by Alison Aimes
“I don’t know where Damien got the idea that he had a say in how I choose to handle my affairs.” Each word was low, deadly, and precise. “But let me make a few things perfectly clear to everyone here. First, I am the Alpha and head of this family. I make the rules. You don’t like it. Challenge me.” His voice devolved to a low, feral growl. “Or shut the fuck up and fall in line.”
He waited.
Damien’s shoulders tensed, but he looked away, and then down. No one else breathed.
“That’s what I fucking thought.” His fingertips pressed deeper into the cloth as he leaned forward to ensure he had their full attention. “Second, the omega is neither a guest nor my prisoner. She is my prime omega and my fated mate, and she is a fucking Skolov now. She’s not going anywhere. Ever. You don’t like it. Challenge me,” he repeated. “Or shut the fuck up, fall in line, and treat her with respect.”
He pinned each member of his family with his gaze, waiting until he received a nod of acceptance before he moved on.
Then, he shifted to look at his omega and finally gauge her reaction.
She was looking at him wide-eyed, shock writ large across her beautiful blue eyes.
It wasn’t exactly the warmth from earlier, but it was better than the recent hurt and despair.
He’d take it.
“Good. Glad that’s settled.” Nodding to the closest servant, he waited until his chair was back behind him and then sat. “Let’s eat.”
For another moment, no one moved.
Then, one single low, warning growl from him, and his brothers and sister sprang into action.
“I, ah, I can definitely ask the chef about some Lundin dishes.” Alexi, always the easiest at rolling with things, was the first to recover.
A swell of affection swept through Nikolai. Skolovs were a passionate, pain-in-the-ass bunch. Keeping the lot of them in line was a lot of work, but it was worth it.
“Would you like me to ask?” Alexi spoke to Dahlia for the first time as the servants surreptitiously cleaned up the broken plates and spilled food.
“Thank you.” His omega gripped her fork tighter. “But there’s no need to trouble yourself on my account.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Alexi shot her his trademark smile.
She didn’t return the smile, but her hold on the fork loosened.
Then, Alexi went off on some tangent about some recent delicacies he’d ordered for the clubs that were all the rage, and the omega actually nodded and responded with a half-smile.
Nikolai’s gums throbbed, his fangs itching to release.
Did his omega think Alexi was handsome? A better match? Stronger? Out of all of them, Alexi and his piercing blue eyes had omegas and betas sighing the most. And Alexi’s charm was legendary.
Nikolai’s claws pushed against his fingertips, begging for release.
She was his.
Maxheim coughed and caught his gaze.
Nikolai reeled himself in.
For hells’ sake, the omega was his, Alexi was his brother, and they were just talking—as he’d engineered.
He really needed to speak with the doc and see if his moods were going to even out soon.
As an Alpha, he was always aggressive, but he didn’t usually contemplate ripping out his brother’s throat. He might say it, but he’d never do it. Alexi might be all grown up and a royal pain in the ass, but he’d always be the little brother who Nikolai had found broken and beaten, chained to a bathroom pipe after he’d been taken by a rival gang who didn’t like the Skolov’s growing power. His brother had survived five rotations while Nikolai searched for him. He’d never spoken about what had been done to him, but he’d never been the same since. Because of that, Nikolai gave the male a lot of leeway. Maybe too much.
This life had taken a toll on them all.
Alexi laughed, his omega almost smiled—and Nikolai reminded himself that it could all still work out.
“There’s a good wine that pairs well with that dish.” Anya joined the conversation. “It’s nearly impossible to get, but if anyone can, it’s Alexi.”
Despite the gnawing guilt in his gut, a competing sense of satisfaction washed over Nikolai. His family and his omega. Together. Safe and secure in his compound, surrounded by his guards, well-fed, warm, safe from every bastard predator out there who wanted to bring them to their knees.
This was what he’d always wanted.
This is what he’d gotten down on his knees for and let himself be some beta pervert’s whipping boy.
He’d do it again in a heartbeat.
And he was going to do whatever it took to ensure this domestic scene repeated itself over and over, forever.
Maxheim’s comms buzzed. He looked down and sighed. “I know you don’t want to talk business, but I got a request from the casino. A couple of high roller guests asked if you’d join them tonight for some play and fun.”
You didn’t have to know Maxheim-speak to suspect that was code for gambling, drink, and sex.
Across the table, Nikolai’s omega had gone still once more.
“Not now. Not ever.” Nikolai waved the invitation away. “I’ve got my hands full as it is.”
“Got it.” Maxheim started typing. “I’ll offer up your excuses and—”
“No, don’t make excuses for me.” Nikolai cut him off. “Truth is, sometimes I can be an ass.”
Her gaze flew to his.
Finally.
“I tend to prefer anger over anything else. Especially weakness.”
Her delicate eyebrows winged upward. A rush of warmth flooded his chest, traveling from her along the invisible fated-mate tie between them.
