Page 45 of The Night Movers: Season One

Ridley sat on the sofa, wrapped in Titus’s leather jacket, his own fur coat laid over his legs like a blanket.

Thirty minutes had come and gone since Sugar had given his warning, but he hadn’t returned for them as of yet.

Ridley was in no hurry to go back to the stench of alpha egos.

He’d rather stay there in the quiet cocoon of Titus’s office, drenched in his scent from the inside out.

Ridley blamed his stupid biology. His mate had just bred him; his omega was preening.

Ridley couldn’t stop burying his nose in Titus’s collar, inhaling the alpha’s scent, high off his mate’s pheromones.

He tried not to make it obvious, but the small smile on Titus’s face let Ridley know he’d been caught at least once. Did he like Ridley smelling like him?

Ridley pressed his nose to the silky inner lining of the jacket, his eyes on Titus, inhaling deeply. The alpha’s nostrils flared, a low rumble escaping from his chest that sent off a thermo-nuclear meltdown in Ridley’s core. He was too close to his heat for this.

He glowered at the alpha, irritated that he seemed to be the only one affected. “What?”

Titus’s brows went up and he shook his head, his amusement obvious. His face was the picture of mock innocence. “Nothing.”

Ridley crossed his arms over his chest. “I like the way you smell. That’s not a crime.

” Titus didn’t get it. “It’s not like I have any control over it.

I’m bonded to you, remember?” Of course, he didn’t.

This biological tie only went one way. His mood soured instantly.

“But I guess that doesn’t matter to you since you’re not bonded to me. ”

Maybe it was petty, but Ridley felt slightly better when Titus froze, then slowly looked at him, almost like he’d forgotten the pesky little issue of their one-sided claiming. He dropped his pen. “Come here, Strawberry.”

Ridley huffed, his heart rate shooting into the stratosphere. “No.”

His palms grew sweaty. Was this the right thing to do?

Did it even matter? Titus had tied his hands.

Ridley should be far more furious than he was, but he just…

wasn’t. Was it their bond? It wasn’t like Ridley didn’t get angry with him.

Titus made him want to punch him whenever they were breathing the same air.

“Now,” Titus purred.

Ridley snarled, lurching to his feet almost against his will. He was a puppet and Titus controlled his strings. Asshole. When Ridley was within reach, Titus grabbed him, yanking him into his lap.

Ridley didn’t look at him, but there was no denying the alpha’s pull. He squeezed Ridley’s naked hips, fingertips teasing softly. He couldn’t stop himself from pitching forward, rubbing his cheek over Titus’s scent gland with a whine, blushing at his own reaction.

His only solace was the way the alpha’s breath hitched, his hands gripping his ass a little tighter, shifting him closer to press his lips to Ridley’s mating mark.

There was something so raw, so…carnal about the way his omega reacted to Titus’s alpha.

It was like the two existed as separate beings that controlled Ridley and Titus’s bodies.

While they couldn’t stand each other, something pulled them towards each other like magnets.

Ridley tipped his head as Titus sucked a bruise over his mark, then trailed his lips higher, nipping at Ridley’s earlobe, before capturing his mouth once more.

Another strangled sound left him, hips rocking forward, already half-hard from the feel of Titus’s thick thighs directly beneath his ass.

Titus was so warm everywhere. He smelled so good.

Ridley licked his throat, purring at the tang of his skin on his tongue.

Why did it make Ridley want to melt into his arms and hide?

Biology sucked.

“How am I back here again?” he whispered, ghosting his lips along Titus’s before capturing his mouth in another deep kiss.

Titus pulled away, nipping Ridley’s plush bottom lip, then gently pushing Ridley back to meet his gaze. “Some people would say this is the best seat in the house.”

Ridley scoffed. “Then the bar is in hell.”

“Don’t be mean, Strawberry,” Titus teased. “Not when we’re about to seal our bond.”

Ridley startled, his already rabbiting heartbeat tripping in his chest. “Here? Now?”

Ridley didn’t know why he was reacting this way. He’d assumed when he’d called him over that it had something to do with the claiming bite, but now that he’d said it out loud, Ridley was having a minor panic attack.

It wasn’t that he’d expected rose petals or a ring or anything.

It wasn’t the atmosphere, just the timing.

Titus was about to go out there and beat a man to death.

He wanted Ridley to sink his teeth into him then send him into the ring.

Wouldn’t biting him…slow him down? Had it slowed Ridley down?

Would it have slowed him down had he not been unconscious?

