15. Shale
Chapter fifteen
Shale
S hale Aged 19
I laugh as the boot hits my ribs. I think I heard something crack. It occurs to me that these guys might kill me. Nah, that won’t happen.
The bonds ignite with rage, and I let out another laugh.
“Oh, you’re fucked now.”
Keagan appears from nowhere and slams his fist into the face of the guy who just kicked me.
Beau races in and tackles another. It’s a vicious brawl, but it’s over quickly. Beau and Keagan are as skilled fighters as I am. The ten unconscious guys are scattered all around us. More tourists thinking they could do whatever they wanted.
Beau holds out his hand, and I clasp it, laughing. “You’re nuts, do you know that? Why did you come alone?”
“We need the money.”
“Not that bad,” Keagan snarls.
His knuckles are split, but he looks adorable. I wince as my ribs twinge and look down at the bald-headed guy on the ground. He moans when I kick him. This is the guy we’ve been hired to get.
I pull him up, waiting until he’s staring at me, fear in his eyes.
“Do you remember the deal? You had to pay up or things were going to get ugly.”
“It’s not enough time to get the money!” he squeaks.
“I don’t really care. I’m not here because of the money. I’m here to deliver a message.”
“What kind of message?”
“The painful kind.”
I pull out a knife and carve the message on his skin.
When I’m finished, Beau elbows me, laughing at my pain.
“Feel like a milkshake or beer?”
I consider it for a moment. “Milkshake.”
P resent Day
I stand in the cave and stare blankly at the mattress. I hear him approach, but I don’t give any sign that I have. There’s a part of me that hopes he will attack so I can turn around and kill him and another part of me that’s just tired.
“I want to know why she’s chosen this place as a nest.”
The question throws me. It’s unexpected, deeper than I gave them credit for. Maybe I’ve misjudged them.
And maybe cows will sprout wings and fly. I must have been silent for too long because he clears his throat.
“Please, Shale, I want to understand her.”
I huff a dry, cynical laugh and turn, hitting Ezy with the coldest glare I can muster.
“You can’t put two and two together?” I gesture to the cave. “This is a person who is broken, Ezy. Not her body or her mind like she believes, but they broke her spirit. When you treat someone like shit for long enough, they start to believe. This cave should tell you that our omega thinks so lowly of herself that she doesn’t even think she deserves a nice nest.”
Ezy looks around. “What happened to her?”
“What didn’t happen to her?” I say dryly. “And you can fucking talk to her about it if you want to know details. I’m not betraying her trust.”
“You three really love her.”
The surprise and note of skepticism in his statement irritates me.
I glare at him. “How can you not?”
Ezy swallows hard and looks at the mattress rather than me. For him, he didn’t see her and know what she was. He didn’t see her and have his entire world rearrange itself. For Ezy, she’s not his savior. We’re in different places.
“How can you condone acting the way you do around her? Do you really think that kind of barbaric behaviour helps?”
“Let me be very fucking clear. If any harm or hurt befalls her on this fucked up trip, I will drain the blood from your body and wear your skin as a fucking jacket.”
“That’s really morbid,” Ezy mumbles. “And goes with my point.”
“Don’t test us. The only thing I can promise you is that we are hers. She will always come first, and we will always be there to break the bones of those who make her cry.”
“I’m not planning on making her cry,” Ezy says and steps back as I approach.
I reach out, pausing when he flinches and then brushes his hair behind his ear.
“You know what I’ve found?”
“What?” Ezy’s voice is huskier, wary. He’s struggling to hold my gaze.
“People who have everything seldom remember about promises they made to people like me.”
Ezy jerks. “How do you-”
“Ezekial Boothe. You aren’t hard to find information about. I just needed to nudge a few doors, and the information fell into my lap.”
“I haven’t told them yet.”
I think for a moment he’s talking about Keagan, Beau, and Aspyn, but then I realise it’s not us. It’s Kelly and Gael. I don’t even know what to say to him.
He squeezes his eyes closed and holds his breath. I poke his shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“I just need a second.”
“Right. Well, get your ass together, Ezy, boy. You’re going to have all the fun of protecting our omega from all your rabid fans.”
