by L. V. Lane
He handed me the note back.
“Yes, I’m struggling to accept any dynamic, even a cold-blooded Theta, would associate with an abomination like Salvation.”
Salvation, surely there was no more ironic name for a terrorist group. I might have laughed had they not held such a brutal reputation. As far as I could tell, their interest was money and power. They acted as a go-between, trafficking dynamic victims, information, and anything else the Uncorrupted were willing to pay for. Tsing had an end game I was sure. I had yet to work out what it was. But I couldn’t imagine him desiring to aid the Uncorrupted unless it had significant personal payback
He was already wealthy, had the prestige of the program all to himself, and I had uncovered nothing to suggest either of those two commodities were under threat.
Checking the tracker, I frowned. “Her tracker shows she’s still in this room.”
Ryker’s head snapped up.
Long seconds passed as we stared at one another.
“You think she’d run?” Ryker asked.
The pain that ripped through me was raw, and malevolent, and possessed a life of its own. “No.”
His face said he wasn’t convinced.
“But she’s scared,” Ryker said. “About going into heat, and scared people do stupid things.”
“She wouldn’t fucking run. If the dead lump that tries to beat in your chest didn’t feel a connection last night, then you best get the fuck out of my way.”
He swiped a hand down his face. “I was only asking. Maybe she’s sitting at her desk right now, and we’re worrying over nothing.”
I pinned him with a glare as I stalked past him for the closet. “Something is wrong. I don’t know what yet.” My chest, the place where I had felt her so briefly, gave me absolutely nothing.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Ryker said slowly, following me into the bedroom.
“Call the research center,” I snapped. “And check where the fuck she is.”
Nodding, he disappeared back into the lounge.
Putting her note on the wide, central bench, I threw on my clothes and shoved my feet into my boots. Once dressed, I collected her note and tucked it in my pocket. There I stood, motionless in the huge walk-in closet that could have easily been used as a bedroom. I’d had my things sent over before I arrived on Chimera, and I took satisfaction in seeing my clothes beside Lilly’s. Ryker had put some of his shit in here too—to piss me off I was sure. I’d never envisioned myself sharing an Omega, and I doubted it would ever be natural to me.
Not that I had any fucking choice since Ryker was hell-bent on pushing me at every opportunity.
Any other Alpha would have backed the fuck away—not Ryker. The twisted bastard saw my resistance as a new and interesting challenge.
I wished Ryker’s bullshit was still my greatest concern.
My fingers were shaking. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I clenched and relaxed them, but they still fucking shook. In the background, I could hear the low drone of Ryker’s voice but nothing of the words.
I was overreacting. Any minute now, Ryker would return, chuckling about her misdeeds. He would head over to the research center and discipline her—probably fuck her as well. Not that I could blame him.
And I would head off for another day chasing leads for information on Tsing.
I’d rather have Ryker’s job…but I was far better at navigating the less scrupulous parts of society…and they had been the ones giving me answers.
I heard Ryker’s footsteps approaching from behind. Notably, there was no laughter, and I knew that I wasn’t going to like the news.
He didn’t say anything, and I steeled myself to turn.
“Gone,” he said. “Not at the lab or her office. And an hour-long chunk of the building’s surveillance feed is missing…Do you think she did it?”
I shook my head in warning.
He gave an exaggerated sigh like he was pitying my denial. “Fine,” he said. “What are we going to do?”
“Talk to Tsing. She left for her meeting with him. Find out if they met.”
“And what if he doesn’t say? What if he denies all knowledge? We don’t know whether he’s involved in this. She was supposed to have a meeting with him, but that doesn’t mean anything. Fuck, she could have been planning this for weeks.”
I had fisted his collar and slammed him against the closet wall before I realized my intention. “I know what you’re trying to do. Stop it.”
“She left,” he snapped, unconcerned by my hold. “Of her own volition. No one came in here and dragged her out. I don’t know why she would sneak off. But she did, and you need to acknowledge that.”
He was right, and the realization hit me harder than a punch in the gut.
I loosened my hold, and he shook me off with a jerk.
“Whatever her fucking reasons, she left. Maybe it was a cute little fucking game.” He rubbed absently at the center of his chest. “Fucked if I know. I don’t want to believe she would leave us. I’m not good at this feeling shit, but that doesn’t feel right. But whatever her fucking game is, she still left this room without telling either of us—her note doesn’t count—and that left her exposed to this threat. Either way, she wasn’t controlled. You know the fucking laws. If we don’t get her back quickly. If we don’t handle this quickly. They will give her to someone else.”
He was right. And I hated that he was right. That he was reading the situation more clearly than I was, escalated my volatile mood. “Do we have Tsing’s whereabouts?”
“I’ll check,” he said.
He left. My feet were supposed to be moving to follow him, but they refused to cooperate.
She isn’t at the research center, and the building surveillance has been erased. There was no good to be found in this scenario, and other than talking to Tsing and Merry, I didn’t have a clue where to start. There were wider surveillance options, but anyone going to the trouble of removing it from our building would have covered the other bases. I intended to check, but I wasn’t hopeful.
