“Don’t say nice things to me,” I murmured. “I’ll cry with heat hormones and it will be a whole thing.”

Luke’s lips twitched. “Not sure I can follow that order, sweetheart. I only have nice things to say.”

The way he was stroking my hair felt nice, and slowly, as he did it, the meds began to kick in and the pulsing waves of pain dulled to something manageable. It felt like taking a full breath for the first time in hours. “Meds are taking effect,” I told him. “I’ll be okay now.”

“Good.”

“I’m glad Eva gave you guys my number. I’ll see you in a few days when this is over.”

His purr stopped, and he raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“When my heat is over.”

“Hold that thought.”

Rolling away from me, he went to the door. “Kade, get your ass up here.”

The man took the stairs two at a time, based on the sound, and he smiled at the door. “Hey, beautiful.”

I blushed.

Luke crossed his arms. “Esme told me she’ll see us in a few days once her heat is over.”

Laughing, Kade crossed to the bed, kneeling in front of it. “I don’t think so.”

I stared at him, finally able to sit up. Scooting so I was sitting cross-legged in front of him, I barely resisted the urge to sink my hands into his hair. His purr was far rougher than Luke’s, and deeper. A different kind of comfort. “I’m not sure what else we would do?”

Taking my hand in his, Kade kissed the back of it. “We want to help you through your heat, baby.”

My stomach dropped, and it wasn’t entirely from fear. It was so soon, and I knew stranger things had happened, but it was still daunting. “What would that mean? For us?”

Luke sat down beside me. “Exactly what it sounds like. We help you through your heat so you’re not trapped in your house for days, and when it’s over, we continue courting you. One heat doesn’t have to mean anything more than that, though I won’t pretend we won’t want it to mean something. Plenty of Omegas have one-heat stands.”

I laughed at the term, relieved the pain was receding enough that I could laugh.

“I know you’re nervous about all of this,” Luke said. “But I don’t think you’re nervous about sex.”

He wasn’t wrong. Sex was easy. Or easy enough, when I could find someone who wanted me and didn’t end up calling out Eva’s name. It was everything else outside of sex—the intimacy and vulnerability terrified me.

It was so nonsensical. I wanted all of it. I wanted that kind of closeness with a passion which made me shake, and yet it was also one of the things that scared me the most in this world.