Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  When he took the calmer route, her squirming never stopped his explorations.

  Simin took what he desired, Morgaine unable to even communicate the simplest of no’s.

  She told herself that was why she allowed all his pleasures. She lied.

  He ruled her with so little effort, and for some reason, that made looking back on all that had been done disconcerting.

  The Alpha, Simin, was breathing deep in sleep, his hands tangled in her hair. Slumber did not lend him a look of innocence. Not one bit. There was a reason this man had walked at the head of his people, a reason he had been the one speaking to the commandant.

  A reason Uriel’s men had spoken harshly of him in hushed tones when they thought she’d slept.

  Doing her best to work her locks free of the strange Alpha’s grip, Morgaine unwound the tangles carefully, but he woke all the same.

  Cloudy eyes blinked at her, the male watching as she slowly scooted back.

  Smoothing her curls, trying not to grimace when movement brought discomfort, she made her way to the edge of the sleeping pit, all under a predator’s gaze.

  Fingers curling over the ridge of the bed, Morgaine pulled herself higher. But before she might escape completely, he sat up, cocking his head and scowling.

  A series of grumbled words were offered, the male crawling toward her as if to capture an ankle and pull her body under his.

  She drew away, shook her head, and said, “No.”

  He sounded out her word. “No?” He parroted the word a second time, “No,” and it seemed to dawn on him what it meant.

  Morgaine didn’t speak his language any better than he spoke hers, but she thought to placate the male before he might punish her withdrawal. Pulling her arms tight around her middle, failing at offering a neutral smile, she chewed a lip and glanced toward the bathroom.

  She might have been crusted with his dried come, but the Alpha narrowing his eyes bore marks of his own.

  His blood was under her nails, just as his skin was covered in scratches she’d put there. She’d even left the bite of her teeth on his arm and shoulder. But, there were bruises on her where the Alpha had grabbed too tight, her inner thighs were mottled, and between her legs thrummed an abiding ache.

  Afraid that if she did not leave his nest he would try to mount her again, she startled when the male traced a finger down her thigh.

  He said her name. “Morgaine, clota via kan’nai.”

  Bladder near bursting and extremely thirsty, she dared to look in the direction of the washroom again.

  Hands braced upon the edge of the bed, boxing her in, Simin rose, massive and looming. When she thought to scoot back, he took her upper arm and said her word, “No.”

  Climbing out of the nest with ease, he took her arm, helped her up, and led Morgaine exactly where she kept staring. At the door, he said a word that sounded like a sneeze. “Achoo.”

  Staring through the portal straight at the toilet, she tried to brush him off.

  He said, “No,” squeezed her arm, and went in with her. He even sat her down on the toilet, no matter her hesitation. “Achoo.”

  Urinating before she could stop herself, and absolutely hating the way he smiled down and patted her head, Morgaine dared to growl. It was as low and thoroughly annoyed as she could manage.

  The jerk laughed, reaching between her legs to wipe her clean.

  He was careful, but it stung both her pride and the place he had repeatedly knotted. Fingernails digging into his forearm, Morgaine hissed at the contact. She forced him off and gave the male a look that said if he touched her again she was going to hurt him.

  Simin backed away.

  Arms crossed over his chest, he cocked a brow, as if telling her to finish.

  Frustrated, sore, upset about the lack of privacy in her life, Morgaine obeyed.

  As soon as she was off the vessel, the Alpha brushed her aside, his flaccid member already in hand. As he took his turn, he put a hand to the wall, leaned forward, and threw back his head on a sigh.

  Morgaine just stood there gawking. When he shrugged at her expression, she threw a hand over her eyes, rushed out of the room, apologizing as if she’d done something wrong.

  He was after her in an instant, had her cornered against the wall, and there was no more laughter.

  Bulk pressed her flat, immobile, and lips came to Morgaine’s ear. Then silence.

  Simin didn’t speak. What he was doing or why, she could not make out. Trapped as she was, all she could see was the male’s tense shoulders moving with his breaths.

