Taken by the Alpha, page 17
part #1 of Knotted Omega Series
He steps over the threshold. My gaze flies past him to the narrow bed at the far end of the room.
There is barely enough space for one person. An image of me curled up against his broad back, my face pressed into those sculpted planes washes over me. It’s both arousing and reassuring, and the mix of emotions confuses me.
I shouldn’t be so needy for him.
And it’s not just my body.
My will is melting along with the rest of me, getting used to his presence in my head, in my heart, in every part of me which has begun to recognize his flavor and thirst for it.
His essence flowing down the mating bond is bending me to his will. I drop my head.
I have been fighting this attraction to him for so long. My shoulders slump. I lower my chin toward my chest, and my hair spills over my face.
“So what would you rather do?” His voice reverberates up his chest.
My insides quiver. Why is it that as I am trying to be logical, my body is hyper-aware of him? I huff out a breath. “I just want us to have a conversation without any distraction.”
He crosses the floor toward the bed. “Okay.”
“Huh?” I blink, staring up at that impenetrable visage. Whatever it was I expected, it wasn’t for the devil to agree to my request. “So you’ll be willing to answer a few questions first?”
“One.” He sets his jaw.
“Three.” Guess there is some use of having grown up in a royal household and eavesdropping on discussions my father had with his Council. All those negotiations, all that give and take I’ve witnessed is ingrained in my blood.
“Two.” He straightens his shoulders, and I sense he’s back to being the General again. He also doesn’t seem very surprised that I’d tried to talk him up.
“Okay,” I agree before he changes his mind.
“Hmm.” There’s a low exhale of breath from him, then he lays me on the bed. Pulling up a chair, he flips it around and goes to straddle it.
“Wait.” I spring up on my knees.
“Now what?” he growls, his massive shoulders flexing as he folds his arms over his chest.
“You may be used to being naked, but I am not.” I jerk my chin at his body, not daring to lower my eyes to that chest. If I do, I’ll be lost. If I look down to where his shaft is growing harder by the second, I have no doubt I’ll close the distance, grab it, lick it, and then lower myself onto it…and…not yet. I squeeze my eyes shut. “Let’s put on some clothes. Please, just until we have this conversation.”
He turns and stalks away.
I blink.
Not what I’d expected, okay? I mean, this here is an overbearing alpha-hole, the monster who runs this city as if it is his personal dictatorship and…maybe I misjudged him.
I push the thought away. Nah. Being this close to him, sensing his warmth, the tug of the mating bond, all of it is skewing my judgment. Next, I’ll be thinking of playing happy families with him, of him and me and our children in his stronghold. I shake my head to clear it.
Clearly, I am losing it, and the worst part is, none of it seems wrong.
It feels natural, more organic than anything I’ve ever felt before. How can it be a mistake, when all my instincts scream that it’s right?
“Give an omega an inch, and of course she’s going to take over your whole damned life.” He strides to the closet I’d glimpsed in the corner.
It’s so unexpected. The General of the city, the alpha of alphas, muttering under his breath like he is a henpecked man. I giggle.
He shrugs into a pair of loose linen pants. He stalks back to me and flings a tunic at me. It’s big enough to cover me all the way to my knees and smells of the sea.
I slide it on then plop down on the bed. “You’ve used this place before?”
He angles his head. “Even a bastard like me needs a retreat, somewhere to get away and clear my head.”
“You mean regroup on the assholeness inside so you can go back and be more of a bastard?” Oh, hell, there I go again, inciting him. Why can’t I just stay quiet? Why can't I conform to the stereotypes of omegas? Gentle. Docile. Right. So not what I am.
He frowns. A nerve ticks above his jaw.
My pulse thuds at my temples, but I hold his gaze. So, the guy’s a monster. No argument there. Still, he’s been less of a jerk than I’d thought. He rutted me, gave me what I needed, saved me…from the stupid-ass attempt at trying to drown myself, and now he’s actually trying to have a conversation with me?
