“Fuck, but you smell so damn good.” Lee groaned and ground his hips down into her, rocking his knot deeper behind her pelvic bone until Quinn keened. “You smell different, pet. So sweet, so… good.”
Horror slid down her spine, tangling around delicate vertebrae. Skin prickling, goosebumps erupted over her flesh as she dug her nails into Lee’s sides. The sudden clench of her pussy around his hard length, around the still pulsing knot, made Lee groan as her body tried to expel the immovable object.
The rasping ghost of Ilya’s words filtered through the numbing paralysis. He’d said soon, soon he would have her. Now Lee said she smelled sweeter, different. She remembered the twisting cramp that would have sent her to her knees if Lee hadn’t been there. Quinn couldn’t believe she had missed all the warning signs of an impending heat fast approaching. Then again, she hadn’t had a natural heat in so long. Not since before she stumbled into Alton’s bed a lifetime ago had she been without suppressants.
Swallowing hard to push back the rising tide of bile, Quinn sent shaking hands to pet at Lee’s back. Hoping to soothe the fervor from his tone, to calm the bunching muscle that promised he wasn’t anywhere near finished yet. She thought she was successful as he nuzzled and nipped along her jaw, purring in satisfaction while they remained locked together.
Until the bloated knot began to diminish, sending a flood of their combined fluids rushing to soak the bed. Then he began to move. Steady, unhurried strokes that buried him so deep she felt the full crown against her cervix. Little flinching pains that built on top of one another until her stomach clenched with the deep seated ache.
Trying to concentrate past the pain, past the wet heat of Lee’s mouth working against her neck and jaw, Quinn stared at the ceiling. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when she was so close to getting the fuck out of this place. Teeth grinding, she arched to ease the growing agony pulsing through her hips.
“So good,” Lee growled against her neck before his lips moved further south. The edge of his teeth scraping against her shoulder, he licked at her sweat sheened flesh. Massive body shuddering, his rhythm faltered. One violent slap of his hips became another until he had her spread wide, taking his violence. The slick shaft of his cock forced its way through her reticence, pummeling against the very end of her with every cruel drive forward.
The wet slap of flesh filled the room, Lee’s growls and moans a counterpoint to her painful grunts. Hissing when his hand covered her full breast, fingers clenching in the malleable flesh, Quinn sucked in deep breaths. Tried to lose herself in the Alpha’s scent, the thick musk that pervaded every inch of air.
It was no use.
All she scented was his violence, the malice that forever tainted his skin. The insane urge that had taken her last night was nowhere to be found. Pussy wet out of instinct alone, she could do nothing more than take it. Petting at Lee’s back to calm him brought a snarl and a vicious twist to her thigh, pushing the offended limb up to her shoulder so he could push deeper. Ignoring her keens and whines, Lee gripped her leg and held her open to his violation.
Not until he opened his mouth wide, sucking and lapping at the bit of flesh on her shoulder he had long been enamored with did an idea spring to life. A sudden flood of illumination filling her mind as pieces of the puzzle slapped together in time with each punishing thrust.
Whines turning plaintive, Quinn angled her head to bare her throat. Nails digging crimson half-moons in Lee’s back, she rocked her hips in time with him. Forced abused muscles to clench around his throbbing shaft as she coiled her free leg around him. Opening herself to him in all the ways that mattered to the male. It was beyond dangerous. Stupid, even. If her timing was off by even a second, she’d be in a worse hell than she could ever imagine.
Quinn was rewarded for her deception in moments. The deep growl shuddered through her bones, rattling a sigh from her lungs as his teeth punched into flesh. Digging ever deeper, the first taste of her blood made him howl against her shoulder.
Just a little more and she would have him! The suddenness of the knot surprised her, Lee ramming it inside her aching passage, Quinn trying to squeeze it in a mockery of orgasm.
Each jerky lunge of her hips as she pulled him deeper caused Lee to bite harder. The sharp edge of his teeth slid through her flesh until Quinn screamed. Instinct told her to fight, to kick and punch at the larger male. Not just in fear, but to force him to prove himself, strong and dominant enough to take her. Shuddering, eyes squeezed shut, she made every muscle go limp. Fell back into the bed, boneless and unresisting as he growled and bit harder. Trying to rouse the Omega under him, Lee snapped his hips. Jostled the knot caught behind her pelvic bone to make her scream.
