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Devin tried for the shower as soon as he let her slide down the length of his body. Caught on the leash of her arm, she hissed and tried to double over as the excruciating pain ricocheted up her arm and into her chest, a brilliant crimson explosion blinding her as he swung her around into the hard edge of the vanity.
Pressing against her back, he wedged her between the literal rock and a hard place. Opening her clenched fist, he slapped the handle of her toothbrush into her hand, his single concession to hygiene.
“Please let me shower. It’s been eight days and—”
“No.”
“Give me a break! I’m not going around reeking of—”
“You’ll wear my scent as long as I tell you to,” Rey snarled against her nape, the sharp edge of his teeth a waiting threat.
Devin opened her mouth, but the words died on her tongue, crawling back down her throat on a shrill gasp. Eyes wide, she brought her hand to the mangled flesh of her shoulder. Trembling fingers not daring to touch the ragged edges of flesh, she stared at her reflection. Mouth working, she couldn’t breathe past the panicked wail building from the depths of her soul.
He’d marked her. Claimed her. Far deeper than it needed to be, she wondered at the pale sheen deep in the angry red muscle. Was there cartilage there, or had he hit bone? She knew nothing of anatomy, the random urge to beg for a phone so she could search for images pinging around her skull.
Somehow, seeing it was worse than the murmuring tones voicing its ecstasy at his dedication, the proof of his desire a badge for all to see. A random thought tripped, careening through numbed synapses before it caught hold and plunged straight into the bottom of her stomach. Hand dropping to flutter in nervous anticipation over the soft swell of her belly, panic widened her eyes. Showing too much white as her pupils shrank to hysterical pinpoints.
“Not this time,” Rey murmured, nuzzling her now as he wrapped Devin up in his arms. Covering her faltering fingers in his, he cupped their joined hands low over the cradle of her hips. “Soon though.”
“Soon?” The single word cracked, shattering in the air as it fell in cutting shards all around her.
“I’ll give you what you need, sweetheart.” Rey groaned, grinding against her ass so she felt the throbbing heat of him. “I’ll fucking live in that perfect pussy of yours until I do.”
“I-I don’t… I mean—”
“Shh, sweetheart. I know it’s disappointing, but you weren’t ready yet. You will be next time.”
Devin gaped, mouth hanging wide like some stupid cartoon movie character. He actually thought the plummeting of her heart was discontent, not the welling panic at his promise to breed her. Grasping at the fraying strands of her sanity, clutching them tight to what remained of her soul, she twisted in his arms. Craning her neck all the way back, she peered up at him. Gauging the clarity in the deep umber wells of his eyes, she decided that while he no longer suffered the intensity and brutality of the rut, he was most definitely insane.
“You’re going to… what? Induce a…” Devin couldn’t even say the words, the thought so horrifying her throat strangled her breath down to a painful wheeze.
Rey tutted, a small shake of his head dismissing the wave of bitter fear tainting the air. Strong hands took hold of her hips, lifting her onto the vanity. An incongruous expression swept over the hard lines of his face, jaw clenching as he brought out a package of thick gauze pads and tape from a drawer.
It was sadness, though that wasn’t quite right. Regret seemed closer, with his face clouded in darkness as he applied the bandage to the claiming bite. Hiding it away.
The reason he didn’t allow her to bathe became clear within the hour.
As if the minor victory of her own clothing had never transpired, he tugged his shirt onto her body. Playing dress up while she struggled against the drowning waves of his will and swirling sensations that weren’t hers.
She felthimdeep in her chest. The essence of expensive espresso and a hint of tart strawberries underlying her sweetness, and it had nothing to do with the flaking layers of his come. She felt his heat from the inside out, blanketing her in secure bands that tightened with her every breath. Trapping her within the tight circle of his control.
Dressed in a sweater saturated in his scent, a pair of long sweat shorts bunched at her hips where he’d tied the string as tight as it would go. It still rode low on her hips, a single tug able to pull it down. The fact he wanted it that way, that no one but his hands would dare test the precarious elastic, slammed into her solar plexus. It stole her breath, chest constricting under the heavy weight of his need, as Rey wrapped her in a possessive arm and led her out into the living room.
He deposited her in the chair that she’d once favored for the view of the city lights it afforded, back in that other life, before what was left of her world crumbled. Devin swayed and stared without seeing. This must be shock. Had to be. She felt numb, nothing of her own emotions or thoughts gaining a foothold as Rey arranged her into an approximation of decency. It was all him, everything tightening down to a hyper focus on the male as he covered her with a gray throw she half recognized before moving around the apartment.
Devin tracked his movements through a haze, vision swimming from one moment to the next. She didn’t know when he put the bottle of water in her hands, why she didn’t feel the chill through the thin plastic. Still, she sipped it as he urged her to do.
Startled by the door opening, he was there before she could lose her grip on the bottle. Curling her fingers tighter around it until the plastic crackled, he turned her eyes to meet his with a brush of his fingers. Lost in the decadence of his chestnut gaze, she swayed forward, matching his smile with one of her own.
“Stay quiet and drink your water, sweetheart.”
She gave a slow nod, having already forgotten the smoky darkness and lumbering bodies of Alphas she didn’t know. The spicy, herbal scent of dangerous Betas mingled with them, but the only one that mattered was his, overpowering them all. Devin sipped her water, snuggling deeper under the blanket.
There was the loud murmur of voices, none of it registering in the cottony fluff of her thoughts. Warmth enveloped her. It radiated from her chest, down through her arms and legs. Pulsed low between her legs. The soreness there became a teasing throb that brought a contented hum to her lips. Devin sipped her water, smiling wide each time he came close. A rough swipe of his hand over her tangled hair brought her head back, cheek against his hip. She nuzzled closer, a sigh of satisfaction feathering over the denim pulled taut over his erection.
The men wouldn’t leave, though. Their grinding tones infiltrating her cozy pocket of comfort before Rey’s large palm covered her ear. Muffling them further, silencing the grating resonance of voices that weren’t his.
When Rey left her side, she whimpered. The pathetic sound barely over her lips before he returned with hand outstretched. Sliding her small fingers across his palm, a chill doused her in sparkling clarity. Staring at their joined hands for a stammering heartbeat, she raised her horrified gaze to his.
