Heat

Heat
Vinorca Jona POV

"What is wrong with you?"

A hand touched my hot cheeks, spreading coolness through my whole body as it burned, like molten lava pouring over me.

With my blurry vision, I could still figure out who was touching me. Dante. His expressions shifted constantly, maybe from my shaky vision. 

I moved my lips. "I don't know. It feels like I'm sitting on a stove."

Please save me. I wanted to beg so badly. Words didn't come out in any form, not like my ego could survive in this situation—it was my head messing with all my words.

"Fuck, you're in heat."

Dante's words whiplashed me hard enough to settle my hazed vision, at least for a second.

Not like I hadn't heard about she-wolves getting their heat after having a wolf. I totally didn't pay attention, and now in this ridiculous moment I got my first heat. Still, how could this even happen when it hadn't been long enough since I got my wolf?

I held his hand on my cheek. "Give me something." My words came out so breathy, as if I'd been running miles for my life. My heart surely was.

Water or ice or anything—I needed something. The pain and heat were really going to my head.

"Let me call someone to bring medicine for your heat." Why the fuck was he telling me that? He should just do it. Okay, I was overreacting, but it equaled how I felt in my whole damn body.

He tried to remove his hand from my grip, but I held on with what little strength I had left. "No, don't leave." If he wanted to call for medicine, he could do it from right here. I wasn't letting him go.

His hand on my cheek was the only source of comfort—something I hated needing, yet couldn't stop myself from craving. Heat was such a bitch.

"Vin, you have to let go of my hand." His palm stayed against my cheek as he spoke. Was I in some kind of trance, or was he really speaking that softly to me?

"No…" I pushed myself up—the most pathetic attempt I'd ever made. Even gripping his hand for support, I still collapsed back onto the sofa. "I want your cold hands."

Dante pulled away, his hand leaving my cheek, and the burning sensation flared tenfold. "You're under the effect of your heat. Control your pheromones and yourself, Vin."

I blinked, trying to shake the blurriness from my vision. "You smell so good." I shoved myself up again and fisted the front of his shirt, steadying myself against him.

My lips grazed his Adam's apple as it bobbed, practically daring me to bite.

"What are you doing, Vinorca?" I looked up to find his face frozen in shock, as if he wasn't the one who always tried to get close to me. Now I was doing it, and suddenly it was a problem. But when he did it, everything was fine.

Breathless, I parted my lips. "You feel so good to touch. Your body is soothing." I pressed my mouth to his Adam's apple and dragged my tongue across it. "Since when do you smell this good?"

"Don't make this hard, bunny," he rasped.

I nipped at his Adam's apple. "What's hard, Dante? Your dick or your life?"

One thing I knew for certain—my senses were completely shot. I couldn't control myself. I just wanted to be close to him, the same man I usually ran from.

Fingers tangled in my hair and yanked me back until my eyes were level with his. "I'm pretty sure you're going to regret this, Vinorca. It's your heat speaking, not you." His eyes glowed yellow. His wolf was rising to the surface.

"So you don't want me?" I choked on the words—didn't know why, but I did, as if his rejection burned worse than the heat already consuming me.

I was desperate. Pathetic enough to act like this.

He shook his head. "I want you so damn much it hurts."

"Take me then." The whimper escaped before I could stop it. I licked my lips, provoking him.

"You sure?" he asked again, and it grated on my nerves in the worst possible way.

I bit my lower lip. "This time, I'm damn sure. What's the problem? Before, you did things without my consent. I'm giving it now…" I paused, holding his gaze. "Or are you not a fan of consent?"

His jaw clenched, muscles ticking beneath the skin. "Don't throw that in my face right now."

"Why not? It's the truth." Even through the haze of heat, satisfaction flickered through me at finally having the upper hand. "You wanted me. You took what you wanted. Now I'm offering, and you're hesitating?"

"Because you're not in your right mind." His grip in my hair loosened, thumb brushing against my temple. "I won't take advantage of you like this."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "How noble. Where was this nobility before?"

"Vin—"

"Forget it." I tried to pull away, but my body betrayed me, swaying dangerously. His arms caught me before I could fall. "Just get the damn medicine and leave me alone."

"You don't mean that."

"Don't tell me what I mean." But the words lacked conviction. My skin burned where he touched me, and every instinct screamed to get closer, not push him away.

He lifted me effortlessly and carried me to the table where he'd been working. "I'm getting you medicine and water. Then we're going to forget this happened."

"Can't forget what I don't remember." I squeezed my eyes shut against another wave of heat. "You hate me so much that now, when I'm giving myself to you, you can't do anything?"

This was the only thought running through my head—foggy and heavy, dulling everything else.

"I hate you so damn much." His voice came out rough, strained. "But that hate could never stop me from having you, Vinorca. You're my mate. My other half.”