One of his hands moved from her hip to play at her throbbing clit. The tip of one finger circled the tiny nub, sending electric shocks shooting down her legs. He was eager for another of her orgasms, this one while inside of her so that accompanying clench of her tight channel could milk his knot for all it was worth.
His other hand continued to guide the movement of her hips, urging her to move faster and faster against him as he thrust forward, their movements working in tandem.
And when she finally came, muscled walls of her pussy clamping down on his cock, she heard an answering roar above her as he found his own pleasure.
Without separating them, impossible with his knot still fully engorged inside of her, Legion wrapped his arms around her and lifted her bodily against him. Her back pressed against his chest, their body heat combining into a near inferno. He still growled but the sound had changed, softer as it danced along her senses.
That was her only warning before teeth sank into her shoulder, tearing at the flesh that was already scarred from his previous claiming marks. Pain rocketed through her, tearing through the pleasurable veil of orgasm to completely dominate her senses.
But she did not feel the helplessness that had kept her frozen the last time that he had thought stake his claim to her body. Instead, a tidal wave of anger rolled through her. She would not be treated like a piece of flesh to be abused as he saw fit.
The curve of his pectoral muscle pressed to her cheek as Legion kept her trapped in his arms. Without thinking through the nature of the urge, Ianthe sank her teeth into the thick bit of flesh that was tantalizingly closest her face.
Blood filled her mouth, the taste sweeter than she could have imagined. Legion roared above her but did not shove her away. And for a moment they stayed locked together in the most primal way, by loins and with mouths latched on to tantalizing flesh.
When they finally separated, Ianthe raised her head and looked into eyes that were no longer full of black and insensible rage. Awareness gleamed from their depths as the knot inside of her slowly receded.
The bond sang between them, resurrected and stronger than it had ever been before. She could sense his triumph with startling clarity as sanity returned to them both.
What had she done?
Chapter Ten
Ianthe woke uncomfortable, her face pressed against the rough fabric of the bare mattress and her body splayed in an odd position. The events of the night before slowly came back to her with alarming clarity. She wanted to believe that at least some of it had to have been a dream. But the painful pull from the wound on her shoulder, still lightly oozing blood, belied that notion.
Her body ached, not just between her legs, but in other places as if she’d been tossed around like a sack of flour. Looking down, she realized that the skin on her hips patchy with dark blue bruises in the shape of large fingers. The marks would likely transition to a sick purplish-yellow given enough time.
Her mouth still tasted sour and coppery like old blood. Distinct memories floated through her mind of doing terrible things to Legion.
And allowing them to be done to her.
Because she had walked into this room of her own volition, which made what occurred her responsibility to bear. Shame washed over her like a soothing bath. She welcomed it like an old friend. Hadn’t she spent her entire life ashamed of everything that she was?
She only realized that she wasn’t alone when Legion finally spoke.
“I sense the direction of your thoughts, little bird. It is unnecessary.”
Ianthe nearly leapt from the bed as she turned to face where Legion crouched on the floor in the far corner of the room. He rested on his haunches, head level with hers, as if he made an effort to make himself seem as a small and non-threatening as possible. Her gaze flew to the door and back to him as if judging how quickly he could close that distance.
“We’re locked in.” At her wide-eyed stare, he added. “Adrian insisted that he must hear your voice before he’ll unlock door. It seems he’s more concerned with your welfare than with following my orders.”
She had to try multiple times to form words, throat too hoarse and dry to produce anything more than a croak. “You’re back.”
“I never left.” The small smile on his face, the one he obviously meant to be comforting, faded slightly. “I just wasn’t in control of myself.”
“Are you ever?”
“I’m surprised you’d ask that.” His voice was softly chiding but he didn’t seem angry. “Particularly after what you saw last night.”
But Ianthe wasn’t in the mood to be charitable. “You’ve taken from me before, how was last night any different?”
Legion flexed his arms, making the muscles of his chest jump. Just as he intended, her attention was drawn to the painted red wound just above his left nipple. A perfect impression of her teeth was set in to the flesh, colored in with blood.
“I wear your mark.” He said the words as if they signified something important. “The bond is what allowed me to recover my mind.”
Ianthe had not forgotten the fact that he had been tortured. Even angry at him, she couldn’t fight the stab of sympathy that she felt at the thought of what he had endured. “Are you going to tell me what happened to you?”
“I very much doubt that you want to hear it.”
The anger seeped out of her as inexplicably as it had arrived. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged. With a start, she realized that she was naked. Her torn dress was in discarded shreds on the floor. “What are we going to do now?”
Instead of answering, he studied her face. “You don’t need to be afraid.”
“I’m not.”
He didn’t argue but his level gaze made it clear that he saw considerably more than she wanted him to reveal. Silence reigned as they stared at each other, locked in an inexplicable contest of wills. The moment was broken when her stomach loudly rumbled.
