Slick (The Grayverse #1)

CHAPTER TEN

Rowan gapes at me. “You need what? ”

“A slick suit!” I squeeze my thighs as tightly as I can, but his scent has sharpened even more, and every ragged breath pulls in another delectable mouthful of cookie sweetness. I shouldn’t be hungry, not after eating all that grilled cheese, but this is a different kind of craving. My gaze darts over him – his eyes, his hands, the breadth of his shoulders, and the hollow of his throat – and I have to wet my lips with my tongue to force the words out. “It’s how they collect our slick. They take us into the collection room and zip us into a plastic suit. They feed us pheromones, and the suit tightens, the stimulators in the lining drawing out our slick…” I break off, alarmed at the look on his face. “What?”

“That’s… fucking barbaric. ”

I don’t know that word, but I understand his scent like it’s my own. Shock. Disgust. Fury. It stings my tongue like another hit of that awful coffee. “It’s the only way to capture it all.” I shudder, remembering the way Kane said every drop of my sweetness belongs to him . It seemed like a dream come true at the time, but now… “Luscious says she owns me. She said she pays a premium to have exclusive rights to all my slick.”

Rowan makes a broken sound in the back of his throat and pulls me down onto his lap, his arms rough as they encircle me. “That bitch needs to shut her goddamn mouth.”

I squirm, caught between soaking up his comfort and trying not to soak his jeans. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Of course you don’t. They lied to you to control you.” His hands feather over my lower back, like he’s trying to soothe the hurt away. “But you’re not with them now, and the only thing you have to listen to is your body.”

His voice is a low rumble, not like an alpha, but like a late-night whisper in my ear. Dex sounds like that sometimes, when he’s too tired to move, or when he’s spun such a long story about the mermaid and her sailor, his voice is husky from overuse. It’s an almost perfect memory, and I feel a flush of need quiver over my entire body. As much as I try to hold it in, I can feel slick soaking through my sweatpants, and I whimper as I bury my face in Rowan’s neck.

“It’s okay,” he soothes, the words rolling over me like the softest velvet. “You’re not doing anything wrong, Diana.”

I squirm harder, my name on his lips pushing a tender button inside me. “But I’m getting you wet…”

My voice breaks off as I feel something nudge the underside of my thigh. It’s hot and thick, and so alive it makes my pulse race. I know what it is, because Dex often gets hard around me. How can he not, when his job is to take care of every inch of my body? But Rowan is both a stranger and an omega. Is it bad to feel such a violent thrill that I can make him respond like this?

“That’s it, sweet girl,” he murmurs, and I realize I’m rocking over him, chasing the friction of his hard length. A deep, all-consuming heat is blooming between us, wet and sticky and so delicious I can’t stop the cry that falls from my lips. “Take what you need, Diana. That’s it, sweet omega. Every drop of pleasure is yours to enjoy.”

It’s such a strange thing to hear after years of being told the opposite, but instead of making me pause, it just drives me higher. I cling to his neck, my other hand clutching at the muscles of his thigh. Everything about him is sleek and strong, every dip and bulge perfectly formed. I look down to see the hard ridge of his erection through his pants, angling my aching core so I can brush the thick tip. He bites back a groan, his hands dropping to grip my waist. His omega scent is like a sugar-coated cloud around us, and when his hips lift to meet mine, my head spins at the sensation.

“Rowan.” I cling to him, my mouth greedy as it works its way across his throat to his gland. I can’t help myself. His cookie scent is strongest there, the tiny hint of male musk just making it even more potent. “I need… I need…”

I can’t put it into words, but if I listen to my body, like he said, I’m singing a song of pure joy. Especially when I catch his hard length between my thighs, and it throbs at the contact. One more needy rock over his lap and sparks explode inside my channel, an electric charge zipping up my spine and curling through my blood. Every inch of my skin is tight and tingly, but it’s nothing like being in a slick suit.

“Oh. Oh. ” Those waves of pleasure have me in their grasp, rolling and tugging until I’m a shivery mess. I can barely open my eyes, and when I do, my head is back and I’m staring at the ceiling. “What was that?”

“An orgasm, sweet girl.” Rowan’s voice is gentle as he nuzzles my neck, but I can still feel the urgency throbbing under my thighs. He’s still as hard as stone, and his breath is a tight hiss in his chest, but he makes no move to touch himself as he cups my face. “Please, please tell me you’ve had one of those before.”

“I did. With Kane, when he knotted me.” I lower my eyes, too full of emotion to relive that right now. Instead, I play with the dark curls at the nape of his neck, as soft as silk between my trembling fingers. “And I wanted to do that with Dex plenty of times, but my slick was always monitored. Uncontained deposits were discouraged.”

“ Uncontained deposits .” When I glance at him through my lashes, his eyes have narrowed to slits, his lips pursed like he’s tasted something bad. I’d feel ashamed, except it’s clear his anger is all directed at The Serenity Center. In fact, he’s outraged on my behalf, and that feels almost as good as the orgasm still twitching through my limbs. “Sweet girl, repeat after me. ‘My body is mine. My pleasure is mine. My slick is mine.’”

