Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
ELENA
He played the part of doting Alpha as he gathered her up into his arms, sopping wet and hysterically sobbing.
He hushed her cries, voicing a purr so deep and rich that she had no choice but to melt beneath it as he arranged her back in the bed.
Made her pliant and soft under his ministrations as he bandaged her shoulder up again.
Curling his body tight around hers, he continued to push that sound into her. Giving her no mercy as he stroked his hands over every inch of her, cupping her belly and breasts as if he could already envision what would happen in a few short months.
She was pregnant.
Elena would be wholly dependent upon him now, unable to even exist without his touch, his very nearness.
A pregnant Omega couldn’t be without an Alpha, let alone her mate.
She’d die without him. Her breaths tried to grow fast, chest heaving as the thought began to take form before he ushered it away with his fingers raking through her wet hair.
With the utmost tenderness, he worked free every snarled knot, untangling it until it spread out around her head in a halo.
Leon was speaking to her in low tones. She didn’t hear a word of it. Too caught up in her panic, she withdrew deep inside of herself. Her hands fluttered over the spark tingling beneath her belly button. Smoothing her fingers over it to calm the sensation that had her at war within herself.
A child. Her child. His, too. She’d never allowed herself to dream of being a mother, of having this particular role in life. Now she was mated and pregnant. Elena should be happy, but she wasn’t.
This child was his. The man who had hurt her, raped her, then stolen her away to do all of this. It wasn’t right.
Tears welled, slipping down her cheeks unchecked though there were no distraught sounds to be heard. Not as he purred for her, wiping away the miserable wet streaks with firm fingers. Hushing her until finally he dragged her under his weight.
“No,” Elena shouted, legs clamping shut as she shoved at his chest.
For a long, breathless moment, he loomed over her. The rich chestnut of his eyes burned, scalding over her as he took in her panic. It promised pain and punishment both. Dark and malevolent, it seared through her, straight to her heart where it caused the steadfast muscle to trip and stutter.
Then he shuttered it away. Closing off whatever part of himself she’d seen as he stroked the hair at her temples. His arms came around her, holding her tight as he rolled, dragging her up on top of him. Purring loudly for her as he crushed her against his chest where she would feel the sound best.
Adrenaline began to fade, leaving her exhausted and jumpy. She flinched as he brought the covers high, whining low in her throat until he settled them up and over her head. Enclosing them both in the muted light, his hands kneading at her back under the heavy weight of the blankets.
Elena could no more hold out against it than she could stop breathing. She drifted off to sleep with his scent thick in her every breath as she laid her cheek against his chest and dozed.
Alone when she woke, Elena breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t there to torment her with his caresses or the long looks that she couldn’t read.
Surfacing from her burrow, Elena looked around and felt unsettled.
The idea that it could be his very absence was abhorrent to her, so she climbed out of the bed to don the closest thing she had to casual wear.
She needed comfort now, not pretty clothes, and not for the first time she wished she had well-worn sweats and yoga pants in her wardrobe.
The nest was no longer right, his rough treatment of it ruining the perfect lines.
She had no idea what to do with it. Alphas didn’t keep Omegas in their bed, let alone allow them to turn them into nests.
Feeling guilty and somehow betrayed, she dragged the many covers off and stuffed them into the laundry basket just inside the closet door.
She took the time to make the bed just so, every harsh angle and crisp fold grating against her nerves.
Edging her way down the stairs, she jumped at every imagined noise. Startled at the deep shadows lurking around every corner. Full night had descended, and no one had bothered to turn on the many lights, casting everything into dim shadows and sulking darkness.
Elena went through the dining room on tiptoe, trying not to make a sound as she hoped the kitchen lay just beyond. She had no idea how long her heat had lasted with an Alpha to see to her, but she was starved.
Slipping through the doorway, Elena fought a smile as she viewed her target. It was too soon for a victory yet. She still needed to find something to eat and get out of this space without being caught.
Why it should matter wasn’t clear, but Elena felt like a thief all the same.
Opening the refrigerator door with care, she peeked inside and almost let out a whoop. Cold cuts, crisp lettuce, and every condiment she could dream of sat in perfect order just inside. She gathered her bounty, taking it to the wide island as she poked around the counters for bread.
“Perfect,” she whispered to herself as she found a fresh loaf still soft and squishy.
Elena was well into making her huge sandwich, mustard and mayonnaise smeared all over her fingers when the overhead light flicked on, and a subterranean growl filled the space.
It startled her into dropping the knife she’d been using, the piercing ring of it hitting the floor followed by a wet slap as it stuck to the cool tiles.
“What are you doing,” Leon demanded from the doorway.
“I was hungry,” Elena mumbled, stooping to pick up the knife only to have her wrist snatched. Leon pulled her up by that grip alone, stretching her body taut until it was a quivering line.
“Then you call Mrs. Jacobs,” he bit out, grinding the small bones of her wrist together as his hold tightened.
“It’s night,” Elena stammered out. “I’m capable of making a sandwich on my own.”
“Hardly,” Leon scoffed. Turning his head, he bellowed, “Mrs. Jacobs!”
Within moments the woman scurried in, head bowing as she took in the scene. “Yes, sir?”
“Did you fail to inform my mate that you are available at all hours?”
“I… I’m certain that I did, sir.”
“Well,” Leon asked, turning the full force of his anger upon Elena.
“I’m sorry,” Elena mumbled as she dropped her chin, bowing her head even lower than poor Mrs. Jacobs.
If the housekeeper had told her as much, she didn’t remember, but there was likely more than Elena would care to admit that she’d let slip through her fingers those first few days as her world was sent off kilter.
“I’ll have this cleaned up in no time, and bring a fresh one out to the miss in the dining room, shall I, sir?” Mrs. Jacobs seemed to be holding her breath the same as Elena.
