Slick (The Grayverse #1)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

There's a part of me that’s tempted to chase Jake’s stubborn ass and drag him the fuck back here. But mostly I want to kick him so hard, he carries the bruise for the rest of his miserable life.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” the pornstar croons, turning Diana away from the door and into his arms. “The important thing right now is to take care of you.”

“Jake left…”

“But we’re here.” She sounds so heartbroken, my entire body twitches with rage, but the omega just gives her a soft smile. “Come on, let’s go have a bath.”

She casts another dejected look at the door, but with a few more encouraging words, the pornstar manages to steer her towards the bathroom. The scowl he shoots in my direction would shrivel the toughest alpha knot, but then his eyes roll so hard I’m surprised he can see where he’s going. “Come on, Alpha. We’re all here for her, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” I take the olive branch for what it is and follow them into the bathroom. It means going through the bedroom and I raise an eyebrow at the state of the nest. “You’ve been busy.”

The pornstar’s bristles are suddenly on high alert. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not to me,” I reply, peeling off my black tee. The scent of slick is almost dripping off the walls, and I shrug. “You did what you had to, right?”

“I did what I wanted to,” he corrects me, then gives Diana another adoring smile. “Do you want to light the candles Dex brought you?”

She nods, taking a couple of cheap candles from a paper bag and setting them on the vanity. When she looks around for a light, I pull one from my pocket and beckon her over. She doesn’t hesitate; her gaze searching mine as I set the flame to the wicks. “You’re staying, right? You don’t have to go anywhere?”

Fucking Jake and his fucked-up instincts.

“Only place I want to be is right here.”

Shadows dance in her eyes, but then she gives me a quick smile, setting the candles aside before stepping into my arms. Her warm skin slips against mine and I bury my face in her hair, breathing deep. Her heat clings to her, so alluring it makes my head spin, and I feel a stab of frustration at how much I’ve missed. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, Diana.”

She squeezes me harder, then leans back in my arms., her fingers tangling in my hair. “I missed you, but Rowan and Dex took care of me.”

I raise a brow at a plastic knot sitting on the counter. “Yeah, it looks like you all had a good time.”

“The best,” she smirks, then peeks around me to where her beta is lurking in the doorway. “Can we all fit in the shower, do you think?”

The pornstar looks conflicted, but I hold the beta’s gaze. “What do you think, dimples? Want to come scrub my back?”

I expect him to tell me to go to hell, but he just pulls off his sweatpants, leaving his black boxers in place. He strides over to the shower, fiddling with the water until it’s pouring from the rainshower head. One thing I have to say about heat suites; they come with all the fancy fixtures. “You can scrub your own damn back,” he grumbles, “but I promised Diana I’d wash her hair.”

“What about you, pretty boy?” I ask the pornstar. “You ready to get wet with us, little berry?”

He doesn’t flinch at the use of his screen handle, but he makes a big deal of looking at the row of bath products lining the wall. “Shame. Looks like we’re out of ‘wash the asshole off’ gel.”

I laugh, because I can see Diana fighting a grin at our antics, and having her face light up is my number one job right now. “Yeah, that might be a permanent thing,” I admit, pinching the soft skin of her chin. “You know that, right? I’m never gonna be a ray of sunshine, okay? But I’m gonna do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“I’m happy if you’re here,” she replies, leaning into me for a kiss. It’s softer and slower than I’d like, but damn if it doesn’t reach all the way to my chest. “All of you, just being here with me. That’s what makes me really happy.”

A reminder that’s like a blast of cold water, given my best friend and her scent match just ran away like a little bitch.

Stupid fucker.

My jeans are still hanging off my hips and I kick off my boots before dragging them the rest of the way down. Unlike my shower mates, I don’t have a fancy pair of boxers, so I go buck-naked under the spray, groaning in pleasure as the water pounds down on me. Diana giggles at the sound, but I catch the pornstar eyeing the brown water flowing down the drain with distaste. “What can I say? I’m a dirty fucker.”

It's mostly road grit, but I don’t tell him that as he waits for the water to run clear. The beta, meanwhile, has slipped in behind Diana and is lathering her hair with some kind of fruity shampoo. He works the suds like a pro, and it’s obvious he’s done this a lot. As a caretender at the slick factory, his job was to grease Diana’s wheels. To keep her in optimum working order, so there was never a kink in their slick production. No doubt that’s why he’s so good at pampering her, and I grit my teeth as she melts under his touch.

Not now, I remind myself. There will be plenty of time to go after the Carrillos and their operation, but right now…

“What the fuck is that?”

