Lee was no more gentle with her than he had been the first time. As if with Elise’s birth, he felt he no longer had to be careful of Quinn’s far more delicate body. His calls were brief, not even enough to get her wet. Foreplay had become a thing of the past.
She solved that problem, too.
Saving the worst of the soiled sheets from his previous assaults, she buried her nose in the heady scent, sucking in deep breaths as she fingered her pussy until slick flowed and sheened her thighs. By the time he stalked into her bedroom, she was ready for him.
By day she leapt from loving mother to depraved whore without batting an eyelash. At night she cuddled her daughter close while the Alpha who became more eager with every passing week purred over them. It was a strange and razor sharp balance, but she managed it with a skill that surprised her. She knew how to play the part of the whore, to smile and present no matter how sickened she was by the thought of it. She’d been taught that lesson under Alton’s thumb.
Learning to be a mother… that was by far the more difficult part. It was one she undertook with glee, finding new ways to love her daughter every day. Every smile, every delicate snore. Even if it did sometimes hurt thinking of a little boy who had laughed with the same unadulterated wonder at the world, who had clutched her just as close.
What she couldn’t deal with was Ilya. His smiles and long looks, the way he had taken to playing with Elise every chance he was given. How he helped her tend the multitude of small wounds Lee riddled her body with and cooked her favorite meals.
Not once did he touch her in an inappropriate way. Didn’t even call to her.
Instead he purred, petting her and coddling Elise when the agony in Quinn’s chest tumbled free. Wiped the cold sweat from her face with soft cloths and held her hair when she became violently ill. She’d blacked out more than once.
Above all, though, he talked.
Whatever dam had broken that day, words flowed from him in a never ending river. Maybe it had even happened before that and she hadn’t noticed it, but he was a wealth of knowledge and information that no one else had ever deigned to give her.
He told her about the people of Highriver and how their cruel games worked, what part each dynamic played. An Omega’s role in it all was horrible. They weren’t even pawns in the games these people played. They were snatched up or spirited off as soon as they presented their dynamic, swapped around and bred until they were dried up and useless. Males and females both. There were actual punishments for those rare Alphas who couldn’t control themselves and mated one.
Every day brought some new bit of information, a new game, a new something to keep her attention. Ilya kept her occupied as much as he could and purred for her when his little distractions no longer held the gray wall of agony at bay.
Chapter 5
“You’re saying that, because of the claim, I’ll always…” Quinn stared out the window, blind to the bright summer day as her words drowned in horror, stealing her breath with the shock of icy finality.
“Da, always. But it is not so bad as that, is it?”
“You tell me I have to let an Alpha use me for the rest of my life because of whathedid to me, and you say it’s not that bad?” Quinn tried to scoff, the sound thick and wet as she fought back tears.
Sitting in the nursery with Elise testing her strength to make wobbling pushups, Ilya guarding the door, Quinn couldn’t imagine a more surreal moment.
He had told her of mates and the bond, explained to her why it felt like her insides were being ripped apart. Why the dreams came, why Kahler invaded her senses when she was most vulnerable. Ilya said Kahler was searching for her. That he was coming closer to finding her. She’d refused to accept such bullshit, but now she wondered. Hadn’t it become so much worse when Kahler had found her with Alton?
Now with the mother of all injustices dumped into her lap, she was bereft. That Kahler’s actions would cause her to feel this for the rest of her life if she didn’t either stay with a man like Lee or let another Alpha claim her was beyond unfair. And not just any other Alpha, but a stronger one. One that could take that bond, make it his own.
Make Quinn his own.
Of course, Ilya thought he could be that man.
“He will be back soon,” Ilya said as he came into the nursery.
So much power and aggression descending into the sunny space should have terrified her, but it soothed the discordant jangle of her nerves. As Elise tumbled to her back, Quinn tickled her cheeks and watched the massive male hunker down to tease her daughter.
“You need to get ready.” He was careful not to look at her when he said it, crystalline gaze fixed on Elise while he straightened her onesie. Catching her kicking feet to pull tiny socks back up from where they dangled by her precious toes.
Quinn made a low noise of negation, pushing up to her knees and scooping Elise into her arms. She was close enough to Ilya to feel the searing heat of him, the warm scent of cinnamon and something strong that she couldn’t name invading her as she stood a little closer.
Refusing to look at him, she went to the crib and settled Elise, humming over her as her eyes began to flutter and slip shut. When satisfied Elise was well on her way to true sleep, Quinn canted her chin at Ilya and made her way out of the nursery. Never taking her eyes from his as she led him, she felt her way out into the hall until her shoulders met the wall beside her door.
“What game are you playing at,kroshka?”
“You’re so confident that Lee won’t hurt me if I choose you. Why is that?”
“A debt, as I told you.”
“What debt?”