The words ring like bells in my mind. They’re so simple but so momentous, all I can do is stare at him. “Is that something omegas are taught, outside of places like The Serenity Center?”

He looks surprised, which I like, because it makes his eyebrows lift into perfect, sleek arches. “I guess so, although I can’t remember ever being told that exactly.” A small smirk pulls at his mouth. “But if anyone would know the intricacies of body rights, it would be a porn star.”

That’s what Marcus and Royce called Luscious, and I’m not sure it was meant to be a nice label. It makes me squirm for a different reason, because how Rowan could have anything in common with Luscious, other than parking his trailer on her lot? “I don’t really know what porn means, except… Were you in Wet and Willing ?”

Rowan makes an abrupt choking sound but then shakes his head. “That was Luscious’ breakout role, not mine. Did she tell you about it?”

“Royce did. Or Marcus. They were talking about it when they brought me here.”

Rowan studies me for a moment, then leans forward and kisses my cheek. It’s as brief as the brush of butterfly wings, but it sinks into my skin like the sweetest burn. “Okay. I think we get you some new sweatpants, and then we talk about a few things, okay?”

I nod, even though climbing off his lap is the last thing I want to do.

And when I’m standing on shaking legs, I instantly regret it, because there’s no way I can hide the evidence of my orgasm. I’m dripping from the waist down, and there’s a wet patch on Rowan’s crotch. I’m not exactly sure what a big deposit looks like outside of a slick suit, but I have a feeling that he just wrung me dry. “I’m s-so s-sorry.”

The stuttered words have barely left my lips before he’s pulling me into his arms, his eyes intense as he stares down at me. “Never. Apologize. Your pleasure is a gift, Diana, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world that you shared it with me.”

I melt, every drop of shame and discomfort draining out of me. “Really?”

He smiles at the look of wonder on my face, then drops another kiss on my cheek, this one achingly close to my mouth. “Really. Now, let’s get into dry clothes and cuddle on the sofa.”

He couldn’t describe a more perfect scene, and I’m thrilled at how close we sit once we’re snug under his blue blanket. He seems intent on rehydrating me, a fresh hot chocolate in my hands as he pulls me under the curve of his arm. He has a TV, but neither of us reach for the remote, and my gaze wanders around the room before settling on a polished doll sitting on the bureau. It’s of a beautiful bronze-haired man in a sleek tuxedo, and it’s not hard to guess who it’s meant to be.

“Nesting dolls,” Rowan says, following my gaze. “You want to see?”

I nod, and he slips away to grab it, settling even closer when he returns. I stare down at the perfectly painted face, watching as he sticks a nail into a hidden crack and pops off the head. I gasp, but there’s another doll inside it, as delightful as the last. He repeats the process until six little versions of Rowan are lined up on the coffee table in front of me. “It was an omega craze a few years back. It’s meant to represent our layers. Lover, mate, friend, colleague… Some omegas had them painted in different costumes, or at different stages of their life. Of course, when you’re me , it’s all about getting naked with each layer.”

He holds up the smallest doll, which I assume is a miniature version of Rowan without a stitch of clothing. When I take it in my hands, I can’t stop myself from rubbing my thumb over the tiny face. “You’re very beautiful.”

He gives a soft, rumbling laugh. “I’m small, but in proportion.”

“Just the right size to keep in my pocket,” I reply, closing my palm to demonstrate. “That way, I can take you out and admire you whenever I want.”

He laughs again, and pleasure blooms through me, softer than the orgasm, but sweeter in some way. I like making his face light up, those throaty chuckles traveling all the way to my toes. But then his eyes grow serious, his fingers curling around mine. “We all deserve privacy, Diana, and I’ll do everything I can to protect yours. But Marcus is not a nice man, and as you’ve discovered, Luscious is a piece of work, too.” He squeezes my hand. “You’ve told me enough to make me worry, and now I have a lot of questions. If you don’t want me to ask them, I understand, but I also need to make sure I can keep you safe.”

I don’t want him to worry, but I don’t want to put him in danger either. Telling him about all the awful things that have happened might also make him look at me differently, and that shoots a pang of fear into my heart. He must see the conflict on my face, because he drops another kiss on my cheek as he pulls the blanket more firmly over my knees. “Or we can just sit here and enjoy our soft things.”

I think it’s that offer – so simple, and yet so kind – that opens the floodgates, because the words pour out of me like a bitter flood. And not only about Royce, Marcus, and Luscious, but things back at The Serenity Center, one memory tumbling out after another. When I’m finished, I feel like I’ve talked for hours, and my throat aches. I watch him through my lashes, feeling as drained as if I’ve just crawled out of a slick suit.

But Rowan quickly revives me, his fierce hug better than a thousand soft words. “You’re so brave, Diana. I don’t think I could have survived even a fraction of that.”

“I had Dex,” I tell him quietly, pressing my nose against the curve of his throat. “And it wasn’t so bad when I could picture myself retiring with my alpha.”

