the massive presence of his knot inside her, the warm melting feeling of his come. Her heart still hammered, but Aric held her close, the deep rumble of his breath like a calming purr against her ear.
Time passed—seconds, minutes, Jocelyn had no idea. Aric stroked her back, her hair, each touch like a healing promise as he murmured reassurance.
"It's all right. Relax and breathe. Don't be afraid. My body won't hurt yours. I promise."
Jocelyn wasn't sure why, but she believed him. Maybe it was the gentleness of his touch in contrast with the strength of his body, strength that could protect her and keep any harm from ever reaching her.
In this moment, it was almost possible to believe that such a fantasy could come true.
Slowly, Jocelyn's breathing steadied, her fists unclenched, and the tight coil of tension began to unwind inside her.
And as she relaxed, the knot inside her seemed to mold itself to her contours as if it was made for her. As if it was a lost piece of herself she'd been missing all her life.
"Just rest," Aric whispered against her ear, and without thinking, she obeyed. Both her mind and her body were far too exhausted to make sense of all that had happened between them.
In the farthest reaches of her mind, a frantic voice was trying to get her attention, reminding her she was still in danger, that John was still out there looking for her. Her survival instincts implored her to get up and run like hell for her car, to get away while she still had a chance.
And she would…she really would, just as soon as his knot eased…and she caught her breath…and her mind started working right again.
"Just rest," Aric repeated, nestling her closer. "I got you."
I got you.
Jocelyn's eyes drifted closed and a comforting darkness settled in, muffling the voice that was trying to tell her that was just one more thing to be afraid of.
Chapter Ten
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Even after Aric had managed to calm Jo down, to keep her from hurting herself by pulling away from his knot, her frantic heartbeat didn't slow. He could feel the tension in her body like the threat of a storm still hours away.
This wasn't how an omega was supposed to behave after knotting. According to what he'd heard—and granted, it was all hearsay, fueled by too much drink and too many hormones and too few women to go around—she would go off like a rocket and then pass out in ecstasy, only to wake up hungry for more. All of Aric's brothers who were now mated had gone off the grid during their omegas' first heat, only to return eventually with stupid grins on their faces.
But—so far at least—it wasn't happening quite like that with his omega. Aric could feel her tense breaths, her eyelashes brushing against her skin as her eyes darted around the room. He didn't know what she was looking for or what she was afraid of. He just kept stroking her hair, purring in her ear, holding her securely against him—anything he could think of to help keep the rising tide of her panic at bay.
After the amazing sex they'd just shared, he was more than happy to give Jo anything she needed to recover. But as the seconds turning into long minutes and she didn't seem any more comfortable, Aric grew increasingly concerned. The signals rising from her body simply didn't make sense.
Jo was an omega—recently awakened, it was true, but well on her way to her first heat. When that happened, she would go into a frenzy of lust that would drive her to mate with him over and over. But her nature should've already been adapting to him. His touch should be a comfort that she sought out, not a threat she recoiled from.
Was it possible that there was something wrong inside her? Some condition or disease that was keeping her omega nature from flourishing? Briefly, Aric considered taking her to see Randall's mate, who had trained as a nurse—but despite concentrating as hard as he could, he couldn't detect any disturbances in her scent that signaled a biological issue.
Which left only one other possible source for her angst—that head of hers.
Un-fucking-believable. Even hours of sex and dozens of orgasms hadn't taken the fight out of his omega. A part of Aric admired Jo for her feistiness. For someone so small and skittish, the woman certainly knew how to stand her ground.
Aric had underestimated her, and