Ruthless Control

by L. V. Lane

  “Does she realize what she did?”

  “No,” I said. “This will go smoother if she believes it’s her decision.”

  My eyes lowered to the hand trailing up my pant leg. It belonged to the blonde Beta. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I growled as I took her by the throat. I’d needed to picture my new pet to get off before I’d been inside her; I had even less interest in fucking the Beta now.

  Any Beta…anyone without hair the color of Lyus’s sun when it dipped over the battered roof-tops.

  I had no love for Lyus, it was a hellhole, and the best and worst thing that ever happened to me was being ripped from its sullied grip.

  I liked Madelyn’s defiance, I realized. I used to set up scenes with my former pets, when I knew she was due to arrive with my coffee, just to get a rise. The flash of her eyes, the flare of her nostrils as she picked up the scent of sex.

  She had been sensitive, even before she became an Omega—I felt godlike helping nature find its true course.

  The Beta tried valiantly to submit, but it wasn’t natural to her, and as I increased the pressure, fear crept into her eyes, and she clawed at my wrist. I let her fight, fascinated by the play of emotions as she realized this wasn’t a game. Her cheeks flushed a ruddy red, her eyes bulged, and her gasps for air turned hoarse.

  I knew exactly how hard to press, even on a delicate throat. Bitch didn’t mind me doing this while her second-rate pussy was full of my cock. “Don’t fucking touch me again. No one is to touch me, got it?”

  At her croaked confirmation, I thrust her away.

  Rhett laughed, the fuck.

  I’d lost a layer of skin earlier under Madelyn’s claws when I’d entered the bedroom smelling of a Beta.

  At my brother’s beckon, the Beta went to him, and he made room for her on his crowded lap with a smirk.

  Like I gave a damn? It had been five years since I’d felt a pussy fisting my knot—Omegas were addictive.

  “Take this shit back to your own room,” I growled, restless and impatient, and not identifying the source. “I want Malaxos found.”

  “Yeah? Is that like a top priority, or second to top priority? Because Black is incoming, and Sasquatch is looking pissed,” Rhett said.

  I sighed and swiped a hand through my hair. “What the fuck does that maniac want now? Bad enough half my team are doing his shit instead of mine.”

  “You gonna tell him that to his face?”

  When my eyes narrowed, he raised a hand. The little prick knew he was pushing my buttons. “This is why I don’t people,” he said. “I’ll just manage the priorities. Laters,” he added as he headed for the elevator, with the Betas trailing after him.

  Eyes jaded, I tracked Rhett leaving, then rechecked my viewer—sleeping.

  Time to talk to Ethan Black.

  Black was a fellow victim of the Lyus conscription and had built his life on collecting favors. The bastard still collected them. The business empire I owned had once belonged to someone else. Ethan helped in their elimination. I owed him. He knew I owed him, so despite the shit happening with Malaxos dealing in my nightclub, I was going to give Black some time.

  Peppermint Moon never closed, and when I entered my office, the view from the one-way glass wall, was one of debauchery. Subtly lit nooks, strobing lights, and barely clothed waitstaff mingled with patrons to ensure their every need was met.

  My reflection revealed a dark expression, but as the elevator behind me opened, I schooled it into a broad smile.

  I prided myself on the facade I presented. My clothes were of the finest quality money could buy. My smile was smooth, and my disposition when I mingled with Chimera’s elite, one of faultless charm. I might be confused with any wealthy businessman, and that was how I liked it.

  By contrast, Ethan Black was a tall, menacing Alpha who looked like he might off someone with his bare hands at a moment’s notice. He could, and did, off people at a moment’s notice, and via a variety of means, so it was a fair conclusion to draw.

  I got my hands dirty too, but I kept my dirty private.

  “What is it this time? You only call me when you’re calling in a favor,” I said by way of greeting.

  “I could say the same,” he replied, giving me a pointed look.

  I chuckled because the broody fucker was entertaining. “Yeah, guilty.”

