Page 18 of The Omega Verse

Well, maybe I’m not that desperate yet. But when Silva runs a finger along the back of my hand, I give a head-to-toe shiver. I’m staring so hard at his pouty bottom lip it takes Kobi clearing his throat to snap me out of my haze. “Sorry?”

I’m pretty sure he’s hiding a smile behind his hand as he strokes his beard. “I was just saying I can talk you through some options, but it’d be a good idea to get a doctor involved sooner rather than later.”

“No.” Whatever warmth I felt from Silva’s touch is instantly gone. I feel cold down to my bones, and I don’t think any of them miss the way I huddle into my hoodie. “I don’t want that. No doctors.”

Kobi and River exchange a glance. “We really should get you checked out, Cass,” River says, sliding onto the bench opposite. “A heat does more than just mess with your hormones. And there are other things to consider, like transmitted diseases, pregnancy…”

I shake my head. “Tom gave me a full physical after my last fling. I’d call it a relationship, but apparently the guy I was dating thought it was okay to be seeing multiple people on the side.” That gets frowns all around, and I wish I’d been a little vaguer with my answer. But if you’re going to overshare your sexual history with strangers, I guess a bunch of rockstars are probably a good choice. “Anyway, I’m clean, and I’m on birth control.”

“And Tom’s a doctor?” Kobi asks.

“Paramedic, but he was also a medic in the army.” Some people might think it’s strange my best friend looks after all my health needs, but it works for us.

“But he’s not an option for your heat?” I squirm, because even if Tom was here right now, I’m not sure what the right answer would be, so I just shake my head. “Okay, but you should still probably check in with him.”

I look at Silva. “I can get him to text my test results to your phone.”

“I’ve got his number,” River reminds me and hands over his phone.

I don’t spend too long composing a text – it’s going to freak Tom out no matter how I put it – and hit send. I leave it face down on the table and look at Kobi. “So, you wanted to talk about some options?”

“Yeah.” He leans against the counter, his hands still tucked in his pockets. “Let’s start with the obvious one. An omega tending facility. I imagine they’re the same here as the States, so you’d get a private suite in a clinic with both a doctor and facilitator on hand…”

“Nope. Nope. Nope.” I am squirming badly now. “Any kind of place like that is a hard no. I’d prefer to just tough it out on my own.”

A soft growl leaves Kobi’s lips. “We’re not gonna do that to you, Cass. If you don’t want a clinic, there are professional facilitators who come to your home.”

I try to keep the shock off my face, but it’s hard when I’m imagining some random alpha rocking up to my tiny apartment above the bakery. First, my bed is a pullout sofa. And second, the floor has the soundproofing qualities of toilet paper. If I started howling like a cat in heat, my regular customers would never let me live it down.

But what’s the alternative? I’ve had my share of hookups and flings, but I’ve never had a serious boyfriend, and I’m not sure how that makes me feel. Is it pathetic I’ve lived in Sandy Bay for a decade but I can’t think of one guy who’d come over to tend me through a heat? Random faces flick through my head, but I shudder at the thought of being needy and helpless with any of them.

Crap. What kind of guys have I been dating?

Shitheads who cheat on me and then turn up at my place of work the next day, because I make the best sausage rolls in town.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Silva says, wrapping me up in his arms. “We’re going to help you through this.”

It’s all the excuse I need to burrow into his neck, but his scent just makes me squirm even more. I know it’s a hormonal thing, but I can’t help feeling like fate has just kicked me in the face. Take a girl who was chewed up by the foster system and only learned to survive by not needing anyone… and then make her a hot ball of horniness.

“I just never thought this could happen,” I murmur, staring at the pulse in his throat. “I’m a beta, Silva. I know nothing about heats. And to be honest, I don’t even like sex that much.”

Silva gives me a lop-sided grin that makes my tummy flip. “Well, no wonder, given the dickheads you’ve been dating.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” I admit, then pull back enough to look him directly in his bright green eyes. God, I can’t believe I’m about to ask him this… “Are you okay to do this with me? I mean do this, not just hold my hand? I know we just met, but I feel really comfortable with you…”

I don’t get any further because a growl rips from his throat and then his lips are on mine. I melt. And not in a passive way. I’m like a hungry animal, opening my mouth under his and chasing his tongue with mine. There’s a metal piercing in the middle of it and I gasp, tingling all over. He sucks the sound out of me, then moves to my bottom lip, finally letting go with a sensuous tug that leaves teeth marks in the sensitive flesh. I stare into his face, my heart hammering in my ears and my sweatpants beyond saving.

“Does that answer your question, sugar?”

Cass

As I stare through glazed eyes at Silva, I vaguely hear Kobi and River talking in the background.

“How far are we from her place?”

“At least three hours out.”

“You got her address?”

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