“Good,” I growled.
I parted my lips so that my sharp fangs were clearly visible and said, “I’ll hold on to him until they arrive.”
Behind the mask, the man paled, as if he’d seen a ghost.
* * *
Lewis arrived at the store just as the cops were leaving. They had taken the attempted robber into custody.
“Jesus, Caleb, are you okay?” Lewis yelled when he saw us standing on the front curb.
Caleb shivered, both from the chilly air and the sudden drop in his own temperature as the adrenaline wore off. Even if I couldn’t offer as much warmth as a human, I put my arm around him anyway.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Caleb said. “Just a little freaked out.”
“Well, no shit!” Lewis exclaimed in sympathy.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if Adriel wasn’t here,” Caleb mumbled.
Lewis turned to me with that same awed expression he had the first time we met. “Oh, yes, Mr. Tenebrae. What brings you to our establishment again?”
“Have you already forgotten?” I said. “I am Caleb’s bodyguard. It’s a necessity of his medical condition, and other personal reasons you do not need to know about.”
Evidently, he had forgotten. Lewis’s eyes went wide. He shook his head. “Well, uh, yes. Of course.”
It was obvious he had a million questions he wanted to ask, but didn’t dare bother me with them. In any case, even he sensed that now was not the right time.
“Anyways, Caleb, nothing got stolen, right?” Lewis asked.
“No,” Caleb replied. “Again, only because Adriel was here. Otherwise…” He shuddered again.
“Right, right,” Lewis said. He seemed like he wanted to take my hands and shake them, but was too afraid. “Thank you so much, Mr. Tenebrae. You’ve saved my store and my employee tonight. You’re just incredible. We owe you so much.”
“Only doing my duty,” I replied.
“Yes, of course,” Lewis said, nodding along with everything I said. “Well, I had a chat with one of the cops right before they took off and he said it’s probably best to close up the store for the night.” He sighed. “Don’t want nosy neighbors causing a scene or anything, you know?”
“Yes, that would be for the best,” I added.
More than anything else, all I wanted was to take him home to safety. My arm tightened around Caleb. Caleb didn’t struggle. To my surprise, he leaned in to me.
Something inside me sparked and lit up, like a newly kindled flame. I didn’t want to let go of him. I couldn’t let anything like this happen ever again. But it wasn’t just the overwhelming desire to protect him - it was a deeper, more intense sensation that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
And I had the feeling it wouldn’t go away so easily.
After Lewis wandered off to chat with a few straggling cops, I murmured to Caleb, “Come. Let’s go home.”
8
Caleb
I knew my heat was starting. That wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part that there was nothing I could do about it that I hadn’t already done.
I felt it like a bug crawling up my back. As soon as the adrenaline and fear from the robber incident faded, it was clear as day - to me, at least. And if my pills didn’t kick in soon, it would be clear for everybody else, too.
Sometimes pills were late to work. Maybe I just needed to lay low for a day. But what if they didn’t kick in at all? What if it was too late and I was about to have a full-fledged heat cycle?
My skin tingled where Adriel had held me close earlier. His arm around my shoulders, keeping me safe. Now I could sense the ghostly sensation like it was still there. Obviously it wasn’t, since he was driving, but my mind was playing tricks on me.
I clutched my hands and stared out the window, trying to focus of anything else but the change in my body. It was so embarrassing to know your body was about to do something you really didn’t want it to do - at least not right now. But did it listen? No.
My temperature began to rise, and this time it had nothing to do with embarrassment.
Shit, shit, shit…
If Adriel noticed, he hadn’t said anything about it yet. If I was lucky, I’d die on the spot and avoid him saying anything about it at all.
When we pulled into the garage, neither of us moved for a moment. It seemed to go on for an eternity.
Please just get out of the car, I begged.
“Caleb,” Adriel said quietly.
I clenched my eyes shut. Oh, god, strike me down right now.
“Yeah?” I replied, my voice breaking.
“I sense a change within you,” Adriel said, carefully measuring his words. “Do you sense it as well?”
He knows, he knows, fuck!
I couldn’t bring myself to speak at first. Every word was monumentally difficult. As the heat deepened with every passing second, acting like a civilized human being also became harder. My mind went hazy, my thoughts disorganized.
There was no use denying it. All I could think about was sex.
Maybe if I sit here with my eye shut and don’t look at Adriel, I can sit in the car the whole time and this will blow over…
But of course, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Caleb,” Adriel repeated himself. “Did you hear me?”
Was it just my imagination, or was his voice deeper? Like something in his body was changing, too?
“Yeah,” I forced myself to say.
“You’re not denying it,” Adriel murmured. “Then I can only assume it’s true.”
I groaned. “Can we please just go back home?”
Adriel didn’t reply, but he did get out of the car and open my door for me. “Do you need help walking?”
As I stood up, his expression changed. His mouth tensed and his shoulders stiffened. My face grew red with shame.
He smelled my heat scent, I just knew it. It was too strong to ignore now.
It’s too late for me to stop it, I thought desperately.
“No,” I mumbled.
“Then, come on,” Adriel said stiffly.
