“You did.”
“Didn’t.”
“Fine. Have it your way. I’ll fuck it out of you until you get more comfortable saying it.”
Pounding at the door stopped Tobias before he could fall on top of Quinn. Growl ominous, he stalked to the door, a hard jerk opening it just enough for him to see the guard beyond but to block their view of Quinn still sprawled across the mattress where he’d shoved her flat. Even in his anger he remembered to hide the shoulder bearing her mark, the edge of the door casting the red rings into deep shadow.
Their quiet conversation couldn’t reach her ears, but she saw the long muscles of his back tightening. Hand gripping frame and door, the white knuckled grip showed the building rage that resonated through the bond in unrestrained pulses shaded rich crimson and bloody red.
Quinn scuttled up the bed, pulling a blanket tight around her as Tobias closed the door with care. The click of the latch the only sound as he turned to her, the sharp edges of his features as dark and foreboding as the gleam of murderous intent shining in the depths of his gaze.
“I have something I have to attend to. Personally.” Jerky movements pulled a fresh shirt and jacket from the closet, hangers not daring to utter a single click. Dressing with swift efficiency, he kept a sea of distance between them. Dark eyes sliding over her unseeing, as if he watched something far different from his mate huddled against the headboard playing out in his thoughts.
“What’s going on, Tobias?” She hated the quaver of her voice, the strain of his anger trying to strangle her. Clutching at the edges of the blanket, she forced herself away from the headboard to inch forward on her knees across the bed.
“Everything is fine.”
Nothing was fine. From the set of his shoulders to the snarling twist of his words, everything was wrong. Strangling the low whine of distress that raked its bloody claws through her throat, she edged closer still. Her hand trembled when it reached for his arm, a glancing touch to bring his attention out of the raging depths that were somehow more terrifying than what she’d witnessed while he tore Meghan apart. Tried not to flinch when he whirled on her with a snarl, bruising grip catching her fleeing arm and jerking her from the bed to dangle in listless confusion.
The dry click of her throat loud when he brought her higher still, Quinn remained soft in his hold. When his other arm came up to support her, she let her head fall forward to burrow into the warm shadows of his neck and shoulder. Her quiet purr scattering over the tight muscles standing in stark relief there.
“I’ve been issued a challenge. They’re giving me the courtesy of not bringing it to my door, where my mate and children are,” Tobias said against the loose curls of her hair. Hands fisting in her clothes, he gripped her tight enough to squeeze the breath from her before he set her back on the bed. Refusing to look at her again, he kept his focus on buttoning his shirt. “I have to go now.”
“A… a challenge? You can’t be serious!”
“You know who I am, little bird. This will not be the last time it happens.”
“But… you can’t… What if something happens and—”
“It will be fine.” He came to her then, gripping her jaw hard enough to make her wince. Angling her to meet the brutal crush of his lips, his subterranean growl resonated through her.
The sheer aggression of him calmed. Fingertips digging into the back of her skull, tearing out strands of her hair, he laid claim to her lips.
Her soul. Her heart.
A quiet sound built in the depths of the bond. Fierce, crazed, it clawed its way up Quinn’s throat. Met his vicious reverberations head on and matched them. Became so much more. Pouring herself into the kiss with lips and teeth, tongue attacking, they battled. Each seeking to dominate, to subdue the other. Doing nothing but building the heat between them to a roiling tempest that threatened to devour them whole.
“I must go,” Tobias said on a menacing rumble, the scrape of his teeth bringing the bright coppery tang of blood to their exchange.
“I swear to the Gods, Tobias Kahler. If you don’t come back whole, I will kill you myself,” she snarled, raking fingers like claws down the back of his head. Deep red welts appearing under her nails as she scraped them over his neck.
“You better be naked this time,” he tossed over his shoulder, pushing Quinn away as if he couldn’t bear to touch her one more moment. Stalking towards the door, he gripped the handle so tight his knuckles popped, the brass fixture moaning. “Naked and ready to tell me you love me.”
Watching him leave, the hard thump of the door closing sounding far too final, Quinn collapsed into the bed. Hugging herself around the middle, she stared at the solid pane of wood in disbelief.
“I love you, you arrogant ass,” she whispered in the dead quiet of the room.
As it neared dawn, Quinn took her pacing to the hall where a bank of windows gave a view of the postage stamp sized backyard. Floor to ceiling, they offered little protection against attack, but the glorious sight of dusty purple and faded blue seeping into ruddy crimson and gold was framed to perfection.
Quinn saw none of it.
Mind too occupied with scenarios that tormented her to appreciate such a fine view, outcomes that saw her alone and adrift with two small children. The absolute terror that at any moment she would fall to the floor as life slipped through her fingers, all while he lay somewhere far away doing the same.
That much she knew about the bond. She’d die without him. If something were to happen to him, she’d have little time to find another male. Someone strong enough to wrench her back from the edge of the abyss. One who wouldn’t mind what she was, what she looked like. Along with the two children who looked more and more like their father every day.
Shudder twisting through her spine, hunching her shoulders against an invisible chill that stole her breath for a too long moment, Quinn pushed the tears aside. She’d spent hours sobbing into the scentless bedding. Even resorted to clinging to his worn shirt when things got worse.
Then the pacing began. Back and forth, wearing a track into the warm wood as she muttered prayers to Gods who had never deigned to listen to her. Cursing and pleading with them in turns as she asked that he come back. Whole or not, she just needed him alive. All of the finery, the money, the prestige of being the ruling Alpha’s Omega. None of that mattered to her.
