Reid wasn’t in any of the downstairs rooms, so I found the stairs and made my way up them. I heard the shower running and turned to head back downstairs, intending to let his family know he was alive. 

My foot touched the top stair, and a warm coconut lime scented arm yanked me back away from the stairs. 

“What… the hell are you.. doing here?” he said, his breathing laboured, and his brows furrowed. 

“You look terrible,” I blurted out. “What I meant to say was—--” He got closer and took a deep breath of me. 

“Mm. You smell like fresh coffee.” His pupils were dilated, and his scent was rolling off him in waves of tropical bliss. It was a wonder he could even smell my pheromone over his. I couldn’t.

“Reid, I can see you’re in your rut cycle. Please let me examine you—--”

“No.”

“But, Reid, you’re clearly having issues and I can help,” I said. 

“I don’t need help.”

I took this moment to look over at him. He was just in sweatpants and nothing else. His dark hair was messy all over his head, his eyes were intense, but it was his tanned torso and visible muscles that did me in. 

Taking a deep breath, I gave my head a shake. Stepping away from him, in the hallway, the window at the end of the hall was like a beacon for fresh, untainted, normal air. 

“I’m opening the window. Then I’m going to ask that you remain professional while I look over you for your family’s sake and make sure you’re alright, Mr Clarke.”

After opening the window, I turned around, only to come face to face with his chest as he slammed the window shut. 

“Mr Clarke—”

“Reid,” he muttered, before he backed up slightly. I reached out and ran my fingers down his chest. He was damp with sweat, but I was curious if this was just pure unmedicated rut, or his body burning through the medication. If this was the breakthrough pheromones, he needed something way stronger. 

Bringing my fingers to my nose to sniff them, the very slight traces of suppressant were there, under the mind numbing amounts of coconut lime. 

“Reid? How many suppressant pills did you take to get to this state?” I asked. 

“Too many,” he said. 

Figuring he spent most of this rut cycle so far in his room, I slipped by him and located his personal bedroom. Looking at the floor, an entire regular strength package of suppressants in a six-month supply laid empty. 

“Reid, did you take all this? You could overdose on—-” 

“Won’t. Can’t,” he said. He was closing the space between us, and I really wasn’t fond of the look he was giving me. I didn’t like feeling like his prey. 

“Sit, I want to examine you completely,” I demanded, and he stopped walking and just looked at me. “Please, it’s important,” I begged. 

He looked annoyed and pulled a hand through his hair. “Fine.”

“Go shower first,” I replied.

“No.”

“Why? You’re wasting water.”

“So? I pay for it,” he said. 

Arguing with him while he’s in a rut was pointless. He wouldn’t let me have my way. “Then come sit and let me get this over with.”

He came and sat on the edge of the bed, and opened his legs. The action sent a wave of his scent rolling through the room. I could really taste his pheromone now. Instead of it giving me a headache, or pheromone sickness. It was doing something far worse. 

My body was responding to his pheromones. 

Pushing indecent thoughts of this man away, I checked his temperature with the back of my hand. “I’m going to check your glands along your throat.”

I lifted his chin with my left hand and ran my pointer and middle finger down his throat until I found his glands. They were swollen when I pressed on them lightly. His pheromones intensified, caused by my touching of the glands. 

His tongue darted out and licked the skin between my thumb and pointer finger on my left hand. “You taste like you smell, Samuel.”

“You know my name?” I hummed, trying to distract myself from his behaviour.

“Yes.”

“Yet, you’ve only called me Doctor Woods,” I said. 

Sliding my hand down his throat, I touched the base of his throat and shoulder, where another set of pheromone glands was located. Pressing on the glands a little harder since they were located deeper, they were swollen, too. 

“I believe you might have excessive pheromone dis—-”

“Samuel…I want to taste you.”

“Mr Clarke, I am trying to perform an exam—--”

“Call me Reid,” he said, and his voice lapped at my self control, the same way his pheromones were. I was trying my damnedest to remain professional here. I took my hands off him, and he closed his legs, holding me in place. 

“Mr Clarke—Reid. Please let me go, so I can finish my exam.”

“No. But continue,” he said. 

