Until you were at a destination that was nothing you would ever have chosen, and not something you could get away from.
She was down in the training center, taking out a pile of hot sheets from the dryer, when the storm hit.
Later, much later, a lifetime later, she would remember with clarity the feel of that soft heat against her torso, the warmth burrowing into her gut and making sweat break out on her forehead.
She would remember forever turning to the side and putting the fluffy white sheets on the counter.
Because when she stepped back, her needing hit for the second time in her life.
At first, it just felt as though she were still holding on to the sheets, the warmth remaining with her, along with a weight upon her belly sure as though she was as yet carrying the load.
As perspiration dripped down the side of her face, she glanced over at the thermostat on the wall, thinking that it was malfunctioning or set too high. But no, it read seventy degrees.
With a frown, she looked down at herself. Although she wore naught but a T-shirt and a pair of what they called "yoga" pants, it was as though she had on the parka she wore out with Xhex -
A curling cramp gripped her lower abdomen, fisting up around her womb, her legs wobbling until she had no choice but to allow herself to go down onto the floor. And this was a good thing, at least temporarily. The concrete was cold and she stretched out on it - until the next big crunch grabbed hold of her.
Pressing her hands into her pelvis, she balled up and strained, throwing her head back as she tried to escape whatever had o'ertaken her body.
And then it started.
Her sex, which had been throbbing a bit ever since Tohr and she had been together for those rough, intense matings before he'd left, gained its own proper heartbeat, the core of her begging for the only thing that would give it relief.
A male -
The sexual craving hit her so viciously, she couldn't have stood if she'd had to, couldn't have thought of aught else had she chosen to, couldn't have spoken intelligible words had she wanted to.
This was so much worse than it had been with the symphath.
And this was her fault. . . this was all her fault. . .
She hadn't been going over to the Sanctuary. It had been. . . Dearest Virgin Scribe, it had been months since she had tarried at the Far Side to regulate her cycle. Indeed, there had been no need to refresh herself for blood, because Tohr had been feeding her, and she hadn't wanted to miss even a moment with him.
She should have known this was coming -
Gritting her teeth, she panted hard through another peak. Then, just as it relented and she was about to yell for help, the door was thrown wide.
Dr. Manello stopped short, his face a mask of confusion. "What the - "
He sagged against the doorjamb, and abruptly covered the front of his hips with his hands. "Are you okay - "
As the craving crescendoed again, she caught a fleeting image of him going loose where he stood, but then her lids clamped down and her jaw locked and she was momentarily lost.
From a distance, she heard him say, "Let me get Jane. "
Seeking more of the cold floor, Autumn rolled over onto her back, but as her knees wouldn't unhinge, she didn't have enough surface contact. Back to the side. Then over onto her stomach, even though her legs wanted to recurl against her chest.
Pushing down with her hands, she tried to take control of the sensation and manipulate her position, tried to find another arch or breath or stretch of the arms or thighs to bring relief.
There was none to be had. She was at the center of a lion's den, great teeth of need biting into her, tearing at her flesh, racking her bones. This was the culmination of those hot flashes that she had mistaken for spikes of passion, and the bursts of chills that she had chalked up to premonitions, and the bouts of vague nausea that she had blamed on big meals. This was the exhaustion. The appetite. Probably the hot sex that she had been having of late with Tohrment.
As she moaned, she heard her name being said and thought someone was talking to her. But it wasn't until the craving ebbed that she could open her eyes and see that yes, in fact, she was not alone.
Doc Jane was kneeling before her. "Autumn, can you hear me?"
"I. . . "
The healer's pale hand brushed tangled strands of blond out of her face. "Autumn, I think this is your needing - would that be right?"