“I’ve been waiting for this moment since…”
Killian didn’t even attempt to wipe the dirt from his face. He opened his arms and held his breath as Rae fell into his sturdy chest. Quick and deep inhales came from his nose. Obsessively, he tasted and kissed her face, neck, hands choking and lifting so he could suck lightly around her nipples. He let go and smacked her face lightly, and though her smile faded, the excitement did not dwindle.
“Who messed up that pretty face of yours?” Killian asked.
Rae wrestled his pants down. She slipped his foreskin back and forth, making sure he was harder with each pull. Behind Killian, Vash and Lucas stroked their cocks. Instantly, she was reminded of when they first took her. She had been so young. So hesitant and docile. Now, things were a little different, but the new context caused her to submit like a shy girl.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said.
“I’m fucking worrying. Who’s skull do I have to smash?”
“They all abuse me,” she admitted, quickly suctioning her lips around the head of his cock like a bottle to ease his anger.
“Other people handle you?”
Killian shook with what had to be both pleasure and rage. He forced the back of her head down until his inches filled her throat. She took to him fast and easy. No, things had not changed all that much. She was a good submissive, and the finest whore on that wretched planet.
“Fucking take her,” Vash growled and yanked on his chains.
Lucas jerked his cock steadily, forearms flexing against the bright moonlight. “Come down her throat, already,” he ordered.
Killian released, and she gladly choked on the night air, cold and stinging to her abused throat. Tears escaped her eyes, but she went for him again, licking between his legs until she had his sac against the bed of her soft tongue. The masculine hairs pressed against her face, and her body seemed to hum with extra warmth.
She gave him what he needed with the tight clasp of her hands and rock of her wrists. The expected and strained moan clawed its way from the belly of the alpha’s pleasure center, stuttering out like an engine that regains its torque. “Pleasure, honey,” he muttered. “Pure pleasure.”
She felt the first wave of hot seed lie flat on her tongue, but more dense bursts warmed her mouth and coated the back of her throat. Yes, she remembered the smell, the taste, and the slippery feel of alpha fluid, the milk that sought to build life. She swallowed, gladly, but what she wanted the most was to climb on the men one by one, to sit and rock her hips back and forth. She wanted to be able to close her eyes as they opened her and developed a complex four-way rhythm. Sex with her men made her feel connected to something larger than herself, and nothing else could compare to the push and pull of three separate cocks. No matter what, everyone got a chance at rocking the boat, but she anchored them to the center.
Vash and Lucas finished their loads, but of course, it wasn’t enough. Even Killian clenched and roared in pain when his knot failed to expand fully down her throat, causing her to gag violently. Touching her was not enough. To give her what she was made for, he needed her cunt. Fuck, there was no time.
He took a deep breath in, but the whole thing happened so fast he seemed a little confused. As his mind cleared, he took her chin and examined her face. She knew she was beautiful, but beat up. And it wasn’t the normal kind of beat up. She had been fucked with for years, off and on, on and off, until she was told she was a queen. She was given leadership, but she knew her place. Rae never wanted them to see her like this, but it was inevitable.
“I asked you a question,” Killian said, lifting her chin.
She winced, suddenly feeling the pain from her sister’s blows. Then, she remembered every time Severin beat her, injected her with his medicine, or tormented her with his complex vision of the future. It was so tiring and disastrous. “They beat me. My sister. Severin. Sometimes, the servants join in if I fight their taking my milk. That’s all they do, though. No need to worry. My pussy is safe.”
“No one touches you. I don’t give a fuck how or where their fingers lie,” Killian said. “You are ours now.”
She placed her finger over his lips and hushed him. Tears soaked her eyes, but it wasn’t yet time to celebrate with confetti and poppers. “It’s me,” she assured him. “And I promise you. I’m not going anywhere this time.”
