Love Before Dawn: An Omegaverse Story (Kindred Book 1)

by Claire Cullen

  But at the same time, I felt like I was doing him wrong, leading him up the garden path. There was still a part of me that felt a heavy sense of duty to the Alphas I’d abandoned. And a large helping of guilt on top of that for the next unwitting Omega who walked through the Intake Center’s door. Would it be because of me? Because they’d heard what I’d said that day in front of the cameras?

  Sitting up, I looked around the cave. Jethro was gone. I climbed out of the sleeping bag, fearful that something had happened to him. When I opened my mouth to try to call out, fear swallowed my voice, only the tiniest of squeaks escaping.

  There was a sound from the tunnel leading into the cave and Jethro crawled into view, climbing to his feet. He wore a serious expression on his face. I took a step toward him, and faltered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  His eyes sought me out, relaxing when they met mine. “We’re going to have company.”

  No, it was too soon. I hadn’t made up my mind. We hadn’t decided things between us.

  “When?”

  “With the path they’re climbing, they’ll be here tomorrow, sometime after dawn.”

  “So we have time?”

  He took a step toward me, then seemed to think better of it. “Not as much as I’d hoped. Are you hungry?”

  The change in topic took me by surprise, but I was starving so I couldn’t complain.

  Sunbeams were pouring in from the hole in the cave roof, warming us and sending sparkles of light across the pool’s surface. It was beautiful and fascinating and I hated that this cave would soon become a prison.

  “Could we go back down the way we came? Escape around them?”

  “They have dogs. And I suspect they have something else.” Jethro was busying himself pulling food from our packs.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They zeroed right in on us, despite that chopper not finding us yesterday. My guess is that the implant in your arm is a GPS chip and they’ve got someone from the South accompanying them with the equipment to track it.

  My knees went weak and I sat abruptly.

  “Is that it then? I have to go back?”

  Jethro stopped what he was doing to look at me. “Do you want to go back?”

  “I don’t know what I want, not anymore.” My voice sounded very small to my ears. If Father was here, I knew what he’d say. Duty and honor come before personal comforts and preferences. “I have a duty, to the South.”

  “What about your duty to me, and our clan?”

  Jethro had mentioned the clan before. I hadn’t really understood. There were no clans in the South.

  “Tell me about the clan,” I asked.

  He took a seat next to me, handing me some food.

  “Well, right now, there isn’t much to tell. Because there is no clan. There hasn’t been one since the last Alpha Prime died, which was almost thirty years ago now. But if you and I were to bond, we’d be able to form a clan of our own. All the Alphas and Omegas in the state would have a connection to us. Because of us, of our bond, more Omegas would come online for the clan’s Alphas. We’d all live together in the Clan’s estate, like one big family.”

  “So if we don’t bond…”

  “There will be no clan. I’m the last Alpha Prime of this generation. None of the others formed a bond because all their Omegas were born south of the border and conscripted. The majority of the other Alphas in the state will remain bondless because most Omegas only become active in the presence of a bonded Prime pair.”

  “Not in the South.”

  Jethro waved that off easily, neatly correcting another heap of the South’s propaganda.

  “It’s been known for years that the South does whatever it can to activate its Omegas. You can bet they have more than one Alpha Prime bonded to an Omega. They’re no fools.”

  “They’ve never spoken about that.”

  “Why would they? It contradicts their disregard of the one-Alpha, one-Omega rule for everyone else.”

  “Lies on top of lies.” I was beginning to feel weary of the mountain of misinformation that the South had forced down my throat.

  “So if it’s a question of duty for you, then you have to ask yourself, where does the bigger duty lie? In supporting your troops for a few months in a battle far away from home. Or supporting the current and future generations of Alphas and Omegas here in the North.”

  “Duty in the South is for life,” I said, wondering where he’d got the idea that it was only a few months.

  “I know,” he said, his voice soft, his expression sad. “Southern Omegas are like mayflies.”

