by L. V. Lane
CHAPTER SIX
I HAD NO idea what I’d done to provoke Ethan’s wrath, but his anger blazed, nonetheless.
One minute I’d been pinned against the glass with the welcome stretch of his cock working in and out, and the next I was on the floor at his feet.
My clothing was a mess, skirt bunched around my waist, and bra tugged aside with one breast exposed. My hair was a wild cloud around my face. My pussy throbbed and all I could think about was the glistening cock jerking like a giant beckoning finger.
“Take my cock, Princess. I want you to suck it nice and deep. Choke yourself on it or I will,” he said softly. “I promise you, me doing it will be worse.”
God help me, I did not know what to make of his statement, nor could I work out why such a command would cause a flood of slick to gather between my legs.
I sat up, closing my fingers around it, feeling it jerk within my hand. I glanced up, and the moment I did, I realized my mistake. That look, I could drown in that look. It was a million words, a slow death, and a revelation. That look rendered his soul naked, and his soul was as dark as night.
I wanted him and his dark soul. And all of it, all of him—was mine for the taking.
My mouth closed over the tip of his cock. He growled, a low sound that stirred the tiny hairs at my nape. I wanted him to growl again. To make me flush. Yes, I wanted him to bite me.
Tongue lapping gently, I took his cock into my mouth. I was going to make him growl. I would make him so crazy he couldn’t help himself, and then I would win, and he would give me what I wanted.
I didn’t want to be his revenge, or war-prize. I wanted to mean something more to him. I was getting scraps, and I wanted the main event.
I pressed deeper, swirling my tongue over the tip, enjoying the taste of his pre-cum. His fists tightened at his side as the head of his cock neared the back of my throat. I stilled there, my mouth stretched so wide it burned.
Ethan growled in warning when I eased back. My eyes locked with his, and this time, I took his cock deeper, steeling myself for the shock when it found the back of my throat.
I gagged, pulling out immediately.
The growl deepened, and I pushed back again.
His eyes were lit with hunger, and they sparked an echo in me. I sucked deeper, feeling the faint beginning of the flush.
I saw the moment he recognized what I was doing. If I had learned nothing else about control, I knew with absolute certainty they did not like you manipulating situations.
He stepped back, and the thick flesh slipped from my lips before he tucked himself away. He couldn’t get the button closed, and were I not so frustrated, it might have made me smile.
The flush wasn’t deep enough for my satisfaction, no more than a faint prickling heat and a gentle thud at the base of my skull that might dissipate on its own. For once, I needed this to be on my terms.
But it would never be on my terms because that wasn’t the way control worked.
With a sigh, I began to straighten my disheveled clothes.
I squealed as he fisted a handful of my hair. “Did I tell you to touch your fucking clothes?”
“No!”
“Hands and knees. Now!”
Disorientated and confused by the bite of his fingers, the sharp tone nevertheless drove me to obey. He came down with me, kneeling beside me, still gripping my hair and forcing my forehead to the floor. The polished wooden surface was hard under my knees and forehead. I was trembling uncontrollably. Where had this new savagery come from? He had been a little rough earlier and yesterday—I had definitely liked it when he had taken me down over the bed after he’d spanked me.
This was different, it felt different.
Ryker, coaxed, cajoled, and played mind-games to gain my compliance. I had begun to think that that was the way control worked.
A dark tendril of anticipation coiled about my throat. This was absolute domination.
And I liked it.
Fighting him was not an option. Obeying him was a compulsion, and I knew—instinctively—any attempt to resist would arouse greater fury.
“I’m going to spank you now. It’s going to be hard. Much harder than the little tap you got earlier.” He dragged my skirt up, exposing my bottom. Then ripped my panties away in a series of sharp tugs until they were stretched around my knees. “If you move an inch, I’m going to get my belt. You won’t like my belt.”
His rough hand stroked over my bottom.
A hot flush was followed by a cold flush, sweeping over the length of my body and whiting out my mind. My stomach turned over and slick pooled out. The belt, I knew I never wanted to experience the belt, and yet Ryker had conditioned me with that threat for the better part of two weeks. The mere mention of it, or Ethan, brought fear and arousal in equal parts.
The belt threat always precluded some form of torment.
It represented another chink in my carefully constructed comfort zone.
It was the path that led me to a destination filled with pleasure.
Ethan’s hand stilled.
“You like the sound of my belt, Princess?”
I couldn’t speak; the words were locked behind a sudden tightness in my throat. At the base of my skull was the gentle thud signifying the start of a flush.
His grip on my hair was making my scalp ache. No one had ever treated me like this. Out of this blanket desire to submit, rose a tendril of aggression. I had bitten him yesterday, sunk my teeth into his chest while he’d been fucking me because he wasn’t fucking me hard enough.
Every breath poked at my urge to fight. I wanted to test Ethan and how well he might control me. If I didn’t, how would I know he was worthy?
A revelation unfurled, an absolute certainty that I didn’t want any Alpha. I wanted the biggest and the strongest because only such a man could keep me safe. It wasn’t rational. It was animal to the core.
