Owned by the Alpha

Home > Other > Owned by the Alpha > Page 13
Owned by the Alpha Page 13

by Laxmi Hariharan


  I am dimly aware of her digging her heels into my back and yanking me closer.

  Then my legs weaken, and I lower her to the bed.

  27

  Lucy

  He covers my body with his, pinning me down with his weight. I groan.

  His muscles bunch. “Am I hurting you?”

  “Yes.”

  He makes to raise his shoulders from mine, but I tighten my legs about his waist.

  “But in a good way.”

  A growl rumbles up his chest. “You’re a tease, my love.”

  My chest constricts. “And you’re…mine.” A wave of possessiveness heats my blood. I tilt my head, and my cheek grazes the curve of his shoulder. I bury my nose in his neck. That sheer masculine alpha scent of his goes straight to my head. “I should put my arms around you and hold you closer, but I don’t think I have the energy.” I yawn.

  He chuckles. “I have enough stamina for the both of us.” Satisfaction drips from his every word, and really, I should protest. But then he scoops me up and flips positions so I am curled up on his chest. His warmth surrounds me. A hum of satisfaction drools from my lips.

  And he’s still inside of me.

  The man knows how to manipulate my body to give him, and me, maximum pleasure. My toes curl. “When you do that, I feel small and vulnerable.”

  He trails his fingers down the curve of my spine. “Which you are.”

  “Yeah.” I blow out a breath. It ripples over his skin, and the hair between his pecs trembles. “Unlike you. No part of you is weak.” I place my palm over his chest.

  “There is, actually.” He folds his hand over mine and presses my fingers into the skin over his heart. Strong, steady, it beats with resolve.

  “Oh?” I rest my chin on his rib cage.

  “You…you make me weak.”

  “You resent it.” I know he does, so why am I spelling it out? How is that going to help?

  “I did.” He lowers his head and gazes at me down that hooked nose.

  “And now?”

  “Now I realize you are the best part of me. You make me human, remind me that despite everything that happened to me, there is hope for the future. There has to be.” He cups the curve of my waist, and his thumb slides over my belly.

  “For them.” I swallow. The intimacy of the moment as I hold his gaze makes my throat close. I hadn’t thought it could be like this, that I could feel so close to a person who I don’t know that well.

  But maybe that’s what the future is about, discovering everything I don’t know about him.

  “For our progeny.” His shaft pulses inside of me. He frames my face with his other hand. “For you. I have to believe that the world will be a better place for all of you.”

  “You’ll make it a better place.” I set my jaw. As I say the words, a shudder of heat runs down my spine. The hair on my nape stands on end. I believe in him. I truly do. In his strength, his sense of fairness, that man who dwells inside of him, who is often seduced by the need for power, but who ultimately will always do what is right.

  “So sure, Omega?” He drags his thumb over my lower lip and pulls it down.

  I nod. “More than I’ve ever been sure of anything else.”

  “That intuition of yours?”

  “Don’t make fun of my foresight.” I can’t resist pulsing the thought at him.

  His gaze widens, and his dick throbs inside of me. “It’s so fucking hot when you do that, you know?”

  “What? Talk to you through the bond?” I flutter my eyelids at him. “Or this perhaps?” I squeeze my inner muscles around his shaft.

  He smiles, just a slight curl of his lips.

  My belly flutters. “That smirk.” I gulp. “It makes me hot, all the way down to my core.”

  “Does it now?” His grin widens. Those blue eyes gleam.

  It’s the only warning I get before he slides his hand that was already between us down to rub my clit.

  I shudder and can’t stop myself from closing my eyes.

  “You like that, too?”

  “Yeah.” I breathe out.

  “And this?” He drags out a purr, all the way up from his belly.

  The vibrations roll up his chest, over my breasts that are flattened against his pecs, curling it around my sensitive nipples, dragging it up his throat until it spills from his mouth and flows over me.

  My entire being quakes.

