Fuck, she had a pretty pussy…all pink and plump and wet and glistening, with folds like flower petals opening to the sun. No: opening to him—to her alpha.
Flattening his palms against the smooth skin of her inner thighs, Aric pushed them further apart, so there was no way for her to hide any part of herself.
"Show me," he ordered her. "Use your hands and let me see all of it. Show me how you want me."
For a moment, she did nothing. The war between her head and her body had come to an impasse. So Aric joined the fight.
It didn't take much. All he had to do was clasp her hands and pull them down to her opening. They knew what to do from there.
Sure enough, her delicate fingers found her mound and parted herself for him. She teased her folds apart, catching her breath as she flicked her clit with her own thumb.
She gasped, as much in surprise as in pleasure.
Aric forced himself not to revel in triumph as her emotions began to shift, becoming more complex. More curious.
Her body was not what it was a day ago. It had been awakened to a new language, new abilities, and new responses that she could not even imagine.
But he couldn't wait any longer.
He tightened his fingers around Jo's thighs at precisely the same moment that he lowered his mouth to her pussy. Sweet slick coated his tongue as Jo cried out, plunging her fingers into his hair to hold him there.
Yes. That's what he fucking wanted to hear—the sounds of need and release, not more evasion and excuses.
He traced his tongue lightly—so lightly—along the length of her inner lips, retreating when she bucked against him, teasing her to a frantic state. Only when she was begging and keening did he stroke—just once—the tight bud of her clit.
One flick was all it took for her thighs to convulse under his palms. Aric gave a growl of satisfaction. Fate might have sent him an argumentative little omega, but she more than made up for it with her responsiveness.
And her taste—sweeter than honey, more complex than his special reserve whiskey in his prized centuries-old casks.
Aric went back for another taste, memorizing her, marking her. And then another.
Eventually, it was time to stop tormenting her. He seized upon her clit, laving it with his warm, wet tongue. Jo pulled him against her by the hair, whipping her head back and forth on the pillow, thrashing and bucking. It was all he could do to hold on.
But he had a few tricks left.
Aric used one finger to trace her opening where moments ago his mouth had been. Slowly, gauging his progress by the way she slapped at him, urging him on, he slid one finger inside her, relishing the warmth of her pussy tightening around him.
"Oh God," she cried above him, and Aric couldn't help but grin at how quickly her curses had turned to prayers. As he stroked his fingertip back and forth against her inner walls, those prayers just kept on coming. "Oh God oh God oh God…"
Another finger teased her opening, gently stretching, gliding inside. She shuddered around him, her back arching in response, her pulse as rapid as a hummingbird's wings.
Fuck, yes. This is was what Aric had never known he was waiting for—to feel his omega come. To taste her. To drink her in. To drown in her.
And she was so close…so fucking close.
"Oh God, Aric!"
A low rumble started deep in his chest. His mouth stilled, as did his fingers, and then he pulled away.
Jo responded with a near-feral snarl of frustration, but Aric pressed a hand against her belly to keep her still as he took up a position next to her. Her eyes, hazy and confused, slowly came into focus.
"What?" she demanded hoarsely.
"You know my name?"
Jo blinked, reason slowly returning. "Y-yeah. Why is that—"
"How?" Aric kept his tone neutral, but warning bells were going off in his head.
"I…I…"
"How do you know my name?"
It was a simple question that should have had a simple answer, but instead, the scent of brewing deception rose from Jo's skin.
"One of the girls must have said it when we were in the parking lot," she said lightly, evading his gaze. "I probably heard it there."
"No." Aric shook his head with absolute certainty. In his omega's eyes, he might be nothing more than a rutting animal—but he was an animal with a very good memory. "No one said my name that night."
"Then…you probably said it this morning."
Aric inhaled the bitter scent of uneasiness feeding off dishonesty…and the return of fear. He swept Jo into his arms, settling her to his lap. She didn't resist—in fact, she settled into the protection of his body as if she'd been there a thousand times before, even as her eyes flared with defiance.
"I did not."
Jo tried to look away, but Aric stopped her, cupping the back of her head and forcing her to meet his gaze. She was never going to answer his question, Aric realized. Not unless he gave her no other choice.
He undid the fly of his pants, freeing his cock.
Jo's pupils widened as the tip brushed against her damp, silken cleft. She shuddered, then attempted to hold her body away, desperately trying to hold back another plea for release.
"Do you want this?" he demanded.
When she stubbornly refused to answer, Aric took her hand and wrapped it around his shaft, her fingertips barely meeting. She swallowed a breath, giving up her battle not to look, as her pulse begin to race again.
But she still didn't say a word.
"It'll fit so much better than my fingers, Jo. It's made for you—and you alone." Aric growled against her ear, enjoying the way she shivered when his lips brushed her skin. "Imagine what it would feel like inside you, the way it would fill you completely. How many times do you think you could come on a cock like mine?"
His little omega literally licked her lips—and that's when Aric knew he had her.
"You don't really want to stop now, do you, Jo?" he wheedled. "You're so close. You're almost fucking there, aren't you?"