  The words just hung there at first, in the quiet of the cave. I kept almost grasping their meaning before they retreated into the shadows.

  Those smiling Omegas in the brochures and videos suddenly sprung to mind. Had they ever smiled again after those fleeting moments?

  “Why?” What was the point of it all?

  “Omegas were never meant to sustain six Alphas at once. It burns you out, your body can’t manage it, not for long. Some hold out a year but most don’t last six months.”

  That wasn’t what I’d meant, but it gave crystal clarity to Jethro’s words.

  “I don’t want to be a mayfly.” I looked up at him, tears springing to my eyes. “I don’t want to be locked up in the dark, scared and hurt. I don’t want Alphas touching me, not if they aren’t you. How do we make it so I can stay in the North, so I can be with you? So that I can be more than just a firelighter.”

  My mind, at last, was made up. But was it too late?

  Jethro cupped my cheek, his eyes holding my gaze. “We have until dawn. To form a bond, a deep connection. To fall in love.”

  “I want that,” I told him. “I want that very much.”

  Jethro insisted we both finish our food. I was too nervous and excited to taste much of anything but I did as he asked. When we finished, he went back outside to scope our surroundings.

  “They’re coming?” I asked.

  “They’ve started a climb. Either they don’t know the passages are there or they’re being nice enough not to use them.”

  Why would they do that? It didn’t make sense and I said as much.

  “The North's authorities don’t want to send any Omega back to the South, not if they can help it,” Jethro told me as he walked to the edge of the pool and dipped a foot in.

  “How about a swim?” he asked. “The water’s cool but not cold.”

  He didn’t wait for my answer, stripping off his clothes and stepping in, dunking his head under the water. I crept closer to the edge, watching and waiting for him to resurface, which he did a moment later, sending a spray of water in every direction.

  “It’s nice,” he called. “Come on in.”

  He watched as I reached for the hem of my T-shirt and drew it over my head. I thought maybe he’d look away then, but he didn’t and I remembered he’d already seen me naked, carrying me out of the Intake Center. I hurried out of the rest of my clothes and sat on the edge of the pool, dangling my legs into the water. He waded up to stand in front of me, his hands gently parting my knees so he could position himself between them and we were face to face.

  He stretched out his hand and pressed one finger to the top of my chest, trailing it downward along my sternum. When he reached that point just above my bellybutton, the center of the cold that had eaten away at me, he flattened his palm against it.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Warm.” The heat from his palm seared through me, but it felt nice, a warmth that wouldn’t leave me scared and hopeless.

  “Good,” was all he said before his hands tightened around me and lifted me into the water with him. My legs wrapped around his waist and I clung to him. He didn’t mind that, not one bit.

  Once we were steady, I felt brave enough to loosen my grip on him, freeing my hands up to explore. My fingers touched his brow, smudging droplets of water across his skin. He smiled as I trailed my
hand down his face, brushing my thumb across his lips. Was it only yesterday that we’d kissed, that our lips had touched?

  If I was his, then he’d be mine too, wouldn’t he? His lips, his strong jaw, those eyes. I ran my hand through his hair, love the feeling of trailing my fingers through it. It wasn’t as long as mine had been but it wasn’t the short nothingness that mine was now.

  He tugged me a little closer, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “The good thing about hair is that it grows.”

  He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and I couldn’t hide my smile from him. What kind of person was it that risked everything for another? A brave one, yes. Maybe even a hero.

  “If I’m yours, are you mine?”

  His hands set me down gently onto my feet in front of him. The water wasn’t deep where we were standing, barely up to my waist. He took my hands in his, holding them securely.

  “Miles, I’ve dreamed about meeting my Omega for as long as I can remember. I’ve been yours since long before I drove south to find you.”

  “And I am yours, now and forever.” The words felt right, felt important to say.

  We played around in the water for another while, using it as a chance to explore one another. Jethro pushed me against the wall of the cave, the water only thigh high, and he knelt, his hands on my waist holding me still.