  We sat at the low seating arrangement facing the nightclub. A female Beta, wearing a barely-there dress, delivered drinks.

  It wasn’t the one I had choked, but word must have gotten around because she made a point of placing my drink down at arm’s length.

  Ethan was studying her with a frown before raising a questioning brow at me. Nosy fucker.

  “You were right,” I said, hoping to distract him from this odd behavior. “There’s a black-market drug that originated with the program. And it’s lucrative.”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “What does it do?”

  “Turns non-dynamics into Omegas…so long as you pick the right candidates.” I adjusted the collar of my shirt, then realized what the fuck I was doing.

  “You’ve used it,” he said because the bastard wasn’t stupid.

  I shrugged. “I had to know if it worked. And I happened to have the right kind of candidate.” Who had walked like a lamb into my trap.

  He blinked a couple of times, probably thrown by my cagy behavior. “Must be hard to hide a gifted?”

  “They’re not gifted. But they are Omega in every other way.” I grimaced. “There is a downside to the drug.”

  “Beside them not being gifted? What sort of downside?” he asked. “Does it wear off?”

  Why the fuck had I mentioned this? “No, it doesn’t wear off. Not that I’m aware of…Wearing off would be great,” I said, although I didn’t want it to wear off—what I wanted was for her to beg me for my collar. “They imprint on the first Alpha they come in contact with.”

  Ethan laughed so hard, he nearly spat his drink out.

  I shook my head and lifted a hand in warning. “Don’t fucking go there. Bonding is inconvenient in my line of business, let me tell you.”

  “You’ve bonded?”

  “No…not yet.” But I would, and whether she wished it or not. “And no, it’s not fucking funny. Nearly castrated me when I returned to the apartment smelling of a Beta…I hadn’t even fucked the damn Beta! I have to shower and change my clothes before I can go back to my own fucking home!”

  He laughed hard and long, and when he finally got his amusement under control, he asked, “Where did you find this delight?”

  “She worked at the coffee venue below. I used to have her bring me a coffee here, through the club because it made her uncomfortable.” He gave me a you’re-a-dick look. “Yeah, I know I’m a dick, but she looked like an Omega. Tiny little redhead with a body made for sin. She thought I was a dick before I drugged her!” I was confident her opinion of me would take a further hit before this was done. Raking a hand through my hair, I snatched up my drink—then put it back down.

  “Can we connect this drug back to Tsing?”

  Erison Tsing was the Director of the Copper virus program. A Theta dynamic, and like all such dynamics, he was hyper-intelligent. He was also corrupt as fuck, which is why Black had asked me to have Rhett look into him. We had intercepted a shipment recently, which had been bound for an organization called Salvation. The ironically named Salvation harbored the worst scum of the universe, and I thought myself to be an expert on such things.

  “No, nothing to connect it to Tsing yet. Why don’t you off him?” Black wasn’t usually slow to eliminate a threat, and given his little Omega had found herself embroiled in Tsing’s games, I could only wonder at his restraint.

  “I want to destroy him first,” Ethan said. “And I did consider killing the bastard, but he’s hard to get close to. If he is dabbling in the underworld, it would explain the protection he has in place.”

  “I’ve been digging,” I said. “And my contacts tell
me there’s a shipment of the drug coming through later in the week.”

  “If you hear, I want to know,” he said.

  Get in the damn queue. I had to remind myself that while he might have come from Lyus like me, he was a different man now, and there was such a thing as oversharing. He now worked special operations for the military and had recently been allocated as Controller of one Doctor Lillian Brach, the daughter of a member of the ruling elite.

  Controller allocations were, by nature, temporary assignments. But if Rhett’s intel was to be believed—and my shit-head of a brother was always right—Ethan had called her father and threatened to rain holy hell on his ass if he didn’t grant him permanent Controller status. The governor had apparently capitulated…because, let’s face it, who the fuck would mess with Black?

