by AJ Merlin
Something rumbled in the air around me, and it took me a moment to realize it was coming from me.
I was growling.
And not just that. I could feel the points of my canines lengthening to brush my lower lip, and felt how my other, less polite instincts urged me to close the distance between us and–
Hades reached up with one hand, very casually, and brushed one finger against his lips in a clear shushing motion.
There was no way he’d heard me. No way in the world he could hear my soft growl from all the way over there, when no one else in the room had given any indication of noticing.
My breath caught in my throat and an unexpected heat rose to my cheeks. As if he’d caught me being a brat and now I was surprised and a bit taken aback at being caught.
I refused to accept just how true that was in the moment. He didn’t even know me. There was no call for this kind of reaction from me.
The woman stood from his lap, going back to the circle of their friends and patting Hades on the shoulder. She still hadn’t looked at me, thank God, and I still had Hades’ full attention.
And all the feelings that brought.
I was sure I was flushed, but that wasn’t the only place I felt hot. No, I was definitely getting warmer in other places too.
He dropped his hand to the arm of the throne, making my heart skip a beat. The man’s wrist turned, palm up, and with two fingers he made one beckoning flick in my direction.
My stomach jolted right along with the movement of his fingers, trying to drag me right through the room and onto his lap.
Thankfully I kept my feet planted firmly on the floor, readjusting my stance just a bit like I was gearing up for a confrontation and wanted to be as ready for it as possible. Lifting my chin arrogantly, I gave a very slight shake of my head.
The smirk returned to Hades’ face like he was amused at my reaction. His brow raised, head tilting as if to ask, are you sure?
Of course I was sure. No scenes with people I didn’t know in clubs. That was my rule.
And certainly no giving in to camboy princes who I couldn’t get enough of.
He did it again, just once, and again I had to physically stop myself from being pulled across the room like a marionette on strings and straight to the floor at his feet.
Again I gave him that very small shake of my head, my heartbeat speeding up in my chest in anticipation.
But…just what was I anticipating?
His lips parted, hand raising once more and drawing my eyes to his fingers like a magnet. What was he going to do? I couldn’t help biting my lower lip in anticipation, fangs biting into my sensitive skin, and certainly did not miss the way his eyes darkened at the movement.
Then the woman dropped onto his lap again, this time talking to him animatedly.
He’s not your boyfriend, I tried to remind myself.
It felt like a hand had released me. When I inhaled, his scent wasn’t quite so apparent, and I could finally look away from him. My body relaxed, the heat falling from my face, and I backed out of the room carefully.
As if my movement would draw his attention to me again.
When I was at last just around the open arch, I paused. Instinctively I looked back, eyes searching out Hades one more time for reasons that I couldn’t begin to fathom.
He still had the woman in his lap, but I could guess by their body language that there was nothing sexual between them. She was laughing, and shoved against his chest like they were old friends and nothing more.
I made the mistake again of meeting his gaze last, and there he was, waiting for me to make eye contact again.
This time however, his smile was a bit sweeter, a bit less intense. He flicked his fingers at me, this time away from him, as if giving me permission to go with no hard feelings from him.
Unwilling to examine that particular knot uncurling in my stomach, I went.
“Oh, Alek we have it bad,” I muttered to myself, not going back the way I’d come. I couldn’t go back outside now. Not like this. I still felt hot, and I knew that my group of friends would know immediately that something had happened and not leave me alone until I told them about it.
But…I didn’t want to. Not yet. Not when I could barely understand why I’d reacted the way I had.
“You need to do something,” I muttered, still talking to myself as I walked towards the sounds of louder, more amicable voices. “You can’t go panting after unattainable alphas like this.”
And just why was I so keen on Hades? His scent, his eyes, his fucking smirk…all of it affected me more than any other alpha had. Even when I was stupid and young and thought that I’d find my alphas before I’d turned twenty-one.
Which had not happened. Now, three years later, I was still alpha-less, despite my fervent tendencies at making connections with alphas who had questionable opinions towards mate-bonding.
Maybe I fit the bill of a hopeless romantic omega, but the idea of a more traditional courtship between omega and alpha-or alphas-was very appealing to me.
My absentminded steps took me down another hallway, prompting me to wonder how many long, ominous hallways one house could hold.
From an open door, a man emerged, facing the other way and striding casually down the hall. His scent drifted back to me and I sniffed the air, more curious than anything.
He was an alpha, like Hades, with a much less pleasing scent. The most enticing thing about him was the pair of handcuffs jingling against the waist of his jeans where they hung.
Perhaps Hades was a one off. A weird one off scent that hit my biology just right–
“Not going to wait for the rest of us?” Another man walked out of the room in front of me, shorter than his predecessor.
His scent hit me like a ton of bricks.
Much like Hades’ had this morning.
But he didn’t scent like spice and leather. No. The brunette in front of me with baby blue eyes and sun kissed skin smelled like the beach. Of sun-warmed spots and sweet drinks that deceptively made you more intoxicated than you’d expected.
