Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Camelia
Camelia opened the dryer, hauling out another load of laundry, humming to herself. The soft rustle of fabric against fabric was the only sound in the house, and where some might find the quiet a little eerie, she found it comforting.
As she and her father had discussed, the day after their phone call she had packed up a few things and left her dorm to stay at her father's house.
She had left a note for Jessica so that her prickly roommate wouldn't wonder where she went, though Camelia wasn't sure if she warranted even that much thought from the girl.
Even so, it had made her feel better to offer that small companionship, and when she had walked back into her dad's house, she couldn't deny that a small weight lifted off her shoulders.
Her dad was already packed for his diplomatic trip, dressed in a suit with no tie, waiting for her in the living room as she walked in the door.
His tense expression relaxed a little when he saw her, and when he opened his arms for a hug, Camelia couldn't stop herself from throwing herself into his arms like she was a little girl again.
Carson pressed his cheek to the top of her head. "It's okay, you'll be safe here until I get back," he murmured.
Camelia nodded, though the slow clenching in her gut told her that that wasn't quite true. But it was the best solution they had, so she wasn't going to argue with it.
He left for his trip, and Camelia was left alone in the house to settle in, put some clothes back in the closet that had been hers for several years, and feel a slow, tense wave of dread settle in on her as her medication ran out, and she was forced off her suppressants.
For the first few days, it was okay. She didn't notice any significant differences, either in how she felt or how anybody around her treated her. If anything, apart from Aria, it seemed like people gave her an even wider berth, even more space than usual.
The tension that she was carrying and the glare that she shot at anyone who looked at her the wrong way might have something to do with that, but who could say.
On the fifth day after being off her suppressants, though, Camelia started noticing her first prickle of symptoms. A heightened sensitivity of her skin.
More intense random arousal, with no apparent cause.
More people glancing curiously her way, and the resulting urge to throw herself at anyone until they gave her attention and touch and what she needed. ..
She knew that the initial surge of hormones wouldn't last forever, and that she would quickly regulate enough to find some sort of balance over a few days, or weeks if it came to that.
The suppressants hadn't just eradicated her heats; it had mellowed her excessive hormones enough that she had been able to operate in the world like she wasn't an Omega, and now that she was being forced off the pills due to her own poor planning and the pharmacy's shortage, she was feeling the effects.
Which is why, even as she sorted through laundry almost two weeks after her father had left her alone, she was desperately trying to ignore the sensitivity of her skin any time it brushed up against anything.
The hardness of her nipples, the swelling her pussy lips and the wetness that she could feel constantly present as she tried to go about her day.
This wasn't even heat levels of hormones. This was just her body trying to readjust to her regular Omega hormone surge, and it was fucking maddening.
Camelia pressed her lips tighter together, reaching into her pocket and turning the music up on her earbuds as she carried her laundry upstairs and to her room.
The aggressive music that played soothed her hormones a little, mellowed her sour mood a tiny bit, but it didn't completely distract.
Nothing would, not unless she could get back on her meds.
Or find an Alpha who could give you everything you ever needed...
Camelia shoved the dark, traitorous thoughts away as she forced herself to breathe slowly in and out of her mouth.
Her nipples tingled with every tiny movement as she folded her clothes, and she couldn't help the tiny whimpers that escaped her every now and then as she forced herself to work through the pile of clean clothing.
Laundry was her least favorite chore, one that she ordinarily would have put off for a few days or even weeks, but folding the clean clothes was just repetitious enough to keep her occupied, without being too difficult for her distracted mind.
Strong, tall. Could carry you around with one hand, probably. With a long, hard cock that could drive into you until you feel it in your fucking throat...
"Stop, Camelia, stop," she gritted out aloud, grinding her teeth together as she forced herself to fold the last t-shirt in the basket neatly.
She didn't put them in the dresser, though part of her wanted to; she wasn't going to be here forever.
She just needed to wait it out until she could get back on her meds, and then she could go back to her dorm on campus and her prickly roommate and the calm life that she had been slowly building for herself. ..
A throb between her legs scattered her thoughts, and Camelia let out a soft groan as she sank down on the edge of the bed and squeezed her thighs together.
The pressure on her clit made her whimper, and it didn't distract her even the slightest bit like she'd hoped.
Her nipples ached, and one hand drifted up her thigh, trailing her fingers across the skin that was left exposed by her house shorts almost without her permission.
"Fuck." Camelia groaned softly, falling back against the bed and letting her legs fall apart. Just once. You can do this just once and get back to your life. You're not an animal ruled by your urges, your hormones or your instincts Camelia, this is just to get your mind back on track...
Her body didn't seem to care about the rationalization.
Her fingers crept under the leg of her loose shorts, a tiny shiver of anticipation shaking her slightly as she let her fingertips trace along the lace edge of her panties.
They were already damp with her need, and she couldn't stop herself from whimpering as she pushed her fingers under the edge of the lace to tease at her swollen clit.
"Fuck..." The groan was deeper this time, more guttural. More intense. Camelia almost grabbed a blanket to bite down on to stifle herself, but then a tiny part of her remembered that she was alone in the house. She didn't need to keep herself quiet or be ashamed.
