by Juno Wells
He lifted his wrist and tapped it in an impatient motion as they reached him. “It took you long enough, Spud,” he said through the speaker in her suit. She giggled again, wondering how in the world a virile Alpha like Ryder had ended up with the nickname Spud. It was a story she would have to remember to ask for later, since now wasn’t the time.
“We had a little delay.” He sent her a look that clearly placed all the blame on her. She wrinkled her nose and looked away from him.
Quinn sounded surprised and looked that way to see her. “You let your Omega come along?”
“She’s not my Omega.”
Daisy stiffened at the words, hating how much they injured her pride. It was strictly her pride, of course. She sniffed at him again before addressing Quinn. “Azaria won’t know you, and she’ll fight. I didn’t want to delay her rescue.”
“It’s my understanding she’s locked in a box. How could she fight?”
She scowled at his dispassionate response. “Maybe she couldn’t fight, but she’d get worked up and scared for no reason. If she sees me, she’ll be a lot more relaxed, okay?” She couldn’t help her hint of impatience at his lack of empathy.
He shrugged a shoulder. “Let’s get this over with.”
Using his wrist comm, Quinn forced the door open, and they entered the cargo hold a moment later. She quickly disengaged the mag lock of her E-suit and hopped off the skid a second after Ryder. He held a hand to help her, but she was already down, so she ignored it. He dropped it to his side a second later, and the three of them exited the cargo hold.
When they entered the corridor, they found three large Alphas waiting for them, and Daisy had already drawn her gun. So had the two Alphas with her, and they made short work of the three of them. Her shots went wild, and she looked at Ryder as they moved down the corridor once it was clear. “Is the calibration off on this thing?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “It could be. It’s only ever been a spare, and it hasn’t been serviced for a while.”
For the first time, Daisy realized when he bought her, he had probably put himself in a tight situation. She supposed she should be more grateful than resentful as she had been, though she couldn’t help feeling hurt he had bought her long enough to fuck her but had no interest in keeping her.
It was a crazy thought, since she didn’t want to be kept by him anyway. She sighed with impatience at herself as she followed behind the two of them, since they made her stay behind them.
She heard a scuffling sound behind her and turned just as a large Alpha, even bigger than Quinn, who was the largest Alpha she’d ever seen, darted out from a bend in the corridor and shoved her to the ground. His weight was on her, and she grimaced at the way his hard cock pressed into the cleft of her buttocks. She had no doubt this Alpha would claim her if he got the chance.
Only the E-suit blocking her pheromones was probably keeping him from rutting. She prayed she would be able to stave off going into estrus again. She didn’t know if the enhancer was still in her system. If not, she should have finished with estrus for at least the next month, but she wasn’t certain she had.
Fortunately, all his rubbing against her did was make her queasy, and he was soon off her. She heard a ferocious growl and looked up in time to see Ryder lifting the Alpha, who was quite a bit larger than him, and throwing him across the corridor. The man slammed into the wall, groaned, and crumpled to the floor a moment later. He laid at an unnatural angle that suggested he wouldn’t be getting up again.
She looked up at him, and the ferocious possessiveness in his gaze made her heart skip a beat, and slick started to flood her. She was thankful the E-suit filtered out her pheromones so he wouldn’t respond. The last thing they needed was to get caught in the throes of estrus and rutting while they were trying to rescue Azaria.
She looked away from him, using every ounce of strength she had, and somehow managed to regain control of her body. The slick was still there, proof of how much she wanted him, but at least it was no longer dripping copiously from her, and she wasn’t at risk of being lost in the thrall of estrus now.
The three of them proceeded onward, using coordinates Quinn must have programed into his wrist comm provided by Ryder to identify her friend’s biomarkers. They seemed to know where they were going, and they reached the area a short time later. The guards here hadn’t yet had a chance to put on antigravity boots, so they were still floating around and clinging to the wall.
