AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Won’t you ask why I didn’t before?”
I stepped away that I didn’t have to tilt my head back too far, and observed the alpha I had not quite decided to trust with all of myself. Mate him? Yes, I wanted that and to feel the press of his knot inside of me. Work along side him? Yes, that too. But give him part of myself? Not until he had given me his everything. “I cannot give you my heart, Oberon.”
The “yet” was left unsaid.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No. And perhaps you do not desire for my love. But I doubt you’d ever mate me without purpose or reason. And that first heat.” I averted my eyes, not ready to confront my motivations for taking Puck’s knot and forcing his bite. “You want me to beg for you to mate me. I’ll never beg for something. Not once–”
“Wrong.” He pinched my chin. “You’ll beg for what I hold in my other hand.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Unlikely.”
He produced a beautiful, almost too beautiful music box shaped to look like a bird of paradise in a gilt cage covered with vines and delicate pink roses. It was so easy to hold still for I was enthralled. When was the last time someone had given me a gift? Solstice presents from my sisters were nothing more exciting than pistols and books. Nothing pretty.
“I had thought to give you this gift for the safe return of my nephew,” Oberon's smile was lopsided. “But thought better of it. This piece is rather valuable and I’d no desire to see you break it in a fit of pique.”
Letting go of my chin, he snared one of my quivering hands and laid the music box in my palm. “Swiss, dearest.”
“Swiss, what does that have anything to do with it? Oh, goddess… Why? No. Don’t.” I handed the little trinket back to him, aware it was more than a trinket to either of us.
“There is no need to return my gift,” Oberon said in his careful way.
“Please,” I pleaded, incapable of keeping something so precious. “I can’t—”
“Of course you can, little bird.” He tilted his head to the side and it seemed to cause that side of his mouth to pull into a small smile. “I’m not so bad.”
“You are the worst.” Even though I knew he wasn't, I must, must, must preserve myself against this alphas who slipped behind my defences without any respect for the walls I had built over the years. He was going to tease my confession from me. Or worse confess his love when I was not prepared. “You cheat at cards, you—”
“I’ve killed people. I’ve played you for a fool. Humiliated you. Given you more pleasure than you ever experienced… I have done a lot and I shall do more until Everything that you are, your every thought and feeling, belongs to me.”
Then the alpha, who was never hurried or in a rush, moved faster than lightning, catching my chin once again, and tilting my head back and until I saw the mirrored gold of his eyes. “Careful.” I held my music box away. “You’ll break the damn thing. Have a care.”
He plucked it from my hand and placed it on the table next to me. “Do you know why I do this omega?”
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know and I couldn’t admit ignorance in front of him.
He leant in close, his breath ghosting over my cheek. “I’ll tell you. It is because you are mine. From the moment you walked into my world you belonged to me. And what is better than that, little bird?” He pressed a kiss to my temple. A benediction, a blessing, or the kiss of death. With Oberon it could be all of them and none. “Everything I have, everything I am, is yours.”
I closed my eyes to hide the shame as I felt slick gather between my thighs.
His nose nuzzled the sensitive skin behind my ear. “But you already know that, don’t you, little bird.”
His lips travelled down my neck, trailed over Puck’s bite. “Oberon.” I swallowed, realising I was prepared to beg for him to do something beyond tease slick from my sex and cause my heart to race. “If you stop—”
“But I must. All the better to force your heat.”
“Then get out of here before I pack my bags and head to Omega House.”
“There’s my hellion. I’ll see you at sundown.”
Never again would I permit that alpha to leave me so unsatisfied. I’d cage his cock and find a way to keep him on edge for days, weeks… Oh, yes. There was something I could do—had done already to Jude—that would prevent Oberon from finding release except under circumstances specific and under my direction.
28
Polly
“This way.” Puck rested a hand on my back and steered me into the drawing room. It had been transformed. Something out of a fantasy. Tables vanished. Pillows, bedding, and mattresses strewn about. The grand crystal chandeliers brought low casting intricate, sparking light from the few candles that had been lit. And in the centre, a raised dias. The closer we got the more eyes turned towards us. These were our people. We were theirs. They knew, I realised, the importance of this moment. How likely it was that I might go into heat. Over to my right I saw Oberon settle in his chair, Jude, naked, kneeling at his side.
