Chapter 68: Skin to Skin
Kayden
After the phone call ended, Rhys drove toward the gate. When we reached the security guards, he leaned out just enough for them to see his face. They didn’t ask any questions. Since he was the captain, they waved him through, unaware that I was even beside him.
At least Rhys was protecting me, even if he was acting like a jerk.
He sped straight to the front of the clinic, the tires screeching as he slammed on the brakes.
My head spun, nausea from the draught blurring my vision. Through the windshield, I saw Leo pacing back and forth in front of the glass doors, his face tight with panic.
The moment the headlights hit him, he didn’t hesitate. He rushed toward us.
I fumbled with the handle, my fingers shaking, and managed to open the door. I spilled out of the seat and would have hit the pavement if Leo hadn’t reached me in time, catching me before I collapsed.
I felt him stiffen instantly, his eyes widening as he took in my state. He inhaled sharply, his gaze snapping to me as the scent of orchids poured off my body. Then he looked up at Rhys, who was stepping out of the driver’s side with a stoic expression.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Leo yelled. He tugged at my clothes and placed a hand on my forehead. "You’re burning up. What did you do this time?" He turned back to Rhys. "You knotted him again, right? You..."
"Really?" Rhys scoffed, letting out a dark, dry chuckle that sent a shiver down my spine. He leaned against the car door, glaring at Leo with terrifying intensity. "So this is what you both do? Talk about me?" He laughed bitterly. "After the sex, both of you probably sat down and mocked me. You talked about everything to him! ."
Rhys exhaled sharply. "Well, I’m glad I finally know what kind of fool I am, and how you two played me perfectly."
"Rhys... it’s not what you think, I—" I tried to speak, but the first convulsion hit me.
My limbs jerked violently, my body seizing as the poison in my blood threatened to shut my heart down.
"Kayden!" Leo shouted, struggling to hold my thrashing body. He looked up at Rhys, desperation blazing in his eyes. "Now is not the time for questions. He needs your help. Help me get him inside!"
Rhys groaned, but he didn’t hesitate. Whatever anger he was holding vanished at the sight of me breaking apart. He was at my side in a heartbeat, his powerful arms locking around me. Together, they hauled me through the clinic doors and onto the bed in Leo’s office.
"Rhys, listen to me," Leo snapped as he moved with frantic speed. "I can smell draught on him. Did you give it to him?"
Rhys shook his head. "He drank it on his own. It was served at my family’s event and meant for Alphas. How the hell was anyone supposed to know an Omega cosplaying as an Alpha would be there? You think we were supposed to know?"
"Now is not the time to argue," Leo said sharply as he prepared a syringe and hung a bag of fluids. "The draught is causing systemic shock. His body is rejecting the Alpha enzymes. He’s redlining. This isn’t just the primal draught. The spike is from the amount of suppressants he’s been consuming for years."
His voice tightened. "His entire system is in chemical warfare. The draught is stripping the suppressants all at once, and his heart can’t take the shock."
"Well, whose fault is that?" Rhys yelled. "It’s his fault for taking suppressants because he wanted to play an Alpha."
I groaned, wanting to scream at him to shut up, but my body kept shaking uncontrollably.
The heart monitor’s frantic beeping filled the room, each sound reminding me that I was running out of time.
"I need your help, Rhys," Leo begged. "I need your pheromones. Not the aggressive shit you’re leaking right now. I need the cooling. You need to blanket him with your body. If you don’t drop his heart rate in the next sixty seconds, he’s going into cardiac arrest."He swallowed hard ."You have to do this with full skin contact."
My muscles locked up, my body vibrating through the haze of pain while they argued.
"Why?" Rhys snapped. "Why do I have to do that? Can’t you flush the draught out of his system?"
"No," Leo barked. "The draught and years of suppressants have caused a full physiological collapse. Kayden’s body has already imprinted on you, Rhys. You were his first. His system accepts you."he informed him and then his voice dropped. "If you don’t help him, he’s heading for something worse than cardiac arrest."
I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I couldn’t tell whose it was.
My eyes were closed. Everything hurts. I was burning from the inside out.
"I’m not doing it," Rhys growled, his voice thick with disgust and pain. "I’m not stripping down and getting into that bed after what he’s done."
Leo scoffed, metal clattering loudly as he set a tray down.
"This isn’t a request," Leo said coldly. "It’s a medical necessity. Without skin-to-skin contact and direct saturation of your cooling pheromones, the hyperthermia will cause permanent neurological damage. His core temperature is rising to the point where his brain will start to cook."
His voice hardened. "You are the only option. Hate him later but for now, save his life. Or stand there and become the man who watched his heart explode."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
I whimpered, my head lolling to the side as I tried to find Rhys through the haze, but my eyes wouldn’t open.
Then he cursed angrily.
"Oh, fuck this," Rhys hissed. "I’m only doing this because I’m not inhumane."
I heard clothes being thrown aside, the sound of a belt hitting the floor. A moment later, I felt him against me.
Without a word, he stripped me and pulled me back against his broad chest, sitting behind me and wrapping his arms around my body. His hand pressed firmly against my stomach, grounding me as his cooling pheromones flooded my system.
"This will be the last time I ever touch you," he muttered, the words vibrating through me. "And only because I don’t want you to die."
He sighed heavily."But don’t think for a second this changes anything."