“Paige.” This time he shouted. His voice boomed in the small space, rattling the glass windows and—more importantly—Paige out of her stupor.
She blinked a few times before turning toward him. Only a few minutes ago, a shout like that would have sent her into a panic, but now when she looked up at him her blue eyes were almost blank.
“Yeah?” she said, her voice flat and heavy with defeat. She’d given up, he realized. Resigned herself to her fate. Every drop of desperate courage he’d sensed in her back at Evander’s Bar was gone, like a rag that had been wrung dry.
“We’re here,” he said.
She drew in a slow shaky breath and nodded. Without a fight, she opened her door and stepped out.
Kian didn’t glance behind him as he made his way up the wood steps that led to his front door. He knew that she was behind him. He could sense every part of her—the sound of her footfalls, the scent of her skin, the electric charge that hung in the air around her. Not surprisingly, once inside she shuffled to the farthest corner of the front room.
Kian pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit the wicks on the kerosene lamps mounted by the door. Warm, yellow light spread across the front room of the cabin, pushing back the shadows.
Paige narrowed her eyes as she looked at the lamps. For a moment confusion dug deep lines into her brow. Then her mouth flattened.
“No electricity?”
Technically he figured it was a question, though the resignation in her voice made it clear she already knew the answer.
“Not out here,” he said. All utility poles stopped just past Evander’s Bar. “No cell reception either.”
Her chin dipped down to her chest as she let out a long breath. “And I’m guessing no plumbing either.”
“No, that I have,” Kian said. “Piped in from a hot spring.”
A little of tension melted from her shoulders. Apparently, the thought of being trapped out in the wilderness with an alpha was a little less scary if there was hope for a bath.
The vision of Paige’s naked skin immersed in crystal-clear water flashed into his mind. Rising steam caressing her body. The stress and fear melting out of her muscles. Her breasts and belly growing warm. Soft. Begging to be touched. Taken.
Kian ground his back teeth together hard, as he tried to shake the image from his head. It refused to budge.
So, instead he turned his back and stared out the window. His cock was already swelling. What he needed was a task. Something to do besides standing here imaging how glorious it would feel to plunge deep into the omega across the room from him.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“No.” Her voice was small again, frightened, but he didn’t dare turn around. He didn’t have to look her in the eye to tell that she was lying.
“When was the last time you ate?” he asked.
“I—I don’t know.” At least that was the truth. “This morning, maybe.”
“Then you need to eat.” That was something he could do—something that didn’t involve his cock. He started for the kitchen.
“No.”
Kian stopped cold. There was nothing small about that command. Slowly, he turned to face her. His face must have shown his displeasure, because Paige shrank back under the force of his stare.
“I wasn’t asking,” he said.
She drew in a shaky breath before biting into her lip and raising her trembling chin. “It’s just that I’d…I’d rather get it over with.”
Kian’s brows pulled together hard. “Get what over with?”
Paige’s gaze fell to the floor. Whatever it was, she couldn’t look him in the eye and say it. “What you brought me here for.”
“Not this shit again.” Kian crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I told you, I’m not going to force myself on you.”
“You honestly expect me to believe that?” Bright blue eyes flashed up at him in annoyance. So, there was still some fire in the omega. The night hadn’t wrung her completely dry. “That a man who has no problem jerking off in the middle of the road where anyone could drive by and see him has control over his urges?”
Kian’s blood surged at the challenge in her voice. The primal part of him wanted nothing more than to lift her up against that wall she leaned against, wrap her legs around his waist, and show how her just how deep his urges ran.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and strode across the room. To his satisfaction, Paige wilted a little with each step. His cock stirred again to see how she naturally surrendered to his presence.
He stopped just inches away. Close enough that her scent of her submission surrounded him.
“I am not like any other man you’ve ever known,” he said. “I am an alpha. Soon to be your alpha.”
“So, stop torturing me, and get it over with.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “The dread is killing me.”
“Dread?” Kian let out a bark of laughter that echoed off the log walls of the cabin.
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“Oh, I’m not laughing at you,” he said. “I’m laughing at those beta bastards who really did a number on your mind.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kian drew in a deep breath. He crossed his arms again and looked down at her sweet, innocent face.
“You want know why I won’t force myself on you?” he asked. “Because I won’t have to.”
Paige shook her head. “You’re lying.”
If only he was.
“Right now, you’re waking up to your true nature. Soon, your body and brain will synch up,” he said. “You’ll go into your first heat. Then you’ll be the one who won’t be able to control your desire. You’ll beg me to take you. Plead with me to fill you up with my cock again and again.”
Paige closed her eyes and whipped her head back and forth. “No.”
He didn’t stop. She needed to know the truth.
“Slick will flow down your legs,” he said. “You’ll lose all grasp of reason. The only things that will feel real to you are my body and yours. The only sensation that will matter is the pressure of my knot swelling inside you, locking us together, branding you as my own.”