Everything I’ve always expected from someone normal. Someone who isn’t a monster inside. Which he isn’t. And I have never wanted someone average, normal…have I? That would bore me.
And here I go making excuses for his behavior again. I rub my palm over my face.
Walking back to the chair, he straddles it. Then smirks in that way I am beginning to think of as The Zeus Special. “Yeah, that’s exactly right. And I’m done being patient. You get one more question, Omega. You'd better make it count.”
To find out what happens next get CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA, KNOTTED OMEGA 2, HERE
"One heck of a primal read, this alpha is a sex god." -USA Today bestselling author, Lee Savino
Love bad boy alpha-holes? Look no further...
The sexy Dark Fae of the FAE CORPS, are the heroes of the Fae’s Claim series.
"★★★★★Reading this book is like burning in flames of passion, lust, and danger. A turbulent race to an explosive climax." Amazon Top 250 bestselling author Skye Jones
Read an excerpt from Dante and Gia’s story
Gia
“Incoming heat missile.” The bartender stares past me.
I turn, and he clicks his tongue. “Don’t be that obvious.”
Right. I bite the inside of my cheek, then straighten to peek in the mirror above him.
A group of men talking, two women conversing at the far end. Everything seems normal. Exactly why I’d chosen this watering hole at the edge of Red Square in Moscow.
Then, one of the women points to the entrance of the bar.
I follow her gaze.
The figure of a man fills the doorway. He’s tall enough for his head to graze the top of the frame.
The hair on the nape of my neck rises.
Sunlight pours over him, and his features are in shadow. Yet there’s no mistaking the sense of danger that radiates from him.
The bartender lowers his voice. “Good luck.”
I grip the bottle of water, the skin over my knuckles stretching tight. “What do you mean?” I swig from the liquid, wishing it were something stronger. But I can’t afford that, not when I have to return to duty with the Bureau of Shifters later today.
“Alpha-hole headed your way.” He chuckles.
“Wait. What?” Every instinct in me snaps to attention.
He jerks his chin in the direction over my shoulder, then moves away.
Don’t look, not now. I hold my breath. Then heat slams into my back. It’s as if a furnace has been switched on behind me.
My mouth goes dry.
The scent of the first rain on parched earth teases my nostrils. My blood thumps.
I raise the bottle of water to my lips again, when arms cage me in on either side.
I peer out of the corner of my eye and see a corded forearm peppered with dark hair.
Muscles flex under the tanned skin and flow down to meet long, tapered fingers.
Hands that could trail over my skin, grasp my curves, squeeze my flesh, and massage them and… Heat flares in that secret place between my legs. I clench my thighs.
A flutter of lust licks my belly.
I lower the bottle. My fingers tremble, and my palms go slick with sweat.
I swivel around on the barstool and stare at the widest pair of shoulders I have ever seen. The man is massive; his big body blocks out the sight of the rest of the bar.
He doesn’t move. Just stays, hunched over me. He’s all around me.
His perfectly sculpted pecs are accentuated by a plain white T-shirt that clings lovingly to every single muscle. Dog tags nestle between those hard planes, and his nipples are outlined against the fabric.
My mouth goes dry.
I want to lean in and lick the valley between those chiseled planes, then drag my tongue over his skin, across to that nipple and bite it.
I swallow and raise my eyes.
The tendons of his beautiful throat flex as I move my gaze up to his square jaw. There's a shadow of a dent in the center of his chin. My fingers twitch. I want to reach up and trace the furrow.
One side of lips turns up in a smirk.
Bet he knew exactly what I was thinking just then.
A shiver runs down my spine and my nerve endings stretch with anticipation. He won't be gentle, this man. He'll take without regret, and... I want him to do just that. I want to nip on his pouty lower lip, then swipe my tongue over his cruel mouth… A mouth made for snarling, for sucking… for taking… Heat sweeps my skin.
