by Zoey Ellis
“Then tell me I’m your Alpha,” he said, his voice suddenly hard.
“You are not!”
His eyes narrowed. “Tell me!”
“No!” It was the only bit of control Omegas had. She would not give it up—she did not care what he did. He lifted her arms above her head and clasped her wrists together in one hand. A twinge of panic coiled in Cailyn’s stomach at the sudden restraint but she kept her mouth shut.
Drocco lowered to kiss her neck and she shivered, goosebumps prickling over her whole body as she breathed him in. He bit the base of her neck and licked across her chest and down between her breasts.
“You think I am not your Alpha?” he murmured. He captured a nipple in his mouth and sucked, working it hard with his mouth as his rough tongue brushed it.
Cailyn moaned and arched her chest up to him, her whole body tingling.
He released her breast with a pop and nibbled down her stomach. “That feeling,” he said, “is your body reacting to your Alpha, kitten.”
Cailyn mumbled but he was already pressing his face into her sex, breathing her in.
“You smell so good,” he mumbled. He licked the length of her slit slowly. “Your pussy belongs to me, your slick comes to me when I want it, every inch of this incredible body is mine.” He suckled her clit, releasing her wrists and positioning himself between her legs.
Cailyn watched him, becoming drunk on the high he always caused.
He lifted his head. “Tell me I am your Alpha.”
“No,” she breathed.
“No?” He dipped his tongue back to her pussy and pushed it into her.
Cailyn whined and rotated her hips. It was the first penetration she’d had in a long time, and she realized that she’d always craved it. And then it was gone.
She glanced down, annoyed. Drocco had lifted his head and was looking at her.
“I am your Alpha. Say it.”
Cailyn tucked her feet under her hips and lifted them, rising up to his mouth. Drocco laughed.
He leaned in and sucked her, his eyes alive with mirth.
Cailyn whimpered, spreading her knees wider as her orgasm approached. The man surely had a talented tongue.
Then he stopped again. “Tell me I am your Alpha, kitten.”
Cailyn cursed, a sudden anger gripping her at his lack of attention to her pussy. “Why do you want me to say it? You despise me! Why would you want me to be your bonded mate?”
Drocco’s head tilted. “You think I despise you?”
“It is well known you hate spies and you hate the Talent,” Cailyn responded, dropping her hips back to the bed. “You are only enamored with me because I am an Omega. It doesn’t make us bonded mates.”
“You don’t think I wanted to fuck you before I knew you were an Omega?” Drocco asked.
“Of course you did. You fuck every female you come across. That is well known too.”
Drocco’s grin widened. “Does that annoy you, kitten?”
“Of course not,” Cailyn snapped, though a wild anger swept through her. “It is just yet another example of why we cannot be bonded mates.”
Drocco lifted his chin. “Why?”
“You are insatiable. And when you get bored, you discard the women you have been with to find another. The man I would choose for my Alpha would not behave that way. He wouldn’t abuse me the way that you do. My Alpha is still somewhere out there; you’re not him."
Drocco growled, and the sound vibrated through her body. “You have driven me to treat you the way I have,” Drocco said harshly. “It will not always be like this. You already know my opinion about Omegas and the Alpha/Omega connection.”
“Yes. You believe your Omega should serve you.” Cailyn said, her dark mood beginning to deepen. “You believe you are justified in that thought because you can physically dominate any Omega that disobeys you.” She looked up at him. “You know nothing about real Omegas, Emperor. You think we are all virginal submissives with no thoughts in our heads other than to breed for Alphas.”
Drocco stilled. “Were you not a virgin?”
Cailyn almost rolled her eyes. That was the only thing he seemed to have heard. It was hopeless talking to him. “Does it matter?” she said, shrugging and sitting up.
“Yes,” Drocco barked. “How many men have you fucked?”
“How many women have you fucked?” she shot back, tired of his demands. For a moment it had seemed he was capable of having a real conversation with her, and then suddenly it had turned into a display of his domination and ego.
“Don’t play with me, kitten,” Drocco said, his fists clenching. “I want to know who has been with you. Their names and locations.”
He seemed to think they were destined to be some kind of great love, destined to be mates, even though she was his prisoner. Surely he couldn’t be that deluded. Cailyn glared at him, her fury rising. Maybe she needed to strongly discourage him. “There have been many, many men before you. And there will be many men after you. I will fuck every single Alpha and Beta I find, and I’ll love it, Emperor. You and your cock will be a distant memory and I’ll never give you another thought because you are not my Alpha!”
A tight pressure locked around her neck, and a hard jolt hit her back before she could register what had happened. Drocco’s face swam in front of her. She had somehow moved from the bed to against the wall and his enormous hand pressed in around her neck pinning her to it.
“I’m the only man you will ever fuck from this moment on!” Drocco roared. “I will not share you. Ever! You will never have an opportunity to fuck anyone else.” His hand tightened around her neck as he leaned in, growling. “No other man alive should have had what I own. You will tell me who they are and where they are, and then you will declare me your Alpha!”
A pressure built up in Cailyn’s head and she began to feel light-headed. She fought against him for a moment before realizing he was strangling her. This was her way out. It was the perfect solution.