  Teeth set to her earlobe and on her sharp inhale, he bit down. Lower his head went, and then he bit her neck. No skin was broken, but the force of his jaw had inspired an ache, the action pure warning. He was not toying with her, working to seduce, or even offering comfort.

  He was telling the Omega who was in charge, who was to be obeyed, and who held her very life in his jaws.

  It was not until those sharp nips grazed her shoulder that light warning became rough action. There he set his mouth, licking a single spot clean. The flat of his tongue working, her skin growing pink, he drew out a flush.

  One large hand took her jaw, angling her head, the other took a firm hold of her hip. Between their bodies, he was growing hard.

  No purr was offered to induce her calm.

  He was all Alpha, she was cornered Omega, and his message was coming through loud and clear.

  Do not run from me.

  When Simin set his teeth to her flesh, he rolled his hips, using her belly for soft friction just as he bit down.

  There was a promise in that sting, a promise sealed in the first blood he drew. Though shallow, his mark was there, and her pain was real.

  Still holding the Omega’s shoulder in his teeth, he made a grab for her hand, and pulled it between them.

  A calloused palm closed her small fingers around a thick cock and guided her to stroke hard and quick. He grunted with the movement, breath growing shallow, making her participate in his pleasure until he burst milky white over heaving tits and fluttering belly to drip down bruised thighs.

  Painting her with ejaculate, growling his release, he dragged her touch down to the growing knot and forced her to squeeze. And still he came, jettisoning more cream over and over the girl trapped by his teeth.

  I own you. You will obey. You will smell of me. I can make you like it.

  What they had shared in pleasure, any trace of awe Morgaine might have fostered, died right then.

  Esin would have treated her the same way.

  Chapter Nine

  “I feed her, heal her, pet her, wash her, have given the Omega days on end of my company.” Simin stood stolid at the portal, Morgaine wide-eyed, tense, and glued to his side. Before them stood a woman, one blocking the way forward even as Simin made his plea. “Omega Superior, I have knotted her so many times she has passed out. The stink of fear has not diminished. Her desire has not once urged her to reach for me seeking comfort. My kor’yr does not recognize me.”

  The gatekeeper looked to the girl in question, and found more than the smell of anxiety hanging in the air. The golden haired outsider wore a look of hopelessness, nearly crowding behind her Alpha as if to hide from one unknown female. “A pair-bond will crush her misgivings and shape her affection to your will. Why bring her here when she smells close to her time?”

  To be questioned was not something a Heidron, a Prince, was accustomed to. “She does not speak our language, was a virgin in captivity before I freed her. Upon her retrieval, repeatedly the Nierra referred to her as feral. I do not know what this means. I do know that she was beaten under their care for refusing.”

  “Refusing what?”

  “Male attention.”

  Dressed in loose robes in the same style as Simin’s unhappy Omega, the woman said, “You take a risk in bringing her here lacking a pair-bond, Heidron. Your rule does not extend past this door, and the Omegas might not give her back to you.”
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br />   “Do not speak to me as if I were some pup.” The snap in his voice did not move the woman blocking the portal, but behind the Alpha, his mate’s eyes grew wide to hear it. “Her needs come before my own. I have tried and failed to reassure her. I cannot tolerate the smell of another male in my rooms, even to help translate. Nor do I think she will tell me the true way of things, as frightened as she is. I seek assistance. Return her to me smiling and eager to know her kor’yr and the tithe I will offer in exchange will buy worlds.”

  “Your riches mean nothing to us.” The woman offered a sardonic half grin, stepping back and sweeping her arm to the side. “But, by all means, lead her inside.”

  The trouble began the instant they were through the unadorned door. On the other side of the threshold waited a gallery of opulent color, cushions, laughter, trays of rich food, and nothing but beautiful females.

