Page 27

Chapter Twenty

Emma

T he door shut with a hiss, and Ryder shoved a huge levered bolt into place.

It was dark, save for an emergency light in the ceiling. His hand went to the light switch near the door. “Please don’t,” I said. The dim lighting was a blessing to my sensitive eyes.

He stopped, and his hand returned to me.

I liked this, being in his arms. There were just too many clothes in the way.

My nose twitched. A mattress had been laid out in one corner, and it smelled relatively clean.

Stacked up against the wall beside us were bottles of water and snacks, along with new, sealed packages of bedding.

Imagining how soft and clean they would be, my fingers clenched in anticipation of getting hold of them and putting them to my liking.

My tummy clenched again, more slick trickling out, and I whimpered.

Snagging a bottle with me still in his arms, Ryder strode for the mattress and sat with me nestled on his lap. “Drink some, Emma,” he instructed, voice raspy behind the plastic. Snapping the water bottle open, he presented it to me.

I took the bottle, thirsty yet disinclined to drink. “Please take the mask off.”

He shook his head, taking the bottle and my hand within his and directing it toward my lips. “Baby, when I take this off, I’m not going to be able to think rationally anymore.”

I shivered, wanting him out of control in a way that was probably unhealthy.

Taking a sip, I stared at the alpha who was about to rut me through my heat.

The moment had a tinge of disassociation with it, like a living dream.

I felt like I should be more frightened than I was.

He’d just beaten another alpha to a bloody pulp before my eyes.

The former beta me would’ve been horrified.

The newly awakened omega delighted in a strong mate who did whatever it took to keep me safe.

The two parts sat in contrast, but there was no going back.

I loved my inner self—the animalistic side that wanted to be bred by a worthy mate.

I took another sip while shamelessly grinding my wet pussy against the bulge of his crotch, all the while staring boldly at my chosen alpha.

Behind the mask, the corners of his eyes crinkled with amusement. “Your pussy getting needy, baby?” He brushed the hair back from my flushed cheeks in an unmistakably tender way.

I nodded, embracing the calm before the carnal storm. The pain was throbbing low in my belly but bearable. I sensed it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. Nature would demand my heat run its course, and soon, Ryder would remove his mask.

He took the bottle from me. “Let’s get you cleaned up. You’re covered in that asshole’s blood.”

Rising, he carried me through to the tiny, stark shower room. Here, he stripped me, turned the shower on, and ushered me under the spray. Still wearing the gas mask and fully clothed, he cleaned me up.

I fought him. I had no idea why. It was like a fire sparking inside me that demanded I rebel.

“Little fucking brat,” he rumbled, landing a firm swat against my ass.

Ignoring my weak struggles, he scrubbed me down with methodical attention, not satisfied until I was squeaky clean.

My body and mind went into riot mode as he dumped me, shivering, next to the mattress.

I stood there trembling all over. He might not have access to my scent, but his was driving me wild, especially now that the water had washed the blood off.

The plastic bedding packages were sliced open, and the vacuum-packed contents sprung out.

Selecting the nearest blanket, he went to dry me off.

I hissed at him like some kind of feral kitten and snatched the blanket from his grasp. The moment it was in my hand, a calm came over me, and he stepped back, giving me space.

Goosebumps sprang up across my flesh, my cold hair making rivulets as it trickled over my breasts, back, and ass.

“Baby, you need to dry off.”

I glared at him lest he dare to interfere. He held up both hands and made no move to approach me.

There, I became lost in the softness calling to me.

I rubbed it against my cheek, heedless of my chilled skin, and spread it carefully over the mattress.

Much better. I forgot about the male whose scent belonged to me as I layered the soft blankets, creating a wall around the edges and a deep layer in the center.

The dull lighting, the bolted door, and the brooding male all gave me a feeling of being safe.

The rhythmic whir of the air conditioner soothed me as I completed my tasks.

My heated skin dried, and the worst of the dampness left my hair.

Distantly, I heard the shower, but I was too busy to care.

Finally, I knelt back and admired my nest.

A shadow fell over me, and I smelled fresh, clean male and a hint of alpha musk that made me quiver in anticipation. Then I heard a faint hiss, followed by a thud, and I knew he’d taken the mask off.

A deep, rattling growl followed. I felt it vibrate all the way through my body, and it kicked off a heavy thud deep in my pussy. My tummy turned over, and I ejected a great flood of slick.

