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She should have done that as soon as she rose from the bed. The scent of slick clung to her body, broadcasting her scent for anyone to perceive. Including one furious male who hadn’t gotten what he wanted. There was nothing she could do with the sheets and covers saturated with her scent, but she scrubbed her body raw with the soap.
Still dripping and clothed in one of his shirts, Devin paced the room that once seemed so spacious. Now it grew smaller with every circuit, leaning in against her to suffocate her with her own scent. How could she have been so stupid?
She’d betrayed Rey, and no matter that she had barely been awake, drowning in dreams of sex and violence. It hadn’t been his body she took deep inside of her. Breaths coming in hard gasps, she wondered what he would do with that information. This wasn’t having fun with Beau. It was a stranger, a man trying to court her no less. Rey had to know she’d been excited, that something had happened. He’d demand answers and she couldn’t lie to him.
Would he still want her, knowing she’d even begun to succumb to another male’s touch?
Very near to tears and well on her way to hyperventilating, Devin whirled with a shriek as the door opened. Backing away too fast for her own good, her back slammed into the wall.
Max held himself in check, but only just. Her rush of movement incited the chase, her trembling cower exciting him. Balanced on the balls of his feet for a too long moment, he finally set his heels down and let out a long breath.
“Put the jeans on. Let’s take a walk.”
He didn’t budge an inch, waiting for Devin to comply. She nodded slowly, doing as he demanded. Hunching over so the huge shirt hid everything she did, Devin squirmed her way into the snug jeans. Cautious steps brought her closer to him, her fear ratcheting with every stride forward until she stood before him.
“I’m not going to fucking attack you,” Max ground out, snatching up Devin’s arm and threading it through his. Hauling her along and forcing her to run at his side, he led them towards the outer door. “What kind of men did you associate with that you think we’re all out to hurt you?”
“No one but Ashley’s ever not tried to hurt me,” Devin mumbled, her hysterical state of mind pushing the honest words over her lips. “And then she turned around and had you kidnap me.”
“Are you telling me your Alpha hurt you,” Max demanded with a growl, whirling on Devin to grip her shoulders as they stood in the gravel lot with the morning sun refusing to warm her icy bones.
“At first,” Devin said, voice going up at the end as if in question.
“I don’t mean forcing the bond on you. I mean did he try and rape you before that?”
“Well… I… I guess I liked it enough. During. After, not so much.”
Max crouched in front of her, brow furrowed as his green gaze clouded with dismay. “He raped you, honey?”
“I said that once or twice, I think.” Devin gave a brief shake of her head, refusing to look too deeply into those memories. They felt like a lifetime ago, and Rey had always meant safety to her when compared to Beau.
“Gods’ sakes, hon, I’m sorry,” Max rumbled, tugging Devin in for a hug. He wrapped her in the strength of his embrace, offering a quiet purr of comfort as he stroked a rough hand over her tousled curls. “Ash said you had it hard, but I didn’t imagine… That shouldn’t have happened. I don’t allow that sort of shit in my territory.”
“What?” She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, thinking she’d finally snapped. Thought and reason were a long way apart in her mind as she shivered hard enough her teeth chattered together.
“I can’t do anything if an Alpha claims an Omega by force, unless she asks me to, but I don’t let them go around hurting women just because of their dynamic.”
“You don’t just fine them?”
“Oh, they get slapped with a fine, but I personally will kick the ass of any person taking someone against their will. Too many people out there ready and willing to stand for that.”
“How small is this place that you can even control that,” Devin asked on a thin shriek, disbelief warring with hysterical laughter at the very idea.
“It’s not a big city like where you come from,” Max agreed, stroking Devin’s jaw with careful fingers as if he waited for her to recoil at any second. “It’s not some Podunk, either. Lots of space, but not millions of people.”
Hating herself even more for the way she let him touch her, and the gratification it gave her, Devin sniffed back a fresh wave of tears. Max frowned, taking his hand away, the other giving her shoulder a tight squeeze. Rising from his crouch, he took her hand in his, leading her around the building. Walking her deep into the thin trees behind the clubhouse, he led her in a wandering route to a pasture far enough away Devin couldn’t glimpse the building when she glanced back.
Horses roamed over the intense green, chewing at the grass and clover with studious care as they eyed the interlopers with lazy indifference. Devin climbed up to lean against the split rail fence, swiping her palms over damp cheeks as she smiled at the scene laid out before her.
Max waited until she’d relaxed completely before coming up behind her, enveloping her with his body to cage her with a gentle touch against the wooden barrier. The briefest of purrs soothed when she tensed as his chin came down onto her shoulder.
They stood like that for a long time, watching on as the horses joined and came apart over and over again, a set of yearlings bounding through the greenery to buck and race around the group until they too settled into eating once more.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Max whispered against her cheek, drawing Devin down from the fence.
He was quiet on the long walk back, letting Devin lose herself in her thoughts. He didn’t speak much beyond asking her if she wanted a sandwich or something hot as he settled her at a table in the clubhouse.
It was the third day, and he’d expect an answer at some point. She wanted Rey, would tell him as much, but she couldn’t deny the gnawing voice telling her it could be good here. Max was something entirely unexpected, right down to his very core. He was the true opposite of any Alpha she’d ever met, and even his capture of her had been done under false pretenses. He’d said he would challenge Rey outright, do it as it was supposed to be done.
