Filthy Beginnings, page 9
part #3.50 of Ruthless Warlords Series
He hated that he hadn’t been there to protect her from that.
But the ugly truth was he wouldn’t have been able to do much. While she was being carted to different tournaments, he’d been hiding out in ice caves on his home planet, a scrawny, angry youngling who’d lost his mother and his baby brother and sister in one go. While she was perfecting her fake smile, he’d been freezing his balls off, combing through trash cans and space dumps, trying to look older and scarier and talking shit to anyone who looked at him sideways or tried to take his stuff, trying to stay alive, and pretending to his younger sister Anya that he wasn’t afraid, so she wouldn’t be.
He’d been so useless back then. Weak and rudderless. But he wasn’t now.
And he was going to make things better for all of them, including Scarlett.
“Stormhart was often at the same tournaments.” His omega’s words pulled him from his memories and reminded him there was still something that made him afraid. “Luc too. I think in the end, Stormhart matched my brother in their number of tournament wins—though neither of them have competed in a tournament on this scale before.”
“But what do you think of him?”
She shrugged, but her gaze never quite met his. “He’s a strong fighter and a good male.”
Now it was his turn for tense shoulders. “Good enough for you to want him to win the tournament?”
“No.” Genuine distress sharpened her expression. “Luc thinks he knows what is best for me. He doesn’t.”
Damien breathed easier for the first time since his run-in with her brother. “Family.” He tried to make a joke of it. “They complicate everything. My sister Anya is always climbing in the vents. Eavesdropping.”
Scarlett’s pupils expanded in size. “Does she get in a lot of trouble?” He could only imagine how shocking such actions would be to an omega forced to conform to consortium rules her whole life.
“Nah. She gets away with a lot, but she’s also left out of a lot of family stuff because she’s the youngest and an omega and I, well, I know a bit of how that feels so… I should tell, but I don’t.”
“Yes.” She threw herself into his arms, the pleased look on her face making his chest puff wide. “Because protecting her is important. I feel the same way about my brother. He’s done so much for me. More than I could ever repay.”
“My brothers have done everything for me, too.” Damien stroked a hand down her spine. “They kept me alive when it would have been so much easier to dump me and focus on saving themselves. That’s why I’m here. To finally give back.”
“I admire that.”
“We do whatever we can for family.”
“Right.” She blinked up at him, the tender expression in her eyes stealing his breath. He wanted to see that look forever. “I think, Alpha Damien Skolov, that under all that toughness, you’re a softy.”
He pulled back, pretending to scowl. “You calling me soft, omega?” He took her hand and slid it down the planes of his stomach to the hard bulge that was always present when he was with her. “Want to reconsider rephrasing that?”
She laughed out loud—and his heart tripped over itself.
He’d always thought his value lay in his fists, but when she made that sweet sound and looked up at him with that mix of fire, mischief, and joy in her eyes, it felt like his greatest achievement yet.
“Hmmm.” The stroke of her thumb over his balls was pure invitation, especially when she backed it up with that sweet soft purr that drove him wild. “How about hard in all the right places and soft in the one place that matters most?”
He leaned down until his mouth was inches from hers. “I can live with that.”
10
Rotation three of the tournament…
The next evening, Scarlett waited impatiently for Damien to come get her.
It seemed to take forever for Egan to finish his lecture and inspect the room. Then, for the two guards Damien had bribed to convince the other two on duty to slip down the hall and have a party of their own.
But only a few heartbeats after the guards’ bootfalls drifted away, the lock on her door turned, and there he was.
Like the night before, he untied her from the bed without a word, scooped her up, and held her to him as if they’d been apart forever.
She held him just as tightly, her arms around his neck as he carried her bridal style through the tunnel.
She wasn’t sure how he was faring, but it was getting harder for her to be without his touch, and each moment of the tournament felt as if it were dragging forever, her nerves winding tighter.
“You’ve eaten?” His gaze roamed every inch of her.
“Yes.” She wasn’t hungry for food. Not after spending all rotation watching him fight and aching for his touch.
“Good. I’ve got plans.” There was an excitement to his tone, an anticipation in his touch, that fueled her own.
Once inside their special room, he led her straight to the mattress piled high with soft, worn blankets.
Sinking to his knees, he placed her in the middle of the bedding.
Smiling, she looked up at him. “So what’s this big plan?”
“First,” he pulled at the laces of her sleeping gown, “I need you naked.”
“I like this plan.” She tossed the flimsy fabric over her head.
“Gorgeous.” His low growl rippled straight to her core.
She never felt more beautiful than when she was with him.
“Turn over. On your belly.”
Her heart skipped. This was new.
She clutched the top blanket to her chest.
“Don’t be nervous.” He jerked his chin toward a tray by the bed. “I told you, I have plans.”
She’d been so lost in him, she hadn’t noticed the tray or the items on it. “What are those?”
“Full service caretaking.” He watched her carefully. “You in?”
“I… I don’t know. I am not even sure what it’s all for.”
