Born Claimed: A Dark Omegaverse Romance (Broken Angel Book 2)

by Penelope Woods

  Ruby nodded solemnly and allowed herself to fall back into Severin’s arms. She knew he was persuading her with falsehoods again, but she had nobody else. She had become so used to his assiduous tricks with speech that it exhausted her. But as she clung to his thin chest and kissed his collarbone, she seemed to catch him off guard with her curiosity.

  “It’s odd that you brought up the prison. I nearly forgot the place existed,” she muttered.

  Severin’s heart drove faster, beat pumping so hard it hit her chest. but he forced her to let go before she could make a comment. Quickly, he removed his belt and leaned back against the wall. “Come, let’s fuck. Feel me. I’m as hard as rock.”

  He lowered his pants and forced her hand against the hard shaft. For the first time in months, he was erect and ready. His meaty package rose into the air, blooming a lubricant-based crown. Ruby carefully stroked the foreskin back and felt her pussy grow warm and wet with slick. He was never this ready to penetrate, and she hated to miss her chance, but he was hiding something from her, and she hated that more than she wanted to fuck.

  Lowering herself to her knees, she kept her hand firm and tight around the base of his shaft. She glanced up at him with prying eyes, and Severin looked away. “Why do you ignore me?” she asked.

  “I despise the place. The smells… the sights and deafening moans… I don’t like any of it. We use the seed for nothing. I tend to stay away from the grounds entirely,” he said.

  “In body and mind… yes, you do have an aversion to coming.”

  “Now, you’re just taunting me.” He frowned.

  She dragged her fingernail up his happy trail and stopped at his navel. “Again, I am sorry. You’re right. I am taunting you, but no more games. Lean back and enjoy this.”

  Severin tilted his chin and closed his eyes. At once, he looked at peace with his plans and position in the world. He was a man who counted his cards regularly, carefully shuffling them when need be. As the minister of propaganda, he took pride in his winnings, even boastfully celebrated in front of the servants.

  Ruby took every inch into her mouth and moaned like it was a piece of fresh apple pie. Her hand moved between his legs, carefully cradling his balls. At first, she was as gentle and sweet as a schoolgirl. However, after some time, she bobbed her head faster and faster. Intent on making him come, she gagged and twisted her tongue around the underside of his tight shaft.

  As soon as she felt his head bob with pulsating might, she squeezed her palm around his balls and slid her lips free of him. Messy with saliva, she smiled and watched him gasp and lash back. She squeezed tighter and mocked him. “Uh-uh-uh.” She wagged her finger.

  “Let go. You are hurting me,” he moaned.

  “You visited that place,” she said. “I inquired for you yesterday. You were gone. What were you doing there?”

  Weak. Powerless. Pathetic.

  Severin held his hands up in surrender and gasped. “I went to check on the grounds’ conditions! Ask the specialist! Ask her.”

  Ruby didn’t like this answer. She may have been used, but she wasn’t stupid. “Helen? Severin, my dear. Why do you keep lying to me? We are supposed to control this world together, but you are letting it crumble to dust.”

  “I am doing everything that I can to secure the safety of this Republic!” he squealed.

  Beyond the doorway to their room, clumpy footsteps echoed loudly, followed by the breaking of glass. Soon enough, she could hear the yelling of the guards. “Christ, what is it now?”

  The door gust open, and Rae ran through their room with her flowing white robe gliding around her body. She was like a ghoul. The guards followed but fell to their knees as soon as they saw Severin with his member sagging in Ruby’s hands.

  “Out!” he yelled. “Get the fuck out!”

  “Ruby!” Rae cried and fell to the floor. “I saw them. I swear it. I saw their faces, their strong bodies… I could smell their scent. Oh, I miss them so much.”

  Rae turned into a pile of sulking fabric and flesh. Ruby nearly rolled her eyes at the actress’s idiocy.

  Ruby sighed. She looked up at Severin and smiled attractively. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  “I’ll deal with the queen. You get some sleep.”

  Ruby nudged her hips forward and pushed Severin against the windowsill, noting how loose the hinges were. “Stay put. You work too hard for an aging man like yourself. I’ll tend to the queen.”

