by L. V. Lane
And they said I had no people skills! I didn’t love anyone so it was a bit of a mute threat in that respect, but I wasn’t keen on dying myself so I’d done as I was told. My palm had been itching to discipline her ass during the ten long days of transit, and then this morning, he had me hold her while he spanked her twice as hard as I ever would.
Listening to him fucking her all night was bad enough, but watching her perfect-peach ass turn red under his palm was a torment of the highest order. I would never have been that rough with her, but fuck it—it was game on now.
My thoughts must have been projecting because the younger, dark-haired Delta on the right growled at me.
What the fuck was his problem?
Ah…Grinning as I put two and two together, I winked at the fucker.
I thought he might have been about to jump up and kick my ass—well try it—when the inner door opened and my therapist, Abby, stepped out.
Short, pixie-cropped brown hair, huge blue eyes, and a little heart-shaped face…and the most disgustingly shapeless dress I’d ever seen. Fuck only knew where she got her dress sense from, but I’d never seen her wear anything else.
Both Deltas leaped to their feet.
Deltas did everything in twos, which always brought fucking to mind, but it seemed therapy was also part of the equation. And the little therapist was a Gamma, and Deltas had a weakness for a Gamma.
“Ryker is next,” Abby said, a small frown on her pretty face as it swung between me and the two Deltas. She pushed her glasses up her nose. No one wore glasses unless it was for eye protection, but she had a genetic defect and couldn’t see without them. She had been my therapist for the last three years, and questioning her was a great way to get out of talking about myself, so I knew a lot about her.
The two Deltas glared at me. Darker, tank-man looked like he was ready to storm over and strangle me. Serious, blond-guy gave his side-kick a warning glare.
“No prize for guessing who’s on top,” I said cheerfully.
They both growled.
“Ryker!” Abby snapped—she could be very assertive for a Gamma.
I chuckled, because poking at a territorial dynamic was both dangerous and fun, and I couldn’t help myself. “No need to get all growly guys, I’m actually here for the therapy.”
That took them aback, which gave me enough time to hustle Abby into the room and shut the door.
I had been seeing a therapist ever since my childhood testing revealed an…anomaly. I preferred anomaly over the other word. There were degrees to my anomaly, and the fact that they let me loose on the general population should be evidence of the gray, fuzzy nature of those degrees.
“Ryker, we’ve spoken about this before,” she said, sashaying her smock-covered ass over to her seat where she picked up her data tablet and began to tap away. There was a desk, but she had gone for the relaxed seating arrangement that consisted of two poppy-red sofas facing a central coffee table, positioned before a fake-window-viewer wall. The viewer showed Chimera’s cityscape and was a breath of normality in the lime-green room. She pointed at the sofa opposite when I didn’t immediately sit—then did a double-take.
“What…happened to you?” she asked, pushing her glasses up her nose again.
There was a heavy-assed gynecological examination chair in the corner. Someone had put a cover over it, but I knew it was a gynecologist’s chair because I had lifted it up for a peek last time I was here.
“I’m disappointed in you not noticing Ethan’s welcome home gift sooner,” I said. “I guess the Deltas weren’t the only ones distracted.” I imagined the two Deltas would have a good idea of what that was under the plastic sheeting in the corner, even if they weren’t bold enough to go over and check. I bet there was going to be a world of kinky fantasies heating up this room while they all tried not to make eye contact with it.
Her lips tightened, and her knuckles turned white around the data tablet. After three years, she was on to all my tricks, so I was impressed with myself for getting a rise. Must really have a thing for those Deltas! “Would you like to issue a complaint?” she asked.
“Complaint?” Her suggestion threw me a bit. “Against Ethan? Fuck no, I don’t want to issue a complaint. I had the best blowjob of my life because of these injuries. I should be thanking him!”
“Fine then, tell me about your last operation,” she said.
I swear the woman didn’t even blink.
“You know they want to fuck you, right?” I asked because I only had a thirty-minute slot and I thought I could fill a good portion of it on the fallout from the hulking Deltas who had clearly turned up early. “Both of them, because Deltas do everything in twos.”
“Was that you requesting to talk about your mother, Ryker?” she said sweetly, tapping away on her tablet with enough anger it was a wonder the screen hadn’t cracked.
“Nope, don’t think I was,” I said reasonably, before stabbing my thumb in the direction of the door. “Do you want me to give them a bit of a thumping for you? See how serious they are about this pursuit?”
“No, thank you, Ryker.”
She was so polite, even under stress. I couldn’t imagine how much my father must be paying her to put up with my shit.
Her eyes narrowed on the data tablet. “You have an unauthorized weapon use infringement listed against you during the Tolis operation. A—” she paused to squint at her data tablet. “Rocket-propelled grenade-launcher was fired eight times without the relevant ticket.”
“I had the ticket,” I said.
“No,” she shook her head, indicating her tablet. “Your license ticket was revoked after a prior operation where—” she paused again to read. “A food service tent was accidentally destroyed.”
