From this moment on, the alpha would be like water to her, like air. Olivia could see that now. Without him, there was no her. If she was ever denied him, she would shrivel up and cease to be.
Every stroke of his cock reinforced that knowledge. Every earth-shattering orgasm, every bit of pleasure from the swelling of his knot, further cemented the bond between them.
When, finally, Olivia collapsed in an exhausted heap in the center of his bed, it was with the knowledge that the past was gone, and she would never be the same again.
Chapter Thirteen
Guilt was an emotion that Gray hadn't felt in years. And for a good reason—he never did anything he regretted or considered wrong.
Not since he was a pup, anyway, and the worst thing he'd done then was to take a swing at a kid from a rival high school who came on to his girlfriend after a football game.
But even though it had been decades, he didn't like it one bit.
There was a reason Gray was so well suited to living as a lone alpha in the Boundarylands. Every day he woke up and did what he needed to do to survive—no less and not a hell of a lot more. He hunted and cleaned his kills, preserved the meat, and grew a seasonal rotation of vegetables, grains, and stone fruit. He cooked and did laundry and maintained his home and tools and land. When all of that was done, he might go down to the roadhouse, throw back some beers, and toss some darts—and if he settled a few disagreements and gave a little advice on the side, well, it was no skin off his nose.
It was a simple life, but Gray liked it exactly as it was. And the thing he liked most about it was not having to worry about anyone other than himself.
But that wasn't true anymore.
Gray gazed down at Olivia, frowning. Her long, lithe body was sprawled in the center of his bed, her limbs flung to the sides as if she didn't even have the energy to get under the covers. Her long hair was a tangled mess of deep gold where the sun had kissed it and mahogany where it hadn't.
She'd broken several nails—Gray had the scratches on his back to prove it—and earned herself a few nicks and bruises while riding him like the hellcat she was. And her scent was ripe with four days of non-stop lovemaking.
His omega was in desperate need of a bath, and Gray was pretty sure she'd never get the tangles out of her hair. But despite all that, she was still breathtakingly beautiful, as elegant in repose as she was the first time she'd taken off that damn suit, like a fucking princess showing up on his land.
A princess who was going to wake up sore as hell with enough wear and tear to send her right back to bed.
That was the source of Gray's guilt. They'd experienced the same four days, the same endless sessions of screwing and grinding and coming for hours with no food and hardly any rest. The only difference was that Olivia was utterly spent…but Gray was completely fine.
Yes, he was a little tired. He could definitely use something to eat, but a big breakfast and a second cup of coffee would see him through the day.
His omega, on the other hand, wouldn't stir for hours, and when she eventually woke, she would feel like a truck ran over her. From the stories Gray had heard, an omega coming out heat was in for a daunting recovery that could last for days.
It hardly seemed fair.
But then again, what was? Gray had come to believe that the concept of fairness was a beta invention that came from fear and resistance to accept humans' place in the world. Nature had no such construct—there was just predator and prey, times of plenty balanced by times of want, with a natural disaster thrown in now and then to keep you on your toes.
Gray snorted with disgust at the thought of the beta bastard who'd dragged Olivia here. That piece of crap wasn't thinking about fairness when he set up an innocent woman to be a pawn in his scientific experiment.
Gray's hands tightened involuntarily into fists. Maybe there was a place in the world for fairness, after all. If he could switch places with Olivia right now, he'd do it in a heartbeat. He'd gladly endure all of her exhaustion, weakness, and pain if he could give her his strength.
But that wasn't possible. So in the service fairness, he would have to find some other way to restore the balance sheet, to deliver justice to those who'd harmed her. Because while Olivia had emerged from her heat with a few battle scars, she had asked—no, begged and screamed—for them.
She had never asked for the rest.
That brought up an entirely different emotion that Gray wasn't accustomed to—feeling powerless. He hadn't been able to stop the sons of bitches for dragging him into their twisted plans, hadn't even sensed their presence. He would take the blame for that—but not sitting down.
His blood starting to simmer with anger, Gray stepped away from the bed and went outside.
The crisp morning air stung his cheeks, and he rubbed his palms together as his breath formed clouds in front of him.
It seemed like forever since he'd been outside. Nature had been busy, turning the leaves on the trees surrounding the cabin to red and gold, covering the grassy meadow with frost that glinted in the sun as it melted.
Gray filled his lungs with fresh, clean air and listened to the sounds of birdsong and the waterfall cascading down the sheer rock face in the distance. He would have to get used to this, to being trapped inside for four days every month.
But Olivia's first heat had been a hell of a ride, more fulfilling than anything he'd ever experienced. Gray never dreamed he'd willingly give up an iota of his freedom—but hell, for another round of Olivia, he'd gladly chain himself to the bed.
Tilting his head back, Gray drank deeper of the scents of the forest around him—the moss and damp redwood bark, the fallen leaves turning to rich compost underfoot, the mineral-rich waters of the hot springs.
No sign of betas…not that that he could trust his nose anymore. For the next hour, as Gray caught up on chores around the cabin, he remained on high alert for anything out of place.
