Scarlett got the sense she’d miscalculated, that Damien Skolov lived for a challenge, and she’d handed him one.

  “There’s no chance in hells I’m not winning this tournament.” The determination in his voice affirmed her suspicion. “Especially now that I’ve met you.”

  “Such a big head. It’s dangerous to be too cocky.”

  “Omega, I can promise you, when I’m between those pretty thighs and you’re screaming my name, both my big heads will only grow bigger.”

  Her laughter caught her by surprise. “You’re outrageous.”

  He reached out a hand, the rough pad of his thumb stroking her upturned lips. “Try to tame me. I dare you.”

  Need mixed with the colors inside her, sparking and swirling like a windstorm.

  A few escaped, flashing outward.

  He groaned, his stare tracking the splashes of color as they slid across his skin. “It feels like the lightest touch. I can’t wait to feel your hands on me.”

  She startled. No one had ever felt her colors before.

  “You should know, Scarlett,” he leaned over the mattress and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, “I have fought for everything I’ve ever gotten. I have no problem fighting for you too.”

  Her breathing hitched. “You’re too young for me.”

  “Why don’t you try me out and see?” His thick thighs pressed into the edge of the bed, that cocky grin playing at the corners of his full lips. “You had no complaints before.”

  Goddess help her, she hadn’t.

  She’d never been as needy and wet as Damien Skolov made her with just a few rubs of her clit against that enormous bulge stretching his leathers.

  “That was…” she shrugged. “I lost myself for a moment.”

  “Same. I meant to at least introduce myself before I climbed on top of you.” He shook his head, running a hand down his jaw. “My brothers would have my ass for that. But it doesn’t change the fact that you are mine. And I can’t wait to give you so much pleasure that all the colors of the galaxy dance behind your eyes as you come screaming my name.”

  She pressed her thighs tight, finding it hard to catch her breath, much less keep from squirming. The picture he painted all she could see.

  She craved more of his sweet words. Hungered for his teasing, deep rumble and intense declarations.

  Most of all, she wanted him to touch her like before.

  And it didn’t matter that this was too fast or too reckless. There was something about Damien that had her running headlong toward the edge. Something about him that made her believe he’d catch her, no matter what.

  Which is why her voice shook as she said, “I’m inspected every suns’ rise. If we do this, you can’t come inside me. If we’re discovered, it will cost us both. They’ll punish me and ban you from the tournament.”

  “Ah, sweet Scarlett.” His finger traced the cuff at her wrist, as if he knew what lay beneath, his touch sending shivers down her spine. “Hurting you is the last thing I want. I will control myself from here on out. I promise.” His fingers feathered over her brows and down her jaw. “There’s no rush, anyway. You and I are going to have all the time in the galaxy for fucking and knotting.”

  “What does that mean?” Her heart slammed against her ribs as foolish hope sparked within her.

  “It means, beautiful—” he gripped her chin and guided her to her knees on the bed, tilting her gaze up to lock with his—“that this is not a short-term thing.”

  “But Egan—”

  “Fuck Egan.” Damien’s grip tightened. “I’m not just fighting for a prize. I’m fighting for my female. For our future. You’re going to be my prime omega, Scarlett Skolov, and I won’t let anyone get in the way of making you mine.”

  His prime omega.

  Her heart turned over in her chest.

  Not just some short-term trophy.

  His forever. Just as he’d be hers.

  An offer made because of a genuine connection, not an obligatory favor done out of pity and care for her brother.

  Never in a thousand planetary rotations would she have imagined that fate was possible for a consortium prize.

  Now, she wanted it more than anything.

  “I mean it, Scarlett. I might not currently have the reputation some of these fighters have, but I’ll be big some rotation soon. One of the greatest champions to grace these rings. I can promise you that.”

  The tension in his tone made her realize he’d taken her silence as doubt rather than surprise.

  “I believe you.” Her hand curled around as much of his wrist as she could hold in her grip.

  “Yeah?” He let out a slow breath, his shoulders loosening.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Good.” He slid his hand down so their palms touched, threading his fingers with hers. “And you’ll be by my side, sharing the glory. My greatest prize, and so much more. You’re my inspiration. My mate.” He raised their intertwined palms and kissed each knuckle. “They might call my name in the ring, but I know exactly whose name I’ll be calling out with every beat of my heart.”

  Her soul took flight.

  She could never have imagined Damien Skolov.

  Being with him was forbidden… reckless… stupid.

  She was doing it anyway.

  Taking his hand, she fell back onto her elbows, tugging him to her as she spread her legs, and looked up at him, a slow trilling sound she’d never made before emerging from her throat. “Show me our future, Alpha.”

  Damien let her pull him off-center, following her onto the bed. Why not? He’d been knocked off balance since he’d first seen her.

  And that purr… it called to every fiber of his being.

  Plus, she took him exactly where he wanted to be: his elbows braced against the mattress to take the worst of his weight while his legs rested between her pretty thighs, his skin pressed so close to hers, he could feel her heart beating as if it were his own.

  Damien had never considered himself a fortunate male. Everything he’d gained had come through sweat, blood, and broken bones.