Remaining quiet and listless, Quinn counted the seconds by her trembling heartbeat. Waiting for him to squeeze his jaw shut, leaving her with an irreparable mark, she fought to keep the maelstrom of panic at bay. The smallest twitch would be seen as an invitation, a sigh acceptance. She prayed Lee wouldn’t play his usual games and waited for his fingers to close over her throat.
Long minutes passed. The stuttering of her breath fanned across the broad shoulder blocking her view of the room beyond. His knot continued to pulse, sending torrents of thick come deep inside of her, but Lee remained as motionless as she was. Balancing on a razor edge, they each waited for the other to tip the scales. His growl was a mere vibration against her chest at first. A sound felt more than heard before it began growing in volume. Louder and louder until the Alpha parted his teeth and roared. Quinn didn’t even flinch. Kept her eyes shut tight and jaw set as Lee continued to voice his rage above her.
Omegas might be a slave to their instincts, but Alphas weren’t much better. There was no challenge in a docile claim, it lacked the necessary fuel to split an Omega’s soul apart and tie it to theirs. While she had known something of that by sheer instinct, Ilya’s lessons had taught her much. A hell of a lot more than anyone else had ever deigned to tell her about her dynamic. Things never even hinted at in polite society were now known, and she’d use every little morsel she could to her advantage.
Lee muttered something under his breath, lips a cruel slash as he pulled away. The knot, shrunken and oozing come, still caused an uncomfortable swell in his shaft.
Quinn allowed herself a flinch, lower lip maneuvering into a pout. Let him think she was cowed, docile as a lamb. Victory still sped through her veins in agonizing rushes as she forced her limbs to remain quiet and still. He’d suffer for a while yet before the knot abated, denied the tight clench of her orgasm wringing it. It was a petty revenge, but one she would take with unsurpassed glee.
Lee climbed off the bed, his mass shifting in tight, controlled movements. The acrid taste of his anger blanketed her as he snatched his robe from the hook. Leaving the room, the door slammed shut so hard she imagined the whole house shook.
She’d won.
Quinn released a shaky sigh, a mixture of relief and the rush of fear. Every muscle twitching, quivering with unspent emotions, she shot off the bed and dashed into the bathroom. If the Gods had ever loved her, he was done with her for now. Her plan could continue, and the other piece of the puzzle would be there all too soon. Facing the mirror, she had to quiet the roiling clench of her stomach as she saw the blood seeping down her reflection’s shoulder and chest. Swallowing hard, she set trembling fingers to the bite.
There wasn’t enough time to be squeamish.
It took longer than expected. She thought she might faint at one point. By the time she finished, the gruesome scene was almost too much. Weak and shaking, Quinn braced her hands against the cool granite countertop and took slow, deep breaths to calm the urge to vomit. Precious seconds lost to keep some handhold on her slipping sanity.
The door to the nursery clicked shut, the quiet sound echoing through her skull as Quinn looked at her reflection one more time. She avoided seeing anything but her eyes as she gave a firm nod of resolve. It was time.
Turning on her heel, she let the tears come. Blinding as they flooded over her lashes, tumbling down her cheeks to spatter her bare chest. Choking on a sob that wasn’t at all difficult to produce, Quinn jerked the bedroom door open and flung herself into the massive male just outside of it.
Crying hard enough she couldn’t draw a decent breath, Quinn scaled the breadth of his chest, clinging to his shoulders. Sobbed all the harder when his hands wrapped around her hips, hauling her the rest of the way up.
“Kiska, shh, what—” Ilya trailed off on a dangerous rumble. Arm a vice around her thighs, he pinned her to his chest, free hand pushing into her hair and jerking her head to the side. Baring the bite wound Quinn had worked at deepening with the sharp edge of her nails. The gory mess of her shoulder looked like a claiming mark without too close an inspection, and the hot ash taste of Ilya’s anger sitting heavy on her tongue promised he wasn’t concerned about taking too close of a look.
“What is this?”