“You’re not ready for my belt…yet.” The hand continued to pet my bottom. I shivered. “I’m not sure if you ever will be. It might break a delicate little princess.”
The hand withdrew, then reconnected with a thunderous slap. Pain exploded over my skin a split second later. My body twitched, I couldn’t help it, but I bit down on my lip, determined not to make a sound.
Chuckling softly, he rubbed a big hand over the stinging flesh. “Is that defiance I see?” He squeezed hard over the soreness before administering another stinging slap. I jerked but kept my lips pressed tightly together. I wasn’t giving the brute the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt.
“Ah, baby,” he said, and his unexpected endearment brought a flutter in my chest. Ryker was prolific with his endearments; when Ethan said such words, it felt like a special treat. “You think you can win this?” He made a gentle tutting sound before slapping my ass three times in quick succession. Each blow landed harder until a strangled cry was wrenched from my throat. “If you had any idea what your defiance does to me, you’d behave yourself.”
He smacked me again, and I swallowed down a squeal.
“Makes me want to force you into a heat.”
Another smack, even harder, awoke an echo of pain in every nerve of my body. “You can’t do that,” I hissed.
His barked laugh sent a shiver down my spine.
He smacked once more, and this time the squeal burst past my tightly sealed lips. Tears leaked from the corner of my eyes.
“Such an innocent little doctor. It happens all the time. You think Omegas are going to tell you something like that in an interview, when they know you’re not the same as them, not controlled?”
The next smack drew a heavy sob from my chest, and he paused to pet the abused flesh. I was shaking uncontrollably, my legs struggling to bear my weight.
“They beg you to do it. They know they won’t catch when it’s forced. Of course, sometimes, the situation can slide. If you bite, even during a forced heat, it can trigger the real thing.”
He smacked again. It caught
the sensitive area where my bottom met my thighs.
“I don’t believe you!” I screamed—pain pulsed like a living fire under my skin. My mental capability was shot, and yet his words held the ring of truth. “You can’t force an Omega into heat!”
“You sure about that?”
No, I wasn’t sure anymore, and my thoughts scattered and surged. I couldn’t take more punishment. If Ethan smacked me one more time, I would break.
“You have to start slowly, build up, and not stop.” He patted and pinched my ass while I sobbed quietly. “And pain. You need a good measure of pain. You can’t get away with it when you’re in transit. Everyone will know if you disappear for a few days.”
I whimpered.
“You like the sound of me forcing you into heat?”
My mind spiraled through the implications. There was a twisted interest in experiencing a heat with him, even as I feared it.
He has done this with other women.
This realization triggered a plethora of unhealthy emotions—at the forefront was jealousy, and it burned hotter than my abused bottom.
I growled. It wasn’t much of a growl, more an involuntary little rumble.
He hauled me off the floor with the same dizzying speed he had taken me down there. My breath left my lungs in a rush as I was slammed against his chest.
“Don’t like the sound of that, Princess? You know I’m telling the truth. Dozens of sweet little Omegas presenting their hot cunts to me to use any way I wanted. They begged for it before I fucked them. They prayed for it after.”
I growled again and tried to wrest my hair from his grasp. It was impossible, and my struggle only succeeded in mashing my face closer against his warm chest where his heady scent was strong.
He chuckled, one big hand holding my body flush against him, the other still gripping my hair. “They didn’t like the thought of sharing either. Omegas can prove quite a handful at times. Stopping them putting their mark on you is harder than you might think.”
The rage gripping me was impressively close to madness, and I thrashed about, perversely delighted when I found his hold unbreakable.
“I never had a problem controlling myself or them. And I didn’t care who fucked them after.”
His words struck a raw nerve. I was incensed by the mere thought of him being with anyone else. But I wasn’t like them. I was better than them, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of begging.
His hand skittered down my back, and his big palm cupped my sore ass. “So, it came as quite a surprise how pissed I was when it came time to hand you over to Ryker. I nearly ripped his fucking throat out when you were standing between us back on Tolis. Felt the same urge as strongly yesterday on the concourse. The thought of him sticking his pierced junk in you makes me want to fuck him up so bad. If he had any sense, he would back away. He’s not normal though, so I’m expecting the bastard to come back. Although he might not be so pretty when I’m done with him.”
“No!”
His hands tightened painfully around me.
“You worried about him, Princess? Best do a better job of hiding your feelings, or it’ll encourage me to hurt him worse.”
The throbbing at the base of my skull bloomed into a full flush at the promise of violence in his words and the thought of either of them being hurt.
His grip on my hair loosened and he tipped my head. “Blown to fuck again. Is that for him or me?”
“Both,” I said honestly, although I knew this wasn’t the answer he desired.
His lips twisted in a cruel smile. “Better hope we resolve this before you come into heat.”
Lashes lowering, I tried to jerk away.
His arms became immoveable bands. “Have you been suppressing it?”
I battled with myself. Confessing would lead to punishment. Not confessing might result in the same.
“Think carefully before you answer.”
