Huntress

Chapter 31

The heat was becoming uncomfortable. With no clock in here, I had no idea how fast it was progressing. I just kept looking at Ryder, lying flat on the bed. He wasn't beginning to sweat like I was. He didn't look like he wanted to shed a layer of clothing or dump ice water over his head. So this was an isolated issue, a me issue and not a thermostat problem.

Keiko had been too late. It was an infection. It had to be. But when I carefully unwrapped my fingers to check them, they seemed fine. No warmth to the touch, no extreme swelling or pain. And, frankly, I wasn't a nurse or a doctor, I didn't know what other signs to look for. I just rewrapped them and tried to think about how cool the floor felt on the back of my legs, through the borrowed pants.

Ryder sat up and opted to eat some of the extra food that was brought. I found that closing my eyes felt a little better. but closing my eyes also allowed me to focus on my body more, just enough that I realized that the warmth was coming from deep in my belly. And with my eyes shut, my mind played the image of Ryder sitting on my couch, panting from our heavy kisses. The way he had looked at me then...

My legs squeezed together at the thought.

"Are you doing okay over there?" Ryder prompted.

I was caught. I forced my eyelids apart and a grin onto my lips. "Perfectly fine," I answered. Did my voice sound off? Maybe a little husky?

"Are you sure?" he pressed. I was nodding when I watched him take a breath.

Then he became very very still.

"Ryder?" I whispered.

He took another breath as if to restart himself, then very carefully put his spaghetti aside. Eyes towards the ceiling, he said to the gods above, "You really must hate me."

"Ryder, what's wrong?"

There was only a fraction of hesitation, but it was enough that I saw it. his teeth barely captured his lower lip before immediately releasing it. "You're going into heat, Georgia."

"Excuse me, what?"

"Like a dog, minus the blood. It won't change your cycle obviously."

Like that was the important part.

"But, I'm human!" I protested. "You're being absurd. You need to call Keiko because I have an infection." But I didn't, did I? I wasn't a doctor, but something in me told me that he was right.

"I can't call her because I gave them my cell phone before they shoved us in here. And even if I could call Keiko, there's nothing she could do for you because this isn't a fever. You might be a human, but the moon goddess mated you to a werewolf and the moon goddess decides when and if you go into heat."

"What the fuck is heat?" I demanded.

"It's the moon goddess's way of bringing us together. With werewolves, markings and matings increase the bond between us. So basically, the heat strongly encourages sex in an effort to get us to become more bonded to each other. Some couples go through it dozens of times, some never go through it at all." His words were all calculated and formal, but his knee was bouncing and his fingers were twitching.

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"Since we are literally trapped in one room together, I don't think we have a lot of options. The best deterrent is usually distance and that's not helpful for us. The hormones are going to get worse. I'm going to start feeling a little...feral. The heat you're experiencing now is going to get more uncomfortable to the point that you will start begging and will not go away until we find a way to subdue it."

"I will never beg, Ryder. And by subduing it, you mean having sex?"

"It's the most traditional method, yes."