He makes an angry, hissing sound I can feel against my lips. “But now you know the truth. I’m sorry, sweet girl, but slick factories manufacture everything, including promises like that.”

“But I did find my alpha,” I point out, nuzzling the soft skin near his scent gland. It makes him shiver, and I have to stop thinking about Kane before I make a mess again. “Do you have an alpha?”

He snorts and I look at him curiously, but he just shakes his head. “I prefer omegas, actually. I’ve never really liked to bottom, despite all the awards in that box under my bed.”

“You have awards for your bottom?”

His snort is a honking laugh this time. “I have awards for everything, but like my ass, the shine came off them long ago.”

I want to tell him I’m sorry, even though I only understand every third or fourth thread of this conversation. But his thoughts have clearly wandered, his arm tightening around me as he says, “Luscious could get in a world of trouble for taking advantage of you.”

“Really? She didn’t act like it was a secret.”

His gaze darkens. “That’s because she underestimated you.”

I think about telling him my secret; that last ugly truth I held back because I didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes. But maybe I hit Luscious hard enough to make her leave me alone, and I’ll never have to look in her face again.

While I’m chewing over these dark thoughts, Rowan has reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Plenty of the guards and collectors have them at the center – no, the slick factory – but I’ve never held one before. “Would it be okay if I asked someone to stop by? She’s even more obsessed with privacy than I am, so she won’t do anything to put you in harm’s way.”

I can’t remember the last time I was asked if I wanted to see someone – every visit and appointment is always carefully scheduled, and I’m only informed after the fact. Is this what it means to be free? To say: no thanks, today I just want to curl up on this sofa with my soft blanket and your warm lips for company. But of course, I don’t say that. “If you think it’s a good idea.”

He nods, then punches a button on his phone. No one answers, and I wonder if he’s changed his mind until there’s a soft knock on the trailer door. I almost leap out of my skin, but he makes a soothing sound as he gets up to answer it. A tall woman with hair a few shades darker than copper steps inside, pausing to lock the door behind her. When she turns to look at me, I breathe in her scent, my hands shaking as I sense the alpha behind the smoky almond perfume. “This is Kennedy, my sister,” Rowan says, moving back to sit at my side. “She’s also my security. Is it okay if I tell her a bit of your history?”

The alpha hasn’t moved any closer to the sofa, but she has a way of commanding the room just by being in it. That said, she looks a lot like the other people I passed on the lot, wearing jeans and a polo shirt under her jacket. She might be in security like Marcus, but her gaze is more direct than cruel, so I nod and settle back on the sofa while Rowan catches his sister up.

Halfway through, she pulled her phone from her pocket, and now she taps on the screen. “There are three walk-in clinics in the docks, but only one closed for renovations. It won’t be a problem to locate your friend.”

“Really?” I almost melt against the cushions in relief. “I’m worried that Royce went back to hurt him.”

“Yeah, well, your instincts about this Royce guy are spot on.” She gives her brother a look I can’t interpret. “The Carrillos shop from the bottom of the barrel for their security.”

Rowan moves closer, and when his arm goes back around my shoulders, I sink into him like it’s the most natural thing to do. “We need to keep them away from her, Kennedy. Luscious as well.”

“Just don’t leave the trailer until I’ve checked things out. I’ll send someone to the clinic right now.” Her fingers fly over her screen, a frown creasing her brow. “Did you say the hospital was St. Luke’s? I’m checking with a contact there, but there’s no record of an alpha called Kane being admitted for a GSW, or any other injury.”

I bite my lip, remembering the back entrance we took, and the makeshift trauma room where they worked on Kane. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, so I pick my words with care. “He was a John Doe. But the doctor is a friend of Dex’s.”

It’s obvious I’m holding back, but Kennedy just nods. “Okay. I’ll follow it up personally.”

“And what about Luscious?” Rowan demands, his scent sharpening. “We have to tell someone, right? She’s basically kept Diana in slavery for her own selfish interests. I mean, I knew she was a snake, but this is a new, slimy low.”

I shrink at the memory of her face disappearing under the pink cushions, but Kennedy’s response snaps me back to the present. “I think the best option is to move you both. I’ll book a suite at The Eyrie Hotel under an assumed name.” Kennedy is watching her brother closely and I envy the way they can say so much just by looking at each other. “Just a few days, Ro, but I think it’s worth dipping into your emergency funds.”

I wince, realizing that any hotel with suites is probably very expensive. I wish I could offer to pay for it, but my access to money is on par with my knowledge of porn.

Frustration bubbles inside me at all the things I’ve missed out on because of my ignorance. And it goes way past cashmere blankets and pretty cookbooks. While I was blithely spending my days in slick suits, the Carrillos were selling off parts of me to the highest bidder.

They owe me, and somehow, I need to make them pay.

Kennedy steps forward, hand extended as if to help me up from the sofa. I’m thinking about taking it when she suddenly goes rigid. “Um, when was the last time you went into heat, Diana?”