by Riley Carver
Drax walks closer. For every step he takes toward me, I take one step back.
“Why do you sound like that?” he asks, his gold eyes looking wounded.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you are a fucking liar, and the sight of you makes me feel violent.”
Drax stops. “I dismissed the guards and came here because I thought we wanted the same thing. The last time I saw you, you rubbed yourself all over me. I can give you what I know you want.”
I look down and see the bulge pressing through Drax’s pants. I turn my head to look away, but he’s caught me.
He growls for a second—literally a single second—and that’s all it takes. My wetness is seeping through the thin cotton of my panties. I won’t stand for this. I’m going to cut him down to size.
I walk quickly toward him, and he stands stock still. He’s staring at my narrowed eyes and scowling lips.
I reach my hand back and wind up to punch him. I wish I could reach his face, but he’s too tall. I aim for the center of his chest instead. He lets me get so close to punching him that I celebrate internally before I realize he’s wrapped his hand around mine, effortlessly stopping the blow.
I push against his hand, putting my whole body weight into my attempt. I lean forward and realize I can head butt him. This time, he takes a step back, and I head butt the air.
“Whoa, there. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
His condescension only infuriates me more. I kick at his shin and wince at how bad my foot hurts when I make contact. He doesn’t even blink.
“Are you tired yet?” he asks, smirking.
“Not even close,” I lie. But the truth is he’s wearing me down. It’s not just the futility of trying to hurt him. It’s also being this close and touching him. My anger is fading away. In its place, there’s only one emotion: desire.
Drax
I let the little Omega try to punch and kick and claw at me. She’s a stubborn one. It’s confusing trying to follow along with her rollercoaster of emotions. I thought she’d be excited to see me, that she’d be enthusiastic about quietly mating so that we can both get some quick relief from the need I know we both feel.
But I can see the effect I have on her the longer she’s in my presence. When I walked in, she was defiant, but now she’s covered in slick, and her kicks and punches are half-hearted. She’s trying to punch at my chest rapid-fire. To me, it feels like tiny taps.
The Omega starts to act like her arms are getting heavier. Soon, she throws herself at my body and wraps herself around me. She looks up at me, and her eyes are hooded.
It’s an invitation, and I take it. I lift her and lie her down on the nearest bench. She’s taking her panties off, and they cling to her body as she wriggles them off. She’s so wet for me.
The Omega gazes up into my eyes. She’s completely naked now, and her Earthborn skin looks soft and smooth. I watch as she spreads herself open.
I don’t even remember taking my uniform off, but it’s pooled at my feet. I rush to her, my hands roaming her, grabbing at her round breasts and teasing her tiny pink nipples. I won’t take my time, though.
I lift her and carry her to the shower stall. I’m going to take her like this, pinning her arms over her head, holding her up on my massive cock.
She mewls, and it drives me wild. I enter her, watching as her body struggles to take my girth. She moans and her core slowly blooms open. I thrust as hard as I can. Sweat makes her skin glisten. I pound into her, and I can’t think anymore—I can only rut her.
The Omega screams and breaks a hand free to claw at my back as she comes. I’m not finished with her body yet, and I withdraw slightly so that I can slam back into her. I feel her walls tighten around me as she comes a second time. The way her muscles twitch and squeeze is too much for me. I thrust deep, deep inside and close my eyes as I unload my seed.
When I pull out, I pin her to the wall with my hand to keep her from falling. I let go, and she slides slowly to the ground. I feel much better now. I’ll be able to focus on my work and put this all behind me.
I leave her there to rifle through the pockets of my uniform until my fingers land on the Omega’s translation device and the implanter. I turn her so that she’s facing the wall and lift her hair from the nape of her neck. “I told the guards I needed to implant this when I dismissed them. I’m going to do it now so that we don’t arouse suspicion.”
The Omega is silent, and I make a tiny incision at the base of her neck and insert the device. I place a bandage over it and start to walk away, before striding back over and reaching above the limp Omega. I twist the knob to turn the shower on and dodge the stream. “Wash up,” I command.
Then I leave the room, feeling better than I have since I first crossed paths with the Omega.
Chapter 8
Kira
I let the water pulse down onto me. I don’t move a muscle. Frankly, I’m not sure if I can. I feel totally worn out from what just happened. My hair is one big wet clump. It’s covering my eyes, and after several minutes, I claw it back.
Drax is gone. I could hear him leave as soon as we finished. In a rush, I remember that he implanted me with my translation device before he went. My hand flies to the back of my neck. It doesn’t really hurt, thankfully.
I press my palm against the ground and try to heave myself up. It takes a couple tries because my legs are so weak. As soon as I’m vertical, I feel a rush of water streaming down my thighs. I look down and see that it’s not water, after all.