“Stop,” Paige demanded. She flew away from the wall. She railed against his chest with her fists, but the feeling of her slight body against his only made his cock grow harder. “Stop lying.”
Even now, the scent of her sweet slick drifted up to his nose. There wasn’t much—not like flood that was to come—but it was there. Just like before, her body responded to his touch.
Kian grabbed onto her wrists. Her eyes snapped up to his. In their blue depths he saw the first shimmers of need beginning to form. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Deep down, you know it’s true,” he said. “You feel it.”
After a long second, she shook her head again, but this time there was no force behind her denial. Her body and mind were already giving into the truth. Soon, her soul would too.
A moment later, she wrenched herself out of his grasp and retreated back to her corner. Kian let her go.
“But until then,” he said, “you’ll need to eat to keep up your strength.”
This time when he turned toward the kitchen, nothing stopped him. Just the painful heaviness begging for release inside his pants.
Shit. Looked like he was going to have to step out on the back patio to take care of that before grabbing food if he wanted to make good on his promise not to take her right then and there.
It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Six
Something wasn’t right. Maybe it was pillow—far too big and stiff. Maybe it was the mattress—solid and unforgiving. Whatever it was, Paige’s unconscious mind picked up on it long before her conscious mind did. No matter how foreign the bed, her consciousness was content to grip the blanket around her shoulders tighter and tuck it in tight. She breathed in deep, and drew a rich, woodsy scent into her lungs.
Kian’s scent.
Oh shit.
Paige’s eyes popped open. In a flash, both halves of her mind synched up. She’d fallen asleep on Kian’s couch, and not for just a second. Morning had broken, and light drifted in through the windows, soft and filtered. Not at all like the bright city sun that usually woke her up.
She sat up, but didn’t push the blanket off. It wasn’t because of the scent, she told herself. She just needed something to hold onto. Something to keep her from wrapping her arms around herself and rocking back and forth. The fact that it smelled like Kian didn’t mean a damn thing.
Her eyes flashed around the room. The lamps were off from the night before, making the shadows in the corners deeper than before. A half-eaten plate of food sat on the table before her—roasted poultry and potatoes. She had a vague memory of Kian handing it to her last night. She must have been so exhausted that she’d drifted off as soon as the food hit her stomach.
And he’d let her sleep.
That was the truly amazing part. The alpha had stayed true to his word and hadn’t touched her. He’d just draped a blanket over her body so she wouldn’t get cold.
She had no idea where he was now. The house was quiet. She had a feeling he couldn’t be far, though. The waves of panic that had ripped through her last night at the mere thought of being apart from him weren’t there now. He had to be close.
But not so close that he was staring over her shoulder. For the first time since she’d fled Sacramento, Paige felt like she could take a breath and look around.
Paige let her fingers tangle in the blanket’s heavy length, gripping it tight to her chest, as she rose from the couch. She went to the window near the front door and peeked outside. She didn’t see him. What she did see was a wall of lush green that seemed to go on forever—towering pines extending up to the heavens, massive ferns carpeting the floor.
No paved streets. No steel skyscrapers. No neighbors walking their dogs. She really was in the middle of nowhere.
Paige turned away from the window, and took a moment to gaze around the Kian’s front room. She’d been too upset last night to really take in the house. Now that she’d had a little rest, she felt like she could actually see it.
And the truth was, it was impressive.
The walls were rough, but well crafted. A real log cabin. The kind Paige had only heard about in stories. The floor was hardwood, polished and soft under her bare feet. A massive stone fireplace took up the most of the far wall, and dual hallways branched out behind it, reaching out to parts of the house she hadn’t seen yet. Everything about the room felt warm and strong.
Much like the man who lived there.
Not a man, she corrected herself. He’d been adamant about that last night. An alpha.
He’d been clear about other things as well. Things that Paige would rather forget, but came flooding back into her head. No matter how she tried to push them away, they wouldn’t budge. His words echoed in her head.
You’ll beg me to take you.
Plead with me to fill you up with my cock.
Last night she’d been so desperate to believe those were lies. A flex of power meant to scare her, but now….
Now, she wasn’t so certain.
The memory of his voice didn’t make her want to resist anymore. It inspired a whole different emotion. One that burned hot between her legs and in her breast. One that made her want to walk through the halls of the cabin, not to explore, but to find Kian. To make sure that he was near. That she could feel him. Touch him.
No.
Paige closed her eyes and shook her head. That’s not what she wanted. It couldn’t be. She was just still stressed from everything that had happened yesterday. That had to be it.
What she really needed was some air to clear her head.
She went to the front door and threw it open before she could talk herself out of it. Stepping out onto the porch, the crisp morning air washed over her arms. Goosebumps instantly spread from her shoulders to her wrists. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to bask her face in the sun. The light was a little warmer, but not by much. Tendrils of fog wove their way through the treetops, blunting the heat.
Still, she felt a little better. Able to breathe. Able to cool down. For a moment she even felt herself relax. She could even imagine why Kian liked it out here so much.