“Why not? We have to do it anyway. Linus said we needed to make an impression, right? Imagine what they’ll think when they see your fresh claiming bite on my neck. Rurik’s head will explode.”

Ridley snorted. “They’re going to think you have a head injury and that I’m taking advantage of it. They’ll have me branded a witch and burn me at the stake. ”

“I’m not entirely convinced you aren’t a witch,” Titus said with a laugh. “You’ve certainly got us all under your spell. The whole pack.”

Ridley’s omega preened over that compliment but Ridley didn’t find it comforting…not even a little. For Titus, it was a joke, but, to Ridley, the threat was very real.

“Oh, good. I was just worried they might want to fuck me and kill me. Now, I have to worry about them wanting to burn me at the stake specifically.” Titus studied Ridley until his ears burned. He hated that it mattered. He hated that he cared what a bunch of criminals thought of him.

When he couldn’t bear the silence anymore, he said, “They already hate me.”

Titus sighed, tilting Ridley’s head up to meet his gaze.

“Good. The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.

Up until tonight, every alpha in this place looked at omegas like livestock.

Property. They were indifferent to them.

There was no love or hate. Omegas were their product and they were the supplier.

Now, their wheels are turning. They’re confused.

They don’t know what to make of you, and they can’t imagine how you’ve managed to turn us to your favor so quickly. ”

Ridley’s brow furrowed. “How do you know that?”

Titus gave a humorless laugh. “I’ve been fielding offers to buy you off me all night, claiming bite and all.”

Ridley shuddered. “Gross.”

“Very,” Titus agreed. Ridley’s eyes went wide at the venom in Titus’s voice. This time, it was Titus who looked defensive. “What? You seem to forget how we met, Strawberry. I’m not the enemy. I don’t actually traffic omegas.”

Right. They were the good guys. They helped people. Could murderers be called good guys? They talked about torture and killing as casually as some people talked about the weather. Did that make them good guys or just the better bad guys?

“Why?” Ridley blurted.

Titus blinked at him, his brow furrowed. “Why what? ”

His confusion made him look cute—younger, too—less rough around the edges. What kind of people would they have been if they’d grown up in the world before their country had crumbled into an oligarchy? Before it became about the haves and the have-nots?

“Why do you do this?” Ridley asked. “What made you decide to infiltrate this world? What makes you stay? Why roll around in the muck with these people? You’ve been here so long they’ve claimed you as their king.

I don’t know how you do it. How do you interact with these…

animals…every day without just killing them all. ”

“We were kids when we started doing this,” Titus admitted, sounding tired. “We were cocky, brazen even. We were in it for the excitement. We wanted to help omegas, but we really loved fucking over their handlers.”

Ridley could picture Titus and the others as kids, cocky and stupid, in it just for the thrill of it. It still didn’t explain why, though. There was no way it was just about the excitement.

“Surely, there had to be a better way to save omegas?” he asked. “Why this?”

Titus shifted Ridley so he was lying across his legs sideways, his head resting on his shoulder. It looked like a comforting gesture, like he wanted to cuddle Ridley close, but Ridley suspected he didn’t want to look him in the eye.

Maybe he didn’t want Ridley to know the intricacies of the operation? Maybe his reasons were too personal? None of Ridley’s business? Maybe he didn’t trust him? Why would he? They were strangers. Strangers who fucked each other and were tied together for life.

“My mom,” Titus finally said, voice strained. “My”—he cleared his throat—“mother is the reason I do this.”

Ridley’s stomach churned, nose burning from the sharp scent of Titus’s grief. “What happened to her?”

“My father happened to her,” Titus said, expression growing dark, eyes narrowed .

“Were they mates?” Ridley asked.

“No,” Titus said. It was like he was choking on the words. “No, they weren’t.”

“You don’t have to tell me…” Ridley said, rubbing his cheek against Titus’s chest.

Titus scoffed. His voice was steady, but his rage clung to Ridley’s nostrils, acrid as a fire. “I’m about to let you claim me. You should know everything.”

Ridley’s omega was restless, suddenly whining and agitated, pushing Ridley to soothe Titus in whatever way he could.

But he forced himself to remain still. “Okay…”

“I’m comfortable in this world because I grew up in it,” Titus said. “I wasn’t that noble. I didn’t give up any kind of luxurious life to sink into the muck of the underground to save omegas. I was born here.”

“Born here?” Ridley repeated.

Titus nodded. “My mother was a prostitute,” he said. “I was raised in a brothel.”