Could it be Lilly? Could she have planned this?
No, I couldn’t let myself believe that. The thought of Lilly being prey to a scheme brought cold clarity to my spiraling thoughts. She was going to be found, and her subsequent punishment would make the belt episode seem sublime.
And if she had chosen to leave, I would still find her, but the fallout would be worse.
“At his home, according to Lucian’s tech-guru guy,” Ryker said from the doorway. “No way could he have met Lilly at the research center and be home again. There hasn’t been enough time.”
“We’ll need to call her father,” he added, voicing my own dread.
“Not yet,” I replied. Staring at my hands, I noticed they weren’t shaking anymore. “Let’s see what we can uncover first.”
CHAPTER THREE
RIDOUS WAS A highly populous, core planet, and it was Eloise’s regular home between operations.
It was now our regular home.
Her apartment was small, but tasteful, with clean earth tones and minimalistic furnishings. A tiny kitchen facility to the left, while a wide couch faced the entertainment viewer on the right. Opposite the entrance, was a small nook with a giant easy chair where she liked to read. A multi-purpose table with four chairs could be used as a desk or for dining, and sat before a window offering city views.
Eloise didn’t like clutter; too much opportunity for things to gather impressions, which could overload her sensitive psychic mind.
Her allocated place was nice, better than they gave to soldiers, anyway.
Not that I was complaining, far from it. There was a time when I thought I would have to flee the Empire and fancy apartments and live a life on the run to keep her safe.
Thankfully, it hadn’t come down to that, but I’d do whatever I needed to protect her in a heartbeat.
We’d been back from an operation for three days, and I’d been keeping her naked and well
fucked.
She had just taken a nap, and although she must have had a shower, there was a sleepy, mussed-up aspect to her demeanor when she emerged from the bedroom—dressed in my shirt. I inhaled slowly and deeply, drawing her rich scent into my lungs.
“I can’t get hold of Doctor Brach,” she said, a small frown on her brow.
“That’s nothing unusual, baby.” When I crooked my finger at her, she padded over, and as I pushed my chair back from the table, she settled on my lap.
She fidgeted a little. There had been a time when her beautiful face would have flushed at the instruction to sit on my lap. But she was getting used to me—some.
Eloise was about to come into heat, which she didn’t think I knew about, so I was guessing this might have been the source of her angst. “You two talk a lot lately. What’s that about?”
“We just like to talk,” she said a little frostily, but the frown remained, and her expressive eyes had turned gray. “I think there’s something wrong—I need to speak to her.”
This anxiety shit had to stop. I was her Alpha, and there was nothing Doctor Brach could help her with that I didn’t already fucking know. “What about?”
I put a finger under her chin, and when she lifted her eyes, they were still pale and gray.
“I’m just—concerned.”
Bullshit, she was worried about her first non-medicated heat. “I should go ahead and knot you,” I said. “It will be easier on you if I do.”
Her cheeks flushed, and her gray eyes turned a deep shade of violet. A part of me liked the fact that I could still make her blush, but I could see she was upset about not talking to the doctor, and I needed to take control.
“Take your clothes off, Eloise, and bend over the chair.” I nudged the chair opposite where I sat at the table with my booted foot.
I bit back a smirk at her shocked gasp. Didn’t matter how many times we did this, she still reacted the same. I admit, I took a certain amount of pride in keeping her off balance. She’d been spanked good and hard this morning and probably thought we were done for the day.
Not even close.
“Baby, you’re supposed to move when I tell you to do something,” I said.
With a sudden jerk, she hopped off my lap. She would be running in the other direction if she knew what I was trying not to think about. Hiding my nefarious thoughts from Eloise was an art. She was a psychic and a sensitive one, so I’d gotten creative when it came to keeping my intentions under wraps.
“I—I’m not sure this is the best time. I really need to talk to Lilly!”
I loved hearing the soft hesitation in her voice, and her little stammered attempts at deflection. She was aroused; both her scent and eye color told me so.
“Stand here.” I pointed at the space in front of me, and she got into position. “Put your hands on the seat to brace yourself.”
She probably thought this was going to be a light spanking before I fucked her. We did that sometimes. I liked warming her ass up and stoking her arousal.
“Good girl.” As I stood, I rested my hand on the nape of her neck—she was so tiny my hand completely engulfed the delicate column. I stroked my thumb up the side of her throat before giving a gentle squeeze. Her soft moan brought a smile to my lips.
“Open your legs,” I said softly, giving her hip a tap.
A needy little whimper accompanied her widening her stance. My Omega was a pain junkie, and she took pleasure from her discipline time.
I gave her a moment to come to terms with what was about to happen—well, part of it. The spanking was going to be the least of her concerns. She shivered as I ran my hand over the soft, round flesh of her ass. “How long until you come into heat?”
“I—I’m not sure, exactly. I might need to check. It’s not always regular.” Her bullshit answer brought out my worst.
I smacked her ass hard with my hand, and she squealed in protest. She probably thought I didn’t know. Was probably hoping that I would be called away. I knew she was frightened about the heat…and my knot.
