Dangerous Heat: Frayed Book 2, page 23
I knew when Shan had pushed into Cas because the incubus cried out and came inside me, his body wound almost as tight as mine.
“That’s a good boy,” Shan murmured into Caspian’s ear. “You fill our little Omega up until she’s satisfied.”
I wanted to be mad at being called a ‘little Omega’, but I preened at the praise. Snarky Freya wasn’t in the building right now, and wouldn’t be until my heat broke.
“Keep fucking me and I’ll come five more times, fuck,” Cas said, beginning to ramble. “I can’t believe how intense this is.”
Shan chuckled and pulled out, slamming back inside him. It forced Caspian’s hips forward, pressing his pelvis aggressively against my clit. I moaned, and couldn’t stop the continue stream of them when it happened continuously. There wasn’t much movement that could happen while his knot was locking us together, but Shan made the tiny movements as rough as possible, giving us all what we wanted.
Caspian continued to babble, his words making less and less sense until it was only curses and whimpers. I was loud too, clutching at skin without knowing who or where I was grabbing. Shan was the only one capable of speech, grunting out sweet nothings as his fingers bruised Caspian’s hips.
“Fuck,” he cursed, movements stuttering. “I’m too close. Come for me, loves. I want both of you screaming for me.”
It wasn’t a big ask. The grinding had been abusing the perfect spot inside of me since Cas had entered me, and the rubbing of his pelvis had me teetering on the edge. Being ordered to come pushed me into the grandest orgasm I’d ever had. I clenched down around Cas, feeling fuller than should be possible. If I’d been in my right mind, I would have been annoyed at how loud I moaned when I came, knowing I was doing it on command. As it was, all I was, was sated.
Their releases followed mine, Caspian’s cum leaking out despite the seal of my pussy around his knot. Shan bit Caspian’s shoulder hard enough to leave indents of his teeth, almost like he was trying to recreate the marking.
“I love you,” Caspian murmured, collapsing down on me.
Unsure of who he was talking to, I kissed the side of his head. Shan kissed his back, pulling out and collapsing beside us. For the moment, we were all exhausted, though I knew it wouldn’t last for me. I’d be ready and raring to go shortly after Caspian’s knot deflated enough to slip from inside me.
“Will you let me knot you next time?” Shan asked, forgoing cleanup in favour of cuddles.
“Yeah, I will,” I said, having decided on my answer before my heat started. That was how I knew I wouldn’t regret letting him knot me.
“Can’t wait,” he said.
Caspian was dozing on my chest, and it wasn’t long before I was taking a little nap too, my body resting before the next round.
Chapter Twenty-Four
EMMETT
Leaving Freya with her cousin in a debatably dangerous building had worried me, but I knew she wouldn’t accept any form of hovering. She was also perfectly capable of taking care of herself, despite looking like a small, weak Omega.
I wandered the building instead of staying to eavesdrop on their conversation. The building was set up like a combination apartment building and office building. The original intention of the construction company had clearly been apartments, before Nolan swooped in to make this his company headquarters. Where Nolan lived on the penthouse floor was the most heavily guarded by security cameras and locked doors. Most other floors, people were free to come and go from.
Lower down, where Freya had been kept, the half-finished level was unguarded and empty now that she was no longer in residence. I skipped past the floor quickly, heading down further.
At the parking garage level, I finally encountered some resistance.
Three men stopped me from exiting the elevator, demanding to see some identification. I held up my hands and was about to press the button to head back upstairs when Clement appeared behind them. “Let him through,” he said, clapping one man on the shoulder. “I don’t know why he’s down here, but I’ll find out.”
“Mere curiosity,” I said, but stepped off and let the doors close behind me.
“If it’s curiosity, let me give you a tour of our defensive level.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking, or if he was actually going to give me a tour. His tone was dry, but he hadn’t been emotive any of the other times I’d met him. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. With Freya going into heat, we weren’t about to leave. Besides that, I trusted Nolan. Shockingly. Cas seemed to like him, Shan was warming up faster than expected, and Freya’s taunts to him were more like flirting.
An understanding of the layout of this place would help me feel more at ease, though.
Following Clement through weapon stores and milling guards, he ended up leading me into an office which had originally been a supply closet. There were still brooms and mops leaning up against the wall in the corner. “What are you really down here for?” he asked.
He closed the door behind us, blocking all light except for the one dim bulb hanging above his makeshift desk. I shrugged. “I was wandering. Knowing the security measures makes me feel more secure.”
“Not trying to sneak out?”
“If I was going to sneak out, I would have climbed out a window. I may not be the most intelligent investigative mind, but even I knew you had half an army down here. Why is that, by the way? Is this protection against Kylan, or does Nolan have other enemies we should be worried about?”
“Nolan has plenty of enemies. It comes with the territory of being an assassin who controls about twenty other assassins.”
“Any notable?”
“Why would I tell you? So you can join forces with them?”
I scoffed, leaning my back against a metal shelving unit screwed into the wall. “I’ve got nothing against Nolan at this point. Freya likes him. Once they figure out their relationship, we’re all going to be spending a lot of time together.”