  One look at it and Simin’s foreign Omega began to frantically rattle off in her language. Holding onto the Alpha’s arm, she pled, she dug in her heels in a sorry attempt to slow his steps, and then she fell to her knees, weeping.

  Arms clasped around bulky thighs, sobbing, Morgaine refused to let him go. He had to pry her off, forced to ignore her terror, and leave her under the care of those Omegas who had rushed forward to help.

  There was a tiled mark on the floor designating how far an Alpha might tread in that room. To cross that line meant instant death. The Omegas would kill him, whether he was their Heidron or no.

  Simin could not bear to watch his mate be dragged away. He turned his back, obeying the Omega Superior’s orders to leave at once.

  ***

  There was no chance in the twelve hells that Simin would return to his rooms. He waited outside the door of the Omega sector for hours on end. At first, he’d heard his kor’yr screaming. He’d tried to get back in, to rush to her, but the females had wisely sealed the gate.

  And then silence.

  Even with his ear pressed to the door, he heard nothing.

  A great warrior was to be patient, but for those hours waiting, he was anything but. Pacing, sitting, standing at attention, nothing helped.

  He’d never expected Morgaine to respond as she had. Though he should have suspected when she was unimpressed, and then flat out shaking at his first offering of fine clothes. Clothes he’d had specially made in his family’s colors and crests. Clothes crafted from the finest silks and encrusted with gems.

  She had backed away from them, shaking her head, as if she knew he was dressing her only to take her away from the nest.

  Flat out ignoring when he’d called her name, she’d started pointedly cleaning the nearest item she could reac… with her hair… as there was no rag or supplies.

  Gentle as he could be, he’d forced her to stop, dressed her, and took her straight to this place that left his mate broken and sobbing.

  And now he could not even see her. Without the pair-bond, he could not feel her. Utterly at a loss, he felt an unprecedented stinging behind his eyes, and hung his head.

  Then the door opened.

  It was not his mate waiting for his attention, but a young Omega of rank—a translator by the marks on her robes.

  Abrupt, he demanded, “Tell me.”

  The woman smelled shaken in her own right, but did her best to appear calm. “She is under the belief that you have brought her to something the Nierra refer to as pleasure chambers… that you have grown bored of her and left her here to be used at will by other males willing to pay your fee. I do not think I need to describe what she anticipated would be done to her in these rooms.”

  Simin’s face went ashen. “What?”

  There was much to explain and the hall was not a proper location for what had to be shared. The Omega led him to a small waiting room, gesturing for him to sit. When he obeyed, she sat across and began. “The pleasure chambers were to be her fate for at least two years had she remained in Nierra care. In fact, it was the fate required by the male who desired to be her mate. By their law, he could not bond to her until his rank had increased. After gathering powerful supporters, the weight of his claim outweighed all potential rivals. She learned of this while on display for the males already signing up for their turn. They made demands to see her body, growled to encourage her arousal against her will. She was shamed.”

  The fire in his eyes confirmed the threat. “I’ll kill them all, every last one of them. As of this moment, the treaty is dust.”

  “There is more.”

  Forcing his rage to quiet so he might know everything, Simin swallowed, steadied his breath, and demanded. “Tell me.”

  “The things they taught her, that they made her watch… I do not even know how to describe the damage that was done, Heidron.” The woman sighed, openly disturbed at this point. “She has no concept of estrous. She believes a pair-bond is equivalent to sex, and that all interaction she has shared with you any Alpha could inflict on her. Before today, she had never even seen another Omega. She… was told you would mutilate and rape her.”

  Foreign women were not protected by the Omari code of honor, and those things did happen in war. In battle they could be taken as slaves. Once under ownership, they were protected from savagery. Omegas could never be enslaved, only pair-bonded, and yes, often by force. But, from the moment the bond was established, they were considered Omari citizens under the protection of their mate.

  The Omega continued, “She thinks you bite her when she’s done something wrong.”