  But as he stared down at Scarlett, the strands of her gorgeous gold and red hair falling onto the pillow, her eyes full of challenge and heat as those rich colors coiled across her skin like a sensuous caress, he realized he was the luckiest fucking bastard in the galaxy.

  He was going to do whatever it took to prove he was worthy of her trust.

  Unable to wait any longer, he claimed her mouth—and groaned aloud when she met his claim with equal fervor. Their tongues tangled in a wild mating as her purr and his growl vibrated in unison, a cataclysmic tremor he felt to his soul.

  Fuck. She tasted so good.

  He could do this forever.

  Except then she squirmed against him, her nipples stiff peaks against his chest while her thighs shifted restlessly against his, her sleeping gown rucking up higher and higher—and he didn’t need to be an expert to know his female was needy and aching—and that it was his place to do something about it.

  Heart beating fast, his cock already hard, pre-cum leaking onto the inside of his leathers, he forced himself to break the kiss.

  She whimpered.

  “Don’t think I’m done kissing you, omega.” He pressed his lips to each corner of her mouth, then her closed eyes. Cherishing. Worshipping. “Not even close.” He slid downward, dragging his fangs across her throat and belly. “I just want to kiss you somewhere else.”

  Her breathing hitched. “I’ve never done that.”

  “Me either.”

  Her gorgeous eyes grew comically wide. “Really?”

  “I don’t lie, baby.”

  Her lips tilted upward. “I like that.” Her cheeks flushed once more. “I like everything about you.”

  “I’m glad.” He nipped at the inside of her thigh, then laved it with his tongue. “You tell me if I do anything you don’t like.”

  She smiled down at him, each grin a little more open, a match to the increasingly vivid, carnal reds and pinks flashing across her skin. “I’ve loved everything so far.”

  He sensed no shyness. Only excitement—and a wild recklessness that matched his own.

  He trailed his fangs along the curve of her thigh, inhaling the mouthwatering musky scent of her, his gums throbbing as the instinct to mark her became almost impossible to resist.

  Before he did anything stupid, he pushed the hem of her sleeping gown the rest of the way up, baring her to his gaze.

  His breath left him in a rush.

  She was a feast for the senses. Perfect, handful-sized tits topped with stiff, dark red nipples, a narrow waist, and lush hips. And right in front of his face, a juicy, shiny cunt that was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

  “Damien?” Nerves strained her voice.

  Probably because he’d frozen like an idiot. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

  She peered down at him, a sweet, shy smile on her face. “I think you are too.”

  Everything about her was soft, exquisite, addictive.

  His mouth trailed over her core, his tongue delving between the slippery folds and holy fucking Goddess, he’d tasted nothing better.

  And when she clamped those sweet thighs around the sides of his face and lifted her bottom, he felt like more of a champion than he’d ever felt winning a fight. His chest puffed wide, his reason for being now perfectly fucking clear.

  Following her cues—and those sweet little sighs—he used the flat of his tongue to work the area just beneath her clit as he built her pleasure.

  With a brother like Alexi, he’d learned a thing or two about pleasing a female in the abstract.

  But practice made perfect, and he was planning to practice a lot from here on out.

  “Yes. Oh, Damien. Yes.”

  He would never get enough of hearing her say his name like that.

  Or the soft, sexy vibrations issuing from her throat: his omega’s purr. His soul responded, rumbling back every time to create a song that was uniquely theirs.

  He took his time, holding her hips down when she got too squirmy, feasting on every sweet inch. Relishing every soft sigh. Every quick intake of breath.

  Calling on every bit of his discipline.

  Because every time she rolled her hips and made that sweet purring sound, his shaft only grew harder, his knot more swollen.

  His dick didn’t seem to realize release wasn’t happening any time soon.

  No, it kept urging him to thrust inside her. Or jerk off all over her and then rub his essence into her skin. Or sink his fangs deep into her throat.

  The instinct to claim her with his fangs, cum, and cock a primal drumbeat he could barely keep from answering.

  Except the instant he did, it would be game over.

  No tournament. No prize money. No Scarlett.

  And that was unacceptable.

  So, he was keeping his leathers on, his dick tucked inside, and he was pouring all his need, all his hunger, into making his female scream his name.

  Many times.

  Starting now.

  Pressing her hips down—he noticed she got even louder when he restrained her—he let his tongue skim over her swollen clit.

  She went ballistic. Legs spreading wide. Hips lifting.

  He fucking loved it—and rewarded her by pinning her down harder, lapping at her clit faster.

  Until she shattered, her gorgeous tits heaving as her body twitched beneath his palms and her essence spilled onto his tongue.

  He’d never tasted anything sweeter.

  When she tried to wiggle away, her fingers tugging at his hair, he grabbed the ends of the restraints and took control of her arms, wrapping the ties around each thigh to pin her wrists to her legs. “Again.”

  She went fucking wild after that.

  7

  Scarlett awoke on her back, moaning, Damien’s head between her thighs. Again.

  “Oh, Goddess. That feels so good. But…” She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged halfheartedly—even as her hips lifted to meet the slow stroke of his tongue. “Shouldn’t you…” Awash with pleasure, overcome from exhaustion, it was hard to think. “The guards…”

  “Mmmm.” Following his own agenda, he worked the flat of his tongue over her clit. “Once… more. For… me.”

