Page 12 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter ten

Kingston

I circle around him and smile with genuine humour. I’m really, really enjoying this catch up.

“Come on, Anchor. You should be used to dealing with pain. You’re slow and old now. This must happen a lot, yeah?”

To my surprise and delight, when we’d snatched up Anchor, I’d recognised him as a local bully that I’d had the pleasure of beating up when we were teens. Apparently, he didn’t learn from my warnings and chose instead to devote himself to being an even worse human being.

I strike, kicking at a spot in his leg that I know is going to ache and make moving hard. Not that I’m going to let him live. I slam the heel of my hand into his nose, loving the satisfying crack.

He whirls, but he’s slow now. I’ve been beating him for three hours, and he’s a bloody pulp, but he’s still trying to save himself. It almost makes me feel sorry for him.

But then I remember how she looked, and I just don’t. I lash out again, hitting him solidly in the chest.

I’m not even breathing hard, but I’m sweaty and bloody, none of it mine. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to unleash my demons on someone.

“You really should’ve known better than to touch her. An omega like Selene was always going to have the most feral and savage . This day was always coming.”

He coughs, and red blood bubbles up. Ah, I can see the finish line.

“No one touches her. No one hurts her. No one looks at her the wrong way.” With each word, I hammer a blow, sending this fucker to his final destination .

“He’s going to get you. He…” Anchor drops to his knees, his eyes are unfocused. His chest heaving, but he’s drowning in his own blood. The idiot who dared touch our crazy girl splutters and slumps. “Tiger.”

The last word catches my attention. I grab him and shake him, but he’s gone. His body collapses to the ground, and I let out a hiss of annoyance.

He’s here. We were on the right track. Edric and Bailey approach. The latter kicks the body hard enough to break ribs.

“I didn’t think you guys had it in you,” Bailey says with a curiously blank expression.

“What? You think only bikers could murder people?” I scoff and grab the back of his neck, smacking a kiss to his lips before he can stop me.

Bailey’s scent flares but settles quickly. I snicker as I go to stand beside Edric, ignoring the way Bailey clearly wants to crush me. The trick with our omegas is quite clear. Whatever you’re going to do, do it quick and get out of hitting range.

Edric brushes his blond hair behind his ears and considers the situation.

“He said tiger,” I insist.

Edric doesn’t answer me.

“He said it. This guy, this Benson, could be the guy. The one we’re after. Or we might tip off the real guy and lose him again.”

“We have to be sure,” Edric says sternly and pulls on gloves.

“What’s going on here?” Bailey asks with a frown. “Who are you guys looking for?”

“Just something personal,” I say quietly. The last thing I want to do is lie to Bailey, but he doesn’t need to know this.

A cold breeze blows through the abandoned building, and the old metal machinery creaks. There’s less life in it now that Anchor is dead.

I burst out laughing at my own thoughts.

“Who are you looking for, and why is Tiger important?”

“Don’t worry about it, Bailey. You don’t want this, remember?” Edric says quietly and looks at me, warning me to keep my mouth shut.

I purse my lips. I’m not in agreement about keeping our secrets from pack members, but Edric has a fair point, they aren’t pack yet.

“Look, Bailey, it’s good. We have it handled. Let’s just get rid of soft hands here and go home and see if we can convince Selene to go on a date with us.”

Bailey doesn’t believe us, but he’s smart. I can see that. He also takes the bait. “Selene is not going to go on a date with us.” He grunts and drops into a crouch, looking all sexy and dangerous. “You know there’s going to be payback. Retaliation. You should probably have thought about this. ”

I dance towards him, but he side-steps away from me, wary and hostile still. I stop and grin at him. He glares back even harder, those sexy blue-green eyes are like lasers screaming his disapproval.

Without the civilised Bailey mask, the tough as nails biker is shining through. His knuckles are bruised from his turn at Anchor, and he’s stripped out of his top, showing an expanse of tanned skin covered in ink that I want to explore with my mouth.

This version of Bailey is hot. He’s irresistible. I can’t keep my eyes off him.

This version is the one that I just know our little crazy princess would love. I know Mael is afraid that she wouldn’t be able to see past the brutality, but I know her with my heart, and she would take one look at us, and it wouldn’t matter.

Still, unless we’re prepared to push Mael into a zone of insecurity, she’s not going to know.

More’s the shame because I would like to show her this side of me that she doesn’t know. She got a hint of it when we were younger, but since then, it’s matured.