She dropped her hands to her sides as the uncomfortable feeling turned unbearable. Her ears began to ring, and she couldn’t hear anything he said but he still ranted in a vicious fury. She watched him, unable to help admiring the complete, fierce, beauty that he was, as everything fell dark.
CHAPTER NINE
DROCCO
Drocco stormed into the training grounds in a frenzy. He had almost killed her. His own future mate! She had infuriated him to the point of such anger, he had forgotten his own strength. She was so small, she wouldn’t have survived if he had squeezed her throat much longer.
He grabbed his double-ended, multi-blade sword and his favorite double-sided battle axe before heading toward the grounds.
The healer that had examined and treated her said she would recover to full strength within a few hours with treatment, sleep, and minimal distress, but that didn’t appease him. He had caused it, and the idea of that cut him deep. He had lost control, which he hated, and nearly lost the one thing he was desperate to keep. What if he did it again?
Torin saw him coming and sent the warriors he was training away before Drocco arrived.
“No, Drocco,” he called as he approached. “They are here for training, not for you to take your frustrations out on them again.”
Drocco roared and swung his axe. It dropped with a heavy clang on Torin’s shield.
Torin darted back. “Drocco! Calm down.”
“I want to train!” Drocco bellowed, twisting his sword above his head before slicing it toward Torin. Torin danced out of the way, spun around, and jabbed at Drocco with his sword. Drocco dodged and parried with his sword.
“Stop Drocco,” Torin said, harshly. “You have no shield and you are too angry for training.”
“I am the Emperor, I train whenever I want!”
“Yes, you are the Emperor.” Torin lowered his shield and his sword, leaving himself dangerously vulnerable. “Do you want your men to see you like this? You want them to see you so out of control
after all the success you have achieved for finding an Omega?”
Drocco froze, his chest heaving. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the warriors Torin had sent off gathering at the edge of the grounds.
The entire Empire had rejoiced upon hearing that Drocco had an Omega in the Palace. Many had detected Cailyn’s scent lingering in the Great Hall, and more had reveled in her scent after she had been taken from the office where she’d had her Haze. The word had spread quickly, and soon many territories and cities that had been previously reluctant to join the Lox, were swearing fealty, sending the heads of their family members as proof of their loyalty.
Drocco had kept up the pretense—boasting in the triumph and celebrations like he was supposed to, but he and Torin knew the truth. Finding the Omega had been luck, and in fact, she had tricked him for a long time. He had been furious that she had been right under his nose, even as he had berated his warriors about being vigilant for spies. His anger had fueled his main goal, which was to get Cailyn to tell him where the other Omegas were. After that—after she had been through the appropriate punishment—they could start their real relationship. However, nothing with Cailyn had gone how he had expected it.
“You’re not on the same kind of battlefield anymore, Drocco,” Torin said, after a long moment of silence. “This political battlefield is all about image and perception. Everything you do will be watched, and your army has expectations of you.”
Drocco growled in the back of his throat. “My army has no right or inclination to question anything I do.”
“You promised them Omegas,” Torin said. “Now you have one for yourself.”
“So you’re saying they are angry that I benefit and they don’t?”
“No, they are encouraged by this and happy for you,” Torin insisted. “But eventually they will want your success to lead to their own.” Torin eyed him. “This isn’t the first time you have come from your bedroom furious and ready for blood. If it becomes clear that you cannot handle her, word will spread. You will lose some of your warriors.” His voice lowered. “If you are having trouble with the Omega, you can assign someone else to break her.”
“No one touches my mate,” Drocco thundered.
Torin stared at him, shock in his eyes. “You are claiming this one as your mate?”
“Of course I am.”
“I didn’t realize,” Torin muttered. He glanced away and then peered back at Drocco. “You realize that as a spy and a Talent-crafter she is everything the Lox despise—”
“Torin,” Drocco said, a clear warning in his tone. This was exactly the same vein of conversation he had just had with Cailyn.
“I’m just saying you don’t need to select the first one—”
Drocco swung his sword so quick, Torin barely had time to react. Even though he jerked backward, the tip caught his chin. The Beta stumbled back and the warriors at the edge of the grounds started in surprise.
“She is my mate,” Drocco growled, as Torin cradled his chin. “I have been sure since I first scented her, perhaps even before then. You will never discuss this with me again. Understood?”
Torin nodded, a stunned curiosity in his eyes as blood dripped from between his fingers.
Drocco glared at him, his fingers twitching on his sword handle. Cailyn had looked upon Torin twice—one of those times while in her Haze. Was he the kind of man she would seek to fuck? A man he could cut down easily before she could even make that choice?
Drocco caught his train of thought and threw down his weapons before he could do anything stupid.
“May I make a suggestion, Drocco?” Torin asked, quietly.
Drocco grunted his consent.
“It has been a while since you looked at your reports. There may be something you have forgotten about Omegas that would help you.”
Drocco exhaled as he thought. An idea formed in his mind and he dipped his head in a sharp nod and glanced at the warriors. “Carry on.”
