Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
What a mess.
Hugh pinched the bridge of his nose, his mind racing. There had to be something he hadn’t considered yet…
There had to be.
As if on cue, his phone went off.
Hugh went still upon seeing the caller ID. He probably shouldn’t have given Eric his personal number—that was another professional transgression—but in his defense, he’d had to text Eric for health updates. He hadn’t expected Eric to call him. The kid didn’t seem like the type.
Maybe something had happened.
Hugh answered the call and transferred it to his computer.
Eric’s heart-shaped face appeared on the screen. “Hey,” he said, looking down shyly before looking back at Hugh, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.
Fuck, he was almost painfully endearing. Hugh couldn’t imagine how anyone could hurt such an adorable slip of a boy. Even thinking about the dickhead who’d sold Eric’s picture to the tabloids made him want to punch someone. He’d seen that picture, of course. Everyone had. It wasn’t pornographic or anything, but it was very suggestive. Intimate. Not something everyone on the planet was supposed to see.
“Hey,” Hugh said, pushing the thought away and focusing on the present. “Is something wrong?”
Eric shook his head. “I just wanted to ask if you’ve found a solution. My heat is the day after tomorrow, and I… Last time it was so bad.” He swallowed. “I’m scared,” he admitted in a small voice.
Hugh’s heart started beating faster, his anxiety spiking as his hands twitched, wanting to touch, to comfort. He didn’t know what it was about this omega that made his protective instincts go haywire.
“What was the scariest part last time?” Hugh said in his practiced doctor’s tone. This was his patient. Just his patient, nothing more. He had to set some boundaries, even if it was well past his work hours.
“It hurt. So much.” Eric’s throat bobbed. “But the scariest part was how alone I felt.”
Hugh nodded, unsurprised. The full moon amplified everything: not just the base desire for mating but the omega’s other needs too—need for security and belonging. Need for a pack. The distance to Eric’s family surely didn’t help. “You should contact your family,” Hugh said. “Have one of your brothers come—”
“No,” Eric said, wincing. “I don’t want them here.”
Hugh studied him carefully. “You haven’t told them about your health issues.”
Eric’s wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights look was all the confirmation he needed.
Hugh sighed. “Eric.”
“I can’t tell them!” Eric said quickly. “Please don’t make me tell them! They worry about me too much as it is. I’m sick of being a burden to them.”
“I doubt they think you’re a burden,” Hugh said. “I’m sure they love you. You’re very—” He cut himself off before he could say something as idiotic as lovable. That was the last thing he should do, considering the kid’s imprint on him. Speaking of which… “Are you aware that you have imprinted on me?”
Eric flushed bright red. So he did know.
“I’ve—I’ve suspected,” he said. “After the other alphas’ pheromones didn’t work, I did some research and…” He shrugged, going for casual and missing it by a mile. “It was the most likely reason. I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Imprint is just a biological equivalent of a crush. It’s not something you can control.”
Eric frowned. “But it’s something that really complicates things,” he said quietly. “As long as I have an imprint on an alpha, I’ll be useless for you—your research.”
It was Hugh’s turn to frown. “I’ll be still your doctor, whether you’re involved in my research or not. Don’t call yourself useless.”
“I know. I just…” Eric gave him a rueful look. “Disappointing you makes me feel terrible. It’s probably the imprint, but—”
“It’s the imprint,” Hugh said curtly, leaning forward. “And you didn’t disappoint me. Your health comes first, not my research.”
The bright-eyed, hero-worship look Eric gave him jolted something in his chest, and Hugh felt a wave of shame for no reason.
Unsettled, Hugh cleared his throat. “I’ve been thinking about how to handle your heat, and… You’re right—the imprint does complicate things. You can’t use heat agencies—”
“I don’t want to use them anyway,” Eric said, cringing.
“But you can’t spend your heat alone, either,” Hugh said, looking at him steadily. “The risk of continuous acyclic heat is too high.”
He liked how smart the kid was—he didn’t need explaining what it was.
“Then what are my options?” Eric said, fixing Hugh with such a trusting gaze it made Hugh uncomfortable.
But he couldn’t deny that there was a part of him that liked that look.
That part of him didn’t want to let the kid down, by any means necessary.
“I’ll help you,” he heard himself say. “I’ll be there for you.”
Eric’s eyes widened.
***
Hugh struggled to keep his expression impassive as he explained the situation to his boss.
“Let me get this straight,” Serena Dawlish said. “A patient with Type 3 hypersexuality disorder somehow imprinted on you, and now you want to help him through his heat?”