by Susan Hayes
“If you don’t answer me, I’ll have to do a more thorough examination.”
“Bastard.”
“My parents were mated, and that was not an answer.”
“I twisted my ankle trying to get away from this scary as fuck asshole alien who growled and snarled at me. Or maybe I did it when the other asshole alien grabbed me. I was a bit too distracted to take detailed notes.”
“Thank you. I will now check your limb for damage.”
“It’s fine!” she insisted, the small jerk of her body indicating that she’d tried to yank her foot away from him. And was still doing so, her breath coming in short, hard pants.
“Do not fight the restraints,” he told her mildly, wrapping his hand around her leg just below the knee joint.
She was so tiny compared to him that he could easily touch his fingers to each other around the limb. An unbidden shiver hit him, sliding down his spine to reach around and encircle his balls. He paused for a moment in his examination to ponder the feeling. No, he couldn’t be feeling arousal for this defective female, surely? Not actual arousal that wasn’t linked to the chase or defending her from another.
“Fuck you,” Serena snarled. “I’ll fight if I want to. Why don’t any of you assholes understand what consent is?”
Despite her sharp words, Kinn noticed a new edge in her voice. Worry? Or something stronger. He breathed in again, letting her scent fill his mouth and nose. His cock twitched in response, but something else was there. Acrid. Bitter. Fear. But not the same as before.
“If you don’t consent to my treatment, you’ll be in pain. Why would you withhold it? Would you prefer to suffer?” Was that what was wrong with the other omegas?
“I’d prefer to be free of this place and you.” She gave one last twitch and gave up, her head falling back and her green eyes closing.
“You were starving to death when they brought you to me. Why would you want to go back to that life?”
She cracked open one eye to glare at him. “Because out there, I’m free. No one touches me without my consent. Here? I have food, clothes, and nothing else. Which would you choose?”
He paused, his hands still on her lower leg, considering her words. She surprised him. He’d always considered betas and omegas to be less… aware somehow. Less intelligent than alphas. Alphas were the pinnacle of genetic achievement, as was right and proper. But a keen intelligence shone in her eyes, and her words brought him up sharply as he considered them.
He shook his head, shaking his shoulders like a war-dog shedding water from its fur. “You are cared for here. Safe. Out of danger. As it should be.”
She snorted and closed her eyes again. “Out of danger? So what was that a few minutes ago? Because believe me, buddy, I felt endangered.”
He felt a pang of regret and something disturbingly like guilt. She had been attacked in his own hall and then he’d scared her. She was under his protection and deserved better than that.
Kinn removed the soft slipper from Serena’s foot. He’d taken her boots away after she’d tried to kick him the day after she’d arrived. Her ankle was swollen already, but his scans had indicated nothing serious was wrong.
These humans were just so xarthing delicate.
“I apologize for what happened earlier. I will ensure that never occurs again. You are my responsibility.” He didn’t look at her face as he spoke. He kept his focus on her ankle, touching the injured area lightly. It could be fixed easily enough. But first, he wanted to be sure that was the extent of her injuries. It seemed too minor for her to be so resistant to him.
His fingers moved from her ankle to her heel and then across the bottom of her foot. Something shifted beneath his touch. Something that wasn’t skin.
He shot a look at her face. Her eyes were closed but tension radiated from her. Fear flooded her scent as he traced the edges of it with his finger.
“Serena?” he asked in a low voice. “What is this?”
She refused to answer him, her lips pressing tightly together. He frowned and crouched, bringing himself in line with the bottom of her foot. His breath caught. There was a patch on her skin, almost invisible against the pale, soft flesh. If he hadn’t touched it and noted the difference in temperature and texture, he might not even have known it was there.
Gently, he eased the edge up and peeled it from her skin. It was thin and sticky. Lifting it to his nose he took a sniff, recoiling from the chemical smell. Once it was separated from her, he could smell its wrongness.
“What does this do?” he demanded, holding it out toward her.
“Asshole repellent. Clearly it doesn’t work.” She watched him warily, every part of her tense. If the field hadn’t been there, she’d have bolted again by now.
“I’ll figure it out for myself eventually. If you tell me now, it will change nothing but how annoyed I’ll be by the time I learn the truth.” He placed a healing acceleration module over her ankle and activated it. For something this minor, it would only take a minute.
“Oi! That’s mine. Give it back!”
He turned and gave her a hard look, his voice dropping to a growl. “You belong to me, Serena. That means everything that was yours is mine now.”
“Bastard! Asshole!”
He folded his arms, watching her. He couldn’t hide the small smile curving his lips as he did. She was glorious when she was mad, so cute in the way she glared up at him, her eyes spitting fire. And, to his surprise, his claim of ownership had felt good. He hadn’t expected to say it. The words had slipped off his tongue before he could think about them.
“I’ve told you before. My parents were mated.” He reached out to slide a hand down her calf. The move was half functional to check there was no inflammation and part possessive. He found he liked touching his little not-beta. A lot.
“What does it do, Serena?” He leaned over her on the bed with his hand by her head. She was pinned by the restraints, though, helpless beneath him, and her fear leached out of her pores. He didn’t like that.