  Severin ground his teeth. “Very well,” he muttered. “I’ll be in my quarters, drafting the queen’s speech. If you need me to clarify, do visit.”

  Severin shut the door to their quarters, and both women sighed with relief. Ruby wiped her chin and coughed awkwardly. “He has a way with words. I’ll have to read over his script before you address the people.”

  Rae wiped her eyes. Suddenly, she seemed calm and even offered a friendly smile. Her blackbird sat on the desk near the bed. Pointing, she stood and walked over to it. “You had it stuffed for me,” she said.

  Ruby walked behind her sister and rubbed her back. She did not recoil or jump. Instead, Rae turned and hugged her twin tightly. She even kissed her plump cheek. “I know we’ve had our differences, but things can be good between us. I don’t want to lie to you anymore,” she said. “So, take this. It is your first trophy, and you should feel excited to boast. Go on. Take it.”

  Rae took the bird in her hands. The body, stiff with rigor mortis, had been manipulated to spread its wings in a triumphant pose. Its beak was open as if it were screaming high and mighty toward the heavens. A look of pride formed on her face, but it quickly faded. It was an easy kill. Pathetic and tragic. If the bird was, as she thought, a reflection of herself, it must have made her ponder if others saw her in the same way.

  “Thank you, sister,” she said. “You’re the first one to give me something here.”

  Ruby smiled and sat back against the wall, breathing easier. Her mind went back toward her meeting with Severin, but it no longer felt like a heavy and uncomfortable conversation. Severin acted as a strong man when he held the cards of the Republic so neatly stacked between his palms. However, he failed to realize one massive fact: Ruby could change the game at a moment’s notice. She wrote the rules, not him. And, if she wanted it, she could have the queen on her side.

  “Tell me what you saw outside your window,” Ruby said.

  Rae closed her mouth and held the bird closer to her breast. She was unsure of herself, but Ruby knew how to get the truth out of her. She placed her palm underneath Rae’s chin and forced her to look into her eyes, concerned. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can tell me. Your secret is safe with me.”

  “Well…” Rae paused. “First, tell me how you knew it happened outside my window.”

  Ruby was just as perceptive as Severin. “I must admit that it was a wild guess. That room was mine once. You know that, right?”

  “Yours? I didn’t. But how would that have been possible?”

  “Before the war, Severin built me this place. It was only one tower then, and we didn’t have much. It was where he trained and raised me,” she said. “We eventually had to leave because of the wars. This was a border zone toward the end, and too many conflicts made it dangerous. Eventually, Cassian took this section, but we made it. We’re free.”

  Without warning, Rae took her sister’s hand and led her toward the closed door. She opened it and pulled her into the hall.

  “Hey, where are you taking me?” Ruby asked, curiously allowing the pull to keep happening.

  After meandering through a series of dimly lit halls and passing through the strictly bowing male guards, Rae took Ruby into her room and shut the door with force. “There,” she said and pointed at the window. “Down there, by the cornfields. I swear on my children that I saw them.”

  Closing her palm into a brutal fist, Ruby lashed back and hit Rae’s jaw, nearly dislocating it, then reached into her pocket and grabbed a set of black gloves. She quickl
y covered her bruised knuckles with the leather and exhaled sharply.

  “What did I do?” Rae wheezed.

  “My children,” she said. “They are my children!”

  “It won’t happen again,” Rae said.

  Ruby turned and unlatched the windowsill. Outside, the wind was picking up and raging against the barn. A few storm clouds were rolling in, which was odd, since the weather predicted cloudy skies all week. Either way, there was no life outside except the sullen cornfields.

  “Where did you see them? Don’t just point. Tell me exactly where,” Ruby demanded.

  Rae ambled close to her sister but kept her hands balled up near her cheeks. When she was close enough, she barely pointed her knuckles toward the edge of the barn. “There. I saw them there, peeking through the cracks in the wood.”

  “You’re sure it was them?” she asked.

  “Yes, but their hair was long. They each had lengthy beards, and their eyes held a different air. Still, I know it was them. Unless…” Rae dropped her head and sighed.