I winced. “Accident? You’re my therapist Abby, so I know I can be candid and it won’t go any further.” I pointed at the tablet. “That’s just Command covering up my antics because it can get very exhausting dealing with them, and I’m useful the rest of the time. But, I definitely meant to destroy it. Got a cheer for my effort from the troops based there. If you’d eaten the food they were serving, you’d have cheered me on, too.”
“I very much doubt it,” she said using the frosty tone she called on when I was in one of my ‘testing’ moods.
To be fair on myself, I’d had a rough night, and I would rather have been plotting my revenge against Ethan than talking through my non-existent feelings.
“Your allocation to this Omega appears to have made quite an impression.”
That question threw me as well. Frosty had been doing her homework.
“I think I’m addicted,” I said before I could stop myself.
Abby’s fingers flew over the data tablet. “Doctor Brach has had a challenging time. I’m not convinced you are the best choice,” she said frowning. “You are remembering to follow all my instructions on Omega care?” she asked, pausing her tapping and pinning me with a glare.
“Yes,” I said, worrying now that she might hold some level of sway. I liked fucking Lilly, and I would go on a rampage it anyone tried to separate me from her before I’d gotten my fill.
I understood that Omegas needed to be cared for, even loved, but I didn’t know what that meant.
Fucking, I understood. I could give an Omega the best damn fucking they’d ever had. Some of them confused fucking with love, which was baffling…I mean seriously how did you confuse that?
Fucking was rabid and raw. Love was soft and fluffy. You’d struggle to find two activities more diverse, in my opinion. It was essential to keep a clear line between the two.
I was all about the line.
Although the Alpha rumble did seem dangerously close to displaying affection, now that I stopped to consider it. But Lilly had been barely conscious after I’d finished fucking her while on the ship. On the other occasions, I’d used my soothing rumble when she’d been in acute stress.
“I make the sounds,” I said at length.
Ab
by blinked a couple of times. “Ryker, I’ve been your therapist for three years now, and I know I’m not supposed to, but I do worry about you…I wish I could stay to guide you through what will undoubtedly be a difficult period.”
Stay? “Where are you going?” Therapists were not supposed to leave clients. Clients left therapists when they were better. Or if they didn’t get on. The dozen or so that I’d seen before Abby had been annoying as fuck, but I liked the little Gamma. Her little frosty looks were fun and teasing her even more so. She reminded me a bit of an Omega, but without the sexual tension.
If Lilly were the one offering me the therapy I could see it getting kinky real quick, but with Abby, it never crossed my mind. Yeah, and that monstrous smock-dress might have had something to do with it.
“I’ve taken a position…on an orbital station,” she said in a cagy, I’m-not-ready-to-tell-you-where-I’m-going kind of way.
“If you’re trying to escape their pursuit, it’s won’t work,” I said gesturing at her and then over my shoulder toward the door. “Dark and brooding was ready to rip my head off, and all I did was sit down. Deltas are like sharks locked in on a blood trail once they set on a Gamma.”
“Ryker! The line!”
“Sorry,” I rubbed the back of my head. The little Gamma was clearly in denial. “You know you’re going to miss me. Can we do the therapy via transmitter? I might go AWOL if you’re not here to remind me about the line.”
Her lips twitched. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said.
It was harder to get a smile from Abby than it was from my father, so I felt inordinately pleased with myself.
I cracked my knuckles as I exited her office, and called out, “Might need to get those restraint straps repaired before your next client.”
CHAPTER TEN
IT WAS A relief to get to the research center. An opportunity to be normal and pretend I hadn’t been fucked all night. To pretend my bottom wasn’t aching where a big hand had spanked and pinched.
As I entered the elevator, my stomach tumbled over remembering Ryker holding my hands while Ethan spanked me. And after I had showered, he had held me again while Ethan had applied copious amounts of the soothing cream.
The cream had helped, but I was so damn sensitive I couldn’t bear my panties against my burning flesh. I was going to remove them at the first opportunity. Ethan never bothered me during the day unless I had a meeting with Erison, and I had no such meetings today.
I was still distracted by a quandary of my own making, about whether I should try to leave. I’d done some planning, but Ryker’s return had somehow made the decision even harder.
The elevator stopped at my floor, and I took the corridor to my office at a brisk pace, turning a corner, and passing the laboratories until I finally arrived at my office.
When I entered the reception room, Merry, frizzy blue hair and all, bestowed me a dazzling smile.
“You look better, Lilly!” She beamed. “Better than I have seen you in a long time.” She winked. “I heard Ryker was back.”
I laughed in spite of my outrage at her assumption. “It’s not that. Well…not only that.” It had been good to see Ryker again, I’d have been lying to myself to admit anything else. My face heated as I experienced a flashback from last night…and this morning.
She smiled. “I’m glad you’re doing better. I was worried about you for a while. And long before the incident at the drop door.”
“I know,” I replied honestly. “I was worried about me, too.”
“There’s a new report for you on the latest trials,” she said, getting back to business. “They wanted your input ready for tomorrow. I’ve combined all the data sets and provided some preliminary analysis. I blocked out some time in your calendar. And the program quarterly figures are available. I’ve loaded those ready for you to review as well.”