  “In many cultures’ mythologies, Omegas are sacred.”

  I peered down at him as he spoke, shivering as the sound of his voice trilled across me.

  “They’re often depicted as the deities of pleasure and fertility. It was said that if you gave pleasure to an Omega, you’d be blessed with a long, happy life and many, many children.”

  He smiled up at me before leaning forward and kissing the skin above my navel. My hands were clinging to the wall to hold still, but I couldn’t resist letting go to run my fingers through Jethro’s hair again. His mouth dipped lower, trailing kisses along my wet skin. I tried to slow my breathing but the feeling of his mouth on me was so good that all I could do was pant. My panting became an all-out moan when he slipped lower still, kissing the base of my shaft. No one had ever touched me there, had ever kissed me like this.

  “Jet-”

  He glanced up at me, a slow grin crossing his face as he caught sight of my expression. “We have to appease the gods of pleasure so that they’ll bless our bond.”

  With a groan, I subsided against the wall and just watched as he pressed kisses all the way down my shaft until he reached the tip. He wrapped a hand around me, his eyes glancing upward to meet mine as he took me into his mouth.

  My knees went weak as pleasure surged through me and I grasped the wall behind me with both hands. I watched him as he took more and more of me into his mouth, the sensation of wet heat almost too much to take.

  “Jet. Jet, please.” I didn’t know what I was begging for. More, less. All I knew was I didn’t want him to stop.

  He pulled back and I whimpered with need. But all he did was push forward again, taking me deeper still. He did this again and again, his head pushing forward and back, his mouth sliding over me, sending sparks of pleasure each time. His tongue ran across my shaft and it was more than I could take, my cock seizing and spilling into his mouth. His hands on my hips held me still as he swallowed around me, ecstasy surging through my body and leaving me a shuddering mess of spent pleasure. My legs gave out and I sank to my knees, Jethro’s arms holding me.

  He let go to wipe a hand across his mouth, smiling at me. All I could do was smile back, still lost in a haze of white. When he leaned forward, I moved to meet him, capturing his mouth with mine.

  “Do you think the gods are happy?” I whispered to him as we pulled apart.

  “I think they will be very soon,” he assured me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Miles

  Despite the warmth of the sun beating down on us, it started to get cold in the water. When I shivered, Jethro caught hold of me, instinctively knowing it wasn’t pleasure making me shake. He lifted me out and carried me over to a sunlit spot on the cave floor. The heat from the rock warmed me as the sun beaming down on us started to dry our skins.

  Jethro knelt between my legs as I lay on my back. He reached down, his hands finding my feet, fingers and thumbs trailing across the wet skin, up along my legs and thighs to my hips. Then up higher, along my sides, tickling my underarms and making me laugh.

  “Ready?” he asked me.

  I nodded, though I wasn’t sure what came next. He leaned in, capturing my mouth in a kiss that left me breathless.

  “I need you to trust me? Can you do that?”

  I stared at this man, at this stranger who felt so familiar. This Alpha who risked everything to free me from a short, brutal life in captivity. The lust he’d spoken of burned heavily in me. I ached to touch him, to be touched by him. But under that, there was something else. An intense feeling that I felt not in my head or my groin but my heart.

  As if he could hear my thoughts, he laid his hand across my chest and I could feel my heart beating under his palm.

  “I am yours. And you are mine.”

  A slow smile crept across his face as he drank me in, his eyes raking across me. Looking down between his legs, I could see he was hard for me. He was ready and so was I.

  “Stretch your hands out above your head,” he whispered. I did as he said, laying my arms down along the floor, feeling the sun shining across them.

  His hands found my knees, gently spreading my legs. Then he lifted my hips a fraction, his hand between my cheeks. I was wet there. I could feel it and so could he. Heat spread across my face, but it only made him smile more.