“You asked what we should do. Finding food be high on the list. I can’t remember the last time that I had a real meal.”
Flustered, Ianthe gestured for him to rise. “You don’t have to sit on the floor.”
He rose smoothly to his feet, naked as the day he slipped his mother’s womb and seeming completely unconcerned with it. She tried not to notice the way that he towered over her or that she was suddenly face to face with the thick member that hung loosely against his thigh.
“I think I saw some spare clothing here somewhere.”
She watched as he rummaged around the bare room, opening the dresser drawers and looking under the bed. “My brother and sister are here too. Adrian brought them.”
“I’m glad to know that he’s capable of following some of my instructions.”
Her head snapped up. “You told him to hide my family?”
“I knew that if something happened to me then then might become a target. So I instructed Adrian to ensure that they were safe and you could be reunited in my potential absence. Are you surprised?”
She was but didn’t exactly want to admit it. The fact that he had ensured her family would be safe didn’t conform to the picture that she had developed of him in her head. The Alpha she envisioned was selfish and only ever took without bothering to give.
And revising that impression wasn’t something that she was exactly prepared to do.
The words threatened to catch in her throat but she forced them out anyway. “Thank you.”
“No need for thanks.” He watched her for a moment, expression inscrutable. “You are my responsibility, which means so are they.”
She had no idea what to say to that so simply began pulling on the oversized jumpsuit he had dropped on the bed for her.
He watched her like he always watched her, as if every movement of her body was fascinating. “We should find bandages for your shoulder.”
She had almost forgotten about the injury until he mentioned it. But in the way of such things, the moment he reminded her of it, pain again fla
red to life. She experimentally moved her arm and winced as the sharp ache flared brighter. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“I have yet to meet your family. I can’t say I’m not looking forward to that.”
“They don’t like you very much,” she grumbled.
“Because I’m an Alpha?”
“That’s one reason. The whole kidnapping thing probably doesn’t help either.”
He had the gall to laugh at that. “You wanted me as much as I wanted you, whether you admit or not.”
Ianthe refused to dignify that with an answer. Wincing, she forced the arm on her injured side into the sleeve of the jumpsuit.
A heavy weight had settled on her chest, whether from the bound or an abundance of conflicting emotion, she couldn’t say. She felt connected to him in a way that she had never wanted, but it seemed to designed to draw her closer with each passing moment. Legion was the most relaxed that she had ever seen him, despite the fact that they were both wanted criminals and on the run. She couldn’t tell if he was putting some great effort into being gentle or if it was simply that her perspective had changed.
She had not intended to bring them closer by marking him, but that seemed to be precisely what had occurred. The mark burned the more that she thought about it as if her attention made the bond that much more active. She remembered how she had tried to use the bond to sense him when they’d been separated but she hesitated to do the same now, even it was just in the interest of finding out how deeply she had screwed herself.
It was a question that she simply did not want an answer to.
The only consolation to being stuck in this ridiculous situation was the fact that her sister likely hated Legion even more than she did. Circe wasn’t generally nice to anyone, but Legion represented everything that was wrong with Pandora. The verbal haranguing he was about to receive from her sister at least gave her something to look forward to.
The last thing that Ianthe expected was just how well Legion got along with her family.
She knew that it was better than them being at each other’s throats, but she still sat in grumpy silence as her sister and brother fawned over the criminal Alpha.
“How many times have you escaped from detention?” Eaon asked as they sat around the tiny table in the front room. His voice sounded more in awe than it should have.
“I’ve had a number of disagreements with Central Command over the years.” Legion lounged back in a chair that was much too small for him, an easy smile on his face. He looked like an overgrown adult playing house with small children but didn’t seem bothered by it. “Although I can’t take sole credit for this most recent adventure. I’d still be addled out of my bed in a cell somewhere if not for Adrian.”
After letting them out of the locked room, Adrian had left again on business that neither he nor Legion would disclose any details about. He had promised to return by sundown, so they could make plans for their next step. So she was stuck with the mate she never wanted, without even her family united with her as allies against him.
“What’s it like on the upper levels where the Alphas live? My friend, Geego, told me that all of the paths are made of gold and trees grow up between the houses.” Eaon leaned forward, face shining with admiration. It made sense. Eaon was a burgeoning juvenile delinquent and Legion was the first real criminal that he’d ever met. “And do they have running water in the bathing rooms all of the time, not just for a few hours a day?”
“I’ll take you up there, sometime. Then you can see for yourself.”
Eaon’s face shown like he’d just been told that the all-seeing gods had revealed themselves to answer all of his prayers. For the first time, her brother had the childlike eagerness that Ianthe assumed he had outgrown a long time ago.
Circe was slightly more difficult to win over, but it didn’t take long before she was laughing at Legion’s jokes and hanging on his words, as well.