Diana jolts at my seething tone, but I can’t rip my gaze from her lower back. She’s turned under the spray to wash out the suds, and I’m suddenly staring at a tattoo on the base of her spine: Property of Carrillo Industries. Return to Owner if Misplaced.

“What?” She twists, trying to follow my gaze, and the confusion in her voice makes my skin crawl. One glance at the beta slumped back against the wall and I know she doesn’t have a clue what’s written on her back. “Do you mean the tattoo? I’m just waiting to add my mate’s name.” She casts me a shy glance from under her wet lashes. “I guess we can fill it in now, right?”

“It’s not blank, baby,” I tell her through gritted teeth. “It says you’re the property of the Carrillos.” I don’t add the bit about returning her, since she’s not a fucking misplaced package. “I’m sorry, Omega…”

I’m not really sure why I’m apologizing, but she steps out of the shower, staring at herself in the mirror like she’s a stranger. Slowly, she turns, peering over her shoulder to read it for herself. But of course those fuckers made sure that’s impossible for anyone other than a contortionist, and she stares at me helplessly. “Does it really say that?”

I squeeze my lips tight, but the pornstar follows her out of the shower, grabbing his phone from the vanity. He gently turns her until he can snap a picture of her lower back, then slips his arm around her shoulder as he shows her the screen. The look that passes over her face is enough to make my blood boil, but I hold my tongue as she tries to accept what’s right in front of her. “I don’t understand. They told me it was for my mate.”

I have to swallow the violent words rising in my throat, folding my arms over my chest so I don’t snatch the phone and smash it to pieces.

“Did you know?” Diana peers at her beta, and I watch the realization dawn in her gaze, her cheeks flushing a darker pink. “Of course you did. You know every inch of me.”

I shove the hot flare of jealousy down hard, because the devastated eyes they’re giving each other are doing something to my emotions. “Guess he just knew better than to believe it,” I say in a matter-of-fact tone. “Who would? You were obviously too fucking good for that place.”

She looks at me with troubled eyes, and I step out of the shower, nudging her closer to the vanity. It has a little white chair that would break under half of my weight, so I wave the pornstar onto it. As soon as he’s settled, I press her down onto his lap, then pick up a hairbrush and start working on her tangles. Her hair is like wet silk under my fingers, and I’m pretty sure I’m yanking on it too hard, but she gives a sigh and closes her eyes.

“I got my first ink when I was twelve,” I tell her, leaning down to breathe in the scent of her freshly washed hair. She squirms a little, only settling when I start dragging the brush through her hair again. “I did it myself with a paperclip, and not only did I throw up, I was sure I was gonna bleed to death.” I smirk at the memory. “Took me a while to get up the nerve for another, and then it was a gang thing.” Her eyes pop open, and I point to the swirl of ink on my neck. “It’s meant to be a flaming fist, but the asshole who did it couldn’t draw for shit.”

“And that meant you belonged to them?” Diana asks, her eyes still uncertain.

“For a bit. But only for protection. I grew up in a shitty neighborhood, and it was either join a gang or get rolled every week.”

“What happened?” The beta is standing behind us, but I catch his gaze in the mirror. He still looks shook up, but he’s a curious fucker, that’s for sure. “I just mean… The Flaming Fists aren’t exactly a gang you can just walk away from.”

He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, and it’s another reminder that he’s been mixed up with the Carrillos for a while. According to the background I’ve done on him, he grew up in Shilton, which is almost as bad as the shithole that spat me out. “They stopped coming after me when I shipped a bunch of body bags to their clubhouse.” I flash my teeth at him. “Half were full, and the other half were labelled with the rest of the gang’s names.”

The pornstar snorts. “That’s one way of sending a message.”

“Never claimed to be subtle.” I study the job I’ve done with Diana’s hair, and meet the beta’s eyes in the mirror. “Does she need hairspray, or any of that shit?”

He gives me an unhelpful shrug. “Ask her.”

I grunt, tipping her face up to mine. There’s so much swirling in her big, beautiful eyes, it’s hard to keep my train of thought, and I have to wrack my brain to think back to the omegas I’ve known in the past. They all liked to be dolled up, with big hair and lots of makeup, although I never saw how they got that way. “You want ribbons or bows, or something?”

She bites her lip, a hint of longing in the way she curls a strand of her hair around her finger. “Could you braid it? It goes frizzy when it’s wet.”

The beta coughs into his fist behind me, but the pornstar is openly smirking. She might as well have asked me to embroider a cushion, and he knows it, the little shit. “Braids?”

Diana bites her lip as she searches my face. “Or maybe just a ribbon? That would be good, too.”

“Fuck that,” I grunt. “If you want braids, you get braids.”

