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Omegas were needy and clingy. They were like fuckable dolls that didn’t really have a mind of their own, but just said whatever they thought an Alpha wanted to hear. Why was this Rory so different? I knew that most omegas were sent off to omega training once they came into heat, around the age of fifteen, and Rory had obviously been kept at home, unless our intelligence on him was bad. So maybe that accounted for it.
We’d also heard he wasn’t awakened to his heat yet, which also indicated he wouldn’t have come into his full powers either. We had been planning on forcing his heat on him with injections our physicians said they could give him once we got him back home, to provide him with an heir, and solidify my claim as Regent. But hell, from ten feet away I could smell his wicked, sultry slick. I’d never smelled an omega so strong, and it was still fucking with my head. It was driving me wild even now, and I had to keep taking short breaths through my mouth or bury my nose often in my heavy napkin. The scent of luscious, ripe peaches wafted in the air around him.
I wondered if it might cause too much of a scene if I pulled him across the table to me, ripped off those tight pants of his and devoured him like a peach right here in front of everyone? Probably not the best of ideas. But I had to grip my hands together under the table to stop myself from doing it.
From the way Wyatt, Asher and Brandon were acting, they were being affected by his slick too. It was messing with their heads, I could tell, and I didn’t like them looking at him. I didn’t like it one damn bit.
Had he realized who I was out on the ramparts? Was the way he’d laughed, and the way he’d tasted only some kind of an act? A spell he’d put on me? It had been a shock when his sister came out and told me who he actually was.
I had to move this along quickly, because I was going to have him if it was the last thing I ever did. He wasn’t in full heat yet, but it wouldn’t be long from the way he smelled. I could make love to him, even knot him and it would hold us both temporarily. Or maybe the four of us would go at him all at once. It would be safer for us all that way. He had even acted like the kind who might enjoy that out on the ramparts. No doubt he’d already had more than his share of men.
And yet the idea of anyone else touching him made me crazy. He had to be causing this turmoil in my brain.
A sudden image of him laid out naked on my bed, his legs spread wide and his slick running down those white thighs as he stroked his pretty cock with one hand and tweaked one of his swollen nipples with the other as I watched made me jump restlessly to my feet. All eyes turned toward me, and I hesitated, wondering if I should warn the others first. But they were all looking up at me as if they anticipated what I was about to say and were good with it. They must know how affected I was by him.
“I want to make an official offer for Prince Rory,” I blurted out, casting my gaze over at the king. Not a moment too soon either. The king had been drinking prodigiously since our arrival and had almost passed out in his chair. He roused a little at the sound of my voice, but quickly sagged back down, mumbling something unintelligible.
“It’s likely the best offer you’ll get,” I said. “And if not, I’ll match any other offer for him.”
He didn’t answer and I was about to grab Rory and just take him out of there when the queen saved the day by standing up and holding out her hand. “Give the contract to me,” she said, “I can speak on the king’s behalf.”
I quickly reached into the breast pocket of my jacket and pulled out the folded paper, passing it over to the queen. “I’d like to take possession in the morning.”
I heard Prince Rory gasp beside me, but I ignored him and focused only on Berinda. “Would you like to read over it and get back to me, or…”
“No,” Berinda said firmly, casting a mean look at Rory. “We accept your generous offer. Do you have a pen?”
I whipped one out and the queen bent to quickly sign it. “There. It’s done,” she said, passing the contract back to Lexington. “When will you take him? He can be ready tonight if you prefer?”
“We have a few preparations to make first, so in the morning, Your Majesty. If he can be ready to travel by say, nine or ten?”
“He’ll be ready.”
“Good. Make sure he’s packed, and I’ll bring the omega price to you then. Will you provide someone to perform the binding ceremony?”
“Yes, of course.”
I bowed to her again. “Then we’ll take our leave tonight and see you tomorrow.” Turning to the others, I motioned for them to join me. If I didn’t get away from Rory soon, I’d take him right there in front of everyone. I gave him one last look as we left the Hall, and he was sitting unmoving in his chair, staring straight ahead of him, looking stunned and a little shell shocked. I was sure it was just an act, so I steeled my heart against him. We had our wards in place against any retaliation he might try. He was outnumbered and outclassed, and he had no chance of getting out of this.
“Prince Rory, we’ll collect you at nine in the morning, and we’ll leave after the binding ceremony. Be sure to bring a heavy cape—it’s cold where we’re going. Don’t forget to wear something you can ride in.”
At last, I got a response. His green eyes flicked up to me and back down. Then he shifted his gaze to the queen. “I don’t ride. I was never allowed lessons.”
“Then you can ride with me.”
I didn’t engage him any further. His slick was almost overpowering, and I needed to get some fresh air to clear my head. But despite my bravado, I still had niggling doubts. What if I were to be unsuccessful in binding his powers? I didn’t think that would happen, not with Asher to help me, but what if it did?
I could put him in some isolated tower, covered with protection spells. And I still had the option of selling him after his eventual coronation, just getting him out of my sight, as soon as his despicable father died, and he was crowned. The jury was still out on that. He’d have a child by then, but I didn’t think that problem was an issue. I could simply take the baby away from him as soon as it was born and make sure he never saw it again. I could keep it strictly away from his influence. Should the child still have a dark nature like his, I’d bind its powers, like I planned to do with Rory as soon as I could.
Or should I keep Rory in his tower indefinitely and use him as much and as often as I wanted until he was nothing more than a dried-out husk? Until he stopped tempting me so damn much. My older brother would say that was far too dangerous, and that if I was unable to bind his powers, I needed to just put a bullet in him as soon as I was crowned Regent. But I found a bit of danger exciting. It kept me on my toes.
Or maybe I could just tell myself the truth. I didn’t know if I could hurt him—I really didn’t think I’d be able to.
“Until tomorrow then,” I said to him and strode from the room. I didn’t look back. Refused to look back, because he had glanced up at me as I turned away, and I’d caught a glimpse of his eyes. I would have thought they might be angry, or that they at least would have been drenched with tears to make me feel sorry for him and play on my sympathy. Instead, they looked resigned, cornered, hopeless and almost accepting of whatever his fate might be. I told myself sternly that it was all an act—a sham to play on my sympathies.
But I’d seen that exact same look once in the eyes of a red fox once when my father’s hunting dogs had it cornered and were about to rip into it with their teeth and their claws and tear it to pieces. That had been my last day ever of hunting, and I’d never allowed my father to browbeat me into going with him again.
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