His fingers kept manipulating that ultra-sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs even after she’d climaxed, forcing her through the discomfort until yet another wave of pleasure swept her up and began to carry her toward yet another peak. Slick streaked her inner thighs and still she gushed around him, keening helplessly, as his expert fingertips took her higher and higher…
Clara came with a howl, her hopelessly overstimulated core clenching around Evander’s huge shaft with powerful contractions as he stroked every last shudder from her.
Spent, exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to slump down and curl up into a ball but he was gripping her hips with both hands now, holding her in place as he began to thrust harder.
She tried to wriggle away but then he made a sound which sent a tingle of fear trickling down her spine: a half-groan, half-growl. His hand left her hip for a second before coming back down with a resounding, sharp smack, and she yelped at the sudden sting. He slapped her several times, always in the same place, until her flesh in that spot was so sore it felt she’d been branded and she was pleading with him to stop.
When at last he did, it was only to reach out and grab a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back as he increased the pace and strength of his thrusts. Her scalp prickling with pain, Clara cried out as he plunged the thick, hard length of his cock into her sodden, aching sex, harder and harder, faster and faster, until the sharp burn at her entrance told her he had knotted once more.
With a guttural roar, sounding more like a beast than a man, Evander drove himself as far inside her as he could go and climaxed, his shaft pulsating as he filled her with his seed, his grip on her hair yanking her head so far back, her spine was bent into a painful arch.
Clara’s main instinct was to get away from him but the knot made that impossible so she could do nothing but wait until he had finished, until he let go of her hair and slumped over her back, breathing heavily. His weight pushed her down until she was prone on the mattress and she again buried her face in her arms, trying to ignore the various sensations in her body.
Her pussy felt raw and soaked, still stretched by his cock.
Her clit ached.
Her right hip was still stinging.
The roots of her hair—where he’d grabbed it—were tingling.
And, most humiliatingly of all, she was lying in a puddle of slick so extensive, it coated the front of her lower body, from her belly button right down to her knees.
Evander’s heart was beating a frantic tattoo against her back, and his breathing was erratic against her shoulder.
You wanted this, she told herself furiously. This only happened because you allowed it to happen. One night; give in to these urges for one night, and then tomorrow, you can go back to your old life. You’ll go back to work on Monday, nobody will be any wiser. But if you argue with him now, he’ll be less inclined to trust you. Or to let you leave. You have to play along.
“I must be crushing you.” Evander’s voice was thick. “Roll with me.” Without waiting for assent, he placed a huge hand on her raw hip and rolled over, taking her with him until they were lying side by side, both facing the same way. “That better?”
“Yes,” she muttered. “Thank you.”
“You can’t say you didn’t orgasm this time,” he went on, his smile evident in his voice.
“No.” Clara’s face heated as she recalled how he’d reduced her to a sobbing, begging mess. Even though her clit was aching from the number of times he’d forced her to come, the mere memory was enough to make it throb again. She shifted, trying to ascertain whether the knot had softened to the point where he could withdraw.
It hadn’t.
“Gods, I always loved fucking but this… this is on another level entirely. You’re a revelation,” he said, kissing her shoulder.
That simple act, so unexpected, so tender, took her by surprise and she froze. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice.
“Did you enjoy it?” he went on.
It was on the tip of her tongue to lie, to say something just to hurt him, but her physical reactions to him were unmistakable and he would know she was being dishonest.
“Yes,” she admitted. In fact, she had never dreamed such pleasure was even possible. Nothing she’d ever achieved late at night, alone in bed, guiltily stroking herself, had even come close to what Evander’s touch did to her. It was electrifying, and the intensity of it terrified her. Even now, even spent and sore, his cock still buried inside her, the mere thought of his tongue on her sent pulses of desire shooting through her core and, for the first time, she worried that it could become an addiction. That no matter what they did, or how often, it would never be enough.
Evander made her lose control, and there was nothing she hated more.
He shifted, bringing her back to the present with a start. “Hold still, sweetness, I’m going to pull out.”
Carefully, slowly, he withdrew his cock. Clara loathed herself for the sudden empty feeling deep inside her, for savoring the way his seed pooled on the inside of her thigh.
Somehow, this man reduced her to a mere animal, a creature which sought nothing more than carnal pleasure.
Evander pulled up a sheet and drew her close, settling her head on his massive bicep, his other hand clamping possessively over her hip and tugging her toward him until her butt was pressed against his belly. “Let’s get some sleep,” he said.
Clara fully intended to wait until he had drifted off before extricating herself and making a run for it but once again, her traitorous body had other ideas. Sated, exhausted, she promised herself she would just close her eyes and rest for a few minutes…
Evander kept clenching and unclenching his fists as he stalked down the corridor to the royal apartments, where Arius and Saskia had taken up residence after the previous ruler, Deimos, had died.
He’d awoken to find Clara gone. Just like that. No note, no goodbye. Nothing. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air and, even worse, he had no idea where she lived. Up on the Hill, that much was clear, but which apartment? Which floor? Which fucking building?