I study her head, thinking of the limited number of hairstyles I ever gave a fuck about. I’m pretty sure this one is like tying a piece of rope, with a lot of unders and overs. I don’t mention that I had to wear Velcro sneakers until I was ten, since my fingers were too big to master laces. “Can’t be as hard as building a twin cam engine from scratch,” I mutter to myself.

The pornstar must hear, because he hands me a thin metal comb. “Use that to section the hair,” he says, pointing at her crown. “Divide it into three sections, crossing the outer sections up and over the middle section in an alternating pattern.”

I curl my lip at his instructions. Does he think that’s fucking helpful?

I’m still staring at Diana’s scalp when the beta clears his throat. “She actually prefers the fishtail braid.” He catches Diana’s eye and winks. “All the pretty mermaids have them.”

What the fuck? These assholes are clearly setting me up to fail.

“Maybe you should show him, Dex,” the pornstar says helpfully. “I don’t think there are many cylinder heads in a fishtail braid.”

I glare at the cheeky fucker, but the beta peers over my shoulder, nudging the hand with the comb. “You only need two sections for a fishtail. Left and right.” I can feel his breath on my arm as I slice the comb through her hair, pretty close to a perfect part. I grin at my efforts, but the beta nudges my hand again. “Okay. Now, take a thin strand from the left section and tuck it under the right. Pull it tight. Gently. Now do the opposite until you’ve worked your way to the bottom.”

I grunt, but there’s something hypnotic about the process, and I’m almost disappointed when I reach the end. “Not bad,” the pornstar says. “Especially with those ginormous fingers of yours.”

I show him my teeth, tempted to wrap my huge fingers around his skinny throat, but the beta distracts me by handing me a pink bow. “You can finish it off by tying that around the end.” It has an elastic band, so I attach it with no problems. While I stand back to study my handiwork, the beta hands me a small mirror. “You need to show her the back. Angle it so she can see it. Like this.”

He demonstrates, and Diana’s cheeks grow pinker, her eyes shining as they meet mine. “Thank you, Alpha. It’s perfect.”

“It’s a bit crooked at the end, but not too bad for my first go.”

“You could practice on your beard,” the pornstar suggests, tapping his own clean-shaven chin. “I could lend you some ribbons.”

I lean over to flick the dimple in his cheek, but Diana makes a startled sound, and I turn to see her staring into the hand mirror. Shit. She’s tilted the angle perfectly, getting her first look at the property stamp on her back. “It’s so ugly,” she whispers, tears clinging to her feathery lashes. “It’s supposed to be a promise, not that .”

“You don’t belong to them,” I growl, snatching the mirror away and slamming it down so hard I almost crack it on the vanity. “Listen to me, Omega. You’re mine , and when I claim you, no fucker’s gonna believe a stupid property stamp over my mating bite.”

She stares at it a moment longer, her body twitching like she wants to climb out of her skin. I know that feeling well enough to feel it in my churning gut, but then she lifts her arms in my direction. “Please, Kane. Mark me now. I want you to own me, not them.”

A growl rumbles out of my chest as I scoop her up, my hands clasping protectively over her lower back. When I find the guy who inked her, we’ll see how well he holds a tattoo gun without his arms, but right now, my focus is all on her.

“I’ve got you, baby,” I tell her, grinning at the way she wraps her legs tight around me. She smells like shampoo and body wash, but I plan on changing that as soon as I get her back into the nest. “Gonna knot you so good, you won’t ever think about them again.”

She shivers in pleasure, and I feel my cock push up between us, hungry to take her. I get her to the bed, but the muttering behind me is starting to piss me off.

“She needs to know…”

“What?” I snap, glaring over my shoulder at the chatty assholes. “Spit it out or shut the hell up.”

I’m reaching my last thread of patience, but the pornstar doesn’t back down, his eyes narrowed like he wants to stab me with them. “You need to tell her that no one owns her. She’s her own person, no matter who marks her. That bullshit about omegas being owned by alphas is archaic.” His gaze fixes on her, sincerity shining from his face. “You’re in charge of your body, sweetheart. Just like you’re the only one who controls your slick.”

Diana bites her lip, and I swallow a growl. Fucking plastic knots and mermaid braids! This omega has clearly forgotten his basic biology.

“Sit down!” I growl, and when he doesn’t move fast enough, I grab his wrist and jerk him onto the bed beside us. “You too, Beta. Get the fuck over here and don’t give me any lip.”

I wait until they’re both perched uneasily on the bed and then pin them with my glare. “If I put my claim on you, you’re mine. Whether it’s a tatt, a collar, or a mating bite, you belong to me.”