“The best illicit items I could bribe someone into getting for me.” He pointed to each item. “A glass of the finest Sartin spirits. I hate to admit it, but those guys make a good drink. Top of the line massage oil from Abzal—because anything related to pleasure is something we do well on my home planet.” He winked at her. “And a standard hairbrush from the Golden Dome fighters commissary. I made sure no one saw me buy it.”
It awed her to think of all the effort he’d made. For her. No one had ever done anything like this for her before.
“This… this is amazing.” She swallowed hard. “But you didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”
“I wanted to.” His gaze shifted away as he rubbed a hand down his jaw. Then he took a breath, as if bracing himself, and turned back to her. “It’s all I want to do.”
He sounded like he was confessing a secret, or a sin.
“I don’t understand.”
He ran his hand down his thighs. “I don’t want to scare you off or freak you out, but the truth is, ever since meeting you, I’m fucking hard as hell just thinking about using every single thing on that tray on you, in every way I want. And you trusting me enough to let me.”
She stilled. “Really?” A tiny thrill pulsed through her.
“Yes. More than I even want to admit.” He blew out a breath. “I know it’s not typical Alpha behavior.”
She surveyed the items on the tray. “It’s better.”
“Really?” He looked relieved. It reminded her that he was as new to all of this as she.
He was so confident and cocky she sometimes forgot they were stumbling through all this together. Figuring out their likes and needs together.
“Really.” All her life, she’d felt alone. Not anymore.
His smile was pure temptation—and wild, raw hunger, as if her words had released something inside him. “Good. ‘Cause I’ve got a filthy mind and fighting only keeps me so busy. I’ve had a lot of time to… fantasize.”
He lifted the glass and pressed it to her lips. “Drink.”
She did, the splash of sweetness followed by an even sweeter burn. He took the glass, and placing his lips where hers had been, drank too.
Another shiver whispered through her.
“I want to try every one of those items.” She dropped the blanket, letting it pool around her hips. “I want to explore everything with you, Damien.”
They were such a perfect match, the wild recklessness in him calling out to her soul while the gentleness at his core soothed her like nothing before.
He was just like her colors, a perfect mix of soft and vivid, wild and bright, swirling through her with a power that stunned her.
She’d never met anyone like him before, and now she knew why. There was no one else in the galaxy like him.
And he was all hers.
Soft shades of pink and orange melded with vibrant red, glowing from her skin and skipping across the wall as she rolled onto her belly.
Excitement and nerves washed through her in equal measure.
“Trust me, Scarlett.” His breath whispered against her ear.
Then, there was a slight tug on her scalp as his big hands gathered her hair in one fist and he slid the hairbrush through the heavy mass.
Pure heaven. She sighed, relishing every slow stroke of the brush through her curls and the way it sent a corresponding ripple of pleasure down her spine.
“I love the colors of your hair, Scarlett.” His voice had dropped to a husky rumble, his slow strokes never ceasing. “I like knowing I’m getting it so pretty and perfect—so in a little while, I can wrap it around my wrist, mess it up, and use it to pump that sweet mouth up and down my cock.”
She whimpered, squirming on the blankets as slick pooled on her folds.
He kept brushing her hair. “You like that idea?”
“Yes.” She was desperate and needy for him already.
“Good.” He set the brush down.
Excitement whispered through her. She lifted her head, already picturing herself on her knees, pleasing him just as he’d said.
“Not so fast.” He kept her pinned in place. “I am nowhere near done with you yet.”
Her low whine surprised her.
He chuckled in response. “You must be sore from all that dancing.” His big hands slid to her shoulders, kneading muscles she hadn’t even realized were aching.
“That… feels… so… amazing.” She melted beneath his touch.
“I think so too.” Warm liquid splashed onto her back. His hands traveled through the oil, spreading liquid heat over her back, the rough pads of his fingers digging in and hitting each muscle just right. “I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, sweet Scarlet, but the truth is I fucking love this.” He ran his fingers along the line of each rib. Worked his thumbs into the tight muscles of her lower back. “Taking care of you like this, having you under me, all soft, pliable, and sweet, is the best feeling in the galaxy.”
Every sweet word of his sent her deeper into a haze of bliss.
She purred in sheer contentment, and melted even more when he answered with his own low rumble, every strong stroke of his palms making her clit throb, intensifying her need.
“I have plenty of fantasies about all the ways I plan to rut and knot you.” His big hands kneaded her bottom. “But that’s not all. I’ve got just as many that play out like this.” He ran his hands along her thighs, his fingers massaging her overworked leg muscles. “With me making you cry out from all the different ways I can wring pleasure from you.”
“Mmmm.” Her flesh tingled as his palms ran the length of her legs, over her buttocks, and up her spine once more. She floated on a cloud, soaring above the tunnels and the Golden Dome, to a place where it was just her and Damien. To a place where there was no tournament or consortium. Where she was more than just a prize and they were free.
“How do you feel, baby?” His touch was lighter this time as he spanned the length of her back. “Relaxed? Horny?”
“Yes. Yes. So good.” Despite her best efforts, the words emerged slurred.