I reached down and grabbed one of his arms and pinched the skin on the top of his hand. He was becoming dehydrated. “When was the last time you ate or drank anything?”

“Hours ago.”

“Alright. You need food and water. I’ll find you something to eat.”

“And if the thing I desire to eat is you, Samuel, will you give me that?” he said, his voice low and smooth. 

I forced his legs apart with mine and stepped out of them. He didn’t hide his displeasure with the distance I put between us. “Go shower. I will find something for you to eat.”

I left the room, and bolted down the stairs, and to the front door. The front door hand didn’t turn when I tried to open it. It was locked. Looking outside, all of his family was gone. Digging for my phone in my pocket, I yanked it out and called the number Oak called me from. 

“Hello Doctor Woods, is Reid ok?”

“Reid will be fine. I’m just going to cook him something to eat, and then I’m going to get out of here. When his rut is over, make sure to have him come see me at the hospital so I can get him….”

Reid was standing in the living room, not a lick of clothing on his body. 

“Doctor Woods?” Oak said. 

“I’ll have to call you back.” I muttered. 

“Mr Clarke, why the hell are you naked?” I yelled, keeping a distance between us. 

“You forgot to check these pheromone glands, Samuel.”

“To keep things professional, there is no need to check the glands on your penis—-”

“Be unprofessional,” Reid said, coming closer. 

“Your behaviour is very unprofessional. This is a medical visit. I didn’t come here to assist you with this,” I hissed. 

“But you could. You’re responding to my pheromones. I can smell the scent of coffee from here. Dark and rich, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Reid, that is the rut cycle, your—--”

“Don’t tell me what I am,” he snapped. 

“Reid, I am an Alpha like yourself. An Omega, or Beta, would be far better suited to helping you with your rut.”

“A recessive Alpha.”

“You’re my boss, Mr Clarke. don’t sleep with coworkers.”

“Not right now. I’m not. I can smell how bad you want me, Samuel. You like what you see.”

Reid wasn’t wrong. I wanted to touch him. I did like what I saw. He was appealing to me, and he knew it. My pheromone alone gave that away. Me not having pheromone sickness right now too was a good clue that our pheromones could play well with each other. 

“Reid. I’m going to make you food and then I’m leaving. When your rut is over, get in contact with me, and I will keep the appointment private, and we can figure something out to make your ruts less aggressive for you.”

I headed to the kitchen. Taking off my coat and setting it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. I hunted for something to make Reid. He followed me to the kitchen and was just watching me from the doorway. Still as naked as the day he was born. 

“I would appreciate if you could put clothing on, Mr Clarke.”

I heard him moving, and I figured he was putting clothing on. Turning around, I bumped into his naked body. He was blocking me against the stove. He stepped even closer, and pressed me against the oven handle and door, and his body. 

“Tell me this isn’t what you want, Doctor Woods.”

“I would like….” I started to say, drawing in a deep breath and his pheromone was sweet on my tongue. 

“Let me kiss you.”

The combination of his pheromone and his behaviour broke me. 

“Just this once. Reid. And we never speak about it.”

His lips pressed to mine, and I could taste coconut and that spicy lime as his tongue brushed against mine. His pheromones were far sweeter in his saliva than they were in the air. I wanted more. His lips and tongue were gentle and insistent at the same time. I felt my heart race and my body tremble with excitement. This was going to end with us having sex if I let it, and I was fine with that. 

Reid pulled his lips off mine. Checking the stove, he picked me up. 

“Reid! Wait! Drink something, you’re dehydrated.”

He set me down. “Stay.” He went and grabbed two water-bottles out of the fridge, and handed them to me before he picked me up again. He cleared the stairs back up the bedroom, holding me, two at a time. I was jealous of his dominant Alpha abilities. 

He dropped me on the bed, and the first thing I noticed was the sound of the shower was gone. But he didn’t shower. He grabbed my sweater and pulled it off. 

“You smell delightful.” He muttered, as he pushed me flat on my back and climbed on top of me. Pressing his lips to my skin. He was taking deep breaths of my pheromones. I felt his tongue on my nipple before he gave it a soft bite. 

“Reid..”

“I want to savour you, Doctor,” he purred.