I tilt my head back, and farther back, forcing my gaze to climb over that hooked nose to the furrow between those hooded eyebrows and… I gulp. Blue eyes blaze at me.
They are turquoise and sea blue with a hint of green, and there are amber flecks that ebb and flow in them. It’s as if there’s a fire that’s lit inside, one which is reflected in those irises. Yet his pupils are so dark. Empty. Cold. So cold. A shiver ripples down my spine and… whoa! Is it possible for one pair of eyes to have so many conflicting emotions?
This man could rip me apart and not care. He would own me, possess me, make me scream with pain, he’d bring me so much pleasure. Damn!
My thighs clench. My fingers tremble, and the bottle of water slips from my grasp.
I keep waiting for the crash of the bottle hitting the floor, except this gorgeous, otherworldly, heat-inducing, moisture-drawing, perfectly beautiful hunk of a guy swoops down and catches it.
His muscles uncoil as he straightens. Every move of his seems to be etched in sheer poetry. I try to move, and it’s as if my body is weighed down.
He raises the bottle and holds it right in front of my nose. “Yours?”
“Mine.” I force the word out through a throat that feels it’s lined with shredded glass. Does he realize that I am staking my claim on him already with that word? “Impressive catch.” I jut out my chin.
“I know.” His voice is low and husky and tugs at my nerve endings.
There’s no mistaking the innuendo in his tone. He’s so damn self-assured, so confident of the impact of his nearness on me. It should annoy me, but the truth is that his arrogance is a turn-on. Sheer charisma oozes from his every pore, threatening to overpower me with the dominance of his personality.
My belly flutters. Heat flushes my cheeks. I reach out and grab the bottle from him.
One side of his lips quirk.
A kind of know-it-all, I-know-the-effect-I-am-having-on-you kind of smirk. The kind of smile that does not quite reach his eyes. The kind that promises that lurking just under the surface is a male who will take without permission.
It’s bad and oh so good.
Every part of my body seems to wake up and scream for attention. For his attention. His very careful ministrations on every inch of my skin, my body, my soul.
Someone opens the bar door at the front. A breeze sweeps in and flows over me, bringing with it more of that fresh rain scent. It's laced with a hint of something dark. Forbidden. Out of bounds. My heart stutters.
He tilts his head. His hair is cut close to his scalp. The strands rise, spiky in the front.
I have a sudden image of my thighs framing his face as he dips his head between my legs.
My belly tightens. My pussy is instantly wet.
“You are not human,” I state the obvious.
He’s too well built for us to belong to the same species.
He could be a shifter… except for the way he moves, it’s too smooth, too fluid, not like their more deliberate gait.
“What are you?” A ripple of apprehension slithers down my spine. And yet I can’t stop staring. Can’t take my gaze off that perfect face.
“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” he purrs.
Goosebumps flare on my skin. I gulp. I’ve never had such an intense reaction to a complete stranger, not like this.
“You okay?” He peels his lips back.
It’s not a smile but a declaration of intent. A promise to take without mercy. Anticipation tightens my skin. My scalp tingles.
No. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” I tilt the bottle to my lips and take a sip before lowering it.
Perfect white teeth flash at me, setting off that honeyed tan of his skin. That, combined with the lines that stretch from the corners of his eyes, tells me he spends a lot of time outdoors.
The man reaches out with his finger and touches the corner of my lips. “You left some behind.”
Heat flickers out from that whisper of a touch, down to my core, and I stiffen. Every muscle in my body tenses.
The man brings his finger to his lip and sucks on it.
The sight of those gorgeous lips closing around his digit sends a shiver of anticipation down my spine. My belly quivers. My heart stutters. More moisture slicks my core.
What the bloody hell?
Who is this man? And why am I reacting like he is the last male I’ll ever see? Probably because it is true? Because I am about to embark on the most dangerous part of my mission, and I don’t want to die a virgin? Because I want to know how it is to be taken, possessed… by him? No way am I letting that happen, not by a complete stranger.
