Now he feared he'd lost her. He was out here alone again. About to spend another frigid night under the stars. Wondering if he'd be spending a full month locked up like an animal until her next heat came and need forced her to bring him the key.
The door creaked open again. Maddox peered through the darkness at the sliver of golden light pouring out.
"Are you…finished?" the omega asked, her voice shaky.
"Yeah."
"Good." A slim, pale arm slipped through the door and tossed something out. It landed softly a few feet away.
Maddox stared at the wooly green and brown checked blanket that he kept for the brutal winter months.
"This doesn't mean I want to fuck you," the omega said, still not daring to poke her head out. "It just means I don't want you to freeze to death during the night."
She closed the door like a normal person, not slamming it this time.
Maddox couldn't help the smile that crept over his face as he picked up the blanket and draped it over his shoulders.
His frightened little rabbit wanted to keep him warm. That was a start.
Maybe he wouldn't be stuck here another month after all.
Chapter Six
Hope's last lingering doubts about her omega nature disappeared during the night.
Sleep didn't come for a long time. Instead, she found herself tossing and turning as arousing images came unbidden into her mind, one after another. Massive cocks and rusted chains. Long fingers and a demanding mouth. Fantasies of being filled to bursting as an alpha with dark hair and coal-black eyes pounded into her.
Hope had woken up to sheets drenched in slick.
At least she'd woken up alone. That meant the alpha was still chained up outside.
The Alpha.
Hope felt another stab of shame as she realized that she'd eaten the man's food and slept in his bed but didn't even have the courtesy to ask his name. She felt like Goldilocks…except she'd never realized what a jerk the storybook heroine was until now.
Hope crept out of bed and tiptoed to the window, peering looked out on a sea of green. How had she never noticed how many shades there were of green before? There had to be thousands, ranging from the palest shade of a caterpillar on the windowsill to the rich, earthy green of the moss on the stone chimney. Between the treetops, she could spot little pastel strips of sky, gorgeous pinks and yellows and oranges heralding the dawn that had just begun to break.
At least there were some good things about being an omega. Colors were simply more colorful than before.
The alpha was already up, leaning against the tree—his head thrown back, his fist pumping furiously. A fresh wave of slick rushed down Hope's legs as she realized what he was doing.
Dear God, the man was insatiable.
Her face filled with heat, but she didn't turn away. She couldn't. Instead, she stood as still as she could, taking in the sight of the magnificent creature outside pleasuring himself.
Hope was fascinated by the way his muscles stood out in his arms, shoulders, and neck as he worked his long shaft.
No. Not 'fascinated.' Call it what it is, she ordered herself.
Aroused. Almost on fire with lust.
What would it be like to be touched by hands that big, that rough? What would it feel like to have that huge cock swelling inside her?
One part of Hope was intrigued by the thought, while another recoiled in terror. Those hands were made for taking lives and exacting retribution—not for giving pleasure. That cock was nothing more than a splitting wedge, capable of tearing her clean in half like the log she'd been sitting on last night.
So why was she still standing here with trembling hands and a speeding heart instead of running back to the bed and hiding under the covers? Hope was a prisoner of her nature, betrayed by her body.
That was the thing that frightened her the most—the thought of her mind turning traitor. Of losing interest in every part of her life other than sex. Of turning into a mindless robot capable only of being fucked.
Hope wanted so much more out of life than a passel of kids in a one-room shack. Having sex with the alpha outside wasn't exactly going to help her avoid that fate.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look away from the scene outside.
A few more strokes and the alpha threw back and roared, every muscle in his body tensing as jets of come shot from his cock and sprayed across the ground.
Hope bit her lip, her fingers gripping the curtain. Warmth spread through her lower belly and thighs as his breathing finally slowed. She watched the tension ease from his body.
Hope was so transfixed that she forgot to step out of view when he wiped his hand on his pants and looked directly up toward the window.
"Next time you should come outside to watch," he said, his voice perfectly audible even through the glass. "You could join in."
Shit.
Hope froze. He couldn't really have known that she'd been watching, could he? She'd been so quiet. So still. He had to be guessing.
That's what Hope decided to believe, anyway, as she retreated back to the middle of the room and tried to forget what she'd just seen.
Leaving her with an entire day stretching out ahead of her and nothing to fill it with.
Hope knew she'd be unable to sleep if she climbed back into bed, and she really wasn't looking forward to more pacing and fretting. So she did the only thing she could think of and threw together some breakfast—a simple cornbread that was ready in no time at all.
She cut slices for both of them, drizzled them in honey, and started for the door. She only made it a few steps before she caught sight of her reflection in a chipped mirror that hung next to the sink.
She looked like hell. Her face was flushed, her hair matted, and her dress wrinkled and still stained with her blood.
Hope put down the plates and searched through the cupboards. She found a spare toothbrush and a comb that didn't look like it got much use. She washed her face in the sink.
It felt so good that she decided to try and wash the rest of her body as well. It was hard with just a small sink and a washcloth, but she managed to get most of the dried slick off her legs.
