Page 82 of The Heat of Us

“What’s wrong?” Hazel peered over.

I turned my screen towards her so Hazel could read it.

“When are you coming home? The fridge is making a funny noise and I need you to—” Hazel stopped reciting, and shook her head. “Goodness, just straight into making demands, isn’t she?”

I swiped the message away. “I have yet to receive a message that didn’t also ask me to do something for them.”

“Apologies?”

I looked at her like she was crazy and she laughed.

“Yeah, they don’t really know how to do that, do they?” She leaned in to me as she showed me her phone. “I mainly get religious shaming.”

My eyes widened as she scrolled up through pages of one-sided texts, most of which were Bible scriptures. “Bloody hell.” I was dying to know what had led to Hazel’s broken down relationship with her parents but I wasn’t going to press before she was ready to tell me. “You haven’t got them blocked?”

She shot me a knowing look. “Have you?”

I grimaced. “No. It’s like I can’t bring myself to put the final nail in the coffin, you know?”

“Yep. There’s just the right amount of guilt remaining to stop you from doing so,” Hazel sighed, flopping back onto my pillows.

“But not enough to ignore them, right?” I grinned.

A mortified laugh slipped before Hazel quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. “God, that’s so fucked up. But it's true. I’m a terrible daughter.”

“I’m a terrible son.”

“Good, we can wallow in this terrible, disgraceful limbo forever then.”

My hands found her hips and I pulled her close. “That’s fine by me,” I said before I kissed her.

The ping of my email notification interrupted us. My blood pounded through my body, a rushing sound filling my ears as I saw what it was for.

“My results,” I grunted, opening it so she could see that everything had come back negative. My vision swam before me.

All I could think about was how my omega was lying in my bed, half naked in my shirt and I’d just been given the green light to fuck her raw.

I could barely breathe as I watched Hazel scan my phone before tossing it to one side.

“Your alpha needs to come out and play, doesn’t he?” she murmured, stroking my face with her fingers. “He’s been held back a long time.”

I was so close to rut it was dangerous. If she didn’t want this, she had only a few seconds to get the fuck out.

But she sure as hell shouldn’t run when she did it.

Chase. Subdue. Fuck.

Hazel scooted back slowly towards the edge of the bed and stood up. My eyes tracked her as I tried to keep my control.

If she says no, you have to let her go.

“If you catch me…” Hazel undressed in one quick movement, revealing her perfect tits and bare pussy. “You can fuck me.”

She threw my shirt into my face and ran.

29

BEN