  “Don’t suppose you could get me the formula for the drug?” It was worth a shot…

  He leveled a glare my way. “Not if I want an easy life. And my life is far from fucking easy without adding that to the mix.” Yeah, I had heard about his other problem, also known as Ryker Sherwin. Who, if my brother was to be believed, had also been allocated permanent Controller status of Lilly.

  “Your new little Omega going to be okay with you churning out a few more fuck buddies?” he asked, distracting me from my amusement at his expense.

  “Hey, I’m a businessman,” I said. “I see a business opportunity. I wasn’t thinking about building a personal harem. One is more than enough.”

  Amused at my expense now, he set his empty glass on the table and stood.

  I rose from my seat too. “I’ll pile some pressure on,” I said. “Someone will squeal if I squeeze hard enough.”

  “Good,” he said. “Does he have contacts in the military?”

  “Tsing?” I asked, confused. “Nothing suggests he has. Why?”

  “I’ve been getting the run around today. Meeting requests that suddenly got canceled.”

  “Yeah?” I nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on my face. “That’s curious. Isn’t Ryker back?” I asked, casually.

  “Fuck,” he said, and already distracted, he took the elevator down.

  I chuckled, but my smile faded. My pet fretted if I left her alone for too long, although she would never admit as much, and I returned to my penthouse.

  She was still in bed when I arrived, on her stomach, covers tucked all around her, with several pillows wedged front and back. She may be a newly awakened Omega, but she was halfway to making a nest.

  I stripped while she continued to sleep, threw all the clothes outside the room, and sent a call for someone to collect them…then I showered.

  She was still out when I returned to the bed; I tugged the covers back and pulled her sleepy body against mine.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ONCE MORE, MY face lay pressed against a hot wall of muscle. I sniffed. He smelled clean this time—clean and of him. Murderous intent had gripped me earlier—or was it yesterday—when he had tried to touch me covered in the scent of another woman.

  Rational thought had escaped me ever since he had given me the Omega drug, and I now acted like a lust-drunk sex-addict with a mile-wide green streak—not a role I aspired to play.

  After Lucian had knotted me, the doctor had visited and drugs had reduced the sharp pain to a dull ache.

  It ached still, but so did my whole body.

  Sniffing surreptitiously at his chest where those heady pheromones were strongest, I did my best to fake sleep.

  His dark chuckle stilled my breath, and my stomach tumbled over. “Playing games, Pet?”

  The hot wall beneath me shifted, and I found myself sprawled onto my back. A sharp cry left my lips as muscles sore from our first coupling, screamed in protest. Braced on hands and knees, his big body caged me.

  A primitive need unfurled—I liked this, liked him above me.

  His gaze trailed down my body until it reached my pussy. “Open your legs,” he said.

  Rough command—smooth voice. There, once more, my stomach turned over.

  I harbored no thought to deny his request—there was very little thought at all—and my thighs parted willingly. A single finger skimmed over my collarbone, goosebumps rising in its wake. I shivered as it lowered, circling first one breast and then the other, before trailing over my stomach, and stopping at the top of my pussy slit. He remained still for the longest time, and I became hyperaware of the tiniest pressure on that sensitive spot. The longer it stayed there the more my consciousness awakened to the subtle touch.

  Restless, I fidgeted underneath his stony regard and the maddening feather-light touch of his finger. My chest heaved as he drew through the slit. “You’re very wet, love—dripping.”

  Head lowering, he closed his mouth over the stiff peak of my nipple as he pressed the finger gently inside.

  My breathing turned choppy; the rhythmic pull of his mouth on my breast, and the slow finger fucking—the care with which he played me—sent my mind spinning.

  My eyes grew heavy, his scent and body surrounded me and filled my awareness.

  Shifting again, he parted my pussy lips, and his tongue replaced his finger.

  “Oh god!” There she was again, the wanton little creature who begged for his touch. I arched when even the light touch of his lapping tongue set the dull inner ache throbbing.