Clement raised an eyebrow. “You’re with Freya too?”
“No, definitely not.”
But I wanted to be. When she’d sat on my lap during the conversation with Altair and Sky, I’d had to use every speck of self-control I possessed to avoid rubbing my scent all over her. Sexual desire for her was still developing; I didn’t know her well enough for it yet. However, my Alpha need to make her unavailable to others was out in full force.
Even if sexual attraction did eventually manifest, I wouldn’t pressure her into being with me simply because I was connected to Caspian. As long as she allowed me to have my relationship with him, I could admire her from afar and be happy that way.
“Ah, but you will be,” Clement said, nodding like he understood.
Where had he gotten that assumption from?
“No, there are no plans for that. Freya has enough on her plate.”
“If you say so. I’ll be making bets with Amabella on how long your insistence lasts.”
“Go ahead and do that. You’ll both lose.”
He snorted, then held out a hand to shake. “I don’t think we were properly introduced, by the way. I’m Clement, resident wolf shifter.”
Hesitantly, I took his hand and shook it. “Emmett. Grizzly bear.”
We could smell each other’s nature, so saying it out loud was redundant. I’d known he was a wolf from the second I caught a whiff of him. “Let me guess. Born and raised on Earth?” Clement asked.
I shook my head. “Zemterra. Hopped the portal when I was sixteen.”
“Oh damn, I didn’t take you for an illegal.”
“I’m not. When I was hired by the Next Life Company, they gave me legal status.”
My history and the circumstances of how I got from Zemterra to Earth weren’t something I wanted to discuss at the moment. I hoped Clement wasn’t pushy, because I would rather stay friendly with him. “Well, unlike you, I’m absolutely an illegal,” he said, turning the conversation back around onto himself.
Thank the angels.
“I bet working for Nolan helps you avoid getting caught and sent back.”
“Sometimes. I’ve been shoved back to the middle of the damn Blightwood a few times, but Amabella is always kind enough to bring me right back. One thing I don’t miss about home are the ogres in that gods forsaken forest.”
I shuddered thinking of the creatures. They weren’t very intelligent and were extremely violent, willing to eat anyone that crossed their paths. Sometimes they ate each other, although their own kind wasn’t their favourite cuisine. They had tough skin and I doubted they tasted good, considering they often ate rotting corpses if their hunting efforts had been unsuccessful.
“I’m from the Ridges,” I divulged. “Not many ogres there, but plenty of predatory birds. I’m not a fan of any bird large enough to pick up a grizzly bear and fly away.”
“Good gods,” Clement said, his eyes widening. “I’d heard stories of the Ridges, but we all believed they were bullshit.”
“Some of my friends back home believed the ogre stories were bullshit too, but if there are giant birds, ogres aren’t much of a stretch.”
“They’re real. My father was killed by one. The old bastard got what he deserved, being crushed up between those disgusting teeth.” I was tempted to ask if he’d been there, but that was a bit too personal of a question. Wasn’t like I wanted to talk about my parents. Clement hurried on, not giving me time to question him. “I can give you a tour. It’s nothing you couldn’t find out if you asked anyone in the building, although they might be more hesitant to give you information with your picture plastered on every available news board.”
“The bounty on us is that much of a big deal?”
“You haven’t seen? They had your details up shortly after they found the scene at Jude’s house, but last night they put a bounty on Freya too.”
My heart skipped a beat. “They put a bounty on an Omega? Are they insane?”
“They’re in Kylan’s pocket, is what they are,” Clement said. “He wants her, and for whatever reason he would start a war to get her.”
We would give him a war before we gave her to him, bounty or no bounty.
“I’ll take that tour,” I grunted. Before, I’d been curious about the layout. Now, I needed to know in order to keep her safe. A gods damned bounty. People would be crawling out of the woodwork to claim it.
He pulled open the door and I pushed off the wall to follow him back out into the parking garage. The guards that had been milling about had changed, new faces hovering around a table that held snacks. Over to one side, hidden behind some sheets strung from the piping, were tiny bunk beds with sleeping figures. A couple of portable toilets were a few metres away, creating a low-quality little living area.
“Our regular employees have rooms inside the building,” Clement explained when he noticed me looking. “Those are for the temporary hires, like the one who tried to kill you. They’re not all trustworthy.”
“Any other asshole emerged since we were captured?” I asked.
“One or two,” he said, shrugging. “I hardly remember. They die too fast for me to pay much attention.”
No one here was squeamish about the death penalty. Freya and Shan would fit right in. Cas and I preferred different methods of punishment, such as imprisonment or deportation, unless someone we loved was directly threatened. Maybe we could help balance out Shan and Freya’s chaotic, violent energy.
“That’s too many people, considering Cas killed four.”
“It comes with the territory. No one who works for criminals is all that pure-hearted. We’ve got to take our chances and trust sparingly.”
He led me through the parking garage, which was devoid of most vehicles. Supernaturals didn’t use them much in close quarters. Why would we when a vampire could move faster than a car ever could? Even shifters rivalled vehicle speeds over short distances. We’d be putting ourselves at a disadvantage by getting behind the wheel.