Turned deadly.

We’re not the same people she used to know.

Not entirely.

Edric comes over with a cleaver and starts dismembering the body. I smile and tilt my head at Bailey. “You going to help?”

“Fire. Petrol. Gone,” Bailey says with a shake of his head. “Work smarter, not harder.”

I glance at Edric. We’d be putting our lives in his hands. Edric shrugs.

“All right, Baby B, show us how it’s done.”

“Don’t call me that.” Bailey lifts his phone out of his pocket. “I need cleanup.”

Well, this ought to be interesting.

The factory burns to the ground. We’re far enough away not to be found by any cops or firefighters. In fact, the Despair MC deliberately kept the cops and firies busy until the building was no longer salvageable. They won’t find the body.

The club has an interesting method of making sure that no remains can be accidentally found. The intense smaller fire got rid of the body. Once that was mostly gone, they burnt the property. The whole thing took maybe two hours and got rid of all the evidence.

Anchor’s phone is on a fruit and veg truck heading across the country. His stuff is missing. It’s like he packed up and just walked away from his life.

No one will look for him. He will go undiscovered .

How perfect.

“Well, that’s two in a month. What’s going on, Bailey?

” An older guy asks. He’s as tall as Bailey, but that’s where the similarities end.

Andy Anderson, the hard faced, tough as nails president of the Despair Motorcycle Club has hard hazel eyes, greying brown hair that hangs to his mid-back, a beard and muscles covered in tattoos.

His fingers are adorned with chunky rings. He looks every inch a biker.

Bailey glances at him and back at the fire. “Got some problems down here that need sorting.”

“That so?”

Bailey makes an affirmative noise.

I sidle over and hold out my hand to the president of the Despair MC club. “Kingston Noctis.”

His eyes sharpen, which means he’s not finding this game of ours amusing at all. When he shakes my hand, he squeezes it hard, rubbing bones together. I have to fight back the crazy urge to laugh.

“Pack Dread is here? What are you doing in my city?”

I snort a laugh at the shiver that runs down his spine. The telltale bark is not powerful enough to compel me.

“Just,” I bite my bottom lip, trying to hide my smile, “cleaning house.” My mocking tone doesn’t go unnoticed.

Anderson narrows his eyes. “We don’t want no trouble. Best behaviour in my city.”

Bailey does a double take, finally realising that there is something wrong.

He doesn’t even see the tip of what’s wrong here.

I let the prez steadily get more angry as I hold out my answer for a minute. “Not after the club. We’re looking for a cat.”

He nods with a stiff, jerky movement, and I think I see his fingers twitch towards his gun. “I’ve heard rumours one settled here, but my attempts to flush it from the shadows have been unsuccessful. If there’s anything you need-” He glances at Bailey with a concerned frown.

I step up behind Bailey and slide my hand possessively up around his chest. Anderson’s eyes blaze with fury. He wants so badly to out me, but if he outs me, his crimes will come to the forefront, too.

We have a secret that the dark-haired god doesn’t know. A big one. One that could get us all in trouble.

“Our Bailey will call you and let you know.”

He wants to argue. I can see it. He’s afraid for his son. I think I would be, too .

Bailey leans back unconsciously. He’s still staring at the flames. I don’t even know if he’s even registered my possessive hold.

“Bailey,” Anderson says hesitantly, glancing at me with murder in his gaze.

Andy wants to unleash all his rage upon us. He is livid. I can see it in every line of his body. The words are right there, filling his mouth, but he can’t spit them out.

“It’s all right, Dad. I know what I’m doing.”

And maybe, just maybe, I’ve underestimated the biker. Bailey removes my hand and goes to his dad, drawing him away from us. They talk for several minutes, with several angry looks our way, before the Despair MC that was hanging around leave. Bailey keeps his back to us for several minutes.

He turns with a sigh like he’s giving in.

“I need to know how she does it. How she fights it. That’s why I’m giving you three the time of day. And be grateful because I just convinced my dad not to put a hit on you.”

I grin. His refusal to admit to his feelings is cute. He will give in eventually.

“Let's go get something for everyone to eat and go back and ask her, then.”

Bailey glowers in my direction and heads towards the much more quiet Edric.

He shouldn’t, though, because Edric’s bonds are bouncing around like an overtired puppy. He is fixing to make some stupid decisions and have a whole heap of fun.