I need to clean up. I have no idea how long I have before I get dragged back to my room. I scramble to grab the pellet Peggy gave me off the bench outside the shower stall. I lather up, first making sure there’s not a trace of Drax left between my legs before shampooing my hair twice.
As I’m rinsing the last of the shampoo, I hear the click of high-heeled boots on the tile. “It’s time to go,” Peggy calls out.
She hands me a towel, and I haphazardly dry myself while scrambling to get dressed. I can feel Peggy watching me the whole time, but I never meet her eyes. I’m afraid she’ll be able to tell right away.
I don’t know exactly how I feel about what happened between me and Drax, but I know I don’t want to get him in trouble. No one can ever know that he and I were together, and I plan to keep the secret.
When Peggy and the group of guards marches me back to my room, I tell Peggy that I want some time alone. I curl up on my chair and swipe my hand to bring up my screen. I watch as we hurtle past a purple planet with rings. We’re close enough that I can see the pocked surface.
My mind is racing, but my body is totally relaxed. I drift off, and I feel so peaceful that I don’t even hear the screaming.
Drax
I feel almost giddy as I take my spot in the control room. Mating with the Omega has made me feel sharper, more attuned to my surroundings. Maybe that’s why my skin starts to prickle the instant I sit down behind the control panel.
I look around and see that Amiran is nowhere to be found. In fact, there’s no one in the room except for Zan and Cres.
Their eyes are narrow, and they’re closing in behind me. I leap to my feet, but it’s too late to get the jump on them. Zan grabs one of my arms and Cres grabs the other.
“You think that because you’re the captain and the darling of the Upper Council that you get to have her without sharing?” Zan snivels.
Cres sneers at me as I try to shake them off.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, sir,” Zan says sarcastically. “You’re going to dismiss the Omega’s guards so that Cres and I can have our turns too.”
Cres licks his lips before speaking. “Was she good? It sure looked like it from the way you stumbled out of the shower bay.”
Fuck. Zan and Cres were alone in the control room and logged on to my computer to watch the video feeds. They were probably trying to catch sight of the Omega.
Cres lashes my hand to one of the control room monitors. It�
�s not long before Zan does the same. I roar at the two of them, a guttural, primal sound emanating from deep in my chest and throat.
Zan snickers as I thrash around, trying to free myself.
“You’ll be executed for this,” I say, and the grins disappear from their faces.
“It wouldn’t be in your interest to say anything to anyone. We’ll be back before you know it, and then we’ll all pretend the Omega is untouched when we drop her at the collection center.”
They’re insane. “And if I don’t go along with it?”
“We’ve downloaded the security footage. We’ll be happy to share it with the brigadier general. I think you’ll have a lot of questions to answer about why you dismissed the Omega’s guards and left the bay looking like you had rutted her. Of course, it will be difficult to answer those questions after the execution squad’s through with you.”
I scramble to think of a way to talk them out of this. I’m strong, but I’m not sure I’m strong enough to break through the bonds holding me. In the end, it doesn’t matter. They slip out of the control room before I can make even a pathetic attempt at stalling.
As the door shuts behind them, I kick over a chair. If the walls in here weren’t so thick, my growl of frustration would reverberate all over the ship.
Kira
I wake up from my nap with a start. There are screams coming from outside my door, and they’re getting louder and louder. It’s Peggy.
“You’re not getting access. I don’t care what you do to me,” I hear her say.
I can’t make out the voices yelling back at her, but I can hear their agitation.
“I don’t believe you!” Peggy shrieks. “Drax would never authorize anyone else to dismiss the Omega’s guards.”
Now the other voices are clear. “Be a good Beta and get out of the way. The guards have already complied with our direct order. Do you think you’re higher on the food chain than them?”
“Don’t forget that there will be consequences for defying an Alpha,” the other voice snivels.
All at once, I feel a rush of gratitude that Drax implanted me with a translation device. Otherwise, I wouldn’t understand what was happening right now. I must be getting used to planning for bad situations because I know immediately what to do.
I spring up and reach for the latch under the cabinet. I throw myself in and try to close the panel. But I’ve never shut myself in before. I’m not sure there’s a way to close the panel from the inside.
I hear Peggy shouting and screaming for help. Then I hear a dull thud. They’re coming any second now.
I might not be able to shut myself in, but maybe I can buy myself some time. I crawl as fast as I can to the farthest part of the cabinet. I curl up in a ball and try to stifle my ragged breaths.
I hear the door click open.
“Why’d you shoot the Beta?” one of the voices says. “Drag her in here before someone sees. We’re going to have to hide her body.”