Rae anxiously tried each key to unlock the chains. When she found the right one, she unlatched each of the shackles and tossed the ring to Lucas who did the same. Vash stood up and eyed her silently. A single tear fell from his eye, and he bit his lip.
She cleared her throat. “Vash.”
Vash. The first one to integrate her into the pack. He’d found and stolen her away from Cassian’s evil, clutching grip. He’d protected her when no one else would. But at the very end, everything seemed to fall apart. They thought they had it all, but they hadn’t anticipated Ruby splitting them apart.
“Rae,” he said, gulping down the end of her name.
She took a step forward, but paused. “Well…” she muttered, heart rocking her chest. “Did you miss me?”
Although he nodded he didn’t exactly give the answer she wanted to receive. Rather than her glowing eyes, his gaze, weathered and hurt, met the ground near his feet. There was a lot on their minds, but perhaps he was lost in that night still. What happened in the facility was horrible, but losing her, his brother, and the world he grew up in couldn’t have been easy. He did that for her. And as Rae gazed at him, she wondered if he might not always feel their separation the hardest.
“We should get going,” Vash said. “Lucas, will you toss me the key.”
Rae stood tall and beautiful. Her naked body was tantalizing under the full moon, and she wanted all of them to notice just how womanly she had become over the years that passed. When Vash failed to lift his eyes toward her full and motherly tits, she sighed. “Why won’t you look at me?”
Killian took her hand and kissed up her wrist. “We see you. It’s just been… difficult.”
“Two years,” Vash muttered. “Seven hundred and thirty-eight days. We were supposed to be free, together. We were supposed to have everything.”
“Is this about what happened? Cassian… he was—”
“Cassian was a piece of shit,” Vash hissed. “But I can only blame myself for the world’s ills. It’s my family who caused this. I am as much of a parasite as him.”
“You are not your brother,” she muttered.
“I am my own alpha. But I don’t know what that means anymore,” he said.
“No one knows who they are anymore. But we can’t give up. We can find a way out of this,” Rae said. It was the one thing she had to be sure of.
Vash chuckled angrily and sat back down. “What is the point of continuing? Remember when the war ended? Another one began. A silent war. Even if we killed everyone in those towers, darkness always finds a way to smother.”
Killian marched forward and smacked his pack leader. He knelt and snatched Vash’s chin, squeezing. “This is rich, you playing the victim. Coming from you, I’d say that’s a first.”
Vash stole his hand away and struggled back to his feet, only for Killian to swipe his ankles out from under him. “Don’t you try and stand. You’re a victim, right? You belong near the worms, on the soil and ready to die.”
“Both of you, stop it!” Rae snapped.
Despite their disagreement, the alphas stopped their bickering and waited for Rae to speak her peace. She held her chin upright and walked right up to Vash, placing her hand against his chest. Vash nearly sank at her touch. It was so warm and inviting, precious and innocent. His eyes watered with noticeable joy. He held himself back from revealing every pleased emotion he carried, but Rae was more perceptive than most knew.
“It’s been hard on all of us, Vash. Please, you don’t need to be scared. I will protect you.” Then, she turned and bowed her head. “I will protect all of you.”
“Yo
u are just an omega,” Vash said. “You can’t protect us.”
Rae sighed and ignored the veiled insult. “I know you don’t mean harm from your words, but they’re just not true. I have killed my sister, the prime minister. The last I saw of her, her head was bloody from my hairbrush. I rolled her in the carpet and placed her underneath my bed.” She felt proud as she painted the elaborate and brutal picture.
Vash clenched his fist and shook his head slowly in defeat. “Great. Then, you really have damned us all.”
Rae stood on tiptoe and kissed above Vash’s forehead. She’d thought they won the battle. The truth was that they weren’t even close. “Don’t you trust me?”
The wind rustled and carried hushed and animated voices from the towers to the barn. Killian ran to the side and peered toward the grounds. Guards could be seen running through the lit hallways. A woman’s cry rang out across the grounds. The three others followed his eyes and frantically searched for an escape.