  Ruby finished her sentence. “Unless your mind is playing tricks on you.”

  It happened to far too many prisoners trapped in the hallucinatory dark, and Rae was not immune to obsessive fantasies. She was full of them. A rich storyteller, she practically dreamed out loud. “We can go down there and check,” she said. “It’s the only way we’ll find out the truth.”

  Ruby shivered through the cold and shut the window. “And what will happen if we get down there and no one is waiting for us? What then, hm?”

  Silence.

  “Better yet—what if we get down there to find I have walked into an ambush?” she asked. “Is that what you’re trying to do with me? You want me killed, so you can steal my babies? You’re perverted. You’re sick!”

  “No! Please, you must believe me. If anyone, you understand when I’m lying and when I’m telling the truth. This was real. If they aren’t down there, you may… you may beat me into a coma. I don’t care any longer.”

  “I’ll beat you senseless if I damn well please,” Ruby said, spiraling into resentment. “You know, at one point, I was just like you. An aging, pathetic cunt.”

  Rae’s eyes lit up with fire. Her body shook, and a manic appearance took over. Was the pressure of her past trauma coming back to haunt her? Would she react worse than Ruby expected? “No… please, stop your insults.”

  “A fatherless bitch. A childless mother,” she sneered. “What is worse than someone who cannot rise above their means?”

  Shaking, Rae pointed again toward the window. Ruby did not turn. Lost in her anger, she hit Rae’s cheek, forcing her to the floor. Every time Rae pointed, she received another blow. Over and over, the woman smashed and cut her fingernails into easy facial flesh. Blood and saliva dripped to the floor. Ruby only stopped when her sister’s hand fell limp near the bed.

  “There. Now that you have shut that wicked mouth of yours, I will search for your beloved alphas outside. They are, however, dead, so you will come out empty-handed.”

  Rae kept her mouth shut, but inside her head, she could hear her children screaming as if they were feet away. Their unbridled tears cut into her heart, shaking the very core of her being. As soon as Rae’s sister turned and peered out of the window, she noticed the silver brush underneath her bed. Quicker than a hunted hare, she grabbed it and pulled it into her breast.

  I can’t take this anymore…

  Ruby was still observing, now rather calmly, but her patience was likely running out. Rae knew she didn’t have much time left. Standing, she wound her arm back, shut her eyes, and brought the heavy, silver brush down against the side of her head.

  Crack went her skull. Splat went her blood. And the corner of the room was as painted as a Jackson Pollack art piece. Her palm opened loosely, dropping the brush onto the fine rug beneath their feet. Frantically coming to terms with her actions, Rae huffed and let out a nearly inaudible squeal. She hadn’t planned on any of this, but her emotions had gotten the best of her.

  She dropped to the floor and cupped her sister’s frail head, plugging the small cracks that leaked the most blood. Turning away, she scoured the room for anything to cover up her tracks. She was fucked, and she knew it, but she would run. Yes, run as far as her feet would carry her. It was her only option.

  First, she’d head to the barn. If what she’d seen was real, she’d be safe. If it was all an elaborate trick of the mind, well… she didn’t even want to go there.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry,” Rae cried and tapped against her face.

  Ruby was in rough shape. Her fingers twitched like a rodent’s sordid whiskers. Her eyes rolled back until they reflected white with reddening capillaries. Of course, her mouth twisted into a smile, but it wasn’t of her own accord.

  “I killed her,” Rae murmured. “I killed my own sister.”

  There was no time for grieving. Although it wasn’t exactly a six-foot hole to bury her in, the rug was the best choice to cover her crimes. She rolled her sister into the woven throw, smearing the regal images of animals dancing and trotting between the tall, designed trees. It made her think about their hunting trip together and realize she didn’t have to be an icon if she didn’t want to be. She could escape, be faceless again like she was before Cassian woke her from his artificial dreams.

  She reached around her sister’s body and patted her down. With no pocket unturned, she found a set of keys, which she thought might come in handy. She also found a small blade. She could have done with a pistol or rifle, but the blade was satisfying enough, and she particularly admired the carved bird on the handle.