His eyes snap open, and he wheezes. “What?”
“You three didn’t think about that? Your ravenous fans are going to go just about insane when they realise that you’ve decided to get an omega.”
“She’s not my omega.”
I react without thinking, slamming two palms to his chest and throwing him back up against the wall. I lean into him, my fury driving me to press until he’s still, his chin lifts in submission. His scent is slightly sour with fear.
“She’s your omega and your responsibility.”
“Can you have a single conversation with someone without threatening them?” Ezy hisses.
“No.”
Ezy rolls his eyes, plants his hands on my chest, and pushes, but I refuse to yield, instead holding my ground and leaning further into him until our chests almost touch.
Ezy’s fear evaporates, and that crazy anger I keep sensing in him returns.
“What is that?”
“What?
“That anger that lives inside you all the time?”
Ezy looks away from me. “Can you get off me, please?”
I shrug and step back. “Sure. But you protect her or I’ll destroy you.” I don’t wait for him but walk out of the cave and walk back to our house. It will take me five minutes to pack, but I need some time alone, so I may as well do it now.
My bedroom has black walls. The ceiling is black. My furniture is black. It’s my personal void where I can come when I need to decompress from the world.
It’s not easy being the kind of alpha I am. The rage that lives inside me, the aggression is a constant battle. If nothing else, Aspyn has taught me to control myself and find ways to get rid of that frustration in creative ways.
I lay on my bed and throw an arm over my eyes. The click, click, click of her cane approaching my room has my body on high alert. She taps on my door tentatively.
“Come in, beautiful.”
She turns the doorknob and limps into the room, coming to sit on the edge of my bed. I grab her shoulders and drag her back until she’s nestled against my chest.
“Talk to me.”
“Do you think this is smart?”
“Yes, and no. I think if you want to go, it’s smart, but if you’re doing this just for money, then, no, it’s not.”
She sighs. “I don’t know why I’m doing it. Because…”
“Because they are your scent matches, and you can’t bear the thought of losing them. And because you desperately want to get off this island and away from all the bigoted assholes who live here.”
“Yeah.”
I kiss her shoulder. “You don’t need their money. We have enough to look after you.”
“I know that. But I don’t want to have to be a-”
“Say that fucking word, Omega, and I will spank that ass of yours,” I growl.
She stiffens, and I wonder if I’ve gone too far, but then her perfume intensifies, and I realise she actually might like it.
“You don’t want our money because we help you too much already?” I feel the words out as I speak them.
“Yes! And how am I supposed to pay you back?”
“We don’t want anything back from you,” I say, which is a blatant lie.
We fall silent, both hearing the unspoken lie in the air.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know why you’re our scent match, but I know why I love you. It’s all the things. It’s the way your nose scrunches when you’re holding back a laugh. And the way you sway when you’re doing the dishes. I love your awful cooking and obsession with rocks. You are kind and sweet and intelligent, and you aren’t afraid of us.”
“I can’t-”
“I don’t care.”
“But-”
“No, Aspyn!” I snap with bite and sit up. “I don’t care. I wouldn’t care if you were an alien with tentacles. Stop trying to turn us into everyone else. It’s tedious.”
I flop back down again and throw my arm over my eyes.
She sniffs.
Oh, no. Fuck.
She goes to move, but I grab her top and jerk her back on the bed, rolling until she’s trapped under me.
Her golden eyes glint in the low light as her tears turn her eyes into those damn precious stones of hers.
“I said you thinking we are screwing with you is tedious. I did not and would not say you are tedious.”
“I don’t mean to be like this-”
“Aspyn, did you hear anything I just said?” I ask in exasperation. “I’m telling you I love you, rocks and all, and you’re worried about one word.”
She blinks up at me. “You can’t love me.”
“Oh, can’t I?” I snort out a laugh, unable to believe this omega.
“No.”
I snort. “Why not?”
“Because everyone who loves me suffers and goes away.”
I catch my breath, my heart aching for her, and lean down, letting my body cover hers.
“I’ve loved you for years, and I’m not going anywhere. None of us are.”
She reaches up, and one arm goes around my neck. I allow her to drag me down until her face is buried in my neck.
