Aric: The Boundarylands

by Callie Rhodes

  Jocelyn blanched, frozen in shock—everywhere but deep in her belly, where a traitorous, languid warmth bloomed.

  It felt way, way too much like desire, though it had been a long time since Jocelyn had had so much as a first date. Nearly two years since she'd had sex, which had been disappointing enough—a brief affair with the man who fixed the copier—that she didn't miss it.

  She really didn't want to be attracted to the alpha. Not when she'd felt the first stirrings last night, and definitely not now. But it seemed her body didn't care what her rational mind wanted. Its only goal was to feel more of that soft buzzing sensation that lit up her nerve endings every time he spoke in that low, purring voice.

  Jocelyn made a mighty effort to get ahold of herself. This alpha was talking like she was a prisoner. He'd called her his captive, for God's sake. And all because she'd made one tiny mistake and mixed up an address.

  Maybe the alpha was unhinged. Maybe he was simply a bully. But if she didn't do something quickly, he had the power to hurt her in ways that would make John and the mobsters he worked for seem merciful.

  "Okay, okay," Jocelyn said, thinking fast. "I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this, but since you don't care about the money, maybe you should take a look at what's underneath the cash in the bag."

  The alpha regarded her skeptically. "There's nothing else in the bag."

  He couldn't know that for certain…could he? Jocelyn doubled down on the gambit. "Just take a look."

  Without taking his eyes off her, he looped the toe of his boot through the strap and tried to use it to lift the bag—but the heavy cash made the movement awkward. With an aggrieved sigh, he bent down to pick it up.

  It was the moment Jocelyn had been waiting for, her body tensed and ready. She bolted toward the door.

  She was fast—she had set a state record for the 400-meter dash in high school—but she wasn't fast enough.

  Her hand was on the doorknob when a massive arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her clean off the ground. Jocelyn struggled, twisting her body and striking out with her hands, but that only caused the alpha to fold his other arm around her, immobilizing her. Her back pressed against his chest, his hard muscle unforgiving. His breath on the back of her neck was warm and even, letting her know that stopping her had taken almost no effort at all.

  Instinctively, Jocelyn opened her mouth to scream …but what came out was a soft sigh as her body melted into the heat radiating from the alpha's body.

  Confusion slashed through her muddled thoughts, quickly drowned out by more of the pleasurable, melting feeling. It made no sense. At some base instinctive level, Jocelyn could understand being attracted to the alpha's undeniably magnificent body. But civilized people mastered their instincts, something she'd never had trouble doing before.

  Something was wrong.

  Terribly wrong.

  As the seconds ticked back, Jocelyn gave her body orders that it refused to follow. Instead of clenching to fight, her hands slowly stroked his rigid forearms. Instead of arching in defiance, her back rubbed against his chest…and soon her ass was grinding against the huge, hard bulge of his groin.

  But it wasn't until a searing gush of wet warmth seeped down her legs that Jocelyn stopped pretending she would somehow get out of this trouble.

  "Oh God, yes," the alpha growled against her ear, his body tensing. "I knew you were something special. I fucking knew it."

  Jocelyn had just enough presence of mind left to shake her head in an attempt to deny what her body already recognized as the truth.

  "An omega," he roared. "And you're all mine."

  Chapter Seven

  "All mine."

  It felt unbelievably good to roar, to fill the bedroom with his voice so it echoed all around them and shook the walls and floors. This was Aric's territory, his sacred domain, and in it he had trapped an omega. Now they were going to do what alphas and omegas were meant to do, what they did best.

  They were going to fuck so hard and so long that neither of them would ever forget it.

  Aric filled his lungs to capacity with Jo's scent. It was shifting with every passing second, becoming richer, more vibrant, and more alive as her nature took over, changing not just her physiology but also her emotions and mind. All were becoming stronger, more complex—and the bond between them was as well.