She was an absolute whiz with data. I’d be lost if she ever decided to move on. And if I did leave, there would be a veritable queue of requestors waiting to snap her up. “Thanks, Merry, I’ll review the quarterly figures now. Then I’ll get onto the report.”
My office here was compact, but it had a pleasant view of the landscaped gardens of the research campus. A small lake held center stage where the fountain cast a fine spray into the air. I lingered on the view briefly before opening the data table Merry had sent through and promptly lost myself in the quarterly program report.
It wasn’t strictly part of my role anymore to concern myself with such things. But I liked to keep abreast of how it was tracking, even if I had little say.
It wasn’t long until I noticed an anomaly. I dropped a message through to Tsing’s assistant, and was surprised when Tsing responded himself with a terse message explaining that an upstream project handled the logistics, covered under a separate NDA. He enclosed a high-level analysis report, for my information, which satisfied my earlier concerns.
But I could read between the lines, and his efficient wording made his feelings on my questioning him abundantly clear.
Fine, he didn’t want me interfering, and I got on with the rest of my reports.
My conflict kept trying to intrude on my thoughts. To stay or to leave; neither option was perfect. I tried to imagine a life on the run. My father still hadn’t been to visit, consumed as he was with his duties, and I was grateful for this small reprieve from his dominating presence. He would try to find me if I left, would put considerable effort into my recovery, and the resulting fallout might be far worse than my current situation. Then there was Ethan and Ryker, and they would both see this as a personal slight on their ability as Controllers.
Leaving would be hard enough. Staying would be harder.
The data wasn’t going to analyze itself, and I forced myself to read.
Finally, after nearly two hours, I’d broke the back of the task, and worked through adding notes.
I was only half paying attention when my door opened. I was expecting Merry, and I did a double-take when I found Ethan standing there. His hair trimmed, but it still curled around his nape in dark waves. He was dressed in civilian clothes that did not disguise the raw man underneath.
“What are you doing here?” I asked frowning.
Leaving the interconnecting door open, he approached my desk.
“You look flushed.”
I wasn’t flushed, he knew I wasn’t flushed, but my hand still lifted instinctively to my throat. “I’m not flushed.”
“Are you sure?” He rounded the desk while I was trying to work out what the hell he was doing here. He caught my chin between his fingers and thumb and turned my face to his. “Does she look flushed to you, Merry?” he called out.
“Yes!” Merry piped up from the other room.
“She can’t even see me!” I pulled out of his hold. Was he teasing me? I wasn’t sure what to make of the playful version of Ethan. I wasn’t sure what to make of any version of Ethan, but I definitely wasn’t ready for this so soon after the wild events of last night.
Then I remembered I had taken my panties off, and my face flushed with guilty heat.
“I’m not flushed,” I stated. I needed to get Ethan out of my office before this escalated.
“Ah, mentioning it can sometimes act as a trigger,” Merry offered from the doorway. There was a huge grin on her face. “I’m popping out! They need some help with an analysis cube over in reporting. I’ll be back later!”
The door rattled as she shut it. Then another thud came as she closed the outer office door.
I was still staring at the door when my chair was swiveled around, and he placed his hands on the arms, effectively pinning me in place. “I need to fuck you,” he said. I looked everywhere except at him, but it was like a giant magnet was working on me, and my wandering focus slid straight back. And there I got lost in the heat of his dark gaze. “We need to work it into your schedule,” he added like we were discussing a coffee break or something similarly mundane. Taking my lips in a drugging k
iss, he cupped my breast, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the nipple and bringing it to instant attention. Dragging his lips from mine, he sucked a trail of kisses against the side of my throat. “Take your panties off, get on the desk, and open your legs so I can fuck you.”
I shivered.
There wasn’t an opt-out clause with this, I had been subject to control for long enough to understand the parameters of play. He had told me to get on the desk, one way or another, I was going to be spread out on the desk.
Only I wasn’t wearing any panties, and I thought this discovery would not go well for me.
His lips stilled, ceasing to torment my throat. “You confused about the request, Princess?”
“No, I’m not confused.” I still wasn’t moving, though, and rational thought escaped me.
“Good.” His lips were close to my ear, his words a soft, growly threat. “Ease your dress up and your panties down. Then you can get on the desk.”
He leaned back a little, both hands planted against the chair arms, ready to watch.
A thick lump formed in my throat. I swallowed. “I’m not…wearing any. I took them off…and my bra. I was sore…I couldn’t stand them against my skin.”
His nostrils flared, the chair arms creaked under his fingers. “Show me,” he said.
Caught in the dark, sinful spell, I did exactly as he asked. Slowly easing the hem of my dress higher, inch by inch, until my naked pussy was revealed.
“What a naughty little Omega,” he said. “Spread your legs.”
With a single finger, he traced the length of my slit, making me gasp and fidget when he caught my swollen clit. “Don’t move,” he warned as he petted the little nub.
I tried valiantly to be still, to accept this, but my arousal was rising, and my body had needs.
The contents of my desk were swiped aside, and I was sprawled over the hard surface. The faint chink of a belt unlocking had a predictable effect, and my body rushed straight to heated anticipation.