“You worry too much. No one’s going to miss a Beta, and Drax will help us get rid of her. We need to focus. Where’s the Omega?”
Two pairs of boots stomp around my room. They’re calling for me, and their voices send shivers down my spine. I’ve never been this scared, not even when I was taken—probably because I had no idea then what was going to happen to me. The uncertainty let me have a little bit of hope. I don’t have that luxury now.
I know exactly what’s about to happen. My body can sense that these two are Alphas. And it’s just a matter of time before they find me.
The Alphas are tearing apart my room. “I can smell you,” one of them says in a singsong voice.
They make a show of loudly sniffing at the air. They’re getting closer to the open panel in the cabinet now.
From the way his voice echoes, I can tell one of them has stuck his head in the cabinet. I’m on the farthest side, and he can’t see me around the bend, but he knows now.
“I’m going to fish you out of there, stubborn Omega. I’m going to breed you.”
I push everything out of my head. All my fears, all my worries about Peggy, and all my hatred for Drax. They said he was in on this, and I feel utterly betrayed. I focus on taking deep, silent breaths. I never found a way to open the other panels, so maybe they won’t know how to either. And they’re much too big to crawl in and get me. I breathe in and out and wait. I try to imagine that there’s a way out of this for me.
There’s a giant bang, and I startle and hit my head. I hear raucous laughter.
“The Omega is pretending to be shy,” one of them coos at me. “You don’t have to lie to us. We know you’re not so innocent. The naughty Omega mated with the captain.”
There’s another bang, and dread fills me. They’re not trying to open the panels. They’re removing them, one by one.
Drax
There’s not really a choice. I can break free, but I’m going to topple three of the four monitors in the control room. They crash to the ground, and I crunch over the refuse.
I grab my laser gun from my desk. I don’t normally carry it on the ship. Usually, there isn’t a reason to.
The first thing I see when I rush into the Omega’s room is her attendant crumpled in a heap in the corner. The Beta’s hair is normally carefully styled; right now, it’s stuck to her face. She looks smaller than usual too. I can’t tell if she’s dead, and I don’t bother to check.
Zan and Cres are dragging the Omega from the cabinet under her desk. All the front panels have been shot off, and they’re thrown all around the room. The Omega’s screams pierce the air.
Zan pauses briefly to look up at me. I shoot him in the head as I simultaneously cross over toward the whimpering Omega. Cres’s shocked face turns to peer at me when he sees Zan fall.
“Let’s talk this out!” he whines, backing away from the Omega.
I let him beg for a moment, and then I shoot him in the head as well. He collapses to the ground in front of the Omega, and I kick his body away.
When I lean down to comfort the Omega, she launches herself at me. I pull her close, craving the feel of her against me. I stroke her back, and purr to calm her down.
“I’m going to put you down,” I say soothingly. “Not because I want to, but because I have to check on the Beta.”
The Omega bites her lip stoically and nods once.
I roll the Beta gently and feel for a heartbeat. It takes too long to find a pulse, and when I do, it’s a weak one.
“I need to get her to the med bay immediately,” I tell the Omega. “Can you walk? I don’t want you to leave my sight.”
The Omega is steady on her feet. “We have to save Peggy,” she says.
I don’t want to tell the little Omega that it’s probably too late for that, so I say nothing at all.
Chapter 9
Kira
I’ve never seen this part of the ship before. Actually, I’ve barely seen any of the ship at all. Still, this little tour is of no use to me. Nothing registers. I see nothing, I hear nothing. All I can do is hold Peggy’s limp hand as Drax carries her to the med bay.
I need her to hold on. She can’t die on me. She got shot protecting me, and every instinct in my body says it wasn’t because it was her job. No, Peggy loves me in her own strange way. And all I’ve done lately is mistrust her and try to trick her into giving me information.
I have to get a chance to tell her how much I appreciate her trying to keep me safe. I won’t lose my only friend.
Drax makes one final turn down a long hallway, and we scramble to get Peggy onto an exam table.
“It’s a laser gun wound. Get her into surgery now,” Drax barks. A swarm of Fysians assemble at his command. He reaches for my hand and pulls me out of the room. I try to hover in the doorway, but he starts marching me away.
“You can’t see this,” he says. “You need to report back to your chamber.”
His hand is on the back of my neck steering me where he wants me to go. I try to sha
ke him off, but he’s too strong.
“Omega, I cannot worry about you and the Beta and steer this ship. You are going to listen so that I can handle everything I have to handle. I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything about the Beta. I also promise that I will come to you when I get everything under control.”
It isn’t what I want to hear, but I’m too worn out to fight him. Somehow, I trust that he’s telling the truth. I make a mental note to yell at him later. For now, I stand outside my own door while Drax summons a new set of guards.