  Aric felt his body react to every infinitesimal shift in Jo with one of his own. His blood surged; his cock swelled; his nerve endings buzzed with anticipation. Every thought that was not about this woman and this moment evaporated from his mind. Every one of his senses locked only on her. Outside there could be storms, tsunamis, asteroids hurtling toward earth, and Aric wouldn't notice.

  Earlier, he'd been content to play her game of cat and mouse. He was more than happy to chase and trap and stalk if that's what got his beta whore trespasser off.

  But now everything had changed. Aric wasn't toying with some beta intruder anymore. This wasn't lighthearted sex play. In fact, it was about as far from lighthearted as anything could be. His entire heart, body, soul were invested in taking the omega before him. Since the first alpha walked the earth, there was no more powerful instinct, no more urgent purpose, than the need catching fire inside him.

  Nonetheless, Aric clung to a few strands of reason. He might not care what happened outside this room. But inside, everything had come into laser focus.

  Jo was an omega. It was why he'd wanted her so badly from the start, the reason he couldn't get her out of his head. Why he'd been so disappointed to have to settle for Courtney instead.

  But that wasn't even the most important thing: this ravishing creature grinding up against him as though she was trying to will his cock inside her—she was his omega. His and his alone. Made for him. Destined for him.

  Aric wasn't one to dwell on things he couldn't touch or see. He didn't think much about the past or the future. And he'd never spent time pining for a mate like he'd seem some alphas do, the ones who would trade an arm to cross paths with an unclaimed omega. In fact, Aric had been around half a dozen omegas who'd come to live in the Boundarylands and hadn't felt more than a passing envy of his brothers who got to go home to a warm and welcoming pussy every night.

  But now he saw that he'd completely misunderstood. The omega in his arms wasn't merely some vessel for him to enjoy whenever he felt like it.

  She was his fate.

  Aric let out another primal roar, grabbing her hips and pulling that sweet round ass against his raging erection, the fragrance of her slick driving him wild.

  But the roar of possession did not have the effect he'd hoped for on his omega. Oh, her slender body instinctively knew what to do: she ground harder; the slick gushed from her, drenching them both. Her hands clawed at his, urging him on. Her heart pounded against his chest; her breath quickened. She wanted more. She needed more.

  But that powerful instinct was overshadowed by the turmoil inside her head. Underneath her desire, Aric sensed the same mix of fear and shock and dismay that had been there all along. The same desperation that had driven her to Evander's Bar.

  The overwhelming impulse to run, and the horror of realizing she couldn't.

  And she didn't even understand that it wasn't Aric's arms around her that held her captive. Her body was reacting to a truth she wasn't yet ready to admit.

  She was already his.

  "Let go," the alpha growled against Jocelyn's ear.

  She shuddered at the sensation of his voice traveling through her body, his breath waking up every nerve in her neck.

  Somehow, Jocelyn knew he wasn't talking about her hands, which she'd clamped on top of his in an attempt to rub against him as hard as humanly possible. Underneath her fingers, the feel of his forearm muscles flexing, the warmth of his skin, made it impossible to stop touching him.

  But that wasn't what he wanted. What he was ordering her to do.

  Somehow, this alpha had gotten into her mind and worked some sort of alchemy,
because she was desperate to tear off his clothes and take that huge cock.

  God, had she really just had that thought? More proof that he was controlling her mind—and he wanted her to let go even more?

  Jocelyn tried to shake her head, but even that seemed to be beyond her abilities. Resisting his mind control was taking everything she had.

  "No!" she screamed—at least, she tried to scream. But all that came out was a whisper.

  "I'm not asking, Jo." Another growl low against her ear, this one leaving even less room for debate. Goosebumps rose up along her arms in some animalistic response. "Let go."

  "I don't want this," she managed to stammer, even as she did nothing to free herself from his embrace.

  "Yes, you do."

  To prove his point, the alpha dipped a hand under her dress between her legs, his fingers slowly and deliberately dragging up her thighs through the river of slick that coated them. Jocelyn convulsed involuntarily, trembling in anticipation of the moment when his explorations reached the crux of her legs.