She found it an amusing sight, and she was further amused when Ryder reached up and took the gun from one of the guards before shoving him across the room. He went flying, colliding with the window, which he clung to in a desperate bid to keep himself semi-upright.
Quinn dealt with the other with a swift punch that sent him to the ceiling, where he hovered, clearly knocked out.
Quinn’s wrist comm eased the way for them once more, hacking through the code that kept them barred from the room inside. The hydraulic hiss of the door opening an instant later echoed through her suit, and she saw Azaria’s box from the corner of her eye. She tried to rush in, but Ryder held her back, insisting on going first. She rolled her eyes, but she understood that was his nature, so she impatiently followed right behind him, with Quinn bringing up the rear.
Azaria was in a sorry state, and Daisy winced on her friend’s behalf. She remembered how frantic she had been just a few hours ago, and it had been that much longer for poor Azaria. She was probably burning up with fever, and she might even have some permanent damage from how long she’d been kept in estrus.
Ryder was looking at his brother with care and concern. “Can you help her?”
She watched his brother approach the box slowly, his posture stiff with reluctance. Yet he knelt before her, putting a hand against the clear wall of the box as she did the same. Azaria was whimpering, the sound audible through the suit, and she pleaded with both her eyes and her words when Quinn was before her.
“Alpha, make it stop hurting.” Her black eyes were luminous with unshed tears, and her face was red with exertion of the fever. Her dark brown hair was plastered to her face and hanging down around it in limp strands coated with sweat. She was clearly suffering.
“I’ll help her.” With those words, Quinn lifted her box, clearly disdaining Ryder’s offer to help. “I’ve got her, but you need to make sure the path stays clear. Same for you, Daisy.” He sounded gruff, and there was definitely a hint of growl in his tone.
He hadn’t even smelled her friend’s pheromones yet, and he was already responding. She wondered if this was how it had been for Ryder, and she had a new appreciation for the compulsion to buy her that had gripped him. How had he managed to offer her the choice of a suppressant before just taking her if his need had been as urgent as Quinn’s?
That worried her, and she stepped in front of Quinn. He looked down at her with surprise, and he seemed to be straining, though she doubted it was under the weight of the box housing her friend and Azaria’s weight itself. “Move.”
She put her hands on her hips, somehow managing to stand up to the note of authority in his tone. Maybe because he wasn’t her Alpha—not that she had an Alpha, she hastily assured herself. “You have to give her a choice. Ryder gave me a choice, and you have to do the same for Azaria.”
He hesitated for a moment before nodding once. “I plan to. I don’t have suppressant, but I have sedatives if she wants to wait until we can get suppressant. I’ll take her aboard my ship in case she chooses the other option. If not, I’ll send her to you as soon as it’s safe.”
She frowned as she moved aside, knowing she had to accept his word. She had no reason to trust him, but she found herself doing so anyway. There was a forthrightness about the gruff Quinn that made her think he wasn’t one for lying or dishonesty. If he planned to take her friend without waiting for her consent, she was sure he would’ve just told her that bluntly, reminding her he was an Alpha, and his word was law above an Omega’s.
She stepped
back, brushing against Ryder, who squeezed her hand in a reassuring fashion before they departed the quarters. They ran into one more set of guards, composed of Beta males, and the brothers made quick work of them. Daisy managed to figure out how to use the laser pistol and compensate for its uncalibrated sights and took out one herself before they reached the cargo hold.
Quinn stepped onto his skid, setting down the box with Azaria in it. Daisy tried to catch her friend’s glance, but Azaria was staring at Quinn with open need and naked desire, having eyes for no one else. Quinn seemed to be in a similar state, so she gave up any attempt to communicate with her friend, at least until the frenetic madness of estrus had eased.
Instead, she tried to trust in her own instincts that told her Quinn wouldn’t hurt her friend, and he had been kind enough to help Ryder rescue her, so she joined Ryder on his skid, locked in the mag lock, and clung to him once more as the airlock opened, and the two skids went their separate ways to their respective ships.
