Page 62 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus (The Exchange)

Chapter Eleven

Anastasia

Iglance around at the nest and decide I've officially gone off the deep end. My impulses demand I do something, but I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be doing.

"Ana?" Rafe calls through the closed door. "Breakfast is ready."

"Go away," I snap, fluffing one of the pillows.

I'm wrapped in a soft fuzzy blanket, but I can't decide what to do.

I organized for a while, but I got tired.

Plus I kinda miss Wolfe, which makes me feel a little ridiculous.

I bite my lip, looking at the door through the crack in the curtain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. Please go away?"

There. I'm obviously trying to be nicer. It may even have worked. I hope. I actually like Rafe. I have zero desire to be a raging bitch to him.

"Princess," Vik calls out. "You can come out for breakfast, or I'll come in and bring you a tray."

There's muttering and soft arguing at the door.

"I'm supposed to be taking care of her," Rafe says.

"Then do a better job of it," Vik snaps.

"Stop being an asshole," I yell, pulling a pillow to cover my head.

A few minutes later Rafe comes in with a tray of breakfast and keeps me company while I nibble at it.

"You should have a bit more," he says, holding out the orange juice.

"I can't," I say, shaking my head. "I don't feel great. Maybe later?"

"Okay," Rafe agrees. "But I am going to hold you to that."

He brushes his lips over my forehead, cleans up the mess, and heads out.

I groan. I'm starting to feel crappy again. My eyes watch the door. I really wish someone would come keep me company. I kinda thought Rafe would come back.

My skin feels overly sensitive and everything seems to hurt.

At least I'm not sick like last time.

It was mortifying to be so ill I had to be taken care of by them, but in a strange way it was kind of nice. Not that I ever want to feel awful like that again, it's just… I felt safe and cared for in a way I'd never felt before.

Not to mention the week I was sick after my heat.

I bury my face in the pillow as my face burns. Life as an omega isn't really all that glamorous. I realized that when the post-heat cramps started before the sex even ended.

It was mortifying. I shake my head. I don't even want to think about it.

Why don't they warn omegas of this stuff ahead of time? Maybe I should've paid better attention in my alpha and omega dynamics class in school.

Vik didn't seem all that fazed that I bled all over him and the nest. My face heats, and I cringe even thinking about it. They should definitely make a pamphlet or something that warns about that.

"I'm glad you got some breakfast," Vik says.

I sit up, studying him. What is he trying to pull? I didn't hear him come in.

Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders even tighter, I nod to the box under his arm.

"What's that?" I ask, shoving my hair out of my face.

"This?" he asks, setting it down between us. "It's my first real courting gift. Last time was rushed. I wasn't satisfied with my gifts to you."

"And that took a month to find?" I scoff. "I'm not that hard to shop for. Try again, Vik."

"You'd be surprised how much finagling went into obtaining your perfect courting gifts," Vik says, brushing his fingers over my cheek.

My stomach flip-flops wildly.

I missed him so fucking much, and I kinda hate that.

But did he really owe me anything?

People will say anything to get laid. I'm not even sure it's right to be so angry with him.

"Can I have it?" I ask, tilting my head.

My eyes ache. I'd like to get this over with—figure out why he was gone and move on if possible. I don't know exactly what moving on will look like, but I'm at a point where I need to know one way or another.

"Let me hold you," Vik says, his blue eyes sparkling. "And you can have the gift."

"Tell me where you were," I counter. "If it's a decent reason for being gone I won't kick your ass out of my nest."

"Anastasia," Vik says in a soft tone. "Honestly, don't play dumb. Where do you think I was?"

I bite my lip. When he says it like that it makes me sound ridiculous; like I should know without him even needing to tell me.

Assuming something is a great way to end up broken-hearted down the line. I've been disappointed a lot in life by men who promised they'd look after me.

Vik nudges my knee. "Princess?"

"Just tell me," I whisper, refusing to look at him.

"I needed to speak to your father."

I jolt, sucking in a sharp intake of breath, but it doesn't help because all the air seems to disappear from the room all at once.

"What?" I hiss. My chest rises and falls in rapid movements. "Why? God, you have no idea what you've done."

My head shakes violently. Honestly, I'm surprised Vik is alive, but that means my father let him walk away because he has something even worse planned for him.

For me, too.

For all of us.

"I see," Vik says. His jaw is so tight I'm a little worried he might chip a tooth. "Your father sent you here to seduce my bosses into selling or make enough trouble that Connor chooses to sell…"

"Yes," I agree, running my hands over his chest. We've been over this three times, but he's a bit stuck on repeat.

My heat is mostly over, but we're still cuddled up in the nest. His muscles are incredible. He isn't hairy, but he does have a few dark brown hairs on his chest and a sexy line that leads down to his very thick cock.

"And Devon is the omega you threw the plate on that afternoon," Vik says.

I'm starting to feel like he doesn't believe me.

"Yes; I don't want to say he made threats," I say, shaking my head and glancing away.