I was trapped. There was no way out of this, and it infuriated me. It had been three years since I revealed. Either I was dysfunctional, or I’d been suppressing it. “I took drugs,” I whispered. I had never told anyone, had created the drugs myself. Not a perfect solution, and a dangerous undertaking, but what choice did I have? I wasn’t part of an Omega community undergoing training to be deployed. I had no place to go and no one to turn to. I had no excuse for suppressing it. I had done it anyway.
“Good girl for telling the truth.”
My stomach turned over, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
“How long until your next heat is due?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I had lost track of time. “A month, maybe six weeks.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
During the first round of clinical tests, we selected ten Beta dynamics as test subjects. Vlogs were recorded daily by myself and the blood recipients.
My first mental connection to a test subject, administered with my blood, was a shared dream.
Some people build their sense of self on the belief that they are ethical.
But there are times when a sense of self-preservation overwrites every other belief.
I deleted an entire week of my vlogs…it is perhaps the greatest understatement of my life when I say this was not an easy undertaking. The consequence should my tampering have been discovered was extreme and tantamount to treason against the Empire.
It was a reflection of my state of mind that I took such a risk.
Doctor Lillian Brach
AFTER THE UNEASY conversation about my suppressed heat, two weeks passed, and my life fell into an awkward routine. I wasn’t sure what Ethan did during the day, but I was mostly left alone to continue with the program work, other than a daily two-hour session for Erison’s pet project, which he attended without fail.
Much to my surprise, and a generous amount of suspicion, Erison Tsing did not do any further invasive tests involving a flush. Perhaps he was waiting for Ethan’s period of control to end. There was a certain smugness to Erison’s demeanor during these sessions, while Ethan’s blank expression conveyed a deep sense of threat.
I was glad Ethan was there and irritated with myself for being glad. There had even been a steering committee meeting a few days ago, and I was sure Ethan’s looming presence had been responsible for them reinstating my personal project. He could be demanding and unwavering in his control, but he did not belittle me as Erison did. I remembered the expression on Ethan’s face when Erison had rebuffed my suggestion at that first meeting after we arrived here at Chimera. Ethan hadn’t needed to say a word.
And Erison had sensed the change, too. His power was slipping.
I didn’t want to thank Ethan for helping me to take back what I felt should be mine. Yet, it wasn’t Ethan who had taken my position on the program away.
There had been no further discussion about what would happen next, but from Ethan’s remark about the heat, I got the strong impression he intended to be around when it happened. Having checked the dates, I had four weeks to decide what to do.
I still worried about where Ryker was, if he was safe or in danger. I had enquired once, and Ethan had fucked me insensible after. I elected to never ask again.
My new lab partners ignored the elephant in the room—my being an Omega. I got on with my work.
I worried a lot though, about what was behind Doctor Tsing’s smug expression, about Ethan’s brooding, about whether Ryker was alive or dead, and about my impending heat.
What I didn’t worry about was my mother, which was why it came as a complete surprise when her arrival on Chimera was announced.
“Your mother is here,” Ethan said, checking his wrist plate. It took me a few moments to wrap my head around this for several reasons, but the most prominent was the fact that it was Ethan who first received this news.
My head snapped up. We were in bed, and I was sprawled out on top of him, sniffing his chest surreptitiously to draw his wonderful, wild, earthy essence deep inside my lungs. It was early evening, and
a few lights twinkled in the city visible through the window. “Why wasn’t I told?”
“I’m telling you now.” He gave my ass a smack, sharp enough to elicit a yelp of pain. “We’re going out. Go and get cleaned up and dress in something I will enjoy fucking you in later.”
“Why did you know first?” I demanded, trying not to think about his systematic approach to destroying all of my most beautiful clothes.
He rolled, taking me under him and grabbed a handful of my ass. “I thought your ass might still be sore after yesterday, but that sounded a lot like you asking me to spank you again.”
It was still sore; he knew it was still sore. I’d been fidgeting in my seat all day because it was so sore. “It’s not an unreasonable question,” I said with bite.
“All your communications come through me. I pass on what I choose. Now, I don’t like your haughty fucking tone, and I’m going to need to spank you. I’ve told you about that before, Princess.”
I was twenty-eight years old. I’ve lived an entitled life. I wasn’t naturally rude, in fact, I prided myself on my poise, but I also wasn’t used to holding my temper back when someone took my basic rights away, and a white-hot rage consumed me. He had no reason to filter my personal communications. I couldn’t think of a single valid reason why he would feel the need to do so.
He stared down at me through disapproving slits. “And attitude, I’ve told you before about giving me attitude. You must need this spanking badly.”
Lowering my lashes, I tried to think humble thoughts. “Please don’t spank me right before I see my mother. This is going to be hard enough as it is. She’s going to pump me with questions, and even more so if I can’t sit still for thirty seconds. My bottom is really sore. You know it’s sore. I’ve been distracted by how sore it is all day. That and being tired. I’m exhausted because you keep waking me up!” My lips might have trembled toward the end because I was exhausted. I didn’t even have the energy to hold onto my temper.
He tapped my chin, and I steeled myself to behave as I reluctantly met his eyes.
He was smiling—it wasn’t what I’d expected. “Ryker said your nervous rambling was cute. I was beginning to think the bastard had invented it to mess with me.”