As we got closer to the open garage door, the guards grew more alert. Their attire was more uniform, everyone wearing navy blue short sleeve shirts with a logo on them. I’d seen the logo in various other places around the building, so I assumed it was for Nolan’s company. These were the guards currently on duty. Clement clapped one man on the shoulder, peering out and up onto the brightly lit road. “Anything interesting happening, man?”
The guard shrugged, cocking his head to the side like he was listening for something. He was a mage, so he was unlikely to be listening for actual sounds. Both Clement and I could hear across much greater distances than him. “No one’s got anything to report. It’s quiet.”
A telepathic mage, then. We’d been worried Freya was one, before we’d known it was her that wiped my memories. Telepathy and memory manipulation often went hand in hand, but she’d mentioned in passing that she’d never been able to make telepathy work for her.
“Quiet is good. I doubt it’ll stay that way much longer, so stay sharp,” Clement said.
We didn’t wander outside the confines of the parking garage, and I preferred it that way. Despite not being one of her mates, I didn’t want to be far from Freya when she went into heat, and it was risky to be outside the confines of the building. I was sure Amabella had some kind of wards set up that would kick into effect the moment suspicious activity was detected.
“Is it odd that Kylan hasn’t retaliated yet?” I asked once we were out of hearing range of the mage.
Clement shrugged. “He’s a calculated man. Patient and willing to wait for the right moment to strike. I’m not worried because he hasn’t struck yet, I’m worried because it’s Kylan and he’s guaranteed to strike when we’re weakest.”
My mind immediately went to Freya’s heat. She would be weakest while she was in it, and Kylan wanted her specifically. How would Kylan know when she’d go into heat, though?
“We expect him to attack when Freya is holed up in heat.”
He confirmed my thoughts as I stumbled to a stop. “How would he find out about that?” I barked, suddenly worried.
“We’d be naïve to think he doesn’t have spies among our ranks, and as an unmated Omega Freya’s scent will fill the entire hallway of the floor she’s staying on. People are going to know, and they’re going to talk.”
His point was solid, but I didn’t have to like it. “I should get back upstairs. Just in case any of those spies are brave enough to try something. She’ll be going into heat tonight.”
“If you’re not together, won’t being there be a bit too much temptation for you?” Clement asked with a chuckle.
I wasn’t as easily tempted as most Alphas, but I had to admit basking in her scent and not touching would be difficult. Worth it, though, considering she’d need someone to keep her safe and I was the only one I trusted with the task. “I’ll manage.”
“Have fun with that. See you in a week, I guess.”
My mind was on a single track, and I was determined to return to Freya as soon as possible. She wasn’t in any more danger than she’d been in when I left her hours ago, and she had to be back with Cas and Shan by now. Knowing about the probable existence of spies made me paranoid, though. I needed to be close.
I was standing beside the elevator waiting for it to arrive when I heard the first shout, followed by a stampede of feet.
Spinning on my heel, my eyes widened at the army of vampires pushing their way through the garage door. They made the guards look like paper dolls with the way they were mowing them down. More shouts rang out as people realized what was going on, mixing in a chaotic symphony with the screams of people being taken out.
The elevator dinged and opened behind me, and I glanced at it. I was itching to be back with Freya, close enough to keep her safe. That wouldn’t do a hell of a lot of good if these guys got through the first line of defence down here. I reached inside and pressed the button for the sixth floor, sending the elevator back where it had come from.
“Do not let them get to the elevator or the stairs!” Clement shouted, rolling up his sleeves as he grabbed a sword from the pile of weapons.
He took control of the group on our side, preparing us in the seconds it took for the vampires to get across the parking garage floor. Then, we clashed. His orders were drowned out. I reached inside for my bear and let him come out, my clothes ripping off me as my form changed. In a space this wide open, I’d have better luck in my shifted form than I’d had when trapped in the alley.
Using one massive paw, I swiped at an oncoming vamp, ripping through his skin and tearing him near in half. His scream drew the attention of some of Kylan’s other men, and more came at me the next time. I got one across the chest while another latched onto my back and tried to grab me with his fangs. He barely nicked me, getting a mouthful of fur. Rearing back, I shook him off and stomped on him with my paws.
The opposing vampires were easy to tell apart from us because they wore white, the shade stark against the dimness of the underground garage. Plus, they were fierce. They never stopped charging forward, tearing through our men until they were mowed down themselves. They were creatures on a mission, one they would likely be killed for if they failed. None of them had anything to lose.
A few snuck past the primary force and tried to make a break for the stairs, but I followed them with a roar. Both were injured, and I caught them before they could break the lock on the stairwell entrance. My teeth sank into flesh, ripping off limbs indiscriminately. The stairwell door opened amid the blood spray and I turned toward it with my teeth bared, but calmed when I saw who it was.
Altair. Sky’s scent was in the air too, but he must have been invisible because I couldn’t see him anywhere.
“You keep guarding the stairwell,” Altair said, more serious than he’d been when we’d first met. “You take up most of the hallway like this, so it’ll be difficult for people to slip past. We’ll head to watch the elevator. Reinforcements are on their way, but there are enemies on the other floors too so we can’t count on much help.”