As I stared at him, captivated, the man turned to look at me fully, whatever he was going to say next dying in his throat. His eyes flicked from my face to my body, lingering on the inches of thigh where my dress stopped.
A woman nearly walked into him, dressed in jeans and a black tee like her companions. “What in the world are you doing, Roman?” she asked, eyes going from Roman’s face to me. She inhaled, and belatedly I realized she was an alpha as well.
But my nose was too preoccupied with her companion to notice anything more than that.
“Hi.” The man, Roman, said as he took a step towards me.
“Hi,” I replied, unsure of what else to say.
The woman didn’t even bother to hide a grin as she shouldered past him to catch up to their other companion.
“Be home by morning!” She called back, but I barely heard her.
I didn’t know what else to say, and wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand there while he surveyed every inch of me before I tried to become one with the floor. I wasn’t shy, but his gaze was heavy. Like I could feel where his eyes landed.
“Are those real handcuffs?” I asked, unable to stop my wandering thoughts from throwing themselves down a dark and seductive hole.
“Hmm?” Roman looked away, reaching down to unclip the silver bangles from his waist. “Why?” His eyes snapped back up to mine, making my stomach do somersaults.
“Why?” I repeated.
Because I wanted to know how easily I could get out of them, obviously.
The hint of a smile curled over his full mouth. “Yeah. Why?”
“Because…” I chased away the fog from my brain, but that did nothing to get rid of the immediate attraction I felt for this alpha.
Down girl, I ordered my body, aware of how heat curled in my stomach.
And just when had my mouth gotten so dry? I found that I had to physically pull my eyes
off of him, lest they wander back like magnets to his gorgeous face.
Even if he wasn’t exactly the picturesque alpha type. Roman was maybe an inch shorter than me, meaning he wasn’t quite six feet tall, with light brown hair that was only a few shades darker than Noah’s.
“That’s okay. You can tell me later.” Roman twirled the handcuffs around his finger. “What’s your name?” His voice was a light purr, and matched his looks perfectly.
“Alek,” I said, having a hard time looking away from the handcuffs and the long fingered hands that twirled them so effortlessly.
“I’m Roman.” He took a step closer to me, causing my heart to flutter. “Do you maybe want to find somewhere that isn’t a hallway?” he asked, his tone just as sweet and friendly.
No, we don’t, I chastised myself. No strange alphas in dungeons, Alek!
“Sure,” my traitor mouth replied. “I’d like that.”
He reached out, the hand without the cuffs asking for mine.
Later I would make sure to remind myself it was the way his eyes lit up hopefully that made me take Roman’s hand. Solely because I didn’t want to disappoint him and not because I wanted to jump him and see if he retaliated by putting those cuffs securely around my wrists.
He walked into a room not too much further down the hallway, looking to make sure we wouldn’t be interrupting anyone before pulling me inside and pushing the door halfway shut.
When he saw me watching him, Roman gave me a small, sweet smile. “You don’t know me,” he explained. “I’m just some alpha who really loves the way you smell. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to push you into anything or trapping you.”
And wasn’t that the most considerate thing an alpha had ever said to me?
If I wasn’t already hot for him, I would’ve melted right there.
“Thank you,” I said, surprise coloring my voice. “I’ve never met an alpha that cared about my comfort that much before.”
His brows rose incrementally. “Then your partners have sucked,” he shrugged.
Yeah, they had. I wasn’t the greatest at picking great guys, but that wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on here.
“You really like my scent?” I couldn’t help but ask, my brain catching up to that part of his statement.
“Hmm?” He seemed caught off guard. His hand dropped mine and he looked around the room.
Which, as it turned out, was a bedroom. Another open door showed a small bathroom, and the main feature of this room was the black, four poster bed that sat against the far wall.
I followed his gaze, appreciating the dark red walls and black, plush carpeting that I had a feeling would feel amazing under my bare feet. Apart from the bed and a nightstand, the room was mostly empty. Other than a couch across from the bed.
“I love the way you smell,” Roman admitted, drawing me back out of my thoughts. He sat on the edge of the bed, legs drawn up under him.
Would it be selfish to ask him to go into detail?
Fuck it. I was absolutely a selfish creature.
“Why?” I demanded, striding to the bed and wrapping my hand around one of the thin columns that reached to the ceiling.
His eyes darkened very slightly, and I didn’t miss the small twist of his lips at my tone.
“Because every time I take a breath, I feel a little drunk,” he teased. “Surely someone’s told you that before. That your scent is a mix of apples and liquor and something dangerous underneath.”
“Yeah. Dangerous like five dollar vodka,” I agreed.
He smiled sweetly. ”Much more like apple cider and scotch if you ask me.”
Heat flared in my stomach and lower once more. I had to fight not to reach out and tangle my fingers in his hair, and the effort caused my brain to nearly short circuit.
“Why do you want to know if my handcuffs are real, Alek?” The alpha went on, his gaze locked on mine.