“Okay.” Maxheim, still staring at his screen, froze in mid type. “I’m not quite sure—”
“And sometimes,” Nikolai continued, encouraged by the tantalizing sensation reaching him through their bond that felt a lot like forgiveness, “I think I’m better at keeping control than I am.”
A small smile played at her lips—and miracle of miracles, she took a bite of food before saying, “I am sure your guests will understand.”
“Will they?” He growled. “Because I had such big fucking plans for after this dinner.”
“I don’t know how she’d know.” Maxheim finally looked up. “And I don’t know what any of this has to do with dinner.”
Nikolai growled low.
His omega’s eyelids sunk to half-mast.
The fork in his hand bent. He barely resisted the urge to command her to get on the table and crawl the length to come to him.
“For fuck’s sake, could you two make this any harder?” Alexi’s voice had dropped, responding no doubt to the increased pheromones in the air. “Unless this is going to end in an orgy—”
“Get out.”
Everyone froze.
“I’m not finished eating.” Alexi sounded amused.
“All of you,” Nikolai roared. “Except for my omega. You stay right where you are.”
Legs scraped the floor as chairs were pushed back. Alexi grabbed his plate. Maxheim, his precious comms. Damien didn’t bother with anything but ushering Anya out.
His omega’s gaze never wavered from his, even as the last beta servant hurried out the door and closed it quietly behind him.
“Now,” he pushed back his chair and stood. “I think it’s time you and I make another deal.”
23
Dahlia’s lungs worked overtime, her body already on fire, the force of his need battering her along their fated-mate bond and sparking her own desire higher. “What kind of deal?”
Nikolai stalked toward her. “The kind you’ll like, omega.”
He looked mouthwatering in the flickering candlelight, all wide shoulders and bulging, sculpted arms, his huge muscles rippling beneath his long-sleeved shirt with every crunch of his boots on the crystal floor, his beautiful amber eyes bleeding to red.
He truly was the most magnetic, beautiful male she’d ever seen.
E
verything she was learning about him only made her want him more.
The Alpha was hard to resist when he was fierce and dominant. When he added leniency and humility to his arsenal, it was nearly impossible.
But she was going to try. Otherwise, he’d steamroll right over her. “Dahlia. My name is Dahlia.”
He growled low and kept coming.
She stood her ground.
He had proven himself beyond brave by acknowledging his own error. She needed to be strong as well.
I tend to prefer anger over anything else. Especially weakness.
Her father had never once apologized to her or her mother. Nor had any other Alpha she’d ever known.
Yet, the head of the Skolov crime family, more powerful than any of those others, had not only defended her to his family, he’d also been willing to admit his mistake. To her.
Her skin crackled with power. The fated-mate bond between them was deepening so fast she suspected she no longer needed his hand on her to spark her visions to life. His potency simply surged through her at all times, his strength hers to lean on whenever she needed, a sparking fuse waiting for the right fuel to explode.
All that was required was that last piece, something inside her to make her gift ignite and rip aside the block once and for all.
He had said she was the key to his vengeance and destruction. She was beginning to realize he might be the answer to her awakening.
“You think I don’t know your name?” He reached her at last, his energy rippling over her skin like a caress. Her fingertips tingled.
Except he made no move to actually touch her. Just loomed above.
Her anticipation grew.
“You think I didn’t whisper it to myself every time I was jerking off or letting those beta bastards whip my back. I know your name, Dahlia Skolov. But until you’re willing to accept it in full, I don’t like uttering it.”
“I thought you hated me.”
“You thought wrong.”
Her heart fluttered hard inside her chest. “I had no idea I was your prime omega. I thought the contract defined me as your property.”
“It originally did.” He held her gaze as if searching for something. “That was all that was officially required per the terms of the debt your father owed, but I wanted more.”
Her breathing hitched, her body swaying as the impact of his words hit. He’d given her the esteem of the title prime omega though it hadn’t been necessary.
He was so hard one moment. Kind the next.
How could she have been so wrong about so much?
Perhaps because, if she acknowledged to herself that Nikolai cared for her as much as she’d once cared for him, it changed everything.
And nothing.
Their families’ enemy status remained the same. His family’s dislike of her was still there. Most significantly, in the aftermath of the upcoming Brotherhood trial, someone she cared about would die—and she would be responsible for it.
But, somehow, none of that stopped her blood from pounding hot and wild as the thought that Nikolai might value her beyond her use as a pawn and a warm, wet sheath.
“You’re thinking too hard and worrying too much, Dahlia.”
Oh, gods, her name in that rumbled voice sent shivers down her spine.
“Maybe you’re right, Alpha.”
“Call me Nikolai.”
Her chin lifted. “We’re not fucking.”
His eyes narrowed. “Say it anyway.”
“Nikolai.” It came out breathier than intended.
He growled low, nostrils flaring. “I like the sound of that.”
She did too. Too much.
“You’re worrying again,” he scolded. “All you need to consider right now is if you’d like to make another deal with me.”
It was a relief to think of something more concrete. “What kind of deal?”