  A pulse of heat floods the mating bond, down from his end, sinking into me, wrapping me up in warmth until it feels like I am floating.

  Moisture gushes from my womb to bathe his shaft, and his knot grows bigger, impossibly big until it seems to fill me up more completely than it ever has before.

  “Now you are showing off,” I slur the words out.

  He tips his head down and closes his mouth over mine and kisses me. It’s like he’s bleeding all of his essence into me, through me, while his knot throbs inside of me and the sweetness that floods the mating bond fills my chest. It flows down to envelop my womb.

  He’s opened himself to me, no more barriers between us.

  I can feel his essence, the rawness of his spirit. He’s gorgeous, my alpha. At heart he is that boy who fought for his mother, who wanted to protect her just as he’ll protect me. Always.

  A burst of love sweeps through me for him, for the ones I carry. It raises me with it, up and farther up, over the clouds, until I see the stars shining and the sun on the horizon. It crashes, and I drift down. My hair streams behind me as I cup my palms over my navel.

  I crack open my eyes to find he’s watching me.

  His lips are turned up in a slight smile. Color flushes his cheeks, and those blue eyes glow at me as if there is a fire inside, as if he’s enjoying a secret joke. “How did you do that?” I know I sound awestruck, but I can’t help it.

  “You like it, hmm?” He smiles, and it’s almost sweet and definitely smug.

  “That was the singular most beautiful experience of my life,” I say, not wanting to hide the truth from him.

  “The benefit of being mated, it seems.”

  “Can we do it again?” I reach up to kiss him, when there is a banging at the door of the suite.

  28

  Zeus

  The sound of the knock jars through my head. My muscles tense, and anger floods my spine. I pull her close to me, cradling her to my chest. No one gets to my omega, especially not now when she’s carrying my children.

  She wriggles in my hold, and I rest my chin on her head. “I am not letting you out of this bed, not until I know who is at the door.”

  “Who do you think it would be anyway? Either Ethan or Sol.”

  I growl at the thought of any other man laying eyes on her.

  “It’s not like they are going to even glance at me, considering how possessive you are.” She yawns. “I am sure you’ve warned them off of me many times already.”

  “They helped you set up this whole thing in the warehouse." I set my jaw. "They put you at risk.”

  “I didn't give them a choice.” The dazed look in her eyes begins to clear.

  Damn if I don’t want to just send away whoever intruded and love her all over again. Keep her wrapped up in my passion, and high on my essence. The primal need to have her skin fused with mine sweeps over me.

  I growl again.

  She swats my chin. “Don’t punish your men for what they did."

  “Is that an order, Omega?”

  She tugs at my hold, and I let her go.

  She sits up with her legs locked around my waist. Her thick hair streams around her shoulders, strands falling over her breasts. I reach around and push it aside, making sure it doesn’t cover her nipples.

  Nothing comes between me and her.

  “Like I’d dare order you around?” She peers at me from under those hooded eyelids.

  “Yeah.” I huff out a breath. “You would, and that’s what I am afraid of.”

  “Afraid? Why?” She props her arms on he
r waist, and her breasts thrust out. She looks magnificent, my Lucy.

  I link my fingers behind my neck. “Because, I won't be able to refuse you.”

  She bites down on her lower lip, “For a macho alpha, you sure can be charismatic.”

  “I know.” I smirk down at her.

  "I walked into that one didn't I?" She huffs out a breath.

  There’s another knock on the door, then, Ethan’s voice filters in. “Sorry, General, I seem to be making a habit of interrupting you…but…”

  I set my jaw, “That man seriously knows when he is not needed.”

  She runs a finger in the space between my eyebrows. “Don’t frown, it will only add to those lines that you already carry on your forehead. Not that it doesn’t make you look distinguished, but still…”

  “I don’t have lines on my forehead.” I glower.

  She snickers.

  “Getting too cheeky for your own good, Omega.” I wrap a hand around her nape, haul her close, and kiss her.