After their disastrous beginning, he had really thought he’d begun to make some headway. He’d bedded his fair share of women, but never had he ever seen anyone come undone as Clara had. Surely that had to mean something? After all, she’d fallen asleep in his arms…
“I’m here to see Arius,” Evander told the guard outside the door to the royal apartments.
“Name?”
“Evander Bellum.”
“Is he expecting you?” The wiry guard eyed him warily. He was new; most of Arius’ servants were well aware Evander was the ruler’s best friend.
Evander sighed. “No.”
“Let me just see whether he’s available.”
Evander waited, barely resisting the urge to smack his forehead against the thick, expensive wallpaper which lined the corridor.
Arius would know where Clara lived, or have her phone number. Failing that, he would know somebody who could get that information.
The tiny remaining rational part of his brain kept telling him he’d be making a mistake by outing Clara’s secret to anyone, even to Arius. An Omega living amongst the Alphas on the Hill, pretending to be one of them, was unprecedented. She could be ostracized. Punished. Her father could be stripped of his position and banished to some faraway outpost in the kingdom. There might be consequences he hadn’t even considered. This was uncharted territory, and Evander was finding it almost impossible to think clearly with the fog of the rut still clouding his mind.
“You’re in luck.” The guard had returned. “He’s free. You can go in now.”
“Thank you.” Evander had almost passed the young man when he paused and leaned in, putting his face close to the man’s nose.
“What are you doing?” the guard said, backing as close to the wall behind him as possible, the light of panic entering his eyes.
“Making sure you remember me,” Evander said casually.
“I’m Arius’s best friend. I come here often. I don’t want to be treated with suspicion or disdain every time.”
The guard held up his hands. “All right, sir, I understand. I’ll remember you, I promise.”
“Good.” Straightening up again, Evander shoved a lock of hair off his forehead and sauntered inside his friend’s apartment.
Arius was sitting at his enormous desk, which was overflowing with paperwork and littered with cups and wine goblets. His thick, dark hair was tied neatly back in a ponytail, and he was currently engrossed in reading something.
Evander cleared his throat.
When he looked up, Arius’s stern face broke into a wide, genuine smile. “Evander!” he said. “It’s great to see you. How have you been?” He indicated a pair of couches in the corner and Evander collapsed into one.
“Where’s Saskia?”
“Off organizing some charity lunch thing,” Arius said, shuffling some papers.
“Good. I need to talk,” Evander said, getting straight to the point.
Arius crossed the room and folded his huge body into the opposite sofa. “Gods,” he said at length, “you look awful. D’you need a drink?”
“It’s a bit early but I think desperate times…” Evander said. “Sure.”
“Tavos!”
Arius’s former guard, who had since been elevated to the position of personal assistant, entered from an adjoining room. The dark blue of his suit set off his wild shock of bright red hair. “Yes, Sire?”
“Please organize some wine for Evander. And I’ll have a coffee,” Arius told him.
“Certainly.”
Evander suddenly remembered something. “Er. I left my car parked at the Facility last night. I don’t suppose you know anybody who could help me go pick it up?”
Arius’s dark eyes widened only slightly but he soon regained his composure and raised a questioning eyebrow at Tavos.
“I can arrange it, Sire,” the man said, then looked at Evander. “In fact, if you prefer to remain here, I’ll just need the keys, as well as enough pertinent information to identify the vehicle.”
Evander had known Tavos a long time but once again, he was impressed by the man’s discretion and efficiency. Thanking him, he told Tavos which car it was and, after fishing them out of his pocket, tossed the servant his keys.
“I’ll get it taken care of as soon as possible,” Tavos said. “But first I’ll see to your refreshments.” He vanished into the next room.
Evander looked back at Arius to see the man grinning openly. “What?”
“You left your car at the Facility?”
“Yes.” Evander bristled.
“I take it last night was market night?”
“It was.”
Arius waited two heartbeats before spreading his arms wide and raising his eyebrows. “And?”
“And… I think I’ve found my mate,” Evander muttered.
Arius whooped for joy, then his face fell when Evander remained expressionless. “Surely this is a cause for celebration?” he said.
“Normally, it would be.” Evander felt the now-familiar wave of anger rise up in his chest and crossed his arms in an attempt to tamp it back down. “But things are… complicated.”
“How so?” Arius leaned back. Just then, Tavos bustled back in with a tray and set a goblet and a decanter of wine, as well as a large mug of black coffee, on the low table between the couches. “Thank you, Tavos.”
“You’re most welcome. If you don’t need me for the next little while, I can go and see about retrieving Mr. Bellum’s car.”
“That would be great. Thanks,” Arius said. Once the door closed behind Tavos with an audible click, he turned back to Evander. “All right, tell me. Why are things complicated?”
Evander had used the break in their conversation to make a decision. He could get advice without having to tell Arius the whole story. Something deep inside him told him it would be a mistake to reveal Clara’s identity—at least for now. “She’s an Alpha,” he said slowly.