She looked him square in the eye, her gaze almost as hungry as his.
But then the glint of defiance returned. "I hate you," she whispered.
"I know," Aric said smugly. "But you also need what only I can give you. So tell me how you know my name, and I'll stop this torture."
As she considered, biting her lip and holding herself rigidly above him, slick dripped from her onto his shaft—and Aric thought he might break. If this went on any longer, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back—he'd take her hard and long until they were both used up.
Maybe he ought to just give in. After all, it wasn't like she was going anywhere. There would be plenty of time to get the answer out of her later.
But Aric didn't want an explanation later—he wanted it now. His instincts told him the answer would take them further, higher, making release even sweeter. And so he forced himself to resist a little longer, his entire body raging against itself.
And a fraction of a second before his will broke, Jo's gave way.
With a final shudder, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the faint scent of what was left of her pride slipping away.
"I noticed you in front of the bar when we pulled into the bar parking lot," she whispered. "I asked Hannah who you were."
She'd noticed him.
She'd wanted him.
For all her fear, her stubbornness, her deception, she'd fucking felt it from the start too. Because this was fate. This was destiny.
A triumphant rumble turned into a ravenous howl as Aric seized Jo's hips. It was past time that he took what was his.
She didn't fight him as he positioned the opening of her hot cunt against the head of his cock and held her there. Instead, she wriggled and grabbed his shoulders, snarling like a wild animal.
Aric gave in and let her take him. Her thighs went rigid under his hands as she lowered herself onto his massive length, throwing her head back and digging her nails into his skin a
s he slowly glided inside.
When his cock was buried to the hilt, her voice joined his in a roar of victory.
"Oh God, Aric!"
That's right. This was fucking meant to be.
Chapter Nine
Coherent thought wasn't possible when Aric was inside her. His cock filled Jocelyn so completely that sensation and pleasure took up all the room in her brain and left no room for reason, regret, or misgiving.
All she could do was ride this tidal wave of feeling, letting go of every thought and emotion that wasn't him. Everything else had fallen away, evaporating like so much dew on a hot summer day. Fear and worry were gone, along with anger and resentment and even the mortification of admitting to Aric that she had been attracted to him from the start.
To think that only hours ago, she had barely been able to admit that to herself.
Later, she would have to explain to Aric that she wasn't accustomed to feeling primal attraction, and that she certainly never meant to act on it.
But that would have to wait.
At the moment, Jocelyn seemed capable of forming only three words—Oh…God…and Aric. They came, unbidden, over and over again—like a mantra, a prayer, as her body shook and trembled around him, doing things she'd never known it to be capable of. Her inner walls slowly eased to accept his massive shaft, then clenched and released, finding a shared rhythm as he began slowly easing out of her before delving back in.
Sweet mercy, it was too much.
Jocelyn had been with a handful of guys in her life. Maybe it had been her bad luck to end up with the inexperienced and uninspired, but she'd always received far more satisfaction from her vibrator than any man in her bed. In fact, she had never had an orgasm in the presence of a man, only when she was alone, unjudged and unobserved.
But next to Aric, even her favorite high-tech toy with its seven settings and thousands of five-star reviews was about as impressive as a rusty can opener—even though all he was doing was simple thrusting while gazing down into her eyes.
But Jocelyn knew it was that gaze that was taking her over the edge.
The sensation was incredible, yes, but if Jocelyn truly concentrated, she might have been able to compartmentalize it. To experience pleasure as simply the contact and friction between their bodies.
Even while writhing, even when she was achingly close to coming, she'd been able to keep a part of herself separate—enough so that when he'd demanded answers from her, she could still tell him to go to hell.
But that resolve had quickly disintegrated when he'd forced her to look into his eyes. It was as though he'd been gifted with some dark alchemy that obliterated her resistance when she looked at him. With each moment, she felt more and more of herself slipping away.
His stare somehow possessed her. It demanded everything from her—every last bit of her body and soul—and she gave without question.
The most astonishing part was that all she had to do was simply close her eyes and shut out the sight of him, and she could escape this alpha magic.
But she didn't want to.
When Jocelyn stared into Aric's eyes, she felt strangely calm. There was a promise of safety in his control. His power and strength meant she could set down her burden, all the toxic emotions that she'd been carrying since she'd run. Dread, panic, agony…all of it dissolved and washed away.
For the first time in her life, Jocelyn found herself believing that a man existed who wouldn't just fill and fuck her. A man who would protect her…cherish her…worship her.
The way she was feeling worshipped now.
With every exhalation, Aric advanced all the way inside her, only to draw back again. Slowly, Jocelyn felt the walls of her pussy adapting to his size, bathing him with slick over and over.
"That's right," he ground out through clenched teeth, never breaking his gaze for even a fraction of a second. "Let go. Give me what I want."
His massive hands gripped the curve of her waist, wadding the fabric of her dress, and she had the distant thought that it would be nice to rip off every shred of Aric's clothes and her own and spend the next few hours exploring every perfect inch of his body.
