Page 25 of Broken Dreams

Hope against hope, I’ll continue to wish for an alternative.

Two weeks later

July 15

QUINN

I’m beginningto feel cramps today, my body slicking for absolutely no reason. Nesting isn’t something I’m allowed to do, so I rub my clothing all over Linus, all while making sure no one else sees my insanity. I want our scents to mix, I need it.

Linus lets me do whatever I need, his fingers rubbing over my hair for a little longer while he helps me with it to ensure his scent is there as well.

No one says a word, because it’s obvious by my aversion to sounds and how jumpy I am that I’m nearing my heat. Everyone knows that Bret sold out the day because he expects it to excite alphas as if it was an amusement attraction. God, he’s such a bastard.

“You don’t have a fever yet,” Linus murmurs, touching my flushed skin. He’s been here for a lot of my heats, so he knows what to look for. “What are you craving?”

Ice cream and movies.I’m trying to give this man more than my silence, so I grab a small chalkboard and chalk piece that I found and write those two things out before showing it to him.

“Hmm,” he says, lips twitching as he continues to twist my hair into a braid. It’s going to be a ballerina bun. Linus is making sure nothing is too tight, because it’ll bother my scalp.

He knows so much about me even with how little I speak. It just goes to show that if someone wants to understand you, they’ll move heaven and earth to do it.

“I bet soft blankets and a sweatshirt would hit the spot too, huh?” he asks softly. Linus enjoys playing “pretend” because it helps to pass the time.

It doesn’t hurt anything except my heart, because it all sounds so normal. I want the achingly routine things all omegas want during their impending heat. Cuddles, love, a perfect nest, and lots of blankets.

The promise of a knot or two would be nice, but I’d like to think that a knotted cock ring may work just as well if Linus was fucking me with it. Alphas are a little overrated in my opinion.

Wincing as a cramp calls me a damn liar, I shift uncomfortably as my pussy reminds me of how empty it is. Fuck. Being on the edge of heat, I don’t know if Bret will let me work on the main floor.

Maybe a regular will come and put me out of my misery? I can only hope.

Based on how banked my heat is and the fact that I’m not mindless yet, I think I may be a day out.

We just got to this new location, and it reminds me of a past tutoring center or something since I was able to find a chalkboard. Either way, it’s now set up to be a den of iniquitywith the front room the main area for dancers or cozying up to marks.

Bret travels with the club’s props and dance poles so he can transform any building into a sex club. The fact that he’s only renting for a week max means that he controls what people pay for services.

The other bonus to this being our first night here is that Bret is taking into account the four days I’ll be in heat. While he’s able to control how long it is and can cut it short if needed, I doubt he will when he’s sold my heat to five alphas.

There are big repercussions for scamming alphas of wealth. Some aren’t necessarily on the right side of the law, either. All this to say, Bret will make sure that these alphas get their money's worth.

“Makayla,” Bret booms, walking into the dressing room as Linus finishes his work and I grab my makeup pallet to appear busier than I was while lost in thought . “You’re looking a bit flushed.”

“She’s not in heat yet,” Linus murmurs under his breath. Pushing the chalkboard under the table that I’m sitting at, I effectively hide my method of communication from earlier.

“Good, the alphas aren’t coming until tomorrow,” he says, confirming my suspicions. “I think you should dance today, Makayla. You’re throwing off fuck me, breed me, knot me vibes right now.”

I want to cry, because those are all things my body wants, even if I think everyone with a knot can take a flying leap. Maybe not Alpha Sanchez, but everyone else.

Liar, whispers a voice, but I refuse to think about the Kelly brothers with my emotions already on edge. Crying hysterically won’t do a lick of good. Maybe dancing is the best option because I’m a mess.

So instead I nod, which is as good of an answer as any for Bret. He merely rolls his eyes and walks out of the room, and everyone else gets moving as well so they don’t fall on the wrong side of his wrath.

Thankfully, I’m no longer sore from the caning, spanking, and fucking from earlier this month. I healed fairly rapidly, but Linus’ words still ring in my ears.

It isn’t fair that the first time he told me he loved me was in this hell hole… It’s one of the reasons I haven’t said it back. I should say it because no one is guaranteed a tomorrow or even a next moment, and an alpha could accidentally snap my neck during my heat.

Some men have a kink for feeling the way a body changes as they die while they have their dick inside of a slick cunt. I don’t want to end up another statistic, another dead omega on Bret’s watch. It’s surprising to me that an omega has never died during her heat at Slick Dreams. You’d think it would happen more often as alphas slip into their ruts and fucking hazes.

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