The walk back to the cottage seemed to last forever. Every step forward was like walking in quicksand. The blood pounded in my ears and sweat beaded down my brow. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my skin.
It’s so close.
All I needed to do was get inside and in my room. Fast. I would be safe from my intense primal urges if I could just get some distance between Adriel and I.
Does he feel the same? There’s no way he can’t smell my heat. But he’s not acting on it. Maybe he knows how to ignore it.
Was that truly possible, though? Could an alpha - any alpha, regardless of whether they were human or vampire - ignore the call of an omega in heat? An omega that was right next to them?
The front door creaked closed behind us. Adriel didn’t say a word. The entire house was silent.
“I’m gonna go to my room,” I said.
Adriel nodded and didn’t say anything else.
I made it halfway up the stairs at a normal pace before I broke out into a panicked run.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, I thought desperately. My heat wasn’t supposed to come so early. And why the hell haven’t the suppressants kicked in!?
I groaned and slumped behind the closed door. I wiped the sweat trickling down my brow, but it was spreading to the rest of me as my entire body temperature rose. A low, dull throb spread throughout my groin area. It wouldn’t be long before uncontrollable lust took hold of me.
I couldn’t spend my whole heat this way, cooped up in a room with only my hands to deal with it. Not only that, but my boss was going to be pissed if I missed work because of my own stupidity.
Why am I so dumb? Why couldn’t I have just remembered to bring my pills in the first place?
A knock on the door made me leap out of my skin.
“Hello?” I yelped.
“Caleb,” Adriel’s strained voi
ce replied. “It’s me.” He paused. “I know this must be a difficult time for you, so let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
I wanted to bark out a bitter laugh. There was nothing he could do, except one thing. And we couldn’t do that.
...Right?
“Thanks, but you and I both know the answer to that, and it’s not happening,” I said.
When he didn’t reply right away, I imagined the tight line of his mouth.
“I’ll be fine for now,” I continued. “I’ll probably need a glass for water later today, and food, but that’s about it. If it’s too much for you to handle, you can ask Benji to do it.”
“It’s not,” Adriel said firmly, sounding a little offended. “Look, I’m not going to… initiate anything just because you’re an omega in heat. I have a little more dignity than that.”
Of course he does, I thought. He must have been in this situation countless times, knowing how old he was. Obviously he could control himself.
But there was a tiny voice in the back of my head that shouted I don’t want him to!
I bit my lip. My heat was getting stronger by the second. An uncontrollable desire wormed its way through me like poison.
There was only one true way to stop a heat - to become pregnant. That was clearly out of the question, but one way to slow it down, or at least make it easier to bear, was sex. More specifically, sex with an alpha’s knot.
The image of Adriel’s cock flashed into my mind and I groaned out loud. I shut my eyes tight and shook my head, furiously trying to get rid of it. But the damage was done. My cock was already getting hard.
Shit, goddamnit, fuck!
“Caleb?” Adriel called again. “I’m going to leave you alone now, but first I want to know you’re truly all right by yourself in there. Do you want me to get Benji?”
“No!” I shouted. The floodgates opened, and I blurted out, “I don’t want Benji, I want you!”
I should have been ashamed. I should have felt even a tiny scrap of shame. But I didn’t. My heat was too far gone for that.
Now that I said it, there was no taking it back. The words hung out in the open.
The doorknob rattled, like Adriel placed his hand on it.
“Caleb,” he said in a low voice. “Tell me the truth. Is it you speaking, or your hormones?”
I winced.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Both. No, I don’t know. I can’t tell right now.”
I couldn’t keep my stupid mouth shut. If I kept talking like this, I knew I would chase him away.
“May I come in?” Adriel asked. “If you’re not comfortable, say no.”
I thought about it for a second. Even if he were in front of me, it wasn’t like I was gonna jump on him. I just needed something to break this tension. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
Adriel entered the room and left the door half open behind him. He watched me warily. Something glinted behind his eyes, a strange emotion I couldn’t read.
“What do you want?” Adriel asked. “Tell me honestly. Don’t hold anything back.”
“I want you,” I repeated. The throbbing below my stomach grew stronger. “It’s driving me crazy.”
Adriel stiffly crossed his arms. He didn’t come any closer, but his sharp gaze never strayed from me.
“Do you need this?” he asked.
My heart skipped a beat. Was he asking what I thought he was asking? Had my brain been fried by the jump in temperature so that I was hallucinating now?
“Answer me,” Adriel demanded.
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I need… something. Inside me.”
He slowly arched a brow. “Then let me ask you something else. Do you have a condom?”
My eyes widened. “Yes! Yes, I do!” I cried, probably more enthusiastically than I should have.
Adriel ran his hand through his silky black hair. He remained where he was, still hesitant. “We can tell no one of this. Do you agree?”
I nodded vigorously.
“Then…” He paused, then opened up his palm. “Give it to me.”
My heart raced. My gut was full of butterflies trying to escape. I ran to my bedside, snatched the jeans and fished the condom out of the pocket, all while sending a silent mental prayer to Dr. Lopez who insisted I go home with the condoms.
