Page 40 of Into the Fire: After
I grabbed it before giving an ironic chuckle. “Condoms?”
“They can’t know you were in here,” Blondie said. “Only betas work here so they shouldn’t be able to scent you. Plusherscent is so heavy it’ll mask the two of you. But if you leave traces, they’ll follow up.”
“Howarewe here, then?”
He swallowed. “I’m head of security on shift. The attending doc has been incentivized to keep himself busy elsewhere.”
Only then did I notice the huge picture window just across from Taryn’s bed, and a sick feeling swam in my gut.
“I’ll stay out,” the guard assured us both. “And the cameras are not recording. I’ve looped the footage.
“I’ll knock twice at the hour mark, and once at the half-hour mark.” Without another word, he closed the door behind him. The lock clicked in place.
Fuck it. Still Limpdick, then.
I was at war with my alpha. The need to soothe my omega itched under my skin like poison ivy. It made my limbs twitch with the effort it took to stay rooted to the spot, to wait, tothink.
My Taryn sobbed. Writhed. Whined and shrieked.
Sex in this moment felt so…so wrong. She was half out of her mind. How could we take her like this?
Lin met my stare, but he looked as lost as I felt. Neither of us wanted to cross a boundary or overlook her consent, but neither could we simply leave her in a state of such torment.
Her hand reached out for mine, fingernails scraping on my forearm. Her eyes were glassy, fevered.
Desperate.
“Please end it.Please.”
There was no longer a question in my mind. There was one way to ease my omega’s pain. I met Lin’s gaze, and we gave each other a resolute nod.
We’d comfort Taryn, do whatever we could to keep her out of pain during the time we had. And we'd keep our alphas in check to get it done.
This wasn’t about us. Only her.
Thehospitalbed—thesameas what Lin and I had been squashed together on in our cell—absolutely could not hold allthree of us. We’d pulled the mattress off the frame and come to the floor, where it was easier to spread out a little. Clothes, too, had been abandoned and lay half inside-out and tangled where’d they’d been stripped and tossed.
Taryn had finally reached a lull after five consecutive earth-shattering climaxes. She lay on the mattress in my arms, tucked against my chest. Lin, cushioned only by scratchy hospital blankets, lay on the floor on her other side, one of his hands clasped in both of hers as she slept.
Her skin already felt less warm; maybe, having had a heat so recently, this one would fizzle out quickly.
My throat felt thick with longing as I watched her sleep, her breaths at last slow and steady. I wished we were at home. Wished she, at least, were at home. What wouldn’t I give to send her back there? My life, my freedom. An arm or leg, my fucking cock if needed.
Take whatever you want, just let her go home.
Fantasies of simply hoisting her into my arms and making a dash for freedom played on an endless loop in my mind. Maybe Limpdick-slash-Blondie would help us. Maybe he’d stand in my way and give me a target for my wrath.
Half of me was ready to do it this moment.
But there were fifteen floors between us and the outside. What if the guards shot at us? What if they hit her? Killed her?
It was all so damn futile, so fucking fucked. Having to just sit in that cell andlet themhurt my omega…it was agony all its own. And, fuck, Lin had felt it. Smelled her torture. I didn’t envy him.
Brooks, you better hurry the fuck up.
A single tear escaped her lids and fell down the side of her face. “I can’t lose all of you.”
“You won’t.” Lin scooted closer, pressing his forehead to hers. “We’re going to get out of here. All of us.”