Arius, who had been in the process of taking a sip of coffee, promptly made a noise somewhere between a cough and a gurgle, and swallowed hard, setting the mug back down before meeting Evander’s gaze. “She… what?”
With a surprisingly steady hand, Evander poured himself some wine and took a big slug of it before repeating, “My mate is an Alpha.”
Arius looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. “That’s not biologically possible.”
“I know!” Exasperated, Evander leapt off the couch and began to pace back and forth. “She’s not really an Alpha—at least, not biologically. She was born an Omega. But she’s been living right here, on the Hill, as an Alpha, for years.”
“She… what?” Arius said again, rather unnecessarily.
“You heard me. And now I don’t know what to do.”
“Start from the beginning.” Arius rubbed his jaw.
Evander recounted the events of the previous evening and left nothing out—except Clara’s name. “This morning, I woke up and she was gone.”
“You’re in rut?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Then forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why are you sitting here instead of in bed with her?” Arius asked.
“Like I said,” Evander fought to retain his patience, “when I woke up this morning, she was gone. And I can’t find her. I don’t have her number, nor do I know where she lives.”
“Oh.”
“Oh indeed.”
“So who is she? I’m sure I could help.”
This was the question Evander had been dreading. He cleared his throat. “Forgive me, but I’ve decided not to tell you. Not to tell anybody yet. It’s not my secret to tell, and I worry that if I out her, I’ll lose her for good.”
Arius nodded thoughtfully. “As someone who found his own Omega in an unconventional way which involved a lot of secrecy, I can accept that. But—and I don’t mean to sound like an ass here—it doesn’t sound to me like she’s yours. You can’t lose something that doesn’t belong to you.”
His best friend’s words were too close to the painful truth, and Evander poured himself more wine, using that time to try to get a handle on his emotions.
“Fair point,” he said at length, “but I won’t ever have her to lose if she finds out I betrayed her trust. I just need some advice, man. This rut is killing me. I’ve never felt this kind of craving to be with somebody before. I have to find her before I go mad.”
Arius rubbed his chin. “You said she has a job?”
Evander froze as his friend’s words sank in. “Gods, of course! I know where she works! How come I didn’t think of that?” He couldn’t believe that thought had never occurred to him.
Arius shrugged. “The rut is the most powerful and disruptive state of being which exists. It completely eclipses rational thought sometimes. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“I have to go,” Evander said, already rising from the pale gold sofa. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Arius got up too, then followed him to the front door. “Good luck,” he said. “Oh, and I’ll send somebody to return your car keys once Tavos gets back.”
In his sudden haste to go to the medical research center, Evander had forgotten all about that. “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
As he left Arius’s luxurious apartments, he was already growing hard again at the thought of being near Clara, of inhaling her intoxicating scent, of hearing her gasps of pleasure.
She might think she’d gotten away from him, but she was sorely mistaken. Now that he had finally found her, Evander was not about to let her go.
Chapter Five
Clara was aching in places she’d never ached before. Her thigh muscles were sore from her legs being spread so far apart, her nipples were raw from Evander’s teeth, and her entire sex felt bruised, both inside and out. All she’d wanted to do upon waking was to go back to her own apartment, take a hot bat
h, and crawl into bed. But instead she had gathered up her torn dress, slipped on one of Evander’s shirts, then hurried back to her place and gotten dressed before heading straight back out to the lab—because she had work to do.
The Hill was a big place, with tall buildings and several thousand inhabitants, but theirs was still a fairly tight-knit community. It was only a matter of time before she ran into Evander again, and in her current unmedicated state, she now knew she was powerless to resist him when in his proximity. Last night had been the ultimate proof of that. She had to discover why her suppressants had stopped working, and find a way to alter the formula so she could go back to her regular life because, quite frankly, being in estrus sucked.
As she was normally so in control of everything, from her body to her mind, the way her heat cycle was disrupting everything was maddening for her. Even while away from Evander, she was producing a veritable river of slick, and the inherent, incessant thump in her clit was making it almost impossible to concentrate.
With a groan of frustration, she flicked through yet another scientific journal, hoping against hope to find a relevant article she’d missed. To find a magic answer. Anything.
What will you do if you really can’t take suppressants anymore? a little voice whispered in the back of her mind. How will you cope?
Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, she bit her lip. She still had options, even in that worst case scenario. She could move somewhere else, where nobody knew her. Get as far away from him as she could.
Of course, she would still be unable to prevent herself from going into estrus every month, and as long as that happened, there was always a chance she might react strongly to another Alpha—or he to her. But at least then her father would never know her shameful secret.
The most extreme solution would be a complete hysterectomy, but in a society where procreation was so cherished, that procedure was utterly illegal. She had no doubt she’d be able to find someone, somewhere, who would perform it, but there was a high probability that she wouldn’t survive the operation.
Prima Mate Page 4