"It was more like veiled innuendos, exactly like my father.

Except Devon loves to hide behind pretending he's only concerned with my safety.

He said things like, 'I don't want to see anything bad happen to you.

You'd better do what they say.' I don't know.

Maybe they've got something on him, too.

Devon and I used to be…" I pause, trying to find the right words.

"Not friends, but friendly I guess. We ran in the same circles. "

"And you never fucked him?" Vik asks in a deathly quiet tone.

"Ohmigod, no." I laugh. "Although, he is totally hot."

"Princess," Vik growls, rolling me over onto my back and hovering over me. He scrapes his teeth over my neck and every submissive impulse I have hums in delight. "I'm trying to decide how to handle David."

"Devon," I correct, frowning. He remembered every other detail of my story perfectly except Devon's name.

"Right," Vik says. "I'm trying to decide if Drake is going to die today or live to see tomorrow while seriously regretting his poor life choices."

I laugh, slapping his shoulder. "You're cute when you're defending my honor."

"I'll show you cute," he growls, devouring my mouth. His rock-hard cock notches at my opening and then he's slamming inside me. My nails rake over his shoulders as I arch toward him. My pussy aches. He's definitely got the fattest cock I've ever seen. It's intense, but so damn enjoyable.

Every single time he enters me it takes my breath away, and I have to reacclimate to the feeling of being stretched to capacity.

His huge hand cups my cheek as his beard tickles my neck. My feet dig into his ass as I desperately try to wiggle down on his knot.

"Eyes up here, princess," Vik says, nudging my cheek. My eyes fly to his. The look on his face is so sincere my breath catches. "You know you've got nothing to be afraid of anymore, right?"

My eyes dart away.

You don't simply ignore the kind of threat my father is, and I've explained this to Vik every time he asked me to repeat my story.

The most I can hope for is that my father is so pissed he disowns me. My chest constricts. If I had half a brain I would have brought my mother's ashes and her notes with me.

"I'm going to take care of you," Vik growls. "You know that, right?"

I believe he'll do his best. I just don't know if it'll be enough.

"Yes, Daddy," I agree.

Vik's blue eyes get so dark they almost look black. He slams into me, forcing his knot inside me. We both moan.

My body easily accommodates his throbbing knot and it swells in response, locking us together. He growls into the kiss as his tongue slides around mine.

I wonder if someone like me is capable of feeling love, or this is just that crazy rush of endorphins women get from getting really exceptionally good dick.

Maybe it's the feeling of safety I get whenever he's around.

Whatever it is, it's extremely dangerous to my heart, but I know it can't last. I won't put the people here at risk. If my father demands I come home, I'll have to go. If I don't he'll definitely send someone to retrieve me, and it's not worth the chance someone might get hurt.

Didn't he listen to anything I said?

"It's okay," Vik says, pulling me back to the present. He scoots closer and gently moves me into his lap.

I think maybe I'm having a panic attack?

I don't know.

All I do know is…

"We have to leave. Ohmigod, Evie's pregnant. We need to warn them, too. Did you listen to anything I said?"

"Evie's pack is completely capable of keeping her safe," Vik murmurs against my cheek as he nuzzles his face to mine. "Murphy knows as much about your father and the situation as I do. Do you think they'd give me so much time off without good reason?"

"You don't understand," I snap. "He's playing with all of us. If he let you come back alive, then there's some reason for it."

"Oh, princess," Vik says, holding me close. "I know that to you, he's the big bad. To men like me, Wolfe, Murphy, hell even Luke and Castro, Markov Androff is a small fish in a big pond."

"What?" I whisper, blowing out a breath and trying to settle my racing heart. I don't think he's taking the threat seriously. And also… "Why didn't you tell me that's where you were going?"

"I didn't want you to worry," Vik says, running his hands down my arms. "I had every intention of getting back within a week, or two at most. Unfortunately, I had to track down Deacon. That took some time."

"Devon?"

Vik nods. "From what I can tell, he's as much of a victim as you," Vik says, staring straight into my eyes. "A puppet for Byron Frasier."

"Right," I agree, looking at my lap. I may not hate Devon, but he sure reported back to my father and Byron with details about me. If he was under duress then I guess I can understand why, but it still doesn't make me like him.

"So none of you consider my father a threat?"

"He's a problem," Vik concedes. "But a problem that will be dealt with swiftly."

"What?" I snort.

"I'd really rather not get into the specifics," Vik says. "I will tell you if you truly believe that it'll make a difference, but I'd rather you have that plausible deniability."

My eyes fly to his, but Vik doesn't blink or blanch. He stares straight into my eyes like what he's saying is a sure thing. His chest slowly rises and falls as he studies my face.

I always feel safe when he holds me. My mind files through memories as I chew at my lip. I vaguely remember confessing my fears to Vik during one of the lulls during my last heat.

"Did he kill my mom?" The words pop out before I have a chance of holding them back. For a microsecond Vik cringes before smoothing out his features.

I guess that says it all.