They were back on the Remedy a short time later, and she removed the E-suit and passed it to him after he hung his as well. She paced a little bit.
“What’s wrong?”
She stopped and looked at him. “I guess I’m just impatient to know what’s happening. We can’t leave until she makes a decision, because if she wants to go back with me to the convent, we have to take her with us.”
He frowned. “You want to go to the convent?”
She nodded. “It’s my home. I have no reason to stay.” As she said the words, she uttered them with an air of challenge, realizing she was asking him to give her a reason to change her mind, a reason to stay with him.
6
Ryder looked at her, shocked that she would be ready to walk away from him. He shouldn’t feel so desperate to keep her, since they weren’t bonded, and all they had done was mate during her estrus. That shouldn’t have been enough to bind them together, or to make him have a stake in her future, but the idea of her leaving him was more than he could stand. With a growl, he surged forward and pulled her into his arms. “You aren’t going anywhere. Your place is with me.”
She stared up at him, slowly licking her lips. “I don’t feel like that’s the case. You have no interest in claiming me, Ryder, and you certainly can’t keep me this way. I’m better off at the convent.”
“You’re better off with me.” With another growl, he bent his head and kissed her firmly. He expected some resistance, since she seemed angry with him, or at least challenging his right to claim her, but instead, she melted right into his arms.
The kiss was hard and hungry, but he tried to gentle it when some shredds of his control returned, dragging her closer as he inhaled her scent. He moved his mouth from hers to her neck, sniffing and licking her scent gland. It caused her pheromones to rise, and he could smell the slick on her.
At first, it was an older scent, but then it was fresh and prodigious, and he knew she was actively producing it right then. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He was determined to do it right this time, so instead of giving in to the impulse to pin her to the wall and take her right there in the cargo bay, he lifted her into his arms. She let out a squeal as she clung to him, and he hurried down the corridor into the lift.
He put her down long enough to nuzzle her neck again while they waited for the lift to take them to the deck with his bedroom, and then he picked her up once more. This time, her thighs wrapped around his waist as she faced him while he carried her, his hands supporting the rounded globes of her ass that he squeezed with delight.
He was thankful the biometric panel on his door was broken, so all he had to do was nudge it with his elbow and not let go of her to open the door and take her inside. Once he was in his room, he lowered her to her feet, his hands going to the fasteners of her suit to rip it open. She moaned her pleasure as he stripped it from her, revealing her ebony skin and utter perfection. He hadn’t had as much time to appreciate it earlier in the throes of rut, but now, he could take his time to savor each part of her.
Ryder let his hands roam over her smooth skin and soft curves, growling with impatience when she blocked him. He soon realized she just wanted him to remove his armor and flight suit, so he stepped back to accommodate her.
He planned to pick her up and sweep her to bed, but she dropped to her knees before him. He put a hand in her hair, wrapping the springy curls around his fist. “You don’t have to…” He trailed off with a groan as her hand wrapped around his large cock, her fingers not quite touching. She stroked him tentatively at first, but as his arousal grew, her enthusiasm seemed to increase, and she was soon jerking harder on his shaft while bringing her mouth forward to taste a drop of pre-cum that glistened on the tip.
Ryder nearly lost all control when her shy little tongue stroked against him in such a sensitive place. He couldn’t last if she continued to do that. With a groan, he pushed her away, but carefully, before bending to lift and carry her to the bed. He dropped her on it unceremoniously as he followed her down.
His mouth sought out hers, and she moaned and writhed underneath him when his tongue slipped into her mouth. He wanted to be gentle and take his time, now that they were no longer locked in the throes of biological imperative, but he still needed her with a frantic edge that had him practically devouring her as his mouth took control.
She wasn’t having trouble keeping up though. Her tongue plunged into his mouth to taste him as her hands gripped his shoulders tightly enough for him to feel her nails digging into his skin. Those pinpricks of pain helped him regain some semblance of control and keep from thrusting into her.