I guess he was right about me needing them, in the end…
I returned to Adriel and placed the condom gently in his outstretched palm. He curled his fingers around it and, never breaking eye contact with me, he unwrapped it.
My throat tightened and my heart raced. I felt frozen to the spot, like I was under some kind of spell. I’d fantasized about this moment countless times, and now that it was finally happening, I could barely stand to breathe in case I shattered it and fell back into reality.
Adriel stepped closer, looming above me. The scent of his silky black hair, both floral and masculine, floated over to me. I watched his own nostrils flare at the overwhelming scent of my heat, which I could detect easily even though it came from my own body.
If he was having trouble controlling himself, he didn’t show it at all - except maybe a tightened jaw.
With his unblinking stare, Adriel commanded, “Undress, please.”
I didn’t think twice about doing it. I kicked off my pants and nearly ripped my shirt in my rush to get it off until I stood nearly naked in front of him, wearing only a pair of - completely heat-soaked - boxers. Though I hadn’t exerted myself at all, I couldn’t help but breathe heavily, like I’d run a hundred miles. The lust was taking over me, and soon it would be all I could think about.
“Look at you,” Adriel murmured. “We’ve barely begun, and you’re already soaking wet.”
I gasped. My cheeks flushed fiercely. Was he dirty-talking me on purpose?
“Y-yeah,” I mumbled. His gaze was too intense for me to keep looking into, so I averted my eyes.
“Caleb. Look at me when I speak to you,” Adriel commanded.
Before I could react, he lifted my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. I shivered violently. My knees trembled and I felt like my limbs were turning into mush.
Does he know what he’s doing to me?
“Sit on the bed, please,” Adriel said calmly.
I nodded, unable to speak with the lump in my throat, and stumbled backward. When I sat down, Adriel approached me. He still held the unwrapped condom in one hand, as if holding it on a pedestal.
“Have you always wanted this?” Adriel asked.
“Are you genuinely asking or just reading my mind?” I replied with a wheezing laugh.
He smiled. “No. I can’t read minds. But judging from your reply, I think I know the answer.”
My cock twitched. The bulge in my boxers was now very noticeable. Adriel’s eyes flitted down to it and I bit my lip.
As he stared, Adriel paused for a moment like he was deep in thought. I nearly chewed my lip hard enough to bleed in anticipation.
Why is he stopping? I thought in a lustful frenzy.
“This is only to sate your heat,” Adriel finally said. “Therefore, we will not engage in any foreplay, such as kissing.”
That would have been disappointing to hear at any other time, but right now, I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. The only thing my body craved was a knot inside of me, and if he could deliver that, I would be perfectly happy.
I nodded and said hoarsely, “Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Good. Then lay down and spread your legs.”
With a whimper of anticipation, I obeyed. The wet fabric of my boxers clung to my skin. I was in a hurry to get rid of them, but I didn’t dare act out of turn.
Adriel hooked a long finger into the waistband of my boxers and slowly - god, so slowly - he lowered them. When he freed my cock, it sprung up embarrassingly. I resisted the urge to groan in shame.
But Adriel just smirked. All I could do was lay there and hope he liked what he saw.
Is he getting off on this at
all? I wondered. He’s an alpha about to fuck an omega in heat. He’s going to knot me. Even though its all clinical for him, is he really not turned on even a little bit?
I watched as Adriel’s free hand reached down to his own pants. He placed the condom carefully on his cock - which, to my relief - was erect.
And huge.
Then he grasped my hips. A jolt ran through my body. I was totally naked, lying beneath him, but Adriel remained fully clothed except for his dick. It felt so dirty, and turned me on even more.
“Well, then, Caleb,” Adriel said, his dark eyes flashing. “Are you ready to get fucked?”
9
Adriel
I didn’t mean to get sucked into the fantasy, but it happened regardless. The sight of a naked, prone omega just laying there in front of me, fully slick and begging to be taken… I had to admit, it was difficult to resist.
But this wasn’t for my pleasure. It was purely to help Caleb. I knew how straining and difficult it could be for an omega in heat without a knot to satisfy them - like they were parched in a desert, and sex with an alpha was the only thing that could quench their thirst.
It was a massive stroke of luck that Caleb had a condom on him, otherwise this wouldn’t be possible. I would never risk getting Caleb pregnant, even to quell his heat. If he didn’t have a condom, I would have kept my distance, perhaps offered him some toys to bide his time.
But if I was being honest with myself, this was a more pleasurable experience for both the people involved.
It was fine. Nobody would know.
Caleb’s skin burned beneath my fingers. His temperature had skyrocketed since the onset of his heat. I knew that was another side-effect, and an uncomfortable one. That solidified my decision to help him. I was doing him a favor.
“Yes,” Caleb said, his voice breathy and thick. “I’m ready.”
I ran my hands up his thighs and spread them further apart. He whimpered as the scent of his wetness filled the air like a musky perfume. I couldn’t help shuddering when it hit me. No alpha was immune to the scent - not up close like this.
Omega’s Vampire Bodyguard: Tenebrae Brothers Book 2 Page 6