I sidle off the barstool, still holding the bottle in my hand, then duck under his arm. He lets me go and my breath comes out in a rush.
Don't turn around. Don't look at him. I stumble up the corridor. When I reach the ladies' I lunge for the door and fling it open. I cross the floor of the restroom and lurch to a stop in front of the sink.
Close call. At least I escaped.
I plop the bottle on the counter and grip the edge of the sink.
So why does it feel like I am missing out? That I’ll never know how it feels to trace those biceps with my fingers, to rub my face against the rough whiskers of his chin, to have him bend me over and slam into me, and… My belly twists, my pussy clenches, and the moisture flows from between my thighs.
Heat sweeps over my skin chased by chills. Sweat beads my forehead. I don’t have a choice. Looking around to make sure the space is empty, I swoop under my skirt, push aside my panties, and thrust my finger into myself.
“Ah.” My groan fills the space; the sugary sweet scent of my arousal spikes the air.
I plunge the finger in and out of my dripping channel, then add another. “It’s not enough.” I grit my teeth.
“Maybe I can help?”
My eyes fly open, and I see his blue eyes in the mirror.
Dante
It was my presence that aroused her, so it’s up to me to help her, right?
Silver eyes meet mine in the mirror. She stares at me as if she can see into my soul. Maybe she can see who I really am and why I am here?
And now I am getting fanciful.
She’s only a human I happened to spot while on this mission to Moscow. Except as I had passed this bar at the edge of Red Square, I had caught the scent of orange blossoms and pepper, a spoor so irresistible that I had stepped into the bar. One look at her, and I had to have her. Just the kind of man I am. I want something, I take it. Especially curvy sprites with soft skin, and an arousal that bleeds into the air, seducing me to get closer, closer.
“Starlight.” I suck in a breath. My voice echoes in that enclosed space.
“Um… what?” The heat in the space turns up a notch. A bead of sweat trickles down her temple.
I grip the ends of the basin, blocking her in. “You have stars in your eyes, and yet when I touch you”—I place my cheek next to hers— “you flinch, wanting to draw into yourself; even as every part of you blooms for me, aches for me, wants me to scoop you up and lick you all over. Everywhere, in every secret nook of yours.” My heart thuds. “I want to destroy your every hole. Fulfill your every fantasy. Fill you to the brim and make you come over and over again.”
Her pupils dilate.
Her cheeks flush.
I am sure she is going to run out of here screaming, or perhaps turn and slap me, either of which will only add to the pleasure. For when I have her, she will forget everything, except me. My touch, my fingers, my lips as I make her scream with pleasure. As I break her.
The witch pulls her hand out from under her skirt. She straightens, then brings her fingers to her lips and sucks on them.
Desire roars in my blood. I feel the suction of that rosebud mouth as if it isn’t her fingers but my cock that she sucks.
My pulse thuds.
My shaft goes rock hard.
Whaddya know? This one is feisty. One who’d dare to go toe to toe with me. She has no idea what’s in store for her. No woman has tamed me yet. And it’s certainly not going to be her.
The things I want to do to her, to bring her to her knees, literally; just the thought of fucking that mouth of hers makes my balls draw up.
Only when the touch of her skin filters into my blood do I realize that I have wrapped my fingers around her wrist.
I tug on her hand, and she doesn’t resist. I bring her glistening fingers to my lips and ease her forefinger inside my mouth.
The taste of her infuses my veins.
I bite down on her finger lightly, and she shivers. She wriggles her hand in my grasp, and I tighten my grip.
Coercing her hand to the side, I slap her palm down on the sink in front of her.
Her breath hitches, but she stays where she is. Impressive.
Still holding her gaze, I reach for her other palm and place it flush on the surface as well.
She gulps but doesn’t say anything, just holds on to the edge of the basin with her hands. The skin stretched over her knuckles is white.
