Chapter 23
Ilook back at my mate one more time before the door closes. She gives me a reassuring wave, but her emotions in the bond are tinged with the same confusion as mine. I’m not sure how I ended up leaving with a complete stranger.
“So, Caspian, how’d you meet Madi girl?” Phoenix keeps his arm around my shoulder as he guides me down the path that leads to the quad.
“Um… at the beach.”
He laughs. “I should have known.”
I’m not sure how to take that comment, so I choose to ignore it and turn the conversation around on him. “How did you meet Dr. Anderson?”
“Hunter and I have been best friends since elementary school.” He answers easily, but there’s something in his tone that makes me feel like there’s much more to it than that.
“Are you a teacher as well?” I ask.
Another laugh, this one more open, spills out of his lips. He has nice lips, soft. I pinch mine together and feel the abrasiveness of dry skin.
“No,” Phoenix says. “I’m actually a marine biologist. I spend a lot of my time at the beach too.
” The hand slung over my shoulder toys with my long hair as we walk.
“It’s a shame I didn’t meet you first. I would have scooped you right up.
Madi’s a lucky girl.” He stops moving and turns to angle toward me.
“I understand why you bonded so quickly. You’re both… remarkable.”
I beam at the compliment to my mate. His gaze drops to my lips, then slowly lower.
My mouth feels as dry as sand, though my palms are sweaty.
I’m not sure how to handle the attention or what Madi would think.
It’s clear she likes her professor, and he’s made no secret of his attraction to her—even if she doesn’t believe it.
I don’t think she’d mind adding Dr. Anderson to our relationship.
But this man is a complete stranger. I shouldn’t be responding to him this way.
I clear my throat and duck out of his hold, continuing down the path. “What does a marine biologist do?”
Although my understanding of the language is improving dramatically, there are still some gaps. I believe biology is the study of living things, but marine is a new word for me.
Phoenix puts his hands in his pockets and strolls next to me. “I study ocean life.”
My steps falter. “Like fish?” I ask carefully. Is this the sort of man Madison was worried about? The kind that would want to study and experiment on me?
“Among other things,” Phoenix answers. “What’s your favorite color?”
The sudden change in topic makes my head spin, but it also jolts me out of the worried direction of my thoughts. I’m probably reading more into this than I should be.
“Blue,” I answer, voice scratching. I really do need something to drink.
“What shade of blue?” Phoenix asks. “Sky blue? Ocean after a storm blue? Sapphire?”
“Does it matter?” The sun feels hotter than it did earlier. My skin feels clammy, sweat beading on my brow. My head spins, and I stumble but quickly course correct and right myself. Maybe something’s up with Madi? But there’s nothing alarming from her side of the bond.
“Of course it matters.” Phoenix looks at me, then stops suddenly again, this time coming all the way in front of me and blocking the path. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” I answer, but I’m not sure it’s true.
Phoenix studies me for a moment, then seems satisfied with my answer and continues along the path.
The longer we walk, the odder I feel. Maybe it’s just the separation, but it’s been a while since we bonded, and this doesn’t feel like the one time she left me at the apartment.
My vision goes fuzzy at the edges, but I keep going. “I think I just need some water.”
Yes, that’s what I need. I’m so thirsty.
And hot. And there’s a low level of lust coming from Madi’s side of the bond that confirms all my suspicions about her and the professor.
My omega might not be sure about forming a pack, but it seems she’s doing it subconsciously.
My grandfather always told me the best packs form without effort.
Though rare in our world, his parents had been part of a pack way back in the day.
“There’s a drinking fountain on the other side of the science building.” Phoenix points to the left. “It’s old, though, so it might not taste great.”
“I don’t care.” I pick up my pace, but that makes my legs shake, and I stumble again.
Phoenix takes hold of my elbow, supporting my weight. He leads me to a metal box sticking out from the wall, then stops. I look at him, then back at it, unsure what to do.
“You push this,” he says softly, his finger tapping a silver button of sorts.
When I push down on it, water spouts up in an arc, and I dive mouth first. I can’t seem to get enough.
It helps a little, but I still feel so dried out.
With my finger still on the button, I notice the skin on my hands is peeling, molting like an Asharian crab.
Something is happening to me I don’t understand, but I think I need to get back to the ocean.
Maybe I was wrong about being able to enter Madi’s world without any difficulty.
It seems there might be side effects from being out of the water this long after all.
Hopelessness washes over me. How will we make our lives together if neither of us tolerates the other’s world for long? There has to be a solution for this. But my mind is too fuzzy to solve the problem. My thirst consumes every other thought.
As I take another long sip, I’m hit with a wave of heat and desire so strong it makes me choke. I cough, sputtering. My cock swells, balls pulling up, and I swear if I wasn’t so dried out, I’d come.
My knees buckle, and I reach for something to hold on to, finding Phoenix.
He wraps his arms around me, strong and steady. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. What happened?”
“Madi,” I gasp.
“Is she okay?” There’s genuine worry in Phoenix’s tone.
“I think…” I shake my head, unable to focus. Madi’s in heat or at least a heat spike. She needs me. I force myself to stand straight, but collapse the moment I try to take a step. Fatigue weighs me down. Every breath comes as a struggle. Skin flakes off my arms and falls onto the path.
“We need to get you to the beach,” Phoenix says.
Shock jolts me, but I don’t have the energy to ask why he thinks that. “No… Madi.”
“She’s safe with Hunter. He won’t let anything happen to her.”
“She’s… heat…” It’s so hard to speak.
“Fuck, she’s in heat?” Phoenix asks.
I try to shrug my shoulders. I’m not completely certain, but I think that’s what I’m sensing from her.
“Look, Hunter will take care of her. He won’t leave her in pain. It’ll probably wreck him, but he’s basically in love with her already, so she’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, won’t be. We need to get you in the water. Fast.”
“But…”
“No, you’d be no good to her like this, anyway.” Phoenix ignores the buzz of his phone in his pocket. “Let’s go.” He supports most of my weight with an arm around my waist and half drags me down the path toward the parking lot. “We’re gonna take my car. It’ll be faster.”
We shuffle forward with slow, steady steps, like trudging through mud.
My vision tunnels, body aching. I spot Madi’s ex watching us from across the courtyard and cringe, not wanting him to see me like this, but it’s too late.
He’s with a small group of other men, and I know they’ve spotted us because one points right at me.
They laugh. I drag my legs another step forward, closing my eyes, unable to keep them open anymore.
“Shit,” Phoenix says. “We’re not gonna make it. Change of plans.” He redirects us, but I’m too tired to open my eyes. I force my feet forward, leaning more and more on Phoenix. My head feels like it’s swimming. I smack my dry lips, seeking moisture in the air that’s not there.
“Just a little farther,” Phoenix grunts.
Madi’s emotions feel far away and secondary to the physical sensations at war in my body, the effort needed for each step.
I should have known I couldn’t go so long without being in the water.
The sea is my mother, my life. The sea is my home.
And Madi can’t live there with me. How will this ever work long term?
We need answers and solutions. We need Ocearus.
I trip over a rock and have no strength to catch myself. The world tips upside down. Madi’s pleasure surges through the bond, breaking past everything I’m feeling just as my head smacks against something, and everything goes dark.