  But he stopped inches away, making Jocelyn mewl in frustration. She tried to wiggle closer to his fingertips, but he held her firmly in place with one arm while he brought his slick-drenched fingers inches from her face, forcing her to witness the glistening proof of her arousal.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, but the image was etched on her brain.

  A small, foreign sound escaped her throat. Was it a cry for help? A moan of desire? At this point, Jocelyn really had no idea.

  The alpha hoisted her higher in his arms, blessedly lifting her backside above the swell of his cock. He held her in an embrace that might have been almost chaste, his cheek pressed against hers, rough stubble mixed with the scent of aged oak and whiskey—if not for the words he repeated.

  "Yes. You do."

  Jocelyn shook her head emphatically. "That's just my body. It's not me."

  He gave a rough laugh. "You think there's a difference?"

  "Of course there is." She wasn't an animal, no matter what he wanted her to think. And neither was he, despite the way he was behaving. Alphas were human. They had souls. They could rise above their urges and instincts, just like anyone else.

  Except…Jocelyn could no sooner regain her will in this moment than she could fly. And he knew it.

  "You're wrong."

  Anger sputtered to life, cutting through the morass of fear and dread. "I'm not like you," she spat. "I'm not just some—some rutting beast. I'm a thinking, intelligent woman."

  The alpha's next growl had a dangerous edge, making Jocelyn fear she'd gone too far.

  But what else was she supposed to do? Reason hadn't worked. Neither had begging. And something terrifying was happening inside her, something she couldn't stop. It was as if she was being split into two halves—one primal and one civilized.

  And there was no doubt which was in control.

  "You're an omega now," the alpha said, taking a single huge stride, and, just like that, she found herself on her back in his bed looking up at him. "That means you're mine, and I'm going to prove it to you."

  Jocelyn cowered in the same nest of soft blankets and pillows in which she'd been blissfully resting only moments ago. The alpha hadn't hurt her. He hadn't forced her to do anything. But the look on his face was both predatory and possessive—and it made her body thrum with exquisite energy. Yes, it was telegraphing—yes, yes, YES.

  The alarm in her brain was muffled, as though its battery needed changing. She was in exactly the same spot as when she first woke up: a strange alpha was staring down at her, not touching her, not hurting her. But somehow everything had changed.

  Jocelyn gazed into his eyes, noticing the flecks of pale shimmering silver in the coal-colored irises. She had never seen eyes like that. They didn't seem capable of humor, but there was nothing funny about this moment. They promised no mercy, no compromise, no forgiveness—they promised something she didn't fully understand. But for some reason, she felt her emotions shift. Her fear morphed into something else, something dark and needful and unfamiliar.

  Jocelyn wouldn't have been surprised if her body had begun to move independently of her mind, but she managed to remain still and rigid, eyeing the door. She would give anything not to have to face this moment, to go back and change all she'd done in the last twenty-four hours.

  "Please," she tried one last time. "I just want to go home."

  The alpha's expression didn't change. Instead, he pulled his shirt up and over his head, exposing a broad, muscular chest covered in black hair and faint scars. He tossed the shirt in the corner but made no further move toward her.

  "You are home."

  "No," she gasped, but her hands involuntarily clenched the soft, downy covers, and to her mortification, her hips lifted off the bed, straining for his touch. "My real home."

  "Your real home," he echoed with a dismissive snort. "Is that like your real job? Or your real name?"

  "Please," she whispered, but he was done arguing. He lowered himself onto the bed, straddling her, moving inch by inch up the bed on hands and knees until his massive body was directly above hers.

  "Or is it like your real intentions?" he mocked her. "Seriously, help me out here. Because you're throwing some very mixed signals. If you want to leave, go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

  And he wasn't. Though his hands and knees were planted on either side of her, she could easily slip out from under him. He wasn't even touching her.

