“You do not need what he gives you to be happy. I would be good to you in all the ways that matter to you,kroshka.”
“He’ll kill me if he catches you.”
“Net, he will not. You have too much value alive.” Ilya grunted, a huff of caustic air against her neck before he whispered against her ear. “Be mine alone, and I will collect on a debt that is owed. No harm will ever come to you.”
“Why do any of you even want me?”
“He wants you because you are Omega,da? Proven fertile, not tied to family, obligations. The blooded Omegas that would spread without so much as a pout, much comes with them.”
“Why do you want me then?” Careful not to disturb Elise, Quinn pulled away. Shuffling back on her knees until she could look at Ilya without having to crane her neck or be engulfed in his scent and heat. The downward twitch of her eyebrows brought his purring to an end.
“You are strong in ways they do not even guess at. I have watched since you were brought here. Have seen you do much, for her,” he said, nodding at Elise. “And for you, to stay alive.”
“So because I’ve proven that I’ll spread for any male that promises not to kill me anytime soon, for that you want me?”
Teeth flashing, the icy blue of his gaze fixed on Quinn’s. There was no growl, no true snarl, but he made his displeasure known in the clipped timbre of his voice. “You survive. You know how many Omegas last this long away from their mate?”
“Don’t.”
“They become weak, frail in days. Damaged in a matter of weeks.”
“Stop.”
“Pregnant?” Ilya barked a cruel laugh, grating and hoarse. “They are destroyed within a month. No use. Dead inside.”
“Please,” Quinn whined. Cuddling Elise closer, she backed away in an awkward scramble until her back met the bed. “Please stop!”
“And you. You come raped, beaten, swollen with child, and you stood proud against a pack of Alphas.Da, you spread for him. You keep alive, keep yourmalyshkaalive.”
Following her, caging her against the frame with arms braced on either side of her hips, Ilya leaned down until they were level. A rumble emanated from his chest, a rockslide of intent that slipped roughshod down her spine. Heavy, rich, intoxicating.
“Beautiful for that alone, but the smell of you… Ah,kroshka.” Bending lower still, he pressed his lips against her ear, words a breath of a whisper. “Every night I fuck my fist thinking of you. Squeeze my knot so tight it hurts, just like I imagine you would.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Quinn hissed pushing at his chest with ineffectual fingers until the male relented and fell back with an exaggerated huff and a wicked grin. Crawling up onto the bed, she tucked Elise into the nest, purr stilted and tight.
“She does not know the words we speak.”
“Go away.”
Ilya didn’t leave. He sat by the bed, mindful not to touch any of the careful arrangement of blankets and sheets. As Quinn curled around her daughter in a protective circle, he watched with an intensity she didn’t want. Tucking her cheek close to Elise’s downy hair, she settled them for rest.
And then he began to purr. Loud and bold, it resonated through the room. Worked through her bones, swept away the stiffness and rattled a sigh loose from her lungs. No less effected, Elise yawned and gurgled before drifting off with a smile.
“Rest,kroshka.”
“He’ll be back.”
“I will wake you.”
Nodding, Quinn let her eyes slip shut, wondering when she had come to trust the brutality and violence that was Ilya.
Days bled into weeks, repeating much of the same.
Quinn made sure to turn the monitors on long before Lee was due to arrive, that Elise was settled and ready for sleep when his sleek black car pulled into the drive. She knew she couldn’t repeat those first awful moments again.
It was easier to bend, to accept.
To adapt.
