and she shoved away from me, backing up against the wall. “What the fuck just happened?”
I held up both hands, and whether that was a defensiveness or reassurance I wasn’t entirely certain. “You came here too close to your heat,” I answered. “You weren’t in a good headspace but the medicine will help. It’ll delay things for a few hours, I hope anyway. It’s tricky to know for certain with presentation heats. They’re never quite as reliable as the later ones.”
I stepped toward her and her hackles went up, a growl tearing from her throat that made me pause.
Allie looked absolutely mortified over what she’d done.
“Easy, little one.” I loosened a bit of control on my scent and some of the stiffness in her body retreated. “One of the physicians is going to have to take a look at you and make sure you’re okay to proceed. If you want to spend your heat with me, then you can sign the contract while the medicine is strong enough to manage your symptoms. If not, you can head to the hospital.”
Allie cursed quietly and crossed her arms over her chest. “I wouldn’t need to do any of this if I already had a partner. But nooo. I had to focus on school instead of dating. Fat lot of good that’s doing me now.”
Sympathy rose up in a wave. I couldn’t fix the situation, but I’d do my damnedest to make sure it was as easy as possible for her. I crooked my finger and she followed like a hooked fish.
“Stupid sexy alpha,” she muttered under her breath.
I bit down on my smile. She didn’t need to know I’d heard her. Best to get things moving and then I could take all the time in the world to uncover her secrets, untangle her worries, and introduce her to a world of pleasure she’d never even dreamed of.