  Even worse, Jocelyn believed him. This alpha was a man of his word—she was as certain of that as she was of her own name.

  Frustration swelled inside her, and she leaned gratefully into it. Anger was so much easier to deal with than fear and uncertainty and everything else in her head.

  "I am not your fucking omega!" she shouted.

  The bastard didn't so much as blink. "I just told you to go ahead and leave. I won't stop you. Just get up and go."

  Jocelyn tried…she tried so fucking hard. But she couldn't do it. Her body absolutely refused to budge.

  No. That wasn't entirely true.

  Her body wouldn't move for her—but it had its own treacherous designs. As Jocelyn gritted her teeth and sent signals to her legs to run, her hands reached up instead and began to stroke his chest, her palms sliding over against an irresistible mix of hard muscle and warm, silky skin.

  Then her knees opened of their own volition, and she watched her legs wrap around his waist. "This is cruel," she cried.

  "No." He didn't react to her legs encircling him, other than to lean down and hiss against her neck. "This is nature. Stop fighting, and you'll see how fucking right it is."

  Jocelyn's hips began to grind up against him; her heels pulled him closer. Through the soaked lace of her panties, she felt the hard outline of his shaft. She shifted so the bulge grazed against her clit, eliciting a sharp gasp of pleasure.

  "That's right," he murmured.

  No—it wasn't right, not at all. Jocelyn's conscious mind rebelled at the satisfaction in his voice even as more slick poured from her pussy. Even as she pulled him closer, she slapped his chest ineffectively.

  "You're a bastard, and I hate you!"

  The alpha held her gaze while he reached down and tore her panties free, exposing her wet, aching pussy to the air.

  "If that's all it takes to make you hate me," he muttered, "then what I'm about to do will make you fucking loathe me.”

  Chapter Eight

  The slick pouring from Jo's pussy and soaking Aric's bed was making his head swim, its scent changing him every bit as much as it was changing her.

  It brought to mind his own transition so long ago, back when he'd lacked the maturity to fully understand the jolting sensations. It had felt as if some supernatural force was changing his DNA while his mind had been kicked into overdrive. But unlike that day, everything about being in this new omega's orbit was pleasure and need…and the overwhelming urge to fucking own her.

  Aric needed to taste her—
right now. Since the moment he realized Jo was an omega, he'd been planning to slowly seduce her mind…but he didn't think he could hold out that long.

  Every cell of his being urged him to dive deep inside her and never return. To take her completely—body, mind, and soul—and leave no part of her untouched or unpleasured. It wasn't that Aric wanted to have sex with her—he needed to. And the longer he held out, the more urgent that need became.

  Did Jo feel the same?

  The way she'd writhed against him, the slick gushing from her, signaled that she did. That her body was on fire just like his own. That trying to hold back was as painful for her as it was for him.

  He had a feeling that if he did nothing at all, he'd still end up fucking her—it seemed inevitable from the way she writhed and ground against him more and more urgently, searching for the only thing that could give her release.

  And still her mind got in the way. Not that it could stop the release she craved—but Aric feared it had the power to rob the moment of its joy. He had never known a person so detached from her physical self, not even during his adolescence back in the beta world.

  But Aric had a feeling that he could bring this omega's two sides together and give the whole—give Jo—what she needed.

  He'd already witnessed the crack in her defenses after just a tiny taste of pleasure. The more he pushed those boundaries, overwhelming them with sensation, the sooner they'd crumble completely.

  Jo might hate him for it—at first.

  But when she felt the sweet release that only an omega could achieve, when she understood how high she could take her and how completely she could trust him to be there when she exploded, she would understand.

  That this was the only way. That they were meant for this, and this alone.

  Aric freed himself, disentangling himself from her arms and legs while ignoring her whimpers of protest, and slid down her body. He shoved the dark, soft fabric of her dress up over her hips until it was bunched up around her waist. Her panties were already gone—he'd made sure of that—and he pushed her legs open roughly and stared, his mouth watering.