They exchange a dark look, and I grin, because despite how annoying they are, I kind of like the fact they aren’t cowering in front of me. “Before you start squawking, let me tell you what that means. I own you, but you own me right back. You get in trouble, I end it. You have someone piss you off, I fuck them up. You want a knot…” I grab Diana’s hair and tug it. “Or a fishy-ass braid, all you gotta do is ask. Everything else comes under the umbrella of what’s good for our pack, is good for me. Got it?”

“Pack,” Diana murmurs, rolling the word on her tongue like a piece of candy. “That’s who I want to belong to. Our pack.”

“Me too,” I tell her, feeling the truth of my words in my chest. I’ve been wandering for a long time, clinging to Jake in the good times and spinning my wheels alone in the bad. I’m tired as fuck of searching for a place to put up my boots, and I don’t plan on going anywhere now I’ve found it.

“Just like that?” The pornstar cocks a judgy brow at me. “You don’t know anything about us.”

“I’ve got a dossier as thick as my cock on both of you,” I tell them, smirking as their mouths pop open in unison. “I’m security to the richest man in the state. You think I got the gig because of my good looks?”

“That’s fucking rude!”

“It’s survival.” I narrow my eyes at the beta. “I didn’t just wander into that facility, remember? I studied you , because you were Diana’s latest caretender. And you were only there because your brother fucked up with the Carrillos and you were paying off his debt.” He flushes red, looking pissed that I’m airing his family business, but if he wants to be pack, he needs to know where he stands. “You’re a little shit, but you’re a loyal one, and that’s better than being squeaky clean in my books.”

“And what about me?” the pornstar drawls, leaning back on an elbow. “Did you rummage around in my dirty laundry, too?”

“I know enough.” I won’t go into the shit about Lily Luscious now, not with Jake on the run and Diana’s slick heavy in the air. “Loyalty isn’t gonna be an issue, and you’ve proven you can put Diana’s needs first.” I wait for him to nod, then look down at our girl, watching us with wide, thoughtful eyes. “It’s up to you two how far you want to go, but if Diana thinks you’re pack, you need to decide quick fucking smart if you agree.”

“I’m in,” the beta says quietly, leaning down to smooth a flyaway in Diana’s braid. She nuzzles into his hand, and he looks at me, the distrust still plain in his eyes. “Not for the bite or the collar, but I’ll take the rest of it because I’m in love with her.”

I’m tempted to roll my eyes at him, but I look at the pornstar instead. “And you?”

“‘My body is mine. My pleasure is mine. My slick is mine.’” The way he says it sounds like a sacred mantra, and I raise my brows at him. “I really believe that, so you can keep your knots to yourself. But like Dex, I want to be part of this because of Diana.” He leans down to kiss her, and she stares at him like a descending star. Their mouths move together for a while, and I have to admit, it’s a fascinating sight. Their kind of mutual adoration is rare between omegas, and their scents swirl around us, so sweet I feel my teeth throb. As if to torture me a little more, the pornstar breaks away and looks at me through lust-smeared eyes. “You want his knot, Omega?”

Diana gives a shiver in response, her gaze darting between us. “I want him. Same as I want both of you.”

It’s on the tip of the tongue to point out that my knot is the real deal, but I give them their moment, her packmates taking turns to kiss and coo at her as she melts into the bed.

“Enough,” I finally growl, pushing them aside. “Time to make this official.”

In hindsight, it’s probably not the most romantic way to start a bonding, but my beast is twitching under my skin. I always thought of my alpha nature as a kind of lone wolf, circling other packs with his nose in the air. Even the Jackals MC couldn’t really tempt him to give up his roaming ways, but that ends here.

They’re mine and I’m theirs, and the whole damn world is about to know it.

“I need another taste,” I tell Diana, nudging her thighs wide. She arches her back, inviting me in, and I smirk as I drop onto my elbows. The view is enough to make my cock punch a hole in the bed, and I feast like a starving man, chasing every drop of her honey sweetness until her thighs are quivering. They’re pink from the rasp of my beard, and I grin at the marks of possession. It’s a good reminder that I belong right here, but I also want her to howl my name. I use all my tricks, sucking on her wet folds and tweaking her clit until she comes in my mouth. The flush of pure slick down my throat drags a roar out of my chest, and while I’m pretty sure I startle our audience, I’m too far gone to care.

“Knot me, Alpha!” she begs, her thighs clenching around me. I drag my torso up her body, our chests sliding together like wet satin and sandpaper. I’ve got enough scar tissue from gang fights and road rash to make it hurt, but she pulls me closer, her hand wrapping around my throbbing cock. “I want you inside me. Please , Kane!”