I was too caught up in his face against my neck and him to even consider not answering. “Because I want to imagine just what you’d do with my hands bound.”
His attention never wavered, but his scent strengthened in the air around me.
“You want to find out?” His eyes flashed a very brilliant blue, nearly glowing in the dim light.
Hell yeah I wanted to find out.
I met his intensity with a playful smile, leaning more into the column. “I don’t know. I have a very flawless track record of not letting an alpha put cuffs on me.”
“Well I’d hate to break your record,” he sighed theatrically.
“Me too.”
“But I would very much like to put you in these and watch you struggle….if that’s something you’re into just as much as me.”
It was. Already, visions of rolling around on the bed with Roman danced through my head.
While I’d been enamored with his scent from the moment I laid eyes on him, it was becoming clear to me that his personality was even more endearing.
He was playful. Sweet. And considerate.
And I was such a sucker for alphas with consideration for omegas, apparently.
“That depends,” I said wistfully.
“On?”
My eyes flicked down and I found him staring at me, just as I knew he would be. I definitely wanted-needed-him to know just how much I wanted that too. “Only if you think you can come over here and convince me to let you put them on.”
Chapter Six
The change was nearly immediate at my verbal teasing. Roman’s blue eyes brightened, as if blue fire glowed behind his pupils and cast a light that I didn’t look away from.
I’d known for years that I was a sucker for a good alpha growl. Not in all situations, obviously. Sometimes it just served to get me going in a much more violent, unfriendly way.
But Roman? Well, he had a damn good growl.
He barely hesitated when I spoke, pushing himself to his feet and leaning towards me while the column of the bed was still between us. He growled under his breath, lips parted ever so slightly and eyes blazing blue.
My muscles all clenched, simultaneously fighting as to whether I should run or growl right back.
I made the right choice, and growled right back.
It was nothing like an alpha’s growl. More a puppy’s snarl than a wolf’s order for submission, but I knew what effect it had on alphas to have an omega growl back at them.
And Roman did not disappoint.
His eyes darkened, arm tightening on the column as the beginnings of fangs showed through parted lips.
But instead of pouncing, he blinked, pulling away from me. “Can I close the door?” he asked. “Not that I’m against giving anyone that walks by a show, but…”
The words only made me like him more. Instead of just assuming I’d be all right with it, Roman had asked first, and the way he made sure I was all right every step of the way with what we were doing had me surprised, awed, and definitely turned on.
“You can close it,” I breathed, watching as he crossed the room to do just that.
“What’s your safe word?” he asked before he’d even made it halfway back across the room.
I was already moving, getting myself into a better position for when he lunged.
“Foliage,” I replied without a second thought.
“Wow. That’s so unsexy.”
“Well, it’s supposed to be.”
He grinned at me like I’d done something admirable by picking something other than ‘grandma’ for my safe word.
I was an adult with a varied vocabulary, after all. He shouldn’t have been so surprised.
“Is there anything I should know before we do this?” He kept his arms loose at his sides and I didn’t miss the way his fingers brushed the cuffs at his hip.
Was there? I searched my brain, but discarded my normal list of limits and cautions. This was just a bit of primal, and just a bit of bondage.
Nothing more.
Right?
“No serious
injury,” I offered.
He blinked, looking like I’d said something horrific. “I won’t injure you,” the alpha assured me.
“Oh. No, see…” a smirk curled over my lips. “I meant that I will do my best not to injure you.”
It was like those were the words he’d been waiting for. Roman growled again, crossing the room quickly and reaching out for me. I moved around him, body close to his as I slid past and ducked under his grip.
My nails skimmed his arm, warning him against being so careful and also earning me an intake of breath.
“Oh really?” he asked, glancing at the red marks on his arm as my heart sped up in my chest. “Really?”
My smirk never wavered. “What are you going to do about it?” I teased, tipping my chin upward arrogantly.
He lunged again, much faster than he had the first time, and I was unable to slip past him so easily. His hand closed around my arm, drawing me back to him so he could growl sweetly in my ear, his body a hot line against my back.
“A lot more than this,” he promised, his other arm snaking around my waist. I grabbed that arm with my fingers and bared my fangs at him in a challenge.
He took it in stride, tossing me onto the bed and letting out a much louder snarl.
Perhaps in other situations, I would’ve been afraid. In another place, at another time, I wouldn’t have parted my knees for him as he stepped forward, sliding between my thighs like he belonged there.
But that was the only concession I gave. When he leaned over me, I grabbed him, pulling Roman onto the bed and using his momentum to roll us over, putting him on his back under me.
“Maybe I should bind your hands with the cuffs,” I purred, running my teeth up his jaw and loving the sound of his frustration in my ear.
“I don’t think you’re quite prepared for what I’d have to do if you did,” he whispered, his fingers digging into my bare thighs. My dress had ridden up to my hips, exposing my black, lacy panties.
“Oh, really?” I nipped at his throat, reaching down with one hand to jingle the handcuffs with my finger. At the same time, I rolled my hips against him, feeling his excitement at the motion.