“So you knew Ianthe was Omega from the very beginning, even with the suppressants?” she asked.
“I had my suspicions.” Legion glanced at the Omega in question who responded with little more than a sour expression. “Which proved to be correct. There are always signs, even if the hormones have been altered.”
Circe rested her chin on her hand as she leaned closer. “That is interesting.”
“I’ve been told that Ianthe has you to thank for helping her maintain the ruse for as long as she did. It isn’t easy to adjust the doses properly.”
“Exactly, although ask me if she ever appreciated the effort required. Too little of the proper hormones and you risk discovery. Too much and there’s the possibility of endocrine damage.” Circe rolled her eyes in her sister’s direction as if Ianthe hadn’t heard every word she said. “I always wanted to be a chemist some day.”
“That’s impressive.” If Legion was being sarcastic, there was no hint of it in his voice. “And if not for your efforts, Ianthe and I would likely have had no chance to meet. I am in your debt.”
“Just to be clear, that makes her your problem now.”
They both laughed, the sound grating on Ianthe’s ears like the screech of nails on a chalkboard. She wanted nothing more than for both of them to disappear into a hole in the earth.
Ianthe drummed her fingers on the table, fighting the urge to flip it on its side. There wasn’t anywhere else for her to go in the house which meant little avenue for escape as she’d been sternly lectured by both Legion and Adrian about the risks of going outside.
It was making her strongly rethink the apparent downsides of spending the rest of her life in a detention center.
“What are we going to do about the Undersecretary?” Ianthe abruptly asked, interrupting her sister’s next inane question. “We can’t hide out here forever.”
Legion surveyed her with a neutral expression. “A plan is being formulated.”
“I’m just asking for the basics. Does your plan involve anything close to us getting back to a normal life?” Frustration burned within her for reasons that were difficult to describe. She didn’t want to continue as a pawn on someone else’s chessboard, constantly buffeted by forces that she couldn’t understand or even control. Ianthe wanted to take her destiny into her own hands.
“You already know that the Undersecretary is plotting against the Crown,” she groused, completely unconcerned at this point with making him angry. “Why haven’t you turned him in exchange for leniency?”
Legion’s expression altered as the darkness he had tried to hide from her family gathered in his eyes. “How did you know that Barnard is planning a coup?”
“Because he told me, just before he tried to rape me.”
He seemed to grow larger as he shifted to face her more fully. “That piece of gutter slime told you that he is planning to overthrow King Rolan.”
She was suddenly nervous as a murderous light glowed in his gaze. Even with the knowledge that his anger wasn’t directed at her, she still fought the urge to back away. “His exact words were that you were innocent and he knew that because he was the one responsible for Prince Castor’s crash.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“Just that he couldn’t sure the prince is dead. They searched for a body and never found one. But it didn’t bother him because no one ever comes back from the Forbidden Zone.”
Legion growled, one full of anger, and Ianthe immediately recoiled as the terrible sound washed over her. He caught sight of the stricken expression on her face and immediately the growl ceased, his expression altering to one that was deceptively placid. “You’re sure of this?”
“It wasn’t a conversation that I’m likely to forget.”
“I see.”
It was clear that the wheels were already turning inside of her mate’s head. She could feel the determination in him through the bond, along with the overwhelming desire for vengeance. And underneath it all was a sort of dark triumph that made it clear that he had come up with some sort of plan. It
was impossible to follow the exact direction of his thoughts but she knew that the entirety of his cunning mind was focused on bringing down Undersecretary Barnard.
“What are you going to do?” Circe asked, breaking the long silence.
Legion glanced at her and Eaon, as if only then remembering that they were still in the room and listening. The dark smile that twisted his lips was full of terrible promise.
“I’m going to find Prince Castor.”
Chapter Eleven
Adrian seemed less enthused about their plan when he finally returned that evening.
“You’re insane,” he said flatly, face blank as he surveyed them all.
But as always, Legion was assured. “We can take down the Undersecretary.”
“Your focus should be on how to hide, not on playing political games.”
“There is nowhere to hide where my mate’s safety is guaranteed.” Legion glanced at Ianthe, who stood back from the two men as they faced each other down, before returning his attention to Adrian. “She and her family will not spend their lives on the run.”
“And you would rather she spend it under the thumb of a man like Barnard? That is risk you take with this.”
Legion waved that away with a jerk of his hand. “What have your sources uncovered?”
“You already know this. Prince Castor’s skycar malfunctioned while flying over the Forbidden Zone and went down. Foul play was suspected but never proven. There has been some interesting activity in the reason since, but nothing conclusive enough to prove he still lives.”
“A confession is proof enough for me.”
“Where was he going?” Ianthe asked from her spot leaning against the counter.
Legion turned to her in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“You said that Prince Castor was flying his skycar over the Forbidden Zone, but you never said why. Where was he headed?”
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