“There is no time for discussions on trust. They’re coming,” Killian said.
A voice closer to them than expected said, “Yes, and they’re right on time, too.”
The old man who led them to the barn was back and wielding four rifles. Tossing them onto the ground near their feet, he started moving some bales of hay. “You have really made a mess out of this. I thought you’d be gone by now,” he grumbled.
When the alphas didn’t help him, he paused and groaned. “What are you doing? Take the weapons. We have places to go!”
“Explain yourself, old man,” Vash said.
Pushing the last bay of hale aside, he revealed a set of bolt cutters as well as a narrow tunnel. He chuckled and wiped his hands clean. Exhaling, he jumped onto a ladder leading down. “Follow me or don’t. It is of no consequence to me.”
“I’m going,” Rae said.
The four of them looked warily at the old man, but before they could argue any more about it, Rae climbed into the dark depths. The others followed her into the dark, rocky tunnel.
The old man covered the opening with the hay and dusty plank. “We’ll wait here for a while until the coast is clear,” he said.
As they all cowered in the darkness, the old man lit five small candles. He doled them out, one by one, until all of them could finally see the path forward.
Killian wiped his hair from his eyes and leaned back against the cold cement wall. Above, pounded the heavy footsteps of the soldiers. They heard their frantic calls and the hysterical breathing of the search dogs. Every nook and cranny was searched, but the old man assured them that this was his spot. No one but him knew about it, and he was a faithful servant.
“You still haven’t told us who you are,” Killian said.
The man removed the hood of his cloak. He had a gentle demeanor, but his eyes told a different story. He was cunning, and it was starting to become obvious that he didn’t play for any team. Perhaps he weighed his judgments according to his own compass, or maybe he was working for Severin in secret. Killian chose to keep an open mind, since a closed one never served him well in the past.
“Shh, keep your voice down. They will hear you,” he whispered. His eyes lowered to the flame. The wax melted down the shaft, falling against his palm, but he did not flinch from the heat.
He continued. “The entirety of my life has been dedicated to supporting Ruby,” he said, turning to eye Rae. “Your sister.”
“You know her well, then?” Rae asked.
The old man nodded solemnly. “Known her since birth. Severin rescued her, but I was the one who taught her.”
Confused, Rae clutched the end of the cloak he had so kindly offered her. “Why didn’t she mention you to me? Was I too shocking a discovery?”
“When it was clear that the coalition built enough support to reform the Republic, she came to me with reservations. First and foremost, she did not love Severin. Second, she could not bear children. This didn’t have to be a problem. After all, she was the one calling the shots. But emotions can tumble an empire. She panicked and lost a bit of herself every time she tried to conceive with him,” he said.
Rae snorted. “Forgive my laughter, but my sister is a cunt.”
He smiled as if exhilarated by a distant memory. “Your sister was the most wonderful woman I knew.”
“So what the hell happened?” Killian asked.
“I urged her to move forward with the rebellion. She took the city and lost sight of what she set out to do. She was told she had a sister—Severin’s doing, of course. And when it sank in that you were pregnant, she became a different person.”
“She wanted to kill me. Didn’t she?” Rae finally asked.
The man quit smiling. Finally, it was silent above their heads. “What makes you think she’s dead?”
Sharp shivers ran throughout Rae’s body. “No,” she whimpered. “Are you certain she isn’t?”
The man glanced at the rifle draped over her shoulder. “I am never certain of anything,” he said.
Killian lurched forward until his lips were barely hovering over the flame of his candle. “Who are you really?”
“I am Virgil. I was once a preacher, although I don’t deal in the ways of God anymore. These days, I spend most of time in the basement. It’s where Severin prefers me to reside,” he said, sneeringly, lifting his disfigured hands.
She pointed rudely. “What happened to them?”