After that, the thought of slipping back into that horrible makeshift hospital gown repelled her. Instead, Hope picked out one of the alpha's shirts.
Good ol' Goldilocks, taking whatever she wants.
Hope did her best to shake off another round of shame. She was doing the best she could with what was on hand—just like she always had.
At least she didn't look as bad as she felt anymore.
Hope was searching for something to tie back her hair with when she froze, annoyed with herself. Since when did she care how she looked? She didn't primp for her job, and yet here she was behaving like Cinderella getting ready for the ball.
Apparently, the new Hope had a lot more vanity than the old one. She might as well add trying to look pretty for her captor to the list of new habits that included peeping from windows and having wet dreams.
Hope rolled her eyes, appalled with herself. For one thing, a man chained to a tree while she was free to come and go could not, by definition, be her captor. And for another, the alpha probably didn't care what she looked like as long as she had sex with him.
So that was settled, Hope thought as she picked up the plates. She wasn't going to waste any more time trying to look nice. It would be as ridiculous as hoping that he liked this meal better than the last.
Hope decided she was probably just starved for human contact after so many days away from civilization. Talking to someone—even with a man who made demands instead of conversation—made her feel less anxious. She shouldn't have to apologize for it—not even to herself.
She plastered on her best fake smile before opening the door, balancing both plates on her other arm. The alpha was doing that unsettling thing again—standing at the end of his chain and staring at the door.
Just like he was the big bad wo
lf waiting for her in the forest.
"Good morning," Hope said shakily, putting his plate down and pushing it toward him. "I made breakfast."
The alpha didn't reply. He ignored the food and watched her with an unsettling intensity, the way he had last night. His eyes glinted like jagged black diamonds, as though he was trying to see inside her to her very core.
"I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot," Hope stammered, determined not to let him intimidate her. "My name is Hope Johansen."
The alpha said nothing.
"I, um, hope you slept well," she said when the silence had become unbearable.
That got her a sneer. "If you really wanted me to sleep well, you wouldn't have left me chained up out here while you drenched my bed with slick all night."
Hope blanched and took an involuntary step back. "How did you—"
"I can sniff out a mouse taking a shit half a mile away. Did you really think I wouldn't be able to smell sheets soaked with the thing I crave most?"
Hope ducked her head, unable to keep looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry. I'll wash them. I promise. Just tell me where."
"I don't give a damn about my sheets," he growled. "I want what was on them. Unchain me, and I'll take you down to the hot spring behind the house. You can soak whatever the fuck you want in that water while I let your slick wash all over me."
Hope pressed her legs together as warmth flowed from her. She shifted slightly, trying to focus on something, anything else—but the movement only increased the friction between her legs and made her gush even harder.
"I really wish you wouldn't say things like that," Hope sighed.
The alpha laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound, sharp and steeped in mockery.
"I don't think you actually care what I say," he told her. "What you really wish is that you weren't an omega. You wish that you weren't stuck with me. That you had your old life back and that nothing had changed. I get it. I've wished the same thing since the moment I threw you over my shoulder."
Hope snapped her head up, not sure she'd heard him right. "Wait. What?"
"Do you think I want to be like this, chained up and unable to control my craving? No better than an animal?" He shook his head in disgust. "Did you really think you were the only one with a life they'd rather get on with?"
Yes, Hope had to admit, she had thought that. Or rather, she hadn't given the alpha's feelings any thought at all, beyond his obvious cravings.
What he said was true. She had been thinking of him as an animal. Not a man.
She wished she could start over again. Give him the respect he'd given her.
Going back in time wasn't possible. But at least she could do a better job going forward.
"Will you tell me your name? Please?"
He stared at her for a long time before answering. This time, Hope didn't look away.
"Maddox," he finally muttered.
Maddox. The name fit him—hard and strong, and just a little bit crazy.
"I'm sorry I've been inconsiderate," Hope said. "You have to understand that waking up to all this is really confusing. On the one hand, I'm grateful to be alive, but on the other, I'm terrified of what I've become."
The alpha didn't blink. "I don't want your gratitude, and I don't need any apologies. I just need you to unlock these chains."
Hope let out a breath, stung by his reply.
"I can't."
"Why not?" he demanded.
"Because I'm scared of you."
"Bullshit." He spat the word like it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard in his life.
"How is that bullshit?" Hope said, inching toward him. Why did he have to turn everything she said into an argument?
She felt her anger start to rise and embraced it for a change. The truth was that it felt good to experience something—anything—other than lust or fear. "You wanted to kill me the first time I saw you."
"You were trespassing on my land," Maddox said as if that made his reaction perfectly reasonable. "But I didn't hurt you. I killed one of the men that shot you instead."
Hope froze. "You did?"
"Of course," Maddox said. "He trespassed, and he didn't have any excuse at all. I broke his legs and stomped his neck. You don't have to worry about him anymore."
Hope's hand flew up to cover her mouth, shocked.