Okay, maybe there was a tiny hint of shame, for the way that she was leaning into her animal instincts. But only enough to sharpen the edge of her arousal, to make it that much better that she was letting herself have this, just for now.
Camelia's legs fell further apart as she pushed one finger inside of herself, then two.
Her movements were deliciously hampered by her underwear, her heel grinding firmly against the swollen button of her clit as she fingered herself slowly.
Her fingers weren't anywhere near enough, not big enough or calloused enough or rough enough, but the idea of stopping so that she could go dig out one of her toys and fuck herself properly. ..
Her mind rejected the idea wholeheartedly.
Camelia bit down on her lip as she whimpered, lifting her hips a little to get a better angle. It felt so fucking good...too good. And she couldn't help...the way her mind wandered.
Evan's smirking face swam to the front of her mind, and it was too easy for Camelia to imagine him leaning close to her, his voice low as he whispered filthy things to her.
What a good girl she was for him, how desperate and wanton she was, how she didn't need to take care of this herself, not when she could be a good Omega for her Alphas. ..
Camelia nearly bit her tongue as her pussy clenched around her fingers, and in the same fantasy, James' voice crept forward.
Deeper, delicious. More sadistic. Telling her that she needed to give in to what she wanted, what her body was clearly telling her that she needed.
That only their cocks would do it for her, and she was a ridiculous, silly little girl if she thought that they were going to let her find her pleasure anywhere else. ..
"Oh..." Camelia's clit twitched, and she fingered herself harder. Moans fell shamelessly from her lips now as she practically humped her hand, shoving her hips up to meet her thrusting fingers, the friction delicious despite her pants and underwear making her movements that much more difficult.
It didn't matter, though. She was so tightly wound, so deep in her fantasy and the slick slide of her fingers inside her pussy, that when the orgasm hit, it was barely a surprise.
Her entire body was on fire, her hormones dialed up to a level ten, and the pleasure made her vision nearly white out as she came with a long, desperate shout.
She kept fingering herself through the orgasm, but the images of James and Evan in her head faded away as the pleasure slowly simmered, and eventually was gone.
Her clit still sang with want, even oversensitive as it was, and by the time Camelia pulled her fingers out from between her legs, her cheeks were starting to heat with shame. And not the fun kind.
"God, there's something wrong with you," Camelia muttered to herself, forcing herself to stand on slightly wobbly legs.
She walked across the hall to the bathroom to clean the evidence of her masturbation off her fingers, and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she was mildly shocked at the vision she created.
Her hair was mussed and falling out of her messy bun, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright.
She looked like she was freshly fucked, yes, but more than that. ..
She looked like her body was preparing for heat. It had been a while, but she could recognize the symptoms. The slight glassiness in her eyes, the way that her skin felt just a little too tight.
Her heat was probably still a few days away, a week at most. But it was coming, unless Camelia could do something about it.
She pressed her lips together, looking at herself for another second before she forced herself to turn away and shut off the light.
Back in her room, she shoved her shorts down her legs and pulled on a pair of jeans, redoing her messy bun so that she looked a little less like she had spent fifteen minutes rolling around on her bed, and she shoved her textbooks and laptop into her backpack before dragging it out of the room.
Her heat wasn't here, and she still had time to get back on her suppressants. She wasn't going to think about it. She was going to go to the library where she could study and be around other people who would keep her from burying her fingers between her legs for the rest of the night.
That was what she was going to do.
Camelia hummed under her breath as she grabbed her car keys, steadfastly ignoring the throb between her legs that the orgasm hadn't improved even a little.
She threw on a sweater over her t-shirt before she left the house and locked up, the chill of the night air outside enough to make her shiver as she opened her car and slid in, shoving her backpack into the passenger seat.
The drive to campus was short, but Camelia took her time, meandering along back roads and listening to some moody cello playlist that she had found on Spotify.
It was enough to calm her tumultuous thoughts a little, and by the time she pulled into one of the student parking lots in front of the school, she had almost forgotten the pulse of hormones that worsened with every beat of her heart.
The campus was quiet, soothingly so, and Camelia let out a slow breath as she walked down the leaf-laden paths.
The trees had started shedding a few weeks before, and the lack of leaves on the skeletal branches over her head gave an ominous feel to the night, though the crunch of foliage under her feet was comforting.
Camelia hitched her backpack a little higher on her shoulder, glancing this way and that every few seconds to comfort herself that she was still alone.
The library was on the upper end of campus, and Camelia almost made it there. It wasn't until she was passing the student center and admin building that the hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she smelled it on a cold breeze that blew from the south end of campus.
Warm. Delicious. Sexy.
Alpha.
A soft whimper bubbled up Camelia's throat as her mind immediately seized, and her nipples hardened to aching points under her bra.
Her pussy clenched between her legs, already aching for more attention after what she had done earlier, and a drop of sweat prickled, then slid down the back of her neck as her knees went weak underneath her.
She slowly collapsed to the sidewalk in front of the admin building, curling into a tiny ball as if that would protect her from the throes of her surging heat.