Page 33 of Curvy Dirty Omega

But they didn’t have any monitoring devices on their tech.

“Staring at this isn’t going to help,” Liam murmured, reaching over to pause the footage. “Why don’t we take a walk?”

“I’m not a pet.” I started the footage back up and glared at the monitor when Liam turned the computer off in retaliation. “Stop fucking with my work. It’s pissing me off.”

“But I’m the client. Isn’t it your job to make me happy?” Liam smiled slightly and pushed the cup of coffee closer. “Take a break and then come back with fresh eyes, or better yet, let me drive you home so you can get some sleep.”

I couldn’t leave Frankie here to do all this work alone.

Liam placed the back of his knuckles against my forehead and instantly my entire body stiffened as I tried to process the barely there sensation of his skin against mine.

Was he checking for a temperature?

Surprisingly, his hand felt warm. And soft. It didn’t have a raspy feel to it at all, and when he pushed my hair out of my face, I couldn’t help but look up at him even though I knew I shouldn’t.

Garnet glittered down at me, but it was impossible to read the expression on his face.

Why did he even care about me? Was he putting on some kind of performance because he wanted to pretend we were dating?

I pushed back from the desk and stood, deciding I’d been sitting here long enough. “Since you’re so insistent on interrupting me, I should just go home, but I’m not leaving without Frankie.”

Every single muscle ached like I had the flu. My joints were screaming from sitting in front of the computer for so long in weird positions. There was a pressure behind my eyes that warned me I was about to get a migraine if I didn’t figure out what the fuck my body needed and fast.

Liam looked like some sort of playboy with the way he was sitting on the edge of his desk, watching me with narrowed eyes. His scent blended together seamlessly with his assistant’s, twining around me like hungry wolves waiting patiently to feast on my flesh. It made my heart race and my thoughts hazy.

My skin was suddenly clammy and sweat slid down my spine, each second feeling like an eternity.

Pulling at the neck of my shirt, it felt like everything was too tight. I reached up to peel the second band of black adhesive off my neck when it suddenly felt like it was choking me.

Why was it so hot in here?

I needed to get some fresh air. That was all I could think about as my vision started to narrow to a point. All I could see was the door and when I took a step forward, I stumbled, just barely catching myself before I stumbled again.

Liam grabbed me before I crashed to the floor. “Jesus fucking Christ, what’s wrong with you?”

Ugh, I felt lightheaded, but I didn’t want anyone touching me when it felt like I needed to peel off my fucking skin.

Shoving him away, I stumbled a few more steps toward the door before collapsing. This time, no one tried to catch me, and I had never felt more grateful in my entire fucking life since I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep down the Chinese food I’d had earlier.

“Lucy, what’s wrong?” It was impressive how deep Liam’s voice could get, but this alpha’s intensity wouldn’t make it easier to answer him.

“I think…” Honestly, I had no idea what was wrong. I’d just had an entire bottle of water and had eaten at least two meals today. I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, but it was the rising temperature in my body that was finally getting to me.

Maybe it was just a fever. I’d been standing in the rain a few times today. It was unlikely that I was about to go into another heat when I hadn’t had one for nearly three years. They were getting fewer and farther between. It was far more likely I’d caught a cold.

God, my fucking head was throbbing.

Pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes didn’t help, and it was concerning that I couldn’t seem to get enough air in my lungs.

“Can you turn on the air conditioner?” I managed. “It’s just a little…warm.”

The scent of sweet oranges, sandalwood, and vanilla was suddenly a lot stronger and I tried to put some distance between us when that scent got in my nose, filling my veins with its tart sweetness – burning me. It tasted bitter on my tongue as I tried to breathe through my mouth instead of my nose, but for whatever reason, that only made it so much worse.

Why did I like the way my tongue reacted to that bitter tartness? It reminded me of the feeling in my mouth when I sucked on an extremely sour candy.

“Lucy.”

He reached out and I shied away, doing my fucking best not to spiral into a full-blown panic attack. “Please, don’t touch me.” That would only make all this worse.

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