  “General, you need to hear this in person.” Ethan’s voice is insistent.

  “He sounds desperate enough to pound down the door.” She flicks her tongue over my lips, and I growl against that beautiful mouth.

  “He wouldn’t dare.”

  “No, he wouldn’t, not when you are being so moody and grouchy like this. But if you don’t go, you’ll miss the news, and it must be important to bring him to the door, when he knows we are…ah…” Her cheeks go pink.

  “Fucking?” I supply helpfully.

  She squeezes her eyes shut. “Thanks for clarifying that. He probably heard you too, and now I am just making it all worse.” Her cheeks flush a bright red.

  I stare. “Are you actually blushing after everything I’ve done to you?” Warmth suffuses my chest.

  She makes an exasperated noise in her throat. “You have no…no shame, Zeus.”

  I chuckle, “And you have no need to be shy about us." I circle my thumb over the soft curve of her hips. "I will ensure that my team understands what you mean to me. I am going to introduce you to the Council as my mate and have them swear a blood fealty to you.”

  She opens her eyes and stares at me. “You’d do that?”

  I stiffen. “Did you have any doubt about my intentions for you?"

  “You know what a blood fealty means, right?” Her gaze narrows.

  “Don’t question my intelligence, Omega.” I growl.

  “It means none of them can rut me, not even when I am in heat and I need an alpha to break it.”

  “I am all you need.” I squeeze her flesh harder.

  “They won't dare look at me, let alone think of laying with me.” She frowns up at me.

  “Exactly.” I can’t stop my lips from curving.

  The tendons of her throat move, and she tilts her head. “It means I am joined by blood to them, they regard me as their own flesh, the closest thing to a sister. It means they have to protect me when I have any needs.”

  “It won’t come to that. I’ll make sure I always stand between you and any threat.” I raise my chin and wait for her to defy me on this, to ask questions. “It means they swear to protect our children.”

  She folds her palms over her belly. “I accept then.”

  “Good.” I bring her down for another hard kiss, then grip her hips and lift her up. I slide out of her, and the sensation of my arousal dragging against her wet channel sends spirals of pleasure radiating from my core.

  Rolling off of the bed, I hold out a hand and help her to her feet.

  “Well, go on, Ethan, what is it?” I angle my head toward the door.

  “It’s Kayden.” Ethan’s voice sounds through the door. “He’s escaped.”

  29

  Lucy

  “And so it begins." Zeus lowers his head and nuzzles my forehead.

  Heat skitters down my spine. This alpha...I'll never get enough of him. I force myself to string the words in my head into a coherent sentence.

  “You don’t seem surprised that Kayden is absconding."

  He straightens and stares at me.

  "So his breaking out—"

  He clicks his tongue.

  "You anticipated it?" I stare.

  "You don't think I'd have left Kayden with minimal guards if I hadn't wanted him to escape?" His lips curl and my gaze drops to that mouth of his.

  That thin upper lip, the full bottom lip that I want to—I force my gaze back to his eyes.

  "You want to give him a chance to redeem himself?"

  "Something like that; apparently, when it comes to family, I have a heart." He cups my cheek, "I blame you for my attack of conscience, Omega."

  "Me?" I blink.

  "Since you flounced into my life, I can't recognize myself. You seem to ferret out every last bit of humanity in me. Every whorl of emotion that I have hidden away, you dig it out. You seem to bring out the parts of me that are—"

  "The weakest?"

  "Unexpected." He growls.

  "It's your strength, Alpha." I place my palm over his. "You let your instincts guide you and that makes you the kind of leader that your enemies will fear, and your men will lay down their lives for."

  "And I'd throw it all aside for just one more second with you."

  "Wow!" I peer up into his eyes, "You are a romantic; you know that?"

  His eyebrows draw down, "Is that praise?"

  "Like you need any to inflate your already swollen ego." I can't stop the smile that tugs at my lips.