  He’d brought her to climax so many times already.

  “I-I can’t.”

  He pulled back, nuzzling one thigh, then the other. “One more taste, sweet Scarlett.”

  She was becoming a glutton. And had already given up on trying to convince him to let her touch him too.

  He said it was too dangerous this time, but that he’d figure out a safer place where they could experiment more next time.

  She couldn’t wait.

  In the meantime… she spread her legs wider.

  His growled approval vibrated against her core. “You see? We younglings have our advantages.” He nipped at the curve of her thigh, his eyes teasing as he looked up at her. “All this tireless energy and staying power—and it’s all for you.”

  She giggled. He hadn’t forgotten her comment that he was too young for her.

  “You’re only three planetary rotations younger than me, smartass.”

  “A smartass you can’t get enough of.” He surprised her by suddenly rolling her over and gently scraping his fangs against her bottom. “But I prefer my female’s sweet behind.”

  Another laugh emerged. She had no idea having fun could be this filthy.

  But with Damien, anything felt possible.

  “Then again—” his fangs dragged along the curve of her ass and toward her inner thigh—“all of you is sweet.”

  Her laughter turned to a soft, keening whimper as his tongue delved into the split of her bottom.

  She shivered.

  “Sensitive, huh?”

  “Mmmm.”

  “It’s gonna feel so fucking good when I put my cock in that sweet hole.”

  She stilled. Then, pushed up on an elbow to stare at him over her shoulder. “You’re too big.”

  He chuckled. “Music to my fucking Alpha ears.” The flat of his palm slid between her thighs, cupping her core. “But don’t worry, baby. When I put my cock inside your ass, you’ll be ready.” He tapped her clit with two firm fingers. “Aching.” He did it again. “Begging.”

  She panted, her bottom rocking in time with each gentle slap of her clit.

  “I’ll make it feel so good, you’ll beg me to do it again and again.” Another firm tap. “And I will, because you’ll be mine and we’ll have all the time in the galaxy to do whatever we like.”

  She came apart with her head buried in her pillow, muffling her scream.

  It took her a while to catch her breath—and find the strength to move her sated muscles.

  But she finally did, turning over to find Damien propped up on one elbow, staring down at her, a satisfied smile on his face. “I could watch you forever.” His grin disappeared. “But I can’t. Not yet, anyway.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I have to be at the arena soon for the start of the tournament and my first matches—and I definitely need to clean up before I do.”

  “Of course.” Much as she wanted to stay cuddled up next to him forever, it couldn’t happen. Guilt and worry crashed over her. They’d been up for much of the night. “Are you tired?”

  “No.” He winked at her. “Energized.” His expression sobered. “I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

  Right. He didn’t need to carry her fears as well. So, she did what she always did. She forced a smile and found the courage to endure. To pretend that she wasn’t terrified this would blow up in their faces.

  Rising to her elbow, doing her best to lock down the swirling in a rush of nervous gold, yellow and gray that wanted to flash across her skin, she pressed a kiss to his nose and then flattened her palms against his chest, attempting to push him from the bed. “Go.”

  He didn’t budge. Only growled.

  It warmed her to know he was as reluctant to leave as she was to have him go. “The sooner you go, the sooner you can return to me.”

  Scowl still in place, he blew out a breath, his fist hitting the bed. “You’re right.”

  “Get used to it.”

  With a bark of laughter, he unfurled from the bed, stretching as he stood—and she almost whimpered aloud.

  The feel of Damien’s muscled chest beneath her hands was a heady experience, but seeing him shirtless in all his glory was almost too much.

  The male’s body was truly spectacular, a chiseled masterpiece.

  He scanned the room, striding over to the window he’d opened in the night. He shut it easily, his body so chiseled she saw every muscle in his back working as he moved.

  She stifled another sigh.

  “I want to make sure I’m not leaving anything behind that will get you in trouble.” The worry in his voice snapped her out of her lustful daze.

  “Everything looks good.” She lay back flat on the mattress and placed her arms above her head. “I just need you to hook the restraints back under the bed.”

  Damien stilled, his best intentions crumbling. “Not sure I can do that.”

  The thought of leaving her had already made him edgy.

  Now, the reminder that he’d need to tie her back up was enough to have his fangs punching at his gums, his body shaking with the urge to rip off the heads of every Alpha in the vicinity, and gouge their leering eyes out for good measure.

  “You have to.” She glared up at him as if she could make him move if he didn’t want to. It was fucking adorable.

  Less adorable? The thought of Egan and the other fighters. He didn’t want them fucking near her, but he couldn’t exactly take care of them like he had her security.

  One brief conversation let them know they had two choices: accept his bribe and keep their tongues, eyes and fingers by never touching his female again, or lose it all.

  They’d all smartly chosen the former.

  But now…

  “I’ll be fine.”

  He hated when she said that.

  “Go, please. If you get caught, you can’t win the tournament—or me.”

  It was the only thing that pulled him back from the edge. “You’re right. Eyes on the prize.”

 

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