Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
At last, I couldn’t take it anymore and a breathless moan of pure pain escaped my lips.
“Stop that!” Kor was beside me instantly. “Stop it, Vivienne—you’re hurting yourself!”
He took my hand from the pump and found the button to turn it off. A moment later the suction stopped, and he pulled the pump away from my swollen breast.
Both my breasts were now in terrible pain but even worse, when I looked at the reservoir of the pump, I saw that it hadn’t sucked anything out at all. The nectar, which was much more viscous than milk, was apparently too thick to suck out.
I had put myself through torture for nothing.
“Vivienne, this thing isn’t going to work, and you know it,” Kor said sternly, setting the pump on my nightstand. “You know there’s only one cure when an Omega’s breasts fill with nectar.”
I bit my lip as I looked up at him.
“I know,” I said in a low voice. “But I can’t…I don’t think we should. It’s wrong—I’m a Moon Widow. I’m not supposed to go into Heat.”
“Well, you are,” he said implacably. “Now what are we going to do about it? Are you going to let me help you or not?”
I fisted the coverlet on either side of me in frustration.
“But it’s wrong! The Council and the Pack—”
“Fuck the Council of Elders and the Pack,” Kor said roughly. “Are you going to let yourself get Nectar Poisoning—possibly even Heat Fever—to please that bunch of judgmental idiots?”
I started to cry then—I couldn’t help it. The tears had been right on the surface all morning and now they overflowed and ran down my cheeks.
“I know it’s stupid. It’s just, I’ve been judged by them for the past twenty years. It’s hard to go against what I’ve been taught all my life—even if it hurts me,” I admitted in a low voice.
Kor’s face—which had been strained with worry—softened at once. He dropped to his knees beside the bed and took both my hands in his.
“Vivienne, sweetheart, let me help you,” he said in a low voice. “I can’t stand to see you in pain—please.”
I blinked through my tears and looked at him uncertainly.
“You…you really want to help me like that? You don’t think I look disgusting—all swollen and leaking?”
“Disgusting?” He looked at me incredulously. “Baby, you’re beautiful. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And yes, I really want to help you.” He looked earnestly into my eyes. “Look, just let me suck the nectar out. I promise it won’t lead to anything else.”
“Well…” I wanted to say yes—I wanted this pain to end. But I still felt so guilty…
Kor seemed to read my mind.
“We won’t be breaking the Unbreakable Laws,” he promised softly. “I won’t be breeding you. I’ll just be helping you. Please.”
I think it was that last “please” that did me in. That and the fact that I trusted him and knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
“Well… all right,” I said at last. “But I need to take a shower first—I’m all sticky.”
Kor nodded.
“All right, but don’t take too long. You’re already in bad shape—I don’t want you to get Nectar Poisoning.”
“I’ll hurry,” I promised and scurried into the bathroom.
Oh Goddess, I thought, as I turned on the shower and peeled off my nightgown. Was I really going to let him do this to me? Was I really going to let him suck the nectar out of my swollen breasts.
It seemed that I was, and the realization brought equal amounts of guilt and relief. But Kor was right—I couldn’t let myself die just because I had internalized all the judgment and guilt of everyone in Blackridge. The Pack would be scandalized if they knew I was having my first real Heat Cycle at forty—and they’d be horrified if they knew I was going to let Kor help me through it—at least part of it.
But why should I care what they thought, I asked myself? My entire time here they’d treated me as an outsider and an outcast. None of them even liked me and I didn’t like them either. Why should I let them dictate my life now that Carter was dead and gone?
With those self-affirming thoughts swirling in my head. I rinsed off quickly in the shower and then wrapped myself in a big, puffy white towel.
I was going to let Kor help me, but I wasn’t going to go any further than that, I promised myself. I wasn’t going to die just to please the narrow-minded, judgmental people of Blackridge Pack.
And I held firm in that commitment…until I walked back into my bedchamber and found Kor waiting for me.
FORTY
KOR
I could see the uncertainty in Vivienne’s lovely, gold-ringed eyes the minute she came back into the room. I had taken off my shirt and shoes but left my trousers on.
“Come here, baby,” I said, beckoning to her as she hesitated in the doorway. She was wrapped in a big, fluffy white towel which was barely closed over her breasts. Her long, dark hair was loose around her bare shoulders and her eyes were wide. She was so beautiful it made me ache, and I don’t just mean my cock, though I admit that was half-way to attention just knowing what I was about to do.