“Go sit down,” Leon ordered on a deep rumble, sending Elena stumbling towards the door with a light shove that had her flailing for balance.
So much for pretending to be a doting Alpha.
Elena slunk her way to her chair, sitting there in the dark. Knowing she was being foolish, but too afraid to go against his demands. She rubbed at her chest as something tugged and pulled. It felt as if it wormed its way in, latching on with vicious teeth to draw itself deeper.
“Never you mind, miss,” Mrs. Jacobs murmured after she turned on the light and settled a fresh plate in front of Elena. The sandwich was cut just so, with pickles and a fresh salad on the side. “I’m sure it will all blow over.”
Elena hummed a noncommittal response as she scratched at that peculiar feeling. Drawing it out with her fingers, spreading it deeper with every breath. It was alien and second nature all at once, a new limb in place of an old one. Disturbed by her thoughts, Elena began to eat.
Ravenous, she barely took note of Mrs. Jacobs setting another plate in front of her, and then another. It wasn’t until her fork scraped over the last smears of pie and whip cream, the warm blueberry filling bold and brash against the white porcelain, that she realized she’d eaten quite a bit more.
And that Leon Marchetti was watching her again.
He sat at the other end of the table, chin propped on his knuckles as he watched her with blatant interest. His eyes narrowed as she stared back at him, a single brow arching high as if he dared her to continue.
Elena slid the fork between her lips, challenging him. Meeting his gaze as boldly as he met hers. A silver tongued voice whispered in her ear to submit, to be docile and sweet to him, but she offered up a saccharine smile to match the sharp edged grin he aimed at her.
He wouldn’t beat her. Leon wouldn’t risk his possible heir and first child over such a thing. Omegas might be made to take an Alpha’s violence, but they could still break.
Elena didn’t know why it grated on her, the way he watched and stared.
So silent, so unfeeling, as if he inspected a bug.
She remembered what he’d been like during her heat, though only in vague snatches and gritty fragments.
It was nothing at all like this. He’d lavished her with his attentions, murmured sweetly in her ear.
Given her his pleasured sounds as he wrecked her mind and body both with indescribable bliss.
“Go to bed,” Leon said, not moving from his indolent posture to even wave her on.
“I’m not tired.”
“I didn’t say to sleep.”
“But I’m not in heat anymore,” Elena protested, jumping up from her chair to gain a few more steps away from him. She swayed in the open space, uncertain and without a bulwark to defend her nearby. All she could do is run from him, and that would only excite him more.
“Do you think that is the only time I would have you in my bed?” Leon continued to watch, to stare as Elena began to tremble. Seeming to enjoy her terror as she quickstepped back another handful of paces.
“What you’re insisting on isn’t done,” Elena hissed, clawing at her chest as that insidious voice whispered sweetly to bow to him.
The harder she scratched at it, the deeper it went, spinning a web of honeyed lies around her heart.
Binding her soul with vicious sweetness until Elena thought she might shatter to a thousand pieces right then and there.
“And what would you know of how it’s done,” Leon asked as if bored with her vehemence.
“I… I…” Elena’s anger fell flat as she realized she didn’t know a thing.
It wasn’t something explained to them. She had only her father’s house and his way of doing things to go by.
For all she knew, each Alpha had his own way of arranging the many partners in their lives.
There was only one thing she did know for certain, and there was no way around it. “Omegas have their own rooms.”
“Perhaps when I take on another Omega, or when I decide to marry, yes. Until then, I see no reason to have to come hunting you down when I want to fuck you.”
Elena cringed at the coarseness of his words, the bald statement turning her cheeks hot even as she went cold all over. For a horrid moment, the thought of him with another, pleasing them, making them scream his name just as Elena had sent her rage spiraling. Then she remembered herself.
She was nothing and nobody to this man. First Omega or not, the only position that accorded her was among other Omegas. Not him.
The fight drained out of her in an instant, leaving her quaking and adrift.
Elena bowed her head and turned to go up the stairs.
She returned to the bedroom, hugging her middle tight as the cold stole through her, icy tendrils working their way through her limbs as she undressed with mechanical motions.
Climbing into the bed, she curled up into a tight ball on her side to stare out of the sliver of window peeking through the curtains.
Leon didn’t join her for some time. The first fingers of dawn were spearing through the sky to lighten the glass when he came in. Peeling away his clothes, he made no effort not to rouse her. Knowing she was still awake. Waiting for him.
He got into the bed behind her, a perturbed grunt escaping his lips as his searching fingers found her hand rubbing the spot on her chest raw.
Gripping her shoulder, he rolled Elena under him, crushing her beneath his weight.
Forcing her to unwind from her defensive huddle until she lay open and bare to him in every sense.
Aligning their chests, he offered a subtle growl.
An almost purr that crackled through tensed muscle and gritted teeth until suddenly all the tension drained from her body at once.
Exhaling a shuddering sigh as some point between them connected, sending a surge of warmth through her body, Elena melted into the bed.
She offered no protests as Leon hefted her leg to his hip. Made no denials as he kneaded her breasts. Gave him her quiet moan as he ravaged her mouth with his, luring her in with his devastating kisses.
Only instincts.
Elena reminded herself of the fact she was primed to respond to him. Fresh from her estrous, mated and pregnant.
As he trailed his lips down her neck, exhaustion filled her. A great lassitude weighed down her limbs as she relaxed further into the bed. Her lids became heavy, unable to keep them open as she struggled to watch the Alpha above her devouring her body.
She was just so very tired.
Her breaths grew deep and even as he gripped her breast, laving its peak with long swipes of his tongue. Elena gave a sleepy moan, her hands soft and weighty as she stroked over his shoulders.
She’d rest for just a moment.