  “You’re ready for me,” he said taking his hand away and pushing his body against me. I could feel him hard and ready, pressed tight against my hole. It had never felt so empty as it did in that moment. I needed this, needed him, needed to be filled.

  But there was another part to this equation and as Jethro lowered his upper body over mine and reached for my hands, I realized what it was. His mark and mine had to touch, our bodies and marks as one.

  His mouth found my cheek first, kissing me gently.

  “Trust me,” he murmured again, his eyes on mine. “I won’t hurt you.”

  His fingers linked with mine but his arms were arched, keeping our marks from connecting. I glanced up at our joined hands, at our glowing marks, and then back to Jethro’s face.

  “I’m ready. I want to bond with you.”

  His mark pressed over mine and I readied myself for the burst of pain that would follow. But there was none. A wave of ecstasy washed over me as our marks collided, like stars bursting within me, and I cried out with joy as Jethro pushed inside, filling that empty place inside and chasing out the last of the cold.

  He felt big, so big, that no part of me could ignore him. There was heat from our marks and I glanced at our joined arms, seeing the bright glow from where our skins pressed together.

  Jethro pulled out and I keened from the loss. No, no. Come back.

  He thrust in again, and I gave a cry of relief, clutching tighter to his hands.

  “Don’t let me go,” I begged him.

  “Never,” he insisted, as he thrust inside again. Each push of his hips rocked my body forward and sent sparks of pleasure through me. I was surprised to see I’d grown hard again. Clearly, the gods of pleasure weren’t done with me yet.

  “Fuck, Miles. You’re amazing, so amazing,” Jethro said, his hands flexing against mine. All too soon, neither of us had breath for conversation, too lost in the thrust and pull, in the heat of our marks. His thrusts grew quicker as if he was chasing something down and nearing its capture. His mouth found mine, kissing in a way we’d never kissed before, his tongue pushing between my lips as his cock pushed between my legs. I gave in to every part of him, let him inside, and was rewarded with a surge of white-hot pleasure that blotted out everything else. Distantly, I felt Jethro still as he came inside me. Filled, I was filled.
In every way imaginable.

  I woke to Jethro’s cheek pressed to mine, our arms still held together. The glow between them was still there. Instinctively, I knew that it wasn’t time to let go yet, not until that glow had faded to almost nothing, the bond between us solid.

  Jethro had released my other arm, his hand on my hip, his thumb stroking idly. I used my free hand to card my fingers through his hair.

  “I am yours and you are mine,” I murmured, tacking, “I love you,” onto the end. It wasn’t an afterthought. I could feel the love I had for him, singing through every cell in my body. I wanted to shout it, to scream it from rooftops and mountaintops.

  Jethro sighed against me. “You are mine and I am yours,” he mirrored. “And I love you, too.”

  Tears sprang to my eyes and trailed sideways down my cheeks. I was happy, so happy. I didn’t think anyone anywhere in the world had been happier.

  Jethro lifted his head and kissed away my tears. “No one will take you from me now. Not ever.”

  We drowsed in each other’s arms as the time ticked slowly by until the glow between our hands started to fade. My arm was stiff when Jethro’s hand slowly released mine and our marks and bodies separated.

  Jethro helped me up and we sat there, holding our arms side by side as we marveled at the changes to our bond marks. Gone was the carpet of little black dots. Gone were the bright, shining marks that sent Jethro on his quest to find me. They had been replaced by silvery, gossamer spots with lines connecting them, as if someone had taken silver paint and played connect the dots with our marks.

  “They’re beautiful,” I said, as I ran my hand over mine and then Jethro’s. The skin around them was perfectly smooth, the unused marks gone. “They look like constellations.”

  “I think they are.” Jethro peered closer, tracing the lines with his pad of his finger. “I think it’s Andromeda.”

  “Who was he?” My studies had never stretched to something as far-flung as astronomy and the sky. I guess my father wanted to keep me grounded. Or maybe blinkered was the better word.