Drocco headed straight to his carriage house and told them to prepare to leave immediately. He sat and waited as they rushed about, a deep agitation within him about what he had almost done to Cailyn. Much of it was because she fought so hard against her instincts. It was almost as if she didn’t want to bond with him, and the thought of that angered him even more. Her body and her responses to him during their mating told a completely different tale, however, even though there were moments when she seemed like she was settling, she was simply distant. Her mind was somewhere else and not focused on him. It was displeasing.
As a spy, she should surely realize he had to torture her to get information. He had to break her, and he had to do it with his knot. That was the trick to breaking a prisoner—enforcing pain on the one thing that made them who and what they were. Omegas were the only dynamic that could be truly knotted, and so that was where Cailyn had to suffer. Of course, it didn’t help that it had to happen after he fucked her. Her body was exquisite in every way, her sweet, dripping pussy was made for him, and yet neither of them could fully enjoy the experience past their base needs. When she orgasmed now, it was nothing like the beauty of the first time because she knew what was coming next. It tainted their mating, and that was even more of a reason to get the information out of her so they could move on.
It didn’t sit well with him when she cried. In fact, he fucking hated it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been in utter agony too every time he had to pull out of her. But he had made sure he fully lathered her in the healing cream before he left to treat himself. If he hadn’t been sure it would repair her completely, he would’ve had to find a different method to break her.
He had been surprised at how resilient she had been, proud of her even. He had only made her come in his mouth that first time as a reward for holding out so long to give him that information, but then he found he couldn’t stop sucking her. It was the only time she was unreserved and without fear. It was the only time she had touched him outside of her Haze—gripping his hair and scratching his scalp. He loved the way she writhed and wriggled, the way she spread her legs and humped her hips so nastily to feed him, not even to mention how good she tasted. He couldn’t get enough. When that unique blend of her slick and come saturated his face, dominating his every inhale… nothing else was important. He had suspended the interrogation so that could continue for a little while. He hadn’t even fucked her, even though the desperation rose violently every time.
“We are ready, your Imperial Majesty,” muttered his driver, bowing low before him.
Drocco climbed into his carriage instructing them to head to the Records Keep. Torin’s suggestion had been reasonable but not if he was to believe Cailyn. Much of what she had said about how Omegas had been treated had been left out of all the reports he read. Even his grandfather hadn’t mentioned it, and he had been a ferocious Alpha who had deeply loved his Omega. If Omegas were responsible for their own disappearance, it changed everything. If they hated Alphas and didn’t want Alphas in their lives, that presented a problem on a level that he had not been prepared for. After she had revealed that, he had scoured every piece of information his grandfather and father had left him. There had been subtle hints, but nothing definitive. What if Cailyn was the one mistaken? What if her capturers had brainwashed her? How could he know what information to believe? Regardless of her belief of the Omegas torturous existence before their disappearance, he couldn’t discount every single record. He needed further information.
He stared out of the window, wondering if something was wrong with Cailyn that his healer couldn’t see. She was certainly an Omega by all physical accounts, but he couldn’t understand why she was so headstrong. Maybe the blocks had had a lasting damaging effect on her personality. He needed to know more.
The clerks and keepers gathered at the entrance of the Keep to applaud and cheer him when he arrived.
Drocco strode straight to the head keeper, who began gushing at him immediately. “Congratulations, your Imperial—”
<
br /> “I need a private word with whichever keeper is most knowledgeable about Omegas and the Alpha/Omega connection.”
The head keeper nodded graciously. “That is myself, your Imperial Majesty. Please follow me.”
He led Drocco through the Keep, the clerks still applauding, only stopping to bow as Drocco passed. The keeper led him up a smaller staircase near the back of the first floor to a bare room that held only a table, two chairs and a wide window on one of the walls. His guards waited outside when he entered.
“This room is private?” Drocco asked, looking around.
The keeper nodded. “Nothing said in this room can be heard elsewhere, your Imperial Majesty. It’s one we use for the reporting of sensitive information.”
Drocco eyed him for a moment. He would have rather spoken to a man he could kill after to protect the information he was about to disclose, but the head keeper seemed too useful. He would have to be careful. Finally, he nodded.
The head keeper smiled at him. “What can I help you with?”
“I need to know how to correct Omega behavior to its original and traditional state.”
The keeper frowned in confusion. “Correct Omega behavior?”
“Yes, so she is submissive and eager to please.”
“There are no such correction methods recorded, Emperor.”
Drocco exhaled and began pacing the small room. “How does an Alpha keep his Omega from being willful and disobedient?”
The keeper’s frown deepened. “The Alpha/Omega connection is known to be a mutual one. Omegas have no reason to reject it.” He hesitated. “Is your Omega being… uncooperative?”
“Yes,” Drocco bit out. “She refuses to reveal the locations of the other Omegas.”
The head keeper nodded. “Maybe she doesn’t know.”
“Possibly,” Drocco said, unwilling to reveal what Cailyn had told him.
“Tell me about how she behaves,” the keeper asked. “Does she talk to you about anything else?”
“No.”
“Do you… mate?”
Drocco narrowed his eyes at the man. “What kind of question is that? Of course we fuck.”