“How many days?” I smacked again, harder.
“I—I don’t know.”
I smacked harder still. “You need to answer the question, baby.”
“Two days!”
“Good girl.” Smiling, I cupped her flushed ass cheek. “That wasn’t so hard now was it? I think someone has been very devious, trying to hide what was coming to me.” She whined and fidgeted. “Did you forget that they gave me a report on you? All kinds of interesting details. I have no operations for the next three weeks. Nothing to interrupt me from seeing my Omega through her first non-medicated heat. Your scent is changing. I know you can’t tell much yourself, but they assure me your sense of smell will improve the closer we get.”
“I’m frightened.” Her soft voice reached straight into my chest and wrapped around my heart.
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I need to prepare you. Your body will change. And sometimes, when the heat is close, it’s possible to help it along.” It was possible to force a heat even when it wasn’t close, but she didn’t need to know about that.
She had a very infrequent heat, according to the report. I'd been waiting for this to come around.
“I can feel myself changing, too. I can’t wait to rut you through your heat. I’ll take good care of you. Fuck you nice and hard like you’ll need.”
A light tremble suffused her body as I fingered her pussy, keeping my touch purposefully light.
I couldn’t wait to see how she would react—I liked the thought of her making demands. “I’m going to need to open you up first, though.” A single finger began to sink into her wet heat. “You’re still too fucking tight.” Pumping lightly, I got my second finger in. “I don’t want to tear you with my knot.”
Her pussy clamped down on my fingers. “No—I’m not ready!”
Images of her writhing in rapturous pleasure while her pussy was stretched obscenely around the thick swelling flashed through my mind, and her pussy gushed as I forced another finger in. “Are you shielding yourself, Eloise? I’ve got some pretty depraved thoughts going through my mind, and I think you’re picking them up.”
“You know I am!”
I grinned. Yes, I did. “Hush.” Withdrawing my fingers, I slapped her ass hard enough to elicit a little squeal. “It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re prepared. You haven’t even touched your nest. You’ll need one ready before you go into heat. And a little preparation now will settle you.” I’d seen her eyeing the nesting materials in the closet when she didn’t think I was watching. She was trying not to show interest because she was hoping I was about to be deployed.
She was interested, though.
I liked the thought of her putting everything in place—and then fucking her in it. I’d ordered the softest cushions, pillows, and blankets I could find. I couldn’t wait to see where she would make it.
For her to present.
“I’m going to spank you now until your bottom is red and sore. Then I’m going to fuck you from behind because we both know I can go extra deep when I take you like that. My cock is going to get bigger when I go into rut, and my knot is going to stretch your little pussy. If I prepare you now, it will ease you into it.”
“No!”
The sweet scent of gathering slick spoke of her impending heat. I tightened my hold on her hips when she tried to jerk away and gave her a couple of sharp smacks until she stilled again. “Baby, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. You’ve been controlled long enough to know how it works. I’m going to spank you. Then I’m going to fuck you however I see fit, and you’re going to take it like a good girl. Or you can be misbehave, and I’ll still fuck you, only it will be rougher.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean prepare me?”
“Give me your eyes, Eloise.” Leaning over, I caught her chin, turning her to face me so I could see her eyes. “Baby, you’re so innocent, and I don’t know how
that’s possible after all the ways I’ve fucked you.” I rubbed a thumb over her soft cheek. “Brace yourself.”
I didn’t give her more than a moment before I began.
Her plump little ass turned red quickly, and my cock was soon throbbing in appreciation. It was a hard position for her to hold, and when her legs began to shake uncontrollably, I clasped her around the waist, sinking to my knees, taking her with me onto the soft rug. “Good girl.” I stroked her hair. “Get on your hands and knees for me. That’s right. Open your legs wider and push your ass up.” I helped her get into position, cupping her plump tits and pinching her nipples while she fussed. Trailing kisses over her shoulder and down her back until I reached the hot skin of her ass and kissed the sting away.
My hands trembled as I skimmed over her beautiful naked body. I twisted one nipple while I pumped a single finger in and out. “Nice and wet and ready for my cock.”
“Please!” She pushed back onto my finger, trying to get it deeper.
I took my hand away.
“Stay still,” I growled.
I took my time stripping my clothes off, admiring the vision of her on her hands and knees, waiting for my cock.
Worrying about my knot.
As I came over her, I held her still so I could feed my cock into her pussy. She was so fucking tiny. I growled as I watched her pussy swallow my thick cock, enveloping the length in her silky, wet sheath. “Good girl. Open up for me and let my cock in.” I readjusted my fingers on her hips, pulling her ass cheeks apart so I could better see where she was split around my cock. “That’s it.” Her inner muscles fluttered wildly, and I gave her time to get used to the sensation of being open.
A low, growl emanated from my chest as I imagined how it would feel when I knotted her. “I’m going to fuck you now.”
CHAPTER FOUR
I REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS in iterations, a slow unfurling of awareness that was more like unraveling a puzzle than waking up. I tried to sit, but regretted doing so when a wave of nausea swept through me.