  Empty—my cramping pussy muscles, weak after our last encounter, gripped in frustration over nothing. A deep, soothing rumble emanated from his chest as his wicked tongue thrust inside the entrance to my pussy, lapping at the slick before sliding up and circling my clit.

  Nerves that had never fully quieted flared to instant life. He carefully licked around the most sensitive bundle that throbbed in heated anticipation. My legs fell further apart. I was hot, no, I was burning.

  Our combined scents rose, saturating the air. His scent, my scent—they swirled around like mystic dancers as my fingers clawed at the crisp white bedsheets. His lips and tongue left no part of me unexplored—except that place.

  My breath became a pant. I could feel the walls rising, the flush sweeping over my body, the sweet heady anticipation of dropping over that cliff.

  He stopped.

  I could not assimilate why he had stopped. Then I did, and such murderous thoughts consumed me, I wondered that the sheer will of it did not render him dead.

  His mouth crashed over mine while I was submerged in the darkness of denial. I opened to it, delirious with my need, tasting myself and him. He kissed my mouth like he had kissed my pussy—he devoured it, exploring it completely until the ache between my legs rose to a roar.

  I lost myself in the kiss, and in him.

  Then, once again, he stopped.

  “You need my cum, Pet.” Rolling onto his back, he pulled me over him.

  My eyes alighted on the straining length of his cock with a thin, sticky strand of pre-cum that connected to firm abdominal ridges. But need consumed me again, and my small hand encircled the thick length.

  I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t go through this again.

  “Do as your master tells you, love.”

  I met his steady gaze seeing not a hint of humor. “Master? You’re not my master.” My hand moved of its own accord, pumping the thick, silken flesh that my body was craving.

  “I think you’re mistaken, Pet.”

  Now, he was definitely amused, and I wished I could make myself release him and walk out of the door. “Are you going to collar me?” What was wrong with me? Why would I even ask him that?

  “Do you want me to?” That voice would be my undoing, smooth and deep. He could be talking about the weather, and I swear it could make my pussy weep.

  “No,” I replied, but my delay in answering was telling. His cock was leaking over my hand, and the scent was hampering my thought process.

  “Then I won’t,” he said easily. “Not until you beg.”

  My eyes snapped up, and my hand stilled. He didn’t even seem concerned. “Are you delusion
al? I’ll never beg.” Only I wasn’t so sure of this. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

  “I think you’ll be surprised, love.” The endearment rolled easily off his tongue. How many of the willowy Betas had he called love? How many had begged him for a collar?

  “It’s not right,” I said softly, but my lashes had lowered, and I was staring at his thick cock jerking within my fingers.

  “I do a lot of things that aren’t right,” he said, his big hands skimming oh so lightly over my thighs until they gently cupped my ass. “And it hasn’t stopped me yet.”

  The words barely registered since my body had taken over. I tried to sit on his cock, but my memory did not fully recall the thickness. My legs shook, and a cold sweat broke out over my skin. A frustrated sob burst from my lips when my sore pussy would not yield.

  As I convinced myself I could not take him without further damage, it slid slowly in until I could feel every inch.

  My hands petted his firm abs as my eyes drifted closed. How was it possible for something to hurt and feel good in the same heartbeat? My hips made a slow circle before I lifted up and down.

  No, it didn’t hurt, not really. It felt good, like I had found my missing piece.

  And so began my torment.

  My first climax arrived quickly. I had been holding onto the edge, and the thick cock sliding in and out, coupled with Lucian's rich scent, sent my pussy straight into sweet spasms.

  The sounds leaving my throat were those of a beast.

  I didn’t care, and after, I felt inexplicably worse—he hadn’t come, I realized.

  I also discovered that the man had an iron will, and no amount of pleading, coaxing, and uninhibited fucking—the likes of which I did not know myself to be capable of—would see him yield. I bounced, rocked, rode, and gyrated my hips like I had been trained to do so. Lifted myself to climax over and over until slick coated my thighs, trickled down his cock, and saturated the crisp white bedding.