  I have never met another man so in tune with his instincts, one who tries his best to hold back his emotions; and yet, they are there bubbling under the surface. Intense, passionate, just waiting to explode. And the person at the receiving end of all that goodness? Me.

  He stares, those blue eyes sparkling with a possessiveness that makes my nerve endings tingle.

  "What?" I squirm and try to pull away.

  He slides his palm to the back of my neck and grabs my nape. 'You're going to deny me the pleasure of staring my fill of my mate?" His deep voice rolls over me.

  Heat curls low in my belly and I squeeze my thighs together. "For a dominant alpha you sure know how to say the right things." My voice hitches.

  "Not only, Omega." He moves in, closing that little half-millimeter of distance between us as if he can’t bear to be away from me, as if he'll always be there wanting me, needing me, eating me up with his gaze, looking out for me, protecting me.

  Tears prick the backs of my eyes and I sniff.

  He frowns, "You're sad?"

  I shake my head.

  "You are sad." He growls. "Is it something I said?"

  No. "Yes." Now why did I blurt the first thing that came into my head? Why do I want to bait this big hunk of an alpha, needing to see how he reacts to my distress?

  A slightly panicked look flares in his eyes, his shoulders bunch, his lips twist. "Fuck. I screwed up, didn't I?" He swears, then without taking his gaze from my face, he half turns his head to the still closed door, "You are my Second, you handle this, Ethan."

  There's silence, then Ethan's footsteps recede as he walks away.

  I stare, "You should go, this is important for you, your half brother, your city—"

  "My mate."

  "Huh?" My throat closes. He can't mean it. He can't be looking at me like I am the only thing that matters, like I am his sun, his moon and his stars, his blood, his everything.

  "You come first."

  I swallow. "You're confusing me again."

  I'd wanted to be the focus of his attention but no one warned me that it would be so overwhelming.

  When my alpha gazes at me like he is going to put me ahead of everything else, including his own life, that I am the cynosure of all his intent, that he is going to possess me... love me...then...then, my hands tremble, my thighs quiver and my knees all but knock together.

  "Good." He bares his lips and his smile... his smile is like that of a man who has found his passion, his calling, who'
s found everything. It's smug and hungry and lascivious. Holy hell! I gulp.

  "I... I don’t trust that look."

  "Excellent, Squirrel, you are getting to know who I am." He bends his knees then lowers his head until his nose bumps mine.

  "But I trust you." I angle my head and my lips brush his.

  Every muscle in his body goes rigid. "Do you know what it does to me when you say that?" His lips twist.

  "N...no." I stutter.

  His eyes burn into me and his features resolve into an inscrutable mask. "It makes me want to take you all over again in every way possible, to imprint my touch into your skin, into your pores, your cells, until you are subsumed in me and I... in...you." His chest rises and falls.

  My throat closes. My heartbeat ratchets up. Why does the thought of submitting to him again completely turn me on so? My skin puckers. My head spins.

  "You ready for that little omega?" His voice is hushed, yet there is an urgency in it that touches something basic inside me.

  My thighs squeeze together and I nod.

  Color streaks across his cheeks. "Good girl."

  Heat flushes my chest. Why does his approval make me feel like I've just been given the biggest gift of all. Him.

  "But first you must recover from your exertions, I don't want to tire you out." The tendons of that beautiful throat flex and a vein throbs at his temple.

  I reach up to touch it and he snags my hand. "Don't." His voice is harsh.

  I gnaw on my lower lip and his gaze drops to my mouth. "Don't do that either." He groans.

  O-k-a-y! So I'll do as he commands, doesn’t mean I can't initiate some moves of my own, right?

  I rise up to my tiptoes and sink my teeth into his lower lip.

  A growl rumbles up his chest, heat jolts the mating bond, the planes of his massive chest harden, and his shoulders bunch.

  The taste of blood fills my mouth and I lick his lip to soothe away the wound. I try to step back and he applies just enough pressure on my nape to hold me in place.

 

‹ Prev