With a low groan of reluctance, he tore his mouth from hers, gliding it down her neck. He paused to nibble the column of her throat, making her purr. The sound caused a corresponding rumble in his chest, and he wasn’t sure if he felt contentment or ecstasy right then.
A couple of deep breaths helped him focus, and he moved his mouth lower. He detoured to sample one plump nipple, the brown bud tempting him to take it and part of her areola inside to suck firmly. That made her hips bump upward, reminding him what delights awaited, which helped him release her nipple and continue his journey south.
When he reached her core a few seconds later, she trembled as he breathed against her. “Ryder.” She sounded uncertain.
He lifted his head to make sure she was looking at him. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
She whimpered before he lowered his head again, kissing the lips of her mound before allowing his tongue to trace the neatly trimmed line of hair he found there. Her musk coated his tongue as she produced more slick before he even dipped inside.
Daisy shouted when he touched her swollen clit with the tip of his tongue. Her lower body came off the bed, and he gently applied pressure to her thighs to keep her from squirming away. He used a light, deft touch to stroke and taste her, surrounded by her scent and unique flavor. It was almost enough to make him come right then.
She was thrashing against him now, clearly chasing her release, and he didn’t want to torture her. He dipped his tongue farther down, licking her slit until he reached her opening. When his tongue wriggled inside, Daisy sobbed, and her hands clenched in his hair. He winced at the force she applied as she pulled, using him to ground herself. Despite the pain, he liked being there for her and taking care of her.
She came when he dragged his tongue upward again and lightly sucked the throbbing bud. Daisy’s hands tightened in his hair, but he endured the hint of pain as she sobbed and trembled until her arms went slack, and she collapsed against the bed.
Giving her time to rest before another orgasm, he moved his mouth to the side, finding the scent gland on her right thigh. He licked and nuzzled it as her pheromones drenched him. Slick rushed from her, and he growled his pleasure at proof of what he could do to her. He hoped it equaled the intensity of the effect she had on him.
“Ryder, I need…” She shook her head, looking unsure.
“More pl
easure.” He grinned and winked before tearing himself from the area of her scent gland and renewing his delicate assault on her sensitive tissue. His tongue was an eager invader, moving with more force this time, since he couldn’t hold back. He wanted to feel her come in his mouth again, to taste her juices on his tongue before he plunged his cock inside her.
Just the thought of doing so had him pressing his cock to the bed to apply much-needed pressure to keep his control in check. He wouldn’t take her again until she’d come at least once more. With that goal in mind, he licked and sucked until she was crying out her bliss moments later. Her hips pumped aggressively as she pressed her pelvis to his face. He grinned at the way her thighs tightened around him possessively, clearly not wanting to ever let him go.
He was fine with that.
Unable to hold back any longer, Ryder moved up her body and lifted one of her thighs to wrap around his waist. He felt between them to grasp his cock and line it up with her opening. She was wet and ready, but he had a hint of doubt that she could accommodate his size. She’d done so earlier, in estrus, but they were built for each other during that phase. He briefly worried now that she couldn’t take him, but her hips lifted even as he paused, wondering if he should make her come once more before trying to enter her.
Her sheath enfolding him banished any questions as he slipped inside easily. He wouldn’t last long with how good she felt, and he surrendered his control. He thrust forcefully and rapidly, but she kept pace. Soon, they were moaning together, and the base of his spine tingled as his testicles tightened.
As he surged into her once more, his gaze locked with hers. She seemed lost in the haze of passion, so he hoped she was aware enough of what he was telling her when he said, “I’m going to claim you. You’re my Omega, and I’m keeping you.”
He dipped his head, skimming back his lips to reveal his teeth. He waited a long moment, giving her a chance to pull away or tell him no. Even though he had every intention of claiming her, he would never force her to accept his bite. If she didn’t consent, he would find the strength to hold back until he could convince her she was safe as his Omega, and he would take care of her in every way that mattered.