He grunted, the sound filled with pride—and a little awe. “I’m glad. I spend so much time causing pain with these fists. All I want to do here in this room is bring us both pleasure.”
Her heart squeezed inside her chest. Just when she didn’t think she could feel more intensely for this male, he surprised her. He was so much more than some big, cocky bruiser.
He was sweet and wonderful and more than she had ever expected could be hers.
His hands explored every inch of her, his warmth and care seeping beneath her flesh. Until she was certain his touch burned into her soul.
“Did you like the oil massage?”
She found the strength to speak. “Yes.”
“How about the hair-brushing?”
“Mmmm.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, too.” One hand lifted away. “You know, that’s not the only way I can use a hairbrush to give you pleasure.”
Her haze receded. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.” He chuckled. That same dark, mesmerizing sound that drove her wild. That made her willing to risk all to hear it again. “You trust me, right?”
“I do.” She didn’t even hesitate.
“Good.”
In the next heartbeat, the bristles of the brush skimmed over her back and the rise of her bottom. It was the faintest of touches, like claws dragging gently down her back.
Goosebumps erupted, pleasure rippling through her.
Then, the head of the brush prodded between her thighs. The feel of the soft plastic handle—coated in the same oil he’d used on her back—foreign, taboo, and unbelievably erotic.
She spread her legs wider.
“Good girl.” His voice was a dark rasp as he rewarded her, the round handle gliding between the cheeks of her bottom to roll over her puckered rosebud. “Can’t neglect this sweet, soft part of you. Just like that pretty pussy, I’ve got to get you ready for me here.”
“Yes.” Her hips lifted upwards, the sensation decadent and delicious.
“That’s my girl. My wild thing. Ready to let me take care of you, just like we both need.”
The mattress shifted as he settled between her spread legs, using his knees to spread her wider, the tip of the handle probing.
“Relax.” The gruff command thrummed through her. “Push down.”
He’d prepared her well. Her body limp. Open to whatever he wanted.
She did as she was told, groaning as the small, round tip slid less than an inch into her ass, awakening new nerve ending, bringing pleasure and the sweetest bite of pain.
All she could do was moan.
Especially as his other hand slid beneath her hips to cup her sex, the pad of his thumb working her clit. Sensation bombarded her. Her bottom rising in time with the shallow thrusts of the handle into her bottom and the strong fingers toying with her slick, swollen pussy. Stretching her. Pleasuring her. Training her so she would be ready for him.
It was sinful. It was filthy. It was perfect.
“More, Please.” Her legs spread wider, chasing the pleasure only he could give her.
“That’s right, omega. This is what you need. And soon it’s going to be my cock here. Claiming every inch of you.”
She came apart screaming his name. Her climax more intense than any she’d had before.
Colors burst behind her eyes, bright and beautiful, power surging through her.
She came back to herself in stages, her breath coming in pants, her body pliant and flushed.
“Stay just like that.” He rolled her easily onto her back. “’Cause I am not finished with you yet. Not by a longshot.”
His mouth claimed her sex, his tongue working the sensitive bundle of nerves as his hands gripped her thighs and spread her wide.
“Damien!” Again, she soared. Her body so relaxed she rolled instantly into the next climax, its dark energy cresting over her and pulling her under with every exquisite flick of his tongue.
Then, he was rising over her, his expression fierce, the veins at his neck and forearms bulging as he jerked the laces of his leathers apart and grabbed his cock, his fist moving faster and faster over the ridges of his shaft as he grunted her name.
Unwilling to miss out, she shifted to her knees, her hand covering his, sliding her palm in tandem with his, as she fit her mouth around as much of the fat head of his cock as she could, hollowing her cheeks and sucking hard.
“Fuck, yes. Take what you can, baby.” He rocked his hips, shallow thrusts that spilled pre-cum into her mouth. “Because soon, I’m going to be coming inside you. My cock filling you as my knot swells so big and thick it locks me to you and not a single drop spills as I feed that pussy what it needs. Breed you, like I need.”
She moaned low, her head bobbing eagerly.
That was all it took.
He came down her throat, whispering her name, his muscles rigid, his veins corded, his body so beautiful he stole her breath.
He was so raw and masculine and filthy—and all hers.
She’d never been so happy.
She only hoped it would last.
11
Rotation four of the tournament…
Damien stared down at Scarlett, watching the rise and fall of her chest, the soft colors playing across her skin as she dreamed.
It was fucking official. He was a total creeper. And totally gone for this omega.
He’d never realized before she came into his life, but he had a serious fixation with taking care of his omega. Hearing her make those soft, sweet sounds, seeing the trust in her gaze as he pushed her limits and made her cry out his name, satisfied something deep inside him.
After so much time breaking bones and doling out pain, it was pure fucking joy to hold something so delicate and beautiful in his hands and bring pleasure instead.
He planned to spend the rest of his life doing exactly that—once he won the tournament.
His palm trailed along the curve of her shoulder. “Time to wake up, gorgeous.” He hated to do it, but he had to get her back to her room before the guards changed and someone less bribable went on shift.