  After her sister was tucked and rolled neatly, it took some strength to push the heavy body underneath the bed. She inspected every nook and cranny for blood, excess fluids, hair strands, and even saliva then cleaned and scraped what she could. Even scrubbed the walls until they were white again.

  The cleaning must have taken an hour. The night was growing older, so she ran toward her window and lowered herself, hanging delicately like a bunch of pale lilac. It was at least a twelve-foot drop, but she had no time to spare. At this point, the threat of pain meant very little to her.

  “The things I do for my family.”

  Luckily, she fell into a mild shrub that acted as a rough pillow. It tore her dress open, but she didn’t mind being naked. The whole world had seen her delicate parts. When she was stripped, she felt freer than the rest of the world. Both peasants and rulers, slaves and omegas, were required to wear clothes. But Rae was different. People let her get away with the wildest things.

  She was an icon.

  The air tickled her neck and back, but it felt rather warm than icy cold. It may have been wrong of her to feel excitement, but the moon reflected a brighter light than the inside of her chambers, and the soil beneath her feet felt incredible without shoes on.

  It reminded her of the freedom she felt with them.

  Slowing down, she came close to the barn. She pressed her hand against the damp wood. A crack of thunder rang out above her head, and the quick trickling of water sank into the slopes of her shoulders. Body tense, she let out a squeal. Soon enough, she heard the barking of dogs. They would find Ruby soon, but when they saw that the queen was missing, they would comb the entire countryside.

  Although Rae was frightened by what she might find on the other side of the barn, she took slow and methodical steps forward. She was determined to see who was there, if anyone. Soundlessly gliding across the dirt, she finally reached the front opening of the rickety building and heard a noise.

  “I think about her every second.”

  Rae’s heart fluttered. She wanted to extend her wings and scream mightily into the heavens. She recognized that voice. Vash!

  Locking her eyes shut, she enjoyed the manly scents wafting into her nostrils from nearby. Now, she could feel them, taste how they once tasted, and her pussy dripped the sap she had been waiting to feel for years. It
was like she was born again.

  Through the open crack of the barn door, she stared at the men as if she could barely recognize them. They were so different. Bushy and unkempt, they must have suffered brutalities she could only dream of. Well, so had she. But now, they could reunite and tame the beasts that led them into their massive cages.

  She tiptoed into the barn and carried the biggest smile when she stopped in front of Killian. His eyes peered into the nicks in the ceiling above. The stars shone bright enough to cover his face in a magical light. It took a few seconds, but Killian twisted, trying to stand. Rae leaned forward and put the stolen blade to his throat as a joke.

  “Sit up and shut your mouth, filth.”

  It was the first thing she thought to say, and she ended it by jamming her muddied toes onto his lip. Of course, the three alphas jumped from their near-slumber.

  “You—you— It’s really you!” Killian exclaimed.

  Lucas lunged forward and caught against the tight pull of his chains. “How… my God…”

  Rae stood tall, thighs perfectly naked and set apart. Her body, soft and subtle like an untold secret, curved in front of their eyes, and she quickly felt the flood of longing, deep lust carrying dewy slick toward her pussy lips, now pulsating for their pleasure.

  Confidently, she fell to her knees, immediately ready to please her men, the ones she had been begging God would choose to save her again, night after night. Obedient and hypnotized, allowing for their command and penetration, she not only pleaded for them, she crawled and laid her lips against the top of Killian’s pelvis as he rose above her. She kissed his muscular skin, tenderly suctioning as any pet should.

  He was her tower, her rock, her light at the end of a fucked-up tunnel—she opened her eyes and gazed at the other two alphas. She yearned to be consumed, to be held down, smacked, and juiced like a ripe piece of fruit. Now that she’d found them, she was ready to be saved in a completely different way, and she wasted no time in wrapping her small hand around the front of his pants. The thick girth sprang hard, and Killian moaned in response to the pleasure she knew she was giving him. It may have been years since their encounter, but she remembered just how slow to take it, giving the right amount of tongue and teasing kisses to the fabric, her smile acting as a dagger of beauty.