He didn’t even attempt to hide the gnarled knuckles and bent fingers. “If anyone were to ask, and you were the first one to do so, I’d tell them that I have been treated exceptionally well by the minister.”
Rae did the only thing she was good at. She showed empathy. “I’m sorry. I do feel your pain,” she said, throwing her arms around Virgil’s shoulder. She kissed his cheek tenderly.
The three alphas were quiet as usual. Years ago, this kind of behavior wouldn’t have gone unchallenged, but Rae had softened their hearts quite a bit. Even Virgil seemed to be put off guard. Affection was worth more than the clothing on their backs.
Virgil raised a brow. His eyes lit up against the flames. “I didn’t expect you to be like this,” he said.
“Like what?”
“A mother. Not a real one, at least. I suppose there are plenty of mothers around still,” he said. “But there is something different about you. Perhaps, they’ve set you up for a great success.”
“I highly doubt that,” Rae said. “I simply follow my heart.”
The man carefully stood and pointed toward the long stretch of tunnel. At the end of the nearly endless shaft, there was the shape and sound of flowing water. “Then, follow your heart forward. From here on out, it’s not going to be easy. But, on the other side, you will find what you’re searching for.”
“Nothing has ever been easy for me,” she said, proudly. “I’m ready.”
“Good,” Virgil replied. “Then, I will take you to your children.”
Chapter Eight
“Where the fuck is she?” Severin screamed, face as red as the blood he’d seen pour from Ruby’s skull onto the operating table. “Do you hear me? I demand you find the bitch who ruined my fucking wife!”
No one heard his cries except for the silent, snickering guards. The halls were empty, and the soldiers were ordered to comb the countryside, as well as the cities, but judging by their lack of loyalty, they either were going to disobey his orders entirely, or they were too stupid to know where to search.
Confused and alone, Severin suddenly wished he had Ruby near to tell him what to do. It was, perhaps, the first time he felt separation anxiety. He hadn’t anticipated the loss that came with her silence. Everything was wrong. So fucking wrong. The plan was all he knew, and he would have gone along with the obvious killing when need be. After all, he’d planned on killing both Ruby and Rae when the right time came. Now, he was empty-handed before he expected to be, and it angered him to no end.
“Cunts,” he cursed.
He reached into his pocket
and felt the dense pack of cards. Riffling through them blindly, he pulled out the one that felt best against his fingertips. When he looked at the image, he winced. The fool’s card. So obvious, yet it was there. Even quicker than he saw the slobbering jester’s tongue flap to the side, he ignored the pick.
Quickly throwing the card onto the floor, he tried his luck a second time. On this occasion, the card revealed the image of the hermit. This card ultimately satisfied him, although, he wondered if he was reading it right. In the end, he decided it was just a silly children’s game and not to be taken seriously.
Instead of acting as minister, he had to don his best detective suit and figure out what the hell had happened and to where the queen had escaped. First, he entered the chambers and saw a rather immaculate room. The only visible blood was underneath the bed, but even that was mild compared to the amount she had truly lost.
“I expected too little from the queen,” he whispered. “Thought I could keep her docile without raping the little tart. I should have held her head before taking her. I was too weak. I have one hope left…”
Why had he agreed to let her roam unchained? He would never allow a mistake like this to happen again. When he found her, he’d cut off her toes, throw her into the Cathedral, and let the slaves have their way with her. Yes, that was the only punishment fit for a whore such as herself.
His eyes went from the window, down to the bed, where the guards had apparently found Ruby’s twitching limbs struggling against the rolled carpet that tucked her in smug. It disgusted him to think of the ruling class as mortal as insects, but the way her eyes gaped open at him on the operating table drove the point home. When it came to life and death, the cards were out of their hands. Good men just didn’t do what they did. Good men stood for their values. Good men were loyal to their woman, an oath any true alpha would die for.
Born Claimed: A Dark Omegaverse Romance (Broken Angel Book 2) Page 9