Meghan took Quinn’s free elbow, helping her upright. “I’ll wake you before supper.”
Quinn managed a thin smile as she worked at the buttons of her dress. Meghan’s presence was far more welcome in the room than Curtis’ frigid demeanor.
The smile fell as she heard the loud footsteps in the hall. Curtis didn’t walk like that and no one else was allowed on the second floor. The door was already opening as Quinn turned her back to it, Adam tucked against her chest as she curled around him.
He couldn’t take Adam away now. She needed him.
Either sensing her agitation or upset by the sudden movement, Adam began to cry. Clinging to the fabric of her dress, he opened his mouth wide and wailed.
“Take him,” Kahler said, sharp and distant as he continued into the room as if nothing was amiss with a screaming baby and a protective Omega.
“No!” Quinn scrambled away, pressing her back against the wall. Eyes wide, she clutched Adam just as he gripped her. “Y-you can’t. Please. Please don’t. Not right now.”
“I’m not doing this in front of my son,” Kahler said, lip curled in revulsion.
“I didn’t mean…” Quinn stopped, crumpling in on herself as the fight withered under his disdain. He’d thought she meant for Adam to remain while he… Tears welled, burning the backs of her eyes before spilling down her cheeks. She’d accused Kahler of treating her like an animal, and he’d said he would. What more did she expect? She tried to manage a purr for Adam as she held him out on trembling arms to Meghan, but it was useless. They were both far too upset to be soothed.
As soon as the door closed, Quinn slumped down onto the mattress with knees spread and hands braced. There was no point in taking the dress off or in hiding her tear-streaked face. Still, she tried to quiet her low sobs as Kahler positioned himself behind her.
Skirt rucked up around her hips, he was there and ready. The first thrust was hard, rough. Too tight and dry, Quinn grit her teeth through the rush of pain and a fresh wave of tears. Giving up pretense, she lowered her shoulders to the bed to hide her face in the pillows where she could scream and cry as loud as she wanted.
It seemed to go on forever, whatever hell this was, but it was quick. Back tight, knees aching, Quinn clenched the sheets as her pussy contracted around his knot, drawing every surge of creamy fluid deep into her body. No matter how upset she was, no matter if she cried through the entire thing, always she came. He hated her, loathed her almost as much as she did herself. It gnawed away at her insides every time he was near. Yet still, Quinn lost herself in those few precious seconds. Shuddering, body convulsing around the thickness of his cock and the almost too much bulge of the knot as she came groaning into the pillows.
As Quinn tried to collect the shattered pieces of her dignity and self in the aftermath, she felt his hands slide over her hip. An almost caress over her sides where they heaved with each ragged breath. Unable to stop the little jump or her muffled gasp, Quinn hunched her shoulders to her ears and tried to lower herself that much further. She’d never prayed to the Gods so hard for him not to become angry as she debased herself before him.
Instead of the angry snarl or grabbing hands, his fingers traced across her ribs where her breath stood frozen. Up to her spine, thumbs digging into the muscles that seemed to be always locked in knots. He worked away the dull ache of being in such a position one slow pass at a time. The rasping texture of the calluses on his fingers made her shiver, skin breaking out in goosebumps before he smoothed them away with the heat of his palms.
Lower lip trembling, Quinn tried to make sense of this new madness. Turning her head to the side, she peeked over her shoulder at him. Gone was the sneering distaste and rigid scowl, his features softened, almost warm as he touched her. Almost like that all too brief time when she thought he might not be all monster.
She’d been wrong to trust that look then and she would be wrong to trust it now.
She didn’t trust it. But she was cracking under the weight of all his attention in that moment. Hating herself for the low hum that slipped past parted lips as he worked his magical touch over her hips. Despising the way she arched and groaned as he dug the heels of his palms into her shoulders. The way she moaned as the knot shifted, thrilling nerves that wanted more.
Quinn startled when his hand closed over her shoulder to pull her up to her knees. He met the distressed whine with a rich purr that ratcheted down her spine and sluiced the tension from her bones as he pulled her flush against his chest. The position was awkward, but he moved his hands down her chest, kneading tender breasts before sliding one hand down between obscenely parted thighs.
Kahler shushed her when she made a sound of protest, hands fluttering above his wrist. The purr deepened, became the perfect resonance for her spine to melt into him as he gathered wetness from her taut lips. Fingers plucked and played, teasing her response.
The knot was abating, the rush of fluid soaking his hand, her legs, the bedding beneath her. He never paused, hand working her swollen clit as he began to thrust into the still twitching depths of her pussy.
“That’s it, little bird,” Kahler whispered against her ear as her stuttering groan swept up into the pheromone laden air around them. “Take all of me.”
He was careful of her that time, seeing to her, making her come twice before he knotted her again. Lying with her after, playing, teasing, until she was delirious with it, he was far less gentle then as he took her face to face. He remained with her all through the rest of the day and night, feeding her from his fingers even as he moved inside of her as he had before. The pain of those memories washed away as he kissed her, purring, rumbling a call to incite her one last time.
When Quinn next opened her eyes, groggy and sore, Kahler was gone. They had moved the bassinet beside the bed, Adam gnawing at his fist as he slept.
“Ma’am,” Meghan called from the door, ever careful of intruding on Quinn’s space when she wasn’t aware. “It’s almost time for his bottle.”
“Where’s…” The question died on Quinn’s tongue before she could give it voice. She nodded, head feeling heavy on her neck as she shuffled the still tacky bedding from her body to rise with painful difficulty from the bed.
It didn’t matter where Kahler was, she reminded herself as she pulled a new dress from the dresser. He’d done what he did and was gone. Nothing had changed. Nothing. It didn’t escape her notice that she wasn’t heading for the bathroom to shower away his scent, the feel of his come still leaking from her swollen pussy.
“Nothing has changed,” she hissed at the reflection in the mirror above the dresser after she roughly pulled the dress over her head. Tears were already shimmering in her eyes, threatening to spill. Cheeks and nose flushed, prepared for an outright bawl. Sniffing hard, wiping at her nose with the back of her wrist, Quinn turned on her heel and strode with stiff legged determination towards the bassinet. Adam slept on though his lower lip began to pout, his little brows knitting.
“Curtis will be here with a tray soon,” Meghan said as she slipped into the room, but something about her posture set Quinn on edge.
Moving to stand in front of the bassinet, Quinn canted her head, narrowed gray gaze fixed on Meghan as she scurried closer.
“He doesn’t want me to say anything. He says you’ll be… Well, that you’ll cause trouble, but I told him you have the right to know. And you have Adam now, and…” Voice just above a whisper, Meghan seemed desperate to tell Quinn whatever news she had, but the woman was terrified to disobey Curtis. The Beta male seemed to run the house outside of Kahler’s direction, so Quinn tried to remain calm and patted Meghan’s wringing hands.