He wanted her to welcome his presence. Crave his touch. It made no sense. The module uttered a soft double-beep, indicating the process had finished. He reached out and batted it away from her foot without moving away from her.
Something dark sank its claws into his thoughts and words he didn’t expect flowed from his lips. “If you think you can escape me, then try. Run. But if I catch you…”
He deactivated the restraining field and stepped back, giving her room to move. He had no idea why he’d issued a challenge like that, but his breath caught at the idea she would run. That he could chase her.
Her. Not the nameless, faceless omega who had inhabited his thoughts whenever he’d thought of a claiming chase. Now she occupied that space instead, and she was all he could think of.
Eyes wide, she sat up warily, edging to the side of the bed.
“Run,” he growled, the sound close to a snarl. Heat and need tightened every muscle in his body as he waited for that glorious moment when she fled. That would be the moment he knew she wanted this, wanted him.
4
Run… she should run.
Serena balanced on the edge of the bed, watching the big alien as he watched her. Her breath was shortened, her heart pounding in her throat, but it wasn’t the fight or flight instinct her brain insisted it was. That it should be when faced with an alien alpha. One who only minutes ago was fully shifted into his beast form, where he was most dangerous to women like her… omegas like her.
She didn’t look at the patch on the trolley. It wouldn’t help her now, and with any luck, the blocker it had contained was burned out so he wouldn’t be able to glean any information from it.
A soft growl made her flinch and her gaze darted up to his again. His eyes were black, but he wasn’t feral. He was watching her, waiting for her to run. She shouldn’t. That’s what he wanted. He would chase her and become the beast. She would die. But he’d already done that, and he hadn’t hurt her.
Where to go? Her mind raced even faster than her feet as she flew toward the door. This time she didn’t bother trying to throw things into his path or to dodge and weave. She’d seen how little good that did. It would only slow her down. If she could reach the doors…
Part of her mind laughed. She wasn’t going to get that far. Not unless she sprouted wings and took flight. She ran anyway, excitement replacing fear. She wanted to laugh but saved her breath.
Two steps. Three. Four. She thought maybe he wasn’t going to chase her after all. Was he letting her go?
Why did that idea fill her with disappointment instead of exaltation?
Her bare foot hit the carpet. Five steps.
Then the floor shook and a roar filled the air. He was coming after her.
She squeaked, the sound somewhere between fear and excitement. Fear because he was an alpha. Years of fearing them, hiding from them, didn’t disappear overnight. And excitement because this was Kinn. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d promised that. He was a healer. And his touch…
She didn’t get to the doors, ducking sideways instead and into one of the storage rooms. The back door led out onto a small terrace. She could loop back and—
He ripped the door off its hinges rather than open it, and the metal screamed in protest. Then he was in there with her, his massive frame making the tiny room seem even smaller. She bit out a cry, almost at the back door. Fingers wrapped around the handle, she managed to open it a couple of inches when a huge hand slammed it shut so hard, the frame cracked.
Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against the cool metal, aware of him behind her. She felt him… the heat of his body against her back, the whisper of his cool breath against the back and side of her neck.
He nuzzled her hair, dragging her scent into his lungs. “You are an omega.”
“That’s just my perfume.” She couldn’t keep the breathlessness out of her voice anymore.
“Do not lie to me, Serena. You will never lie to me again.” His lips grazed the nape of her neck. Need coursed through her, that simple touch making her body ache and her blood roar. She wanted to step backward, to press herself against his hard body.
“We all have secrets. You don’t get to know mine. You don’t have the right to know.”
He kissed his way along the back of her neck to the bare skin at the top of her shoulder. He crowded her, doing what she’d wanted to do by putting them in full body contact.
Kinn growled, and something sharp grazed the side of her throat.
Fangs.
Heat swirled in her belly, making her ache and throb.
He nipped her lightly. “I have every right. You’re mine, Serena. My omega.”
She shook her head, but he nipped her again, his teeth holding her in place as he growled. She froze instinctively as heat pooled in her lower body. But his fangs didn’t pierce her skin. He just held her in place as he swept a huge, clawed hand down her arm and side. Touching. Almost a caress. The sudden dampness between her thighs as his claws scraped her skin made her bite her lip.
The growl deepened as he lifted his head, letting go with his fangs to wrap one huge hand around both her wrists and pinning them above her head as he touched her.
“I am your alpha,” his voice was deeper, more bestial, as he hooked a claw into the side of her top. “I will know all your secrets.”
He pulled on the fabric, tearing it down the seam. She whimpered, a soft sound, as the cooler air of the room washed over her exposed skin.
“No.” She didn’t know where she found the strength for that last denial, but the moment it left her lips she knew it was her last one. She couldn’t stop him. And part of her didn’t want to.
“So stubborn. So beautiful.” He continued to shred her shirt one seam at a time, never cutting her and never rushing. “Will you parth for me one day? The way Var and Rath’s females do?” He rocked his hips against her ass, letting her feel the hard line of his cock. “Will you crave my knot the way they do?”
She stiffened. Knotting. Oh shit. She’d seen what that could do to a woman. The damage. The pain. But in one of their few whispered conversations, Leia had told her it wasn’t terrible at all.