But by the time he'd mended a section of deer fencing that the rangy bastards had managed to trample, he let himself relax a little.
His ruse had been a good one, and there was no reason to think the betas weren't convinced that Olivia's body was lying in a shallow grave after he'd killed her in a fit of rage.
But that didn't mean they wouldn't come back. Maybe this failed mission would keep them away from his land—but there was nothing stopping them from trying again with one of his brothers.
There was no way they'd gone to the trouble and expense of creating those ridiculous scent-proof suits to only use them once.
Gray gave the reinforced fence a hard shove in frustration, but it held. Of course it did—he'd buried the post almost five feet deep.
He'd sure love to know what the beta authorities were up to. First, they'd cut off the Boundaryland gas shipments right before the cold season started. Now they were dropping in unawakened omegas with secret chips embedded in their skin.
What the hell were they planning?
And more importantly, what would they try next?
By the time Gray decided to break for lunch, he was no closer to an answer. The only conclusion he'd reached was that he couldn't keep this information to himself.
If there was even the smallest chance of further beta incursions into the Boundarylands, then he needed to warn his brothers. Because whatever the betas were planning, it was for damn sure nothing good.
"Wake up, little hellcat."
Olivia's eyelashes fluttered at the sound of Gray's deep growl, which had come to sound to her more like purring. But when her eyes were assaulted by the bright spill of light from the oil lamp, she quickly shut them again and rolled face down on the bed.
"I know you're tired, but you've gotta wake up."
Oh, no, she didn't.
"Go away," she croaked, her throat parched. She tried to grab the sheet tangled around her body and pull it up over her head, but the muscles in her arms were too sore and weak.
Damn—Olivia had never been so exhausted i
n her life. What the hell…
The memories started flooding in. Little snippets of moments so astonishingly raw and dirty that she felt her entire body flush.
Oh yeah. That.
No wonder she felt like she'd been flattened by a steamroller. Considering what she'd been doing for the last several days, there was no way in hell she was getting out of this bed.
Unfortunately, her alpha had other plans. He slipped his arms underneath her and lifted her unceremoniously into the air, cradling her against his chest.
"I've drawn you a bath," he said as he carried her out of the bedroom.
"I don't want a bath. I want to go back to sleep."
"I know, but I can't put this trip off any longer."
Olivia gave up and let her head loll against his chest, where his strong, steady heart beat against her ear.
So, he had a heart after all. Olivia couldn't help a small, private grin. Her fury at the alpha had been her prime defense mechanism against him ever since he'd found her, but it was hard to stay angry after he'd shown so much restraint during her—her—
All right, so she wasn't quite ready to use that word yet. But he had been solicitous and careful during whatever the hell they'd just done together.
And he didn't have to hold back, not when she'd been begging him to go harder, faster, more more more. That, she remembered with deep mortification. What was that all about? Omegas were supposed to be nothing more than warm, wet holes for their alphas' pleasure—so why did hers care so much if she was torn up?
Instead of knotting her again and again, he'd taken her on what had to be the world's longest oral sex marathon to give her a chance to heal.
If that wasn't evidence of character, then Olivia didn't know what was.
That was why she kept her mouth shut when the alpha gently eased her down into the effervescent, steaming water in the basin. It felt like heaven on her sore muscles. She didn't protest when the alpha took the bar of sage-scented soap and gently scrubbed her hair and body clean of four days of sweat and grime.
She enjoyed the experience so thoroughly that when the alpha lifted her out and wrapped her in a towel, she mewled with annoyance. If he was going to drag her out of bed, he could at least have the courtesy to let her soak for a while. But instead, he blotted the water from her hair, then slipped a cable-knit sweater over her head. It was nice and warm but so large that it slipped off one shoulder and hung all the way down to her knees.
"This thing is huge," she observed as she rolled up the sleeves, "but it would still never fit you."
"My sister likes to knit," he shrugged. "She sent it last Christmas, but we haven't seen each other in a couple years. I think she forgot my size."
"You have a sister?" Olivia was surprised. She knew that no one was born an alpha, of course. But for some reason, she couldn't quite imagine her alpha being a part of a family, with a mom and a dad and a house in the suburbs.
"And a brother." He picked her up again and carried her out into the main room. Olivia was pretty sure at this point she could have walked on her own, but she didn't bother fighting him. "And two other sisters."
"That's a big family," Olivia said as he set her down in the leather chair, then knelt before her to put on the canvas shoes that she'd been wearing when she arrived.
"How about you?"
"A couple of step-brothers, but we're not close." Olivia waited for the old familiar pang from long-ago hurts, but it didn't come. "My dad left when I was young, and my mom remarried after I left for college. I don't see them much anymore."
"Why not?"
"I have my own life, and they have theirs." It was her standard answer, but for once, it simply felt like the truth and not a defense. "My work keeps me away a lot. I'm out in the field sometimes for weeks or even months."
"Taking pictures." A smile teased his lips.