“The kind where I give you something and, in return, you forgive me for my earlier asinine behavior, and I bend you over this table and fuck you so hard we send every plate shattering to the ground.”
The image left her trembling with lust. “I could have another vision.”
“Aren’t I supposed to be the one warning you of that?”
“True, but you were not happy last time.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He stepped closer. So close her chest nearly brushed his stomach with every rushed breath she took.
“I won’t be able to control what I see.”
“You’ve already witnessed the worst I have to offer.”
“You’re right.” She tipped her chin and met his gaze head-on. “But it wasn’t because of that vision.”
His lip curled upward, fangs flashing. “That damn smart mouth. I like it more than I should, omega.”
“Then we’re even,” she admitted. “Against my better judgment, I am beginning to like some aspects of you more than I should, Alpha. Especially for an enemy.”
Her admission had his nostrils flaring, the amber bleeding from his eyes as they changed to red. “But you are far more than that to me.” He grasped her wrist and turned it over, displaying the band. “Fated mate.” He rubbed his thumb across the band. “Prime omega.” Raising her hand, he pressed his mouth to the golden glow. “Treasure.”
Her heart soared at the words. “What are you offering?”
“New accommodations. A tour of the compound. A surprise I think you’ll like.”
“A surprise? What?”
His expression turned chiding. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told.”
The urge to smile rippled through her once more. Strange. Exciting. It was accompanied by another surge in power.
Because, for the first time in her entire existence, someone was treating her as if her omega status did not mean only sexual servitude, submission, and surrender.
The way he looked at her now, she truly did feel like the treasure he said she was.
But that did not mean she could simply surrender. Her mother’s life was still on the line, and Dahlia had more loyalty than that.
“Do we have a deal?” His rumbled voice held a hint of impatience. He would always be Alpha, and Alphas did not like to be kept waiting.
She tried to think past the need coursing through her body.
“I would like to speak to my mother. I want to make sure she’s okay.”
He scowled with displeasure. “You’re a Skolov now.”
“Please.”
He studied her, then gave a brusque nod.
Her mood lightened further.
“Accept my apology, omega.” His growl was deeper now. “I can scent how much you want to.”
“Did you make one?”
His fangs flashed, but he did not hesitate. “I’m sorry.”
“Then, I accept. I’m sorry, too, Alpha. I—”
She never got to finish. Big hands seized her hips and lifted her onto the table. Dishes clattered. His mouth slammed over hers.
The fated-mate tie sizzled with golden light and unbridled lust.
With a moan, she wrapped her hands around his horns and dragged him closer. Her heels locked against his ass. The power buzzing beneath her fingertips pulsed from him to her and back again as the bonds at her wrist and collar sparked with pleasure.
The force of it threatened to throw her headlong into a vision.
Acting on instinct, she channeled the wild rush of power into her lust instead, anchoring her and her Alpha in the present and the raw, heady heat of the here and now.
This was where they both wanted to be, anyway—his body moving against hers, his fingers digging into her hips while she rubbed against him.
This was beauty. This was joy. This was more precious than a tainted past or an uncertain future. This was everything.
She had always heard the fated bond was nothing more than a terrible trap, but in this moment, she knew those assessments were wrong.
The connection between her and this complicated male was all-encomp
assing and full of possibility.
It always had been.
For this moment, she was done fighting it.
24
“Come on, little one.” Strong arms lifted her and cradled her close. Arrogant satisfaction pulsed through her from the fated-mate bond, along with something that might have been tenderness. “A dining room is no place for a nap.”
Latching her arms around his neck, she managed a tiny growl of protest.
His low chuckle rumbled through her. “So fierce.”
He jostled her higher in his arms as he moved out of the room. “I promised you a talk with your mother. If we wait too much longer, it will be too late to call and I don’t want that damn call hanging over my head all night.”
She forced one eye open. Then the other.
He’d carried her into a connecting room filled with plush couches, books, and a huge ice bar that ran the length of the room, a sleek after-dinner gathering spot made for cigars, drink, and sin.
Honestly, all she wanted to do was sleep.
He’d fucked and knotted her twice on the table, once from behind and once with her on top, breaking the dishes as promised, before he pulled her into his seat and fucked her there as well. He’d never removed his pants, and he’d never taken off her dress. Just yanked her panties to her ankles and pounded inside. It was becoming a habit. One she liked. A lot.
But her body was exhausted.
She was worn out from the incredible pleasure he gave her. As well as her effort to channel the force of Nikolai’s power into remaining in the present rather than spiraling into the past.
She could scarcely believe she’d done it, but she had. She’d deliberately kept herself from having a vision. At least for the moment.
Except controlling her abilities was a full-time job, and she needed rest.
She also needed to weed through her guilt and her increasingly complicated feelings for her Alpha.
More important, however, was making sure her mother was okay.
Her bottom settled onto the leather as Nikolai gently placed her on the couch. She forced her arms to unlatch—it was harder than expected.
A couple of fast presses on his keyboard and he was handing his wrist comms to her. “You’re good to go.”