The woods were so quiet. So serene. Paige realized that this was the first time in her life she was not surrounded by others. There was just her, the wind in the trees, and the sound of her own thoughts in her head.
At least it was like that for a second. Then a loud crack sounded, hard and sharp. Paige jumped as it echoed off the hillsides. Her eyes popped open, but she didn’t see anything but the patio and the green beyond.
Another crack rang out. Then another.
The sound was coming from behind the house. Paige wrapped her arms around her middle as she crept around the side of the patio on her tiptoes. Drawing in a deep breath, she peeked around the corner.
And instantly wished she hadn’t.
Kian was there—shirt off, his back to her. To one side was a pile of logs, to the other a neat stack of expertly chopped firewood. Her mouth fell open as he swung the axe in his hands high above his head. Every muscle tightened and bunched as the blade swung down. The crack was as loud as a gunshot, and Paige couldn’t help but jump even though she knew it was coming. There was just something about seeing Kian’s strength on display.
She gripped her arms a little tighter around herself and leaned into the side of the cabin for support. The rough bark of the wood bit into her skin, but she didn’t care.
Paige bit into her lip as he grabbed another log and set in place. Just then, the sun broke through the fog, and light glinted off the drops of sweat beading on his shoulders. The heat between her legs deepened.
And all of this was just from seeing his exposed back. Thank God he wasn’t facing the other way. Paige honestly no idea what her reaction to his naked chest would be.
And she didn’t really want to find out.
She also didn’t want him to catch her spying on him. That would be bad. Really bad. On all kinds of levels.
So, why couldn’t she turn away? It was almost as if the sight of him held her frozen in place. She watched with trembling lips as he brought the axe down again and again.
“You going to hide over there all morning?” Kian’s booming voice filled the space between them.
Paige pulled back suddenly and pressed her back against the wall. Shit. How the hell did he know she was there?
Stupid question. Of course he knew. If he’d been able to sense Craig walking up a crowded bar, he wasn’t going to have trouble picking out her clumsy footsteps.
But now that she’d been called out, she couldn’t just run away.
“I wasn’t hiding,” she tried. “I just didn’t want to bother you.”
She peeked around the corner again just in time to see him shake his head.
“Don’t lie to me,” he said, grabbing another log and continuing on with his chore. The words were threatening, but his tone was not. “Ever.”
“I thought it might be better if I kept my distance,” she said, flirting with the truth.
“Still scared that I’m going to ravish you?” He laid down another neatly chopped log on the pile.
“No.” Another half-truth. He wasn’t the one she was worried about him right now. She was far more worried about controlling the desire rushing through her own veins.
“You can’t run from it, you know.” His tone was casual, quiet and calm, but his words sent a shiver up her spine.
“Yeah, you went out of your way to prove that last night.”
“I’m not talking about physically running away.”
“Then I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“Bullshit.”
Another swing of the axe. Another log on the pile. Paige’s fingers dug even deeper into the wood beam in front of her as the muscles on Kian’s back flexed and bunc
hed. Her breath hitched, and it took her a second to recover. She forced down every emotion but the annoyance that was building toward the massive man in front of her.
“That’s what I mean,” he said without even turning around to look at her.
He didn’t have to. He knew how he affected her.
Without letting go of the porch rail, Paige straightened up, standing tall. Even though Kian wasn’t looking at her, she pulled back her shoulders for good measure. She had to prove to herself that she was still in control of some part of her own being.
“Eventually, that feeling deep inside you is going to becomes to strong that you won’t be able to overcome it. You’ll see my body, catch the scent of my sweat, and you’ll need to feel me with an intensity that will overwhelm your rational brain. You’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah,” she cut him off before he could paint another lust-filled picture in her mind. “You already told me.”
“But you haven’t listened,” he said. “Or else you wouldn’t be cowering behind the house as trying to sneak glimpses of me without getting caught.”
Paige pressed her lips together tight. His words landed a little too close to home. “I’m not going to lose control. I’m not an animal.”
“You say ‘animal’ like it’s a bad thing.”
“What I mean is that I’m not ready to surrender my humanity just yet.”
“Humans are animals.”
“Yes,” she conceded. “But—”
“But what?” The axe came down. Harder than before. The crack echoed sharply off the rock face in the distance. “You eat. You sleep. You fuck. You’re an animal.”
Paige swallowed down hard. “But before, I was in control of who and when I did those things with.”
“Welcome to my world.” Kian paused before he picked up the next log. “Life ain’t fair. Thought you would know that by now.”
Paige flinched. Suddenly, she was glad that Kian hadn’t turned to look at her. She didn’t want him to see her mouth hanging open in shock.
Dear God, she’d been a self-centered ass. She’d been so busy thinking about how these changes impacted her that she hadn’t spared a single thought to how he felt.
Kian: The Boundarylands Omegaverse: M/F Alpha Omega Romance Page 5