A part of her was glad that someone so evil had been punished, that he wouldn't have the chance to hurt another soul.
But another part was chilled to the bone by the way Maddox described what he'd done. As if killing the man was no big deal. Just an annoyance that he'd taken care of.
"Holy shit," Hope whispered, not fully realizing she was speaking aloud. "My parents were actually right about something."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"They always said that alphas were the devil's spawn."
Maddox's mouth twisted into an ugly smirk. "Sounds like your childhood was almost as fucked up as mine." He laughed harshly. "But no. If anyone was the devil, it was the man who shot you in the back. Not me."
"Maybe," Hope conceded. "But you can't pretend that your hands are clean. Can you honestly say that you wouldn't have killed me that day if the narcos hadn't got to me first?"
The alpha's gaze darkened. He lunged forward until the heavy chain pulled taut behind him.
"Do you know why I locked this chain around my neck instead of an ankle or a wrist?" he demanded, suddenly deadly serious.
Hope held her breath, a little afraid to know the answer.
"Because, Hope Johansen, I knew that the urge to get to you—to possess you—would become so strong that I would willingly chew off a foot or hand to satisfy that need," he told her, mercilessly drilling her with his gaze. "I knew that the only way to protect you, to give your body a chance to heal, was to make sure I'd die if I tried to get anywhere near you."
The brutal, unflinching honesty in his ebony eyes caused something to break inside Hope. The dam that held back every painful emotion started to crumble.
"So trust me when I say that I'd kill for you. Fuck, I'd even die for you. But the one thing I would never do is hurt you."
Hope believed every word Maddox said.
And nothing had ever scared her more.
Chapter Seven
Hope was naked in the water.
Maddox didn't have to be near her to know. He didn't have to have his eyes on her to see. All he had to do was close his eyelids and let the rest of his senses take over.
He'd heard the rustle of the soiled bedsheets as she carried them down the short path that ran to the hot springs. Once she arrived and knelt at the edge of the basin, he'd listened to the splash of water, caught the scent of soap in the air, heard her breaths deepen as she struggled to scrub away the proof of her desire for him.
Once finished, she'd wrung every drop out of the soaked sheet, snapped it flat, and whipped it over a tree branch to dry in the wind.
Then she'd paused.
Hope wanted to go into the water. Maddox had picked up the desire in her shifting scent long before he heard her whisper "what the hell" under her breath.
The sound of his flannel shirt gliding slowly over her golden skin made him grind his teeth with want. What he wouldn't do to break these chains and go to her. To wrap his arms around her waist and draw her down into the steaming water himself. To settle her on his lap and slide her down the length of his cock.
Fuck.
Maddox cursed his old, sensible self. The self who had made sure to wrap the chain around the thickest and sturdiest tree. A tree that he couldn't possibly rip up by the roots. The one with the trunk that couldn't be sawed down with wear from the chain.
Now he was stuck here, stewing in desire as his omega stepped into the water. She sighed in relief as the heat eased her muscles. As the scent of her ever-present guilt shifted into relaxed contentment.
Maddox had hoped that he'd be the one to rip that last burden away. The dual scents of shame and guilt
had been pouring out of Hope since the moment she'd woken up in his bed, almost as if they were reflexive.
Those weren't emotions Maddox had much experience with. They'd always struck him as a waste of time.
What was done was done. It wasn't natural to dwell in the past. Guilt and shame—those were emotions that had to be taught.
And he could guess who her teachers had been. Those bastard parents she'd hinted at earlier.
So, she had a fucked up family. No surprise there. As far as Maddox knew, all families were fucked up. That's why people were better off on their own.
Without anyone else around, an alpha didn't have to worry about guilt, or shame, or chaining himself to a tree to save the life of an ungrateful stranger.
Maddox listened to the sound of Hope's even, steady breaths. Five minutes passed…ten…fifteen.
Fucking hell, was she going to stay in there all day? He could tell she wasn't doing anything. The water was still. She wasn't washing or scrubbing. She was just sitting there.
It was just his luck that God would curse him with a lazy, guilt-ridden, easily-spooked omega.
Maddox tried to rile up some anger at her actions, but for some reason, he couldn't. Something inside him stubbornly refused to be upset with her.
Sure, he was annoyed as hell at her refusal to free him…but he was also looking forward to paying her back in kind the second he was free.
Strapping her hands and feet to the posts of his bed and keeping her there, naked and dripping with slick, for five days straight.
Maddox licked his lips at the thought. His cock surged in his pants. Metal clanked as he adjusted the heavy chain around his neck.
And then he froze, the fire in his blood turning to ice in the space of a heartbeat.
In the distance, he heard a tree branch break. A second later, the unmistakable sound of a footfall on dried pine needles.
Maddox lifted his head. As the wind shifted, the faint scent of fear, pungent and foreign, made its way to his nose.
He should've caught the smell before, but he'd been too engrossed by the fantasy continually playing in his head. He'd been distracted…by her.
Maddox (The Boundarylands Omegaverse Book 4) Page 5