She couldn’t see how that was possible.
“Shhh, little star. There’s nothing to fear. I have never hurt you. Not even when I thought you were a puzzle to be solved. Now?” He growled, the sound rolling through her like the rumble of thunder. “My omega will know nothing but pleasure.”
A shiver stole down her spine, but she couldn’t help the waver in her voice. “But… the knot. They can’t… want that? Surely?”
Her mouth was operating on pure instinct, babbling as he turned her. She didn’t look at him, squeezing her eyes shut. The last line of defense. If she couldn’t see him, he wasn’t there. Not really.
“Oh, they want it. Crave it,” he murmured, his deep voice a whispered temptation. “As you will crave mine when you scream my name in your pleasure.”
She shook her head, her breath catching as he swept away what had remained of her top, leaving her naked to the waist before him.
“So tiny and delicate,” he murmured, his free hand sweeping up her side to cup her breast. Weighing her in his hand. She bit her lip. She wasn’t a small woman, but his hand was huge, easily swallowing her up. “So soft.”
His claws scraped her skin, the rough pad of his thumb rubbing over her nipple until it beaded and ached for him.
“Look at me, Serena.”
She shook her head, her eyes squeezed closed, and he snarled. The vicious sound made her jump.
“Xarth!” The word was so close to another snarl she had to fight back the urge to flinch.
“Serena. I want you to look at me. I want you to see who you belong to.” His words were softer this time, the growl still there but… less.
“If you’re going to fuck me, then fuck me. I don’t want to see you. If I don’t, I can pretend this is something else.”
A finger touched her cheek. No claw. Just a normal finger. “I am T’kinn of the H’thor clan. I am lead healer, a warrior, and one of my lord’s most trusted men. Who would you pretend I was? I need to know his name so I can kill him.”
Her eyes flew open. “No! Don’t kill anyone!”
The mood he was in, and the stories she’d heard, he was likely to go on a jealous rampage, killing any human male in the vicinity. She wouldn’t… couldn’t have those deaths on her conscience.
He lifted his chin, looking down at her. His lip curled back dangerously, the snarl in his voice vicious as he gripped her jaw with his free hand, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Who? Who is this male you pretend I am?”
“No one!” she gasped, pulling on her hands. He didn’t let her go, his grip tightening as he surged forward, pressing against her and shoving a hard, bare thigh between her legs.
Bare? Shit. When had that happened?
The pressure forced her up onto tiptoe, and she was pinned between his hard oh-so-naked body and the wall. “I promise. No one. Don’t kill anyone. Please?”
He stilled, watching her. Then he breathed in, scenting her.
“You would beg me for this male’s life? This male you fear for?”
She shook her head. “There is no male, for fuck’s sake! I’m an omega. I’ve never let a man near me in my life!” Until him. But now Kinn was pressed against her, all muscle and bare skin and… something she tried not to think about. Something like a steel rod pressed against her belly.
“Good.” His face held only a hint of the beast now, though his eyes were still as black as a starless night.
He leaned in close, his mouth a breath away from hers. “You will know no male’s touch but mine. Ever.”
She di
dn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing.
“Do you understand, little star?”
“Yes. You think you own me.”
He snarled. “I do not think. I know. And soon, you will know it, too.”
He caught the waist of her pants, tugging them down over her hips as he pushed in close and kissed her. Fangs grazed her lower lip as his mouth claimed hers, his tongue sliding into hers as his big body pressed against her from breast to thigh.
She heard a tearing sound as her pants fell to her feet in a tattered pile.
This time, she kept her eyes open, and she saw the flash of primal satisfaction in his black-on-black eyes as she met his gaze.
“I know nothing,” she told him defiantly.
He growled in response and leaned in to kiss her again. This kiss made the other seem like the touch of a butterfly’s wing—deeper, darker and more dominant. He didn’t wait for her response. He demanded it.
Letting go of her hands, he pulled her closer, turning them both to boost her up onto a nearby counter. Heat rolled through her, and all thoughts of defiance faded under the heat and the onslaught of his mouth. She whimpered, parting her lips as she surrendered. Her hands slid up his arms and over his shoulders as he growled in satisfaction and pulled her closer, grinding himself against her.
Needs she barely recognized tore through her and she gave in to them at last. She wasn’t strong enough to fight anymore. Hell, she was having trouble remembering why she’d resisted this long.
Powerful muscles moved under her fingers. She let herself explore him for the first time, drinking in her fill of his hard body and bare skin.
His growls softened to something less terrifying. His touch was hungry and hard as he used her body like his own personal playground.
When his hand covered her mound, it was all she could do not to arch herself against it like a cat in heat. Something cracked deep inside her at the first, intimate touch, and she tore her lips from his with a gasp, her nails biting into his upper arms.
Their gazes clashed and then caught. He held her spellbound, pinned with that dark, glittering look that before would have terrified her. Now, she snarled at him, frustrated by his lack of action. He was touching her but it wasn’t enough. Reaching down, she grabbed his wrist, hardly able to get her fingers around it, and rocked against his touch.