Chapter 7
Harper
The pain came in waves, each one worse than the last. I'd been through heats before, suppressed, manageable, clinical things that I could handle with pills and a day in bed.
This was different. Suddenly, I was drowning in a fire of my own making while every nerve ending screamed for something just out of reach.
For someone just out of reach.
Knox.
“Fuck,” I gritted my teeth together, swallowing in a huge huff of air.
I pressed my face into the pillow, trying to muffle the sounds I couldn't control. Whimpers, gasps, occasionally a sob when the cramps got too bad. The t-shirt on my body clung to me feeling damp and suffocating. I wanted to claw at my skin, to release myself from this torment.
The digital clock read 2:47 AM. I'd been fighting this for six hours.
Water.
I needed water.
Standing was a mistake. The moment I got vertical, the room spun violently. My legs, already shaking, gave out completely. I saw the floor rushing up to meet me, knew it was going to hurt, couldn't do anything to stop it…
Strong arms caught me before I hit.
"Fuck, Harper!" Knox's voice was rough with exhaustion and something else. "You're burning up."
Knox scooped me up like I was some child’s rag doll, and all I could do was let him. For a second I tried to tell him put me down, my lips forming to make the words but nothing came out. Instinctively, my body arched against his bare chest, my skin turning to gooseflesh.
Pine and smoke filled the inside of my nostrils as I inhaled him. His scent was combining with chemicals and making me want to ride his dick into oblivion.
Oh God, I thought as I sucked in a raged breath.
"Please," I gasped, not sure what I was begging for. "It hurts. Knox, it hurts so bad."
"I know, baby. I know." Neither of acknowledged how the endearment had slipped from between his lips so casually.
He carried me into the suite's living area, setting me gently on the couch. "Your fever's too high. We need to bring it down."
"Pills aren't working."
"Not pills. Ice. Cold water. Medical intervention." He disappeared into the kitchen, and I heard him filling something with ice.
Sex, I slowly rubbed at the back of my neck. The word had been left unsaid between us.
My eyes drifted to the window and I could see it was white outside.
Nothing else, just a wall of white surrounding the hotel.
Trapped.
I tried to curl into myself, but another wave hit, and I couldn't stop the cry that tore from my throat. My body was betraying me, producing so much slick that my shorts were soaked through. This was so fucking embarrassing that I wanted to slip through the floor of the hotel suite.
Knox returned with a few fluffy white towels, ice packs, and a bowl of cold water. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping, and his hands shook slightly as he knelt beside the couch.
"I'm going to put these on your pulse points," he said, voice carefully controlled. "It'll help with the fever."
The first touch of ice against my wrist made me hiss, but then the cold started to cut through the heat, providing tiny moments of relief. He pressed another to my neck, and I nearly sobbed with gratitude.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Don't thank me yet." He soaked a cloth in cold water, wringing it out before pressing it to my forehead. "This is going to get worse before it gets better."
He was right. Every place he touched, even through the cold compress, sent electricity through my body. My scent was getting stronger, I could tell by the way his breathing changed, the way his pupils dilated until his eyes were almost black.
"You should go," I managed. "This isn’t something you should have to deal with.”
"I'm not leaving you like this." He moved the compress to my cheeks, my chest, anywhere skin was exposed and burning. "I've seen heat fever before. It can be dangerous."
"How many Omegas have you…" I cut myself off, not wanting to know.
"None," he said quietly. "But I've been reading about it. Researching it more in depth."
"Why?"
His hand stilled for a moment. "You know why."
Another wave crashed through me, and I arched off the couch, a scream building in my throat. Knox caught my hands as I clawed at my own skin, trying to relieve the pressure.
"Don't," he said, holding my wrists gently but firmly. "You'll hurt yourself."
"It already hurts!" Tears were starting to roll down my cheeks. "God, Knox, make it stop. Please, I can't…I can’t fucking take it anymore.”
"Shh." He pulled me against his chest, and the full contact made me sob harder. He smelled so good, so right. Pine and smoke and Alpha strength that my body recognized as safety, as home, as mine. "I've got you."
"You don't understand," I gasped against his shirt. "It's never been like this. It's like my body is trying to turn itself inside out."
"That's because you're fighting it." His hand stroked down my back, and even that innocent touch made me shudder. "Fighting what your body wants."
"What it wants is wrong."
"Is it?" His voice had become so strained. "Because from where I'm sitting, your body knows exactly what it needs."
I pulled back to look at him. Sweat was beading on his forehead, his whole body rigid with restraint.
"This is affecting you too," I realized now what he must’ve been going through as well.
"Your scent is..." He closed his eyes, jaw working. "It's taking everything I have not to..”.
"Not to what?"
Knox’s eyes snapped open, and I could see how black they gone."Not to give you what your body is screaming for. Not to claim you right here on this couch. To fuck your brains out.”
Heat flooded through me at his words, so intense I gasped. My body was producing more slick, preparing itself, and the shame and need were at war inside me.
"I can't," I whispered. "Knox, I can't."
"I know." He pressed another cold cloth to my neck. "I'm not going to do anything you don't explicitly ask for. But Harper, you need to know, this is going to get worse."
"How could it get worse?"
"The fever will spike. The pain will intensify. Your body will start shutting down if it doesn't get what it needs." His thumb stroked my wrist where he was holding the ice pack. "I can help without... without going all the way. There are ways…"
"No." But even as I said it, another cramp hit so hard I doubled over. "Oh God!"
Knox caught me again, pulling me into his lap. I should have protested, should have pushed away, but his presence was the only thing keeping me sane. His scent wrapped around me, and for just a moment, the pain eased.
"Your body is recognizing me," he said quietly. "That's why it's hitting so hard. You're compatible with me on a biological level most Omegas and Alphas never achieve."
"True mates," I whispered. "That's just a myth."
"Is it?" He looked down at me, and the raw need in his eyes matched what I was feeling. "Because I've never wanted anyone the way I want you. Never felt like I'd die if I couldn't touch someone."
I was shaking now, my whole body trembling with need and fever and the effort of fighting against what every cell was screaming for.
"Knox..."
"Tell me what you need," he said. "Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just tell me."