"Exactly."
"You'll have to show me your portfolio sometime."
Olivia laughed. "You've already seen some of my work, and from what I remember, your reaction to it wasn't exactly positive."
"Tastes change." There was a teasing gleam in his eye as he rose to his feet that was hard to resist.
Olivia wasn't quite ready to admit that her feelings toward him had softened. But that look? Yeah, that look was all right—especially when he bent down and picked her up again, nestling her comfortably in his arms.
She couldn't deny that she fit perfectly there—but when he headed for the front door, a frisson of worry returned. She'd almost forgotten about the trip that couldn't be put off.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"To the roadhouse."
"You woke me up to take me to a bar?" Olivia lifted her head enough to shoot him a glare.
"It's more than a damn bar. And I promise you, I wouldn't be taking you there unless it was absolutely necessary."
Olivia sighed and waited to be deposited into the passenger seat of the alpha's truck.
"They must serve one hell of a beer there," she muttered, mostly to herself.
"Actually, it sucks," he said before shutting the door.
Chapter Fourteen
The alpha was right. The beer did suck. It wasn't the worst Olivia had ever tasted—but it was close.
At least it was cold…ish.
After only a few sips, Olivia was beginning to think that maybe this sub-par beer was the real reason alphas were so grumpy. Maybe if they had access to an ice-cold glass of craft ale that didn't taste like bear piss, they might cheer up a little.
But as it was, every alpha in the place was most definitely on edge, including hers.
Gray, Olivia reminded herself. Her alpha had a name, and it was Gray.
When they entered the bar, a couple of younger alphas called out a greeting from over by the pool table. At first, Olivia thought it might have been a nickname referencing the few strands of silver hair at his temple. But when she heard everyone call him that, including the bartender, she figured it must be his real name.
Olivia felt a twinge of guilt for refusing to learn his name or anything else about him earlier. It seemed petty now, a stupid gesture that only served as evidence that she had no one to blame for her current situation except the betas who brought her here, so she'd taken it out on the one man who'd helped her instead.
Still, she reminded herself, she'd been acting in self-defense—at least, at first. She'd fought him with her fists when escape still seemed possible, and then with her words to keep an emotional distance that was getting harder and harder to maintain.
Who would have guessed that the latter would prove even more impossible than the former?
Olivia slid her barstool a little deeper into the darkness at the end of the bar where Gray had set her down. It was bad enough being carried in like a sack of groceries, and if she'd had the energy, she would have rebelled—but she wasn't about to draw even more attention to herself.
Besides, it wasn't like Gray would have listened. If there was one thing that she'd learned during her time here in the Boundarylands, it was that no one was more stubborn than an alpha.
She could forgive him that—but what she couldn't forgive was being left there alone to endure being stared at by every alpha in the place as she was a fresh piece of meat. In the course of her career, Olivia had stared down a female lion protecting her cub and a nest of pythons she accidentally disturbed. Right now, she'd take either of those over this barroom full of alphas.
The hairs on the back of Olivia's neck had stood on end when they entered the plain, dark roadhouse. Every head in the place had turned their way, their sharp eyes all zeroed in on her.
There were so damn many of them. Three dozen at least—Olivia hadn't even known that many alphas lived in the northern part of the Pacific Boundarylands.
One possessive growl from Gray, though, was all it took for the alphas to avert their eyes and return to their conversations. Once he had her settled at the bar with this sad excuse of a beer, he had gone of
f to talk to them all, leaving her feeling alone and exposed.
He never went farther than a few steps away, and he checked on her every moment or two, catching her eye with a faint nod to let her know he hadn’t forgotten her. She tried to hear what he and the others were saying but was only able to catch snippets of their conversations—the ones that were so important that had to drag her here when she should have still been resting.
She heard a few mentions of betas and spying, but there were other topics flying around that Olivia couldn't connect to the shady government agency that had sent her here. The alphas seemed focused on a discussion of fuel shortages and an influx of omegas in the lowlands.
As the moments ticked by, the hum of voices around her grew louder and more animated. She overheard parts of a conversation about a military incursion on private property in the southern area and another about the decrease in beta traders crossing the border. There were disturbing questions about whether there would be enough supplies to carry them through the brutal winter ahead.
But the most troubling thing she picked up on was a remark that provoked a heated argument. From what she could make out, some of the alphas didn't trust their brothers to the south—both those in the midlands and the lowlands—to share their limited resources. When an aggressive alpha with a scar under his eye suggested a preemptive raid, all hell threatened to break loose until Gray calmed the situation down.
Olivia held onto her glass with both hands as her anxiety grew. She was starting to piece together a theory about what was really going on here—why she'd been sent, why she'd been found, and why conflict was beginning to simmer among these alphas.
Being a wildlife photographer meant being aware of her surroundings at all times. Even when she was focused intently on the subject in front of her, she was constantly scanning for anything out of place, anything that could threaten her safety or spook her subject.
Gray: The Boundarylands Omegaverse: M/F Alpha Omega Romance Page 9