His growl rattled deeper, almost like approval.

There was a monster behind me, his name was Ryder, and he was about to rut me.

My mind sank into a state of frenzy, hyperaware of his scent, of his presence, of his body rising, and with every rattling growl, taking him deeper into a rut.

I couldn’t look back. I wouldn’t. Instead, I did what felt right and crawled into the center of the nest, pressed my cheek against the fresh, soft bedding, and arched my back, ass up, pussy on display.

Waiting.

Waiting for my mate to rut me to assuage this desperate ache.

* * *

Ryder

On her hands and knees in the middle of the nest was an omega, my omega, waiting for me.

I couldn’t hold back my growl. It was rattling with the force of a thunderclap and seemed to bounce off the stark walls of the bunker room.

The dull, red lighting lent an otherworldly quality to the situation about to unfold.

The world could fall apart outside that metal door, and I couldn’t give a fuck.

As I came down behind her, she didn’t so much as twitch. She kept her face pressed to the bedding, slim thighs parted, waiting. Her inner thighs glistened with the evidence of her arousal.

Slick. The scent of it saturated the air, setting a fire in my belly. My cock hung long and heavy, the knot already burgeoning. I wanted inside her hot cunt more than I wanted my next breath.

Her body trembled as she hung on the cusp. She’d gone through the first wave, but the next would be worse. My growl rose to a purr, and the trembling eased. “Good girl,” I said. “I’m going to take good care of you and tend to this needy pussy, give her everything she needs.”

My fingers gripped, turning her ass flesh white. Around her was fresh bedding, courtesy of a stolen container and crafted into a beautiful nest. Soon this bedding would be filthy. I was the one who was going to make it that way.

“What do you need, Emma?” I demanded. “Tell your alpha.”

It felt so good to say that, to acknowledge what I was. My beast was fucking preening, like he’d known this all along. Maybe he had. Maybe the man in me had just refused to accept what was now apparent.

“Rut me,” she said. “I ache so badly. Please, I can’t stand it. I’m so hot inside.” Her words came out between breathy pants. It cost her to be still, my little feral kitten, who’d snarled at me when I tried to dry her off.

My grin was all teeth. My omega wanted my cock, but Emma would have to earn it.

Grabbing a handful of her ass, I lifted her pussy to my mouth and feasted. Her spluttered squeak turned to a moan, while my purr shifted to a growl of pleasure as I lapped up all the sticky goodness.

Fucking heaven. I couldn’t get enough.

She fluctuated between hanging submissively and letting me do my thing, and hissing and wriggling if I slowed, but I’d got a firm hold and she was going fucking nowhere until I was done.

I let her slick weave its magic upon me, calling my beast to the surface, where he needed to be.

My mind became hyperaware, reading every slight twitch, every little moan, the way she tensed and relaxed under me, the gush of slick when I got my tongue nice and deep.

But I wasn’t getting her off, and her patience was soon used up. My beast wasn’t happy with her fighting while he claimed his dues. I shackled both her wrists in one hand, pinned them to the small of her back, and continued doing as I pleased.

My kitten turned feral, straining and arching, cursing and hissing, all the while sweetly gifting me more of her slick. She didn’t mind what I was doing. She fucking loved it. It was taking her higher, driving her into her heat. Any moment now, it was going to fully break.

She did. A ragged squeal accompanied a great gush of slick. My mouth popped off, and I flipped her onto her back, pinning the wriggling omega still, snatching her hands away when she tried to put them on her belly.

“Oh god! Oh god, not again.”

Pinning her hands above her head, I watched her belly ripple, her slick trickling down to saturate the bedding. “That’s my good girl. Let your heat take you.”

Her head thrashed from side to side. There was a certain cruelty involved in rutting an omega through her heat. There was no danger to her now. Her alpha was here, and I would give her everything she needed once I’d driven her high enough.

My hand lowered, sliding over her belly until I could cup her pussy.

“God please!” She strained against me, so fucking slick under my fingers.

Slowly, watching her face contort with pleasure, I slid my fingers into her drenched hole.

She clenched over them. My fingers were thick, yet she was so wet that three slid into her with ease.

I pumped them slowly in and out, mesmerized by the play of rapture on her pretty face.

“More,” she begged.