  That could not stand. Voice unbearably sad, Simin muttered, “I mark her to reassure her that when estrous arrives I will forge the bond. It was done to make her feel safe in moments of her fear. It was done so she would know to trust me.”

  Compassion shown in the upturned eyes of the woman across from him. “We know… but that does not change our verdict.”

  Simin’s expression turned deadly. “She’s mine.”

  “She does not recognize you.”

  Rising to his feet, muscles tight and lip curled, he growled, “I am Heidron of this fleet, your prince, and I will challenge the Omegas to have my kor’yr returned to me.”

  “A handful of days ago she was taken by force from her mother. This was after years of evading the Alphas who raided her village. She fought through the pain of pre-estrous out of hatred of Alphas and love for the woman who birthed her. She knew they would one day take her, she didn’t know why, but she knew. In punishment for hiding her daughter, the mother’s face was disfigured with a brand and Morgaine was listed as feral.” Smoothing her robes, the Omega sat back, sighing. “Having spoken to her, it is an apt term. She is completely wild, totally ignorant, and indeed very scared.”

  Grinding his teeth, about ready to reach out and snap the female's neck, Simin hissed, “Why do you think I brought her to you?”

  “We will allow you to court her for one hour each day.”

  “That is not even enough time to pleasure and knot her!”

  “Sex will not be allowed unless she initiates it.”

  They both knew that would never happen. Smoothing brown hair off his face, chest expanding in a full breath, Simin stared her down. “Until she learns our language, I have no way to communicate with her outside of physical acts. What am I supposed to do? Sit here and stare at her?”

  “You claim she is your kor’yr. Prove it.” The female had done her duty, and chose to stand, leaving the room in a soft squish of robes.

  Chapter Ten

  Once the door opened to the entrance of the Omega’s Sector, Simin found Morgaine already waited for him… but she hovered out of his reach.

  The same Omega from the day before stood by to translate their words.

  By the way Morgaine kept looking to the golden tile track between them, her thoughts were obvious before she said, “I have been told that you are not allowed to cross this line.”

  He wanted so badly to reach out and take her hand. “I’m not.”

  Morgaine was not in the robes he h
ad given her, but wearing a style of dress Simin had never seen. It was plain, comprised of white fabric, and modest. “Did you make this dress?”

  “Yes, Janelle,” Morgaine glanced to the translator facilitating speech between them, “offered me some supplies. My mother taught me to sew. It was not considered a useful skill to the Alphas. None of my skills were.”

  It was nice to hear about her, Simin daring to step all the way to the golden dividing line. “What are your talents?”

  She seemed embarrassed, cheeks turning pink as her eyes went back to the floor. “In my settlement, I was known for the quality of dyes I could produce… for fabric.”

  “And are you going to dye this dress? My household’s colors are red.” He was too eager, desperate to gain a glance. “I can find what you need… if you like. You would look beautiful in red.”

  She did not answer his offer, looking instead to tell the truth so he might mock her as the other males had. “I raised fine goats and made cheese. Built houses, kept a garden. I was educated by farmers.”

  “Did you have many friends?”

  A ghost of a smile changed Morgaine’s face. “Yes. Well, I used to have many friends. As I got older, that changed a little.”

  He didn’t like the idea of it at all, but groused out a reply all the same. “Because you are Omega and the males wanted to be more than your friend?”

  “I suppose…” Shaking her head at old memories, Morgaine confessed. “We had nursery rhymes about Omegas. It was not a thing anyone would want to be. I would not have understood if I had not seen what happened to Esmerelda.”

  “Who?”

  Janelle, the translator, explained, sparing Morgaine from repeating what she’d been forced to watch. Simin began to reek of anger, to breathe heavily. Fists curled up into balls, he turned from the short haired woman and looked his mate dead in the eye. “That was not her fault. How could Esmeralda know the risks of estrous if she didn’t know what she was? If anything, it was the fault of the Betas for a lack of self-control. But ultimately the blame is on the Alphas who created a situation in which such a thing might happen in the first place.”