I follow them back to our car. Bailey decides to drive and takes us through the drive-thru of a burger joint. I order more burgers than we can eat, fries, and thick shakes.

Bailey sends me a questioning look.

“She likes to eat junk in the middle of the night.”

I don’t need to say more.

We get home, and Edric climbs through the window and lets out a wild howl.

I hear a thump and then Selene swearing at him as I collect the bags of burgers and drinks.

“How many times do I have to tell you if you wake me up howling, I will give you something to howl about?”

“Oh, come on, you missed it.”

Mael opens the door and lets us in. Selene is sitting up in another sports bra and panties. She sees the food, and her eyes light up.

“Is that for me?”

“For us,” I correct and come and drop onto the mattress beside her.

“You need a new bed.”

She ignores me, going through the burgers until she finds one she wants.

I grab a strawberry thick shake and hold it out to her. She looks at it, a wistful expression stealing her joy, and reaches for it .

We all eat in silence. It’s nice.

It’s more than nice, it’s the old days converging with the new, and she’s not kicking us out or trying to kill us.

We’re wearing her down.

Yay for persistence.

Edric takes all the burgers to the fridge and puts them in. Luna always did like her burgers cold.

When he comes back, he walks right up onto the mattress, pushes Bailey onto his back, and straddles his shoulders. There’s no warning.

Bailey struggles, but Edric has him pinned. His scent explodes around us, eliminating the scent of burgers.

“Bailey would like to learn how not to perfume like an omega,” Edric purrs and strokes Bailey’s cheek.

Selene blinks slowly. She looks dazed. “It’s 4 am. I’m not teaching him now.”

“Fine.”

Edric leans back and cups the struggling omega. He strokes the hard length of him and squeezes him through his jeans.

Bailey makes a strangled sound and bucks up, pressing into his hand.

I crawl over to Bailey and stare down at him. “Yes or no?”

“Oh, fuck, yes!” he whines.

Mael rips his jeans down to his knees before I can even turn.

“We’re going to play a game,” I tell her. “You’re going to help or Bailey is going to scream.”

“I’m not helping. He can scream all he wants. Luna’s not home, and everyone else is too tired to care.”

I grin at her. I do not believe her at all, and, judging by the blueberry cobbler scent that is competing with the apple pie and vanilla ice cream, she doesn’t believe it either.

“Mael is kissing his stomach, trailing his lips down over those tight abs. Bailey really likes it. He’s got goosebumps, and his breathing is picking up. His cock is dripping, Selene. Have you seen an omega drip?”

She lets out a pained whine and squeezes her thighs together. “I don’t care,” she grits out.

Mael grips him, and Bailey pants, arching his back. Edric spears his fingers through his hair and holds his head still.

“Save your air for screams, Bailey.”

Edric reaches out, grabbing her wrist, and pushes her fingers up against Bailey’s lips. He opens and starts sucking, whining around her digits .

Selene closes her eyes but wrenches them back open as Edric spins, turning so he and Mael’s heads are almost touching. They tilt to the opposite sides of each other and…

Bailey grabs at the sheet, white knuckling it, groaning deeply as he thrusts up, grinding against the hot mouths assaulting his cock.

“Don’t you want a little taste, Selene?” I murmur.

She shudders and tries to remove her fingers, but Bailey grips her wrist and holds her, continuing to work her over.

I move carefully until I’m sitting slightly behind her and lean over her shoulder.

“Imagine if you were to sit on his face right now. Drown him in your slick, let him feast on you, come on his face. It would feel amazing.”

I reach out and touch her shoulder. She exhales roughly, but her body is tight as a bow. She’s one soft stroke of a finger from giving in to us.

Mael and Edric have almost brought Bailey to his climax. I let out a frustrated sound and grab her hair, tilting her head to the side. I drag my teeth across the column of her neck.

The tapping on my leg takes me a moment. I slowly look down and find a blade pressed against my jean-covered groin.

“Get your hands and teeth off me.”

Bailey, who has his head tilted to watch us, lets go of her fingers, reaches down, grabs their heads, and grinds up into them, sighing her name as he comes.

I’m harder than I’ve been in a long time, but I dare not move with that knife pressed to my leg.

“Selene, if you’re into knife play, we need a safe word.”

Bailey, who is rung out, collapsed boneless on the bed, starts to laugh. But the omega I was hoping would give in crawls out of the bed, storms from the room, and slams the door behind her.