“Kisses first,” I tell her, smirking at her pout. But I kiss her back to a purr, my tongue coating hers in the bounty from between her thighs. She doesn’t complain, licking and biting at me until our breath is coming in hard pants. I want more of this, but her heat is rising again, and I know she’ll be hurting if I don’t knot her soon. “Ready for me, Diana?”

“Yes! Please!”

I’m all lined up to push deep, but I catch the eye of her omega, who gives me a small nod to continue. I smirk at the flush on his cheeks, because while he might not want my knot, he definitely doesn’t mind watching me feed it to Diana.

“Take me, Omega,” I grunt, pushing deep into her velvet warmth. She’s tight from her last release, my thick shaft stretching her to the limit. I try to ease up, but her legs lock behind me, her hands clawing at my shoulders. She’s riding that blissful line between pleasure and pain, and I bend down, slurping her nipple into my mouth. It just rubs more beard rash on her sweet tits, but she arches up, begging for more.

“All the way in, Omega,” I tell her as I press home, my shaft swelling against her walls. “You’re taking every inch of me, aren’t you, sweet girl?”

“Yes! It feels so good, Kane!”

I eat my name off her lips, then slowly pull back, watching her pupils blow at the friction. When I’m almost out, I surge forward, groaning at the greedy clutch of her silken heat. There’s plenty of slick to smooth the way, but it’s rough enough to shove her up the bed with every thrust. She moans and writhes under me, her shaking hands fisting the covers until she screams out her release for the second time.

I’ve never been in a rut, but I think I might be riding the edge of one as she coats us in her pleasure. Everything smells of honey, and sex, and need, and I feel my head spin as I pound into her. The rest of the room is a blur, my brain hypnotized by her hooded eyes and swollen mouth. Every gasp and quiver spurs me on, and I sit back on my heels, grabbing her hips so I can drive deeper.

“It’s coming, Omega,” I tell her through gritted teeth. “Take my knot. Take my bite.”

“Yes! Please , Alpha.”

I look down, my heart thumping at the sight of her battered pussy swallowing my cock. The knot at the base is a violent purple and so fucking swollen it sends bolts of lightning up my spine. I’m not sure it’s even going to fit until she wiggles her hips, her lip caught between her teeth as she bucks off the bed. Has there ever been a hotter fucking sight in the world than this omega gulping down my knot?

My balls combust, gushes of hot cum splashing inside her as she jerks with her own release. The violent ripple in her walls milks my knot, and I grind against her, pushing as deep as I can go. “I’m breeding you, Omega. Take it all and give me your throat.”

The words sound like gravel in a mixer, but she understands enough to tilt her head, her eyes fierce as I drag my thumb over her gland. Rut is too gentle for what I’m feeling as I tear her from the bed, pulling her up into my lap. My knot grinds against her walls, making us both cry out, but she grips my cheeks, almost yanking my beard out at the root. “Bite me, Alpha! Make me yours!”

“Mine,” I growl, setting my teeth over her gland and biting down. Blood fills my mouth, scorching my throat, and I feel the bond between us unspool in a crimson gush. She jerks against me as the hook lodges deep, and then sags, a soft, sweet sigh falling from her lips. “So lovely,” she hums, blinking through wet lashes. “My lovely mate.”

“Damn perfect,” I murmur back, my thumb now pressing against the ravaged gland on her throat. I have a big fucking mouth, and a possessive purr fills my chest as I realize it’s going to scar. Bad. “Mine,” I say again, this time with a note of awe.

“Ours.” Trust the beta to pipe up now, but I just smirk at him, since I’m the one knot-deep in our girl. “You did so good, Diana.”

She reaches for him, laughter breaking against their lips as they meet in a kiss. “I’m so happy, Dex. This is everything I wanted and more.”

“You got your mate,” he croons, stroking her wild hair back against the remains of her braid. “This is it, Diana. Your happily ever after.”

“All of us,” she insists, turning towards the pornstar, who’s kneeling on the other side of us. “We can have this, can’t we?”

“You already have it,” he tells her with a kind smile. “And if anyone doubts you, you’ve got the big-ass bite to prove it.”

I snort at his unsubtle dig, but I’m too mellow to bite back, snaring his arm and pulling him over instead. “Come on, dimples. Snuggle in close and I promise I won’t touch that cute little tent in your shorts.”

He rolls his eyes at me, but scoots over, twining his fingers with Diana’s.

I really need to learn their fucking names , I think, a moment before I pass out, my beast purring in my chest like the cat who got the cream.

Three times over.