But she immediately abandoned the notion, unwilling to waste that kind of time when she was so close to getting what she needed…what every last part of her was screaming out for.
Jocelyn was so…damn…close, teetering on the edge of a blistering orgasm.
And somehow, Aric knew it. His thrusts became stronger and faster. His grip on her waist tightened. When her body's violent trembling became too much for Jocelyn, the alpha took over, moving her up and down his cock himself.
One last wave…up to the crest…and then Jocelyn shattered. Her vision blacked out and then burst into sparkles; sensation ripped from her very core outward through her body, taking complete control of every muscle and nerve. She cried out, gushing slick as the orgasm stretched on and on, shaking and wracking her body, testing its limits.
When the waves of pleasure finally receded, she was left ravaged, limp, struggling for breath.
But the predatory look in Aric's eyes was undimmed. If anything, it burned even brighter.
"That's what I do to you," he growled. "That's what you get when you're mine."
His words were like a brand searing into her skin, marking her forever.
Except…the tiny kernel of rebellion had not been extinguished. Jocelyn felt its presence even as she was robbed of her voice, her ability to protest. She wanted to tell Aric that she wasn't his. That she wasn't anyone's. And just because she was an omega—just because he'd ignited her nature—she refused to be beholden to him.
Jocelyn had had enough of giving over control of her life without a fight. She'd had enough of her choices being made by someone else. That was how she'd ended up working for a megalomaniacal criminal. That was how she'd nearly lost everything.
As soon as she woke up from this fever dream, she was grabbing her bag and running out the door and starting a new life somewhere far from alphas and lying hitman bosses and mafia dons.
Even though all she'd been able to do was whimper and shake her head, apparently it had been enough to get her point across. The alpha gave a low and terrifying growl that reverberated through the walls of the cabin. Then he flipped her onto the mattress, flat on her back.
Jocelyn didn't realize that Aric had been holding back until he started pounding her for real. She didn't realize she could feel desire again so quickly after coming until she met every one of his savage thrusts with an explosion of pure sensation.
She came again and again. Over and over, until every nerve in her body felt raw and exposed. Until every breath was a moan, every ounce of energy left in her body depleted by the violent onslaught of pleasure, only to replenish itself to come again. Her mind became fuzzy, and the edges of her vision blurred. She thought she might pass out. Eventually, all Jocelyn could do was repeat his name.
Aric. Aric… Aric.
But before she slipped into unconsciousness, Aric stiffened above her. A primal roar echoed all around her as a new pressure built inside her.
Jocelyn's eyes flew open, and she thought she might literally tear apart as the base of Aric's cock swelled inside her.
Oh God—his knot.
She'd forgotten all about the little fact of an alpha's knot. She'd never imagined in a million years that she would actually meet an alpha, let alone fuck one.
But she had—over and over, and now the inevitable was happening, too far along to stop it. Their bodies were locking together, Aric's massive knot forming inside her, filling her in a way she never could have imagined.
For a moment, panic seized Jocelyn, hot and electric. Like a child touching a hot stove, she tried to pull back, but it was impossible.
Even worse, struggling caused searing pain. When Jocelyn cried out now, it had nothing to do with pleasure.
Hearing her distress, Aric wrapped his arms tightly around Jocelyn and held her immobilized, his cock deep ins
ide her once again.
The pain receded instantly, but the fear didn't. She threw her arms around Aric's neck, desperate for comfort, for a touchstone, an anchor. She held herself still and rigid as he gave a ferocious roar and came deep inside her.
Wave after wave of hot seed filled her, and in the space of seconds, she ascended one last time to the peak, only to let go and fall with him, her cries mingling with his.
Still holding her, Aric twisted onto his back and cradled Jocelyn on top of him against his chest. She felt no pain, only the massive presence of his knot inside her, the warm melting feeling of his come. Her heart still hammered, but Aric held her close, the deep rumble of his breath like a calming purr against her ear.
Time passed—seconds, minutes, Jocelyn had no idea. Aric stroked her back, her hair, each touch like a healing promise as he murmured reassurance.
"It's all right. Relax and breathe. Don't be afraid. My body won't hurt yours. I promise."
Jocelyn wasn't sure why, but she believed him. Maybe it was the gentleness of his touch in contrast with the strength of his body, strength that could protect her and keep any harm from ever reaching her.
In this moment, it was almost possible to believe that such a fantasy could come true.
Slowly, Jocelyn's breathing steadied, her fists unclenched, and the tight coil of tension began to unwind inside her.
And as she relaxed, the knot inside her seemed to mold itself to her contours as if it was made for her. As if it was a lost piece of herself she'd been missing all her life.
"Just rest," Aric whispered against her ear, and without thinking, she obeyed. Both her mind and her body were far too exhausted to make sense of all that had happened between them.
In the farthest reaches of her mind, a frantic voice was trying to get her attention, reminding her she was still in danger, that John was still out there looking for her. Her survival instincts implored her to get up and run like hell for her car, to get away while she still had a chance.
Aric: The Boundarylands Page 6