Page 49 of His Wild Mate

The contact was unfamiliar and took me by surprise.

“Stay put. I'll be right back,” he told me as Willow stood and slipped her small hand into his as the two of them walked away.

I felt bad about not shifting and saying goodbye to the girls. They had been nice to me. Normally I didn't give a shit about other people, or at least that's what I constantly told myself, but for some reason, I cared about them. It was very confusing, and my head was still swimming from the wine. Combine all of that with the fact that my body was on fire and very uncomfortable and I was truly a hot mess.

As I heard them leave and the door close at last, I started rolling around, scruffing up against anything I could. It was like trying to scratch a running itch and never getting the satisfaction of reaching it.

Being in heat wasn't always like that, but it often was. Today seemed worse than usual. I let out a soft whimper of frustration.

“Are you okay?” Emmett asked.

I was so distracted by my own turmoil that I hadn’t even heard him return.

People accepted that when dogs went into heat, they grew exceptionally horny and sought a partner to help relieve them. It was a call to procreate when they were primed and ready. I wasn't much different. But because of the way unmated males acted around me, I couldn't give in to the temptations. So, I'd never really gotten relief. Sure, I could touch myself and take the edge off, but I was never fully satiated.

“What's wrong?” he asked, his voice laden with concern.

I shook my head.

It was too embarrassing to share with him.

The smirk he gave me told me he likely understood my distress.

“Everyone's gone now. You can shift back.”

I shook my head.

“Paige, you're in heat. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that makes you. Trust me, if I could help you with it, I would in a heartbeat. It's not like I haven't seen it before.”

His eyes flashed with desire. I knew he'd enjoyed watching me relieve myself. Did he really want to see it again? I'd been so close to a climax then that I hadn't been able to stop myself, but now? This was different. I wasn't sure I could do it again.

I covered my face with my paw. This was so humiliating. I'd never shared this side of the curse with anyone else. It was too risky.

“Don't hide from me, sweetheart. Come out and talk to me. We can figure this out . . . together.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and allowed myself to shift.

“There's my girl,” he said proudly.

He held out a hand to help me up, and then stared down at it with a frown. A soft growl escaped him.

I forced myself to stand up even though my body felt like it was a pincushion being jabbed with pins and needles. I whined softly from the discomfort.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“I don’t ever remember it being this bad,” I confessed.

“What can I do to help?”

I blushed all over.

“Help?” I gulped.

“I can’t touch you and can’t hurt you, remember? But you seem to be able to touch me. Maybe we can figure something out. Or if you'd rather, I'll leave you alone to take care of it. Would that be better?”

“I don't know if that it’ll be enough. It's never been like this before. It just feels like I need something more.”

He stripped out of his clothes and my jaw dropped as I gawked watching him.

---