Tidal Heat

I was burning alive from the inside.

"Please," I gasped, clutching Liam's suit jacket like it was the only thing keeping me from shattering. "I can't take this. Make it stop."

Liam's arms stayed around me, strong and steady, but he didn't move to claim me. His hands just held me through the worst of the wave, one palm rubbing slow circles on my back.

"Aiden, breathe," he murmured. "I'm right here."

I shoved my face against his chest, inhaling his scent. It made everything worse and better at the same time. "You smell so good. Too good. I hate it. I need you. Just... just take me already. That's what you're here for, right?"

My voice broke on the last word. Shame flooded me, hot and ugly, but the heat didn't care. It clawed at my insides, demanding.

Liam tilted my chin up gently, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Not like this. Not when you're barely conscious and fighting yourself."

I laughed bitterly, the sound cracking. "Since when do Alphas care about consent? Just fuck me. Get it over with. I used to be the one in control. Now look at me. Begging."

His thumb brushed my lower lip. The tenderness in that small touch nearly undid me. "I care because it's you. And because you're carrying our child."

The words hit like ice water thrown on fire. I jerked back, but his arms didn't let me go far. "What the hell did you just say? Stop saying that. Stop lying to me."

"I'm not lying," Liam said, voice low and rough. "The doctors told me before I even walked into your room. The bloodwork showed it. Early, but real."

I pushed harder against his chest, panic mixing with the unbearable need. "You're full of shit. I would remember if... if something like that happened. This is just some twisted way to control me. To make the fallen Alpha even weaker."

Liam's grip loosened but he stayed close, kneeling with me on the lounge floor. "Aiden, listen to me. The differentiation messed with your memory. It happens. But the tests don't lie. You're pregnant."

"Shut up!" I snarled, tears stinging my eyes again. I hated crying. I hated all of this. "I was supposed to be untouchable. Now you're telling me I'm knocked up like some pathetic Omega who can't keep control? I refuse to believe it."

Another wave crashed over me. I cried out, doubling forward. My hands fisted in his shirt as my body trembled violently.

Liam pulled me against him again, murmuring soft words I barely heard through the roaring in my ears. "I've got you. Let it pass. I'm not going anywhere."

I pressed my forehead to his shoulder, breathing in his scent like a drug. "Why are you being so gentle? It makes this worse. I don't deserve gentle. I used to break people like you in boardrooms."

"You didn't break me," he said quietly. "I was always watching you. Waiting for the right moment. This isn't how I wanted it to happen, but I'm here now."

I lifted my head, staring at him through hazy vision. "You were watching me? What does that even mean? Were you planning to take me down all along?"

"No." His hand cupped my face again, thumb wiping away a tear. "I wanted you. The real you. Not the Alpha mask. Not the empire heir. Just you."

The heat flared hotter. I whimpered, pressing closer despite myself. My hips moved on their own, seeking friction. Shame burned through me but I couldn't stop.

"Please, Liam," I whispered, voice breaking completely. "Just do it already. That's what you're here for. Claim me. Fill me. Make this fire stop."

He held my face between both hands now, eyes dark with hunger but still so damn controlled. "Not like this. And not when you're carrying our child."

I laughed again, the sound wet and broken. "There you go with that bullshit again. Our child. Like this is some fairytale. Like I asked for any of this."

The wave eased slightly, leaving me trembling and exhausted in his arms. I hated how safe I felt. How right his arms felt around my broken body.

"Why won't you just take what I'm offering?" I asked, voice small. "Any other Alpha would have me bent over already. Why are you torturing me like this?"

Liam's expression cracked for the first time. Real emotion flashed across his face. Pain. Longing. Something deep and terrifying. "Because I don't want to take. I want you to choose me. Even now. Especially now."

I stared at him, chest heaving. "Choose you? I don't even know you. Not really. You're just... the highest match. The safe option."

"Am I?" he challenged softly. "Or did you pick my name because some part of you already knew?"

I didn't have an answer. The heat was building again, slower this time but just as merciless. I clutched at his shoulders, nails digging in through his suit jacket.

"I feel like I'm losing my mind," I confessed, voice shaking. "Everything I was... it's gone. And now you're telling me there's a baby? I can't... I can't be someone's father. Or mother. Whatever the hell I am now."

"You're still Aiden," he said firmly. "Still the man who built half that empire with his bare hands. This doesn't erase that. It just changes things."

"Changes everything," I corrected bitterly. "My uncle Henry will destroy me if he finds out. He'll use this to take it all."

Liam's arms tightened around me. "He won't touch you. Or the baby. I won't let him."

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to. But trust was a luxury I couldn't afford anymore. Another spike of heat hit me and I moaned against his neck, body arching involuntarily.

"Touch me," I begged. "At least touch me. I need something. Please."

His hand slid down my back, soothing but never crossing the line I kept pushing toward. "I am touching you. I'm holding you through this. That's what you need right now."

I hated him for being right. Hated how my body relaxed slightly in his arms even as my mind raged. "You're too good at this. Too calm. It pisses me off."

A small, strained smile touched his lips. "Trust me, I'm not calm. You have no idea what you're doing to me right now."

"Then show me," I whispered, pressing closer. "Stop holding back."

The lounge door suddenly opened. A doctor stepped in, eyes widening slightly at the scene before her.

"Mr. Grey, I have the official results from the full panel," she said, voice professional but urgent. "The pregnancy is viable. Early stages, but progressing normally given the circumstances."

I froze in Liam's arms, the words sinking in like lead. Viable. Real. Not a lie.

Before I could respond, my phone buzzed on the floor where it had fallen earlier. I reached for it with a shaking hand and opened the message.

It was from my uncle Henry.

"The family has been informed. Come home immediately."

The words blurred in front of my eyes. The heat, the pregnancy, my crumbling empire. Everything closed in at once.

I looked up at Liam, terror and need warring inside me.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" I whispered.