“This, us. It’s not going to change. No matter what happens.”
“I’m scared,” she whispers.
“Nothing is going to happen, Aspyn.”
She wiggles against me, and her scent changes. It gets sweeter and fuller.
“Aspyn?”
“Don’t make me beg,” she whispers.
The words slam into me. Having her during a heat is one thing, but to have her now because she wants it, that’s like all my dreams coming true.
I want this to be perfect.
“Don’t beg. You never have to beg. This is and always will be a negotiation.”
I move fast, pulling her clothes off piece by piece. It takes me less time to remove mine.
When she moves to sit up from where I’ve put her in the middle of the bed, I crawl over her, kissing her until she moans. With regret, I pull away from her delicious lips and trail my lips down over her neck.
She moans, but I suck and tease, scraping my teeth over sensitive skin.
“You’re perfect, Aspyn.”
She blinks at me, and I can tell she doesn’t believe me, but I’m just going to have to show her.
I put my weight on one arm and lightly graze my fingers up her hips and ribs while I pay particular adoration to the beautiful curve of her shoulder.
When I’m satisfied, I move down, leaving open-mouthed kisses to the curve of her breast.
“You should know that I’m really grateful that you’re doing this.”
I pause, my eyes on the delectable nipple in front of me. Wait, what?
I look up with a frown. “This isn’t a pity fuck. Pity fucks do not look like this.”
“Oh? What do they look like?”
I shake my head, frustrated with the way her brain works. “Pity doesn’t play, it doesn’t tease, and it most certainly doesn’t take its time.”
“Oh,” she says again, but her mind is going into that fuzzy place I love, where she can’t think properly. Her fingers find my hair and hold me in place.
I flick out my tongue, just hitting the tip of her nipple. Her reaction is everything.
Her body arches, trembling, offering herself to me. She moans, and it’s my favourite sound on this planet.
“Shale!”
My name on her lips almost undoes me, but I’m taking my time. So, I tease her a little longer, refusing the pull of my hair as she tries to direct my head. I kiss in between her breasts, feeling her heart beat against my tongue. That rapid flutter of excitement has me grinning before I trace a spiral, and, finally, when I’m ready, I take her nipple into my mouth and suck.
She turns to liquid.
She has the most sensitive breasts, and she loves them being played with. The bonus of knowing her so intimately is that I’ve got the home ground advantage.
I know the minute I’ve pushed her as far as I can. She’s writhing against me, my hips pinning hers. I turn from the breast I’m suckling and transfer my affections to the other.
She hisses and tugs, her body going bow tight. I grind my cock into that wet heat between her legs. It would be so easy to just slip inside, but I want to really make this moment stand out. I want her to remember what I’ve done. To remember this feeling and want more.
I lift my head.
“If we had more time, I would sit you on my face and eat until my jaw ached.”
Her eyes go wide. The gold is a thin ring around huge black pupils.
“Shale, please.”
“You are beautiful, and you are mine. Remember that.”
I roll us so she’s on top, her legs sprawled on either side of me. I hold her to me. We’re pressed against each other at nearly every point.
I grip her ass cheeks and shift my hips. The tip of my cock breaches her. She gasps, stiffens, and then moans as she tries to push down.
“We’re doing this my way,” I tease her. “I’m worshipping you, remember?”
“I need it, please, Alpha.”
Damn. She says the trigger word.
What can I do but give my omega what she needs? With one quick thrust, I fully seat myself in her. Slick pours over my balls and saturates the room with that fragrance that undoes me.
My own green apple scent gets stronger. I slide my hands over her ass, dragging her up and down. So carefully, never letting her hurt herself.
This is only for pleasure. Only for us.
She pants into my ear, clenching that cunt so tight around me that it’s taking all my skills and all my power to resist.
“Do you want a knot?”
“Yes! Please!” she sobs.
“Baby, I told you, no begging. I’ll give you whatever makes you feel good.”
I pull her down harder on my next thrust up and push my knot partially into her.
She’s so damn tight, and it’s so hard to go slow, but I keep shifting us, keep rocking, even when she comes apart and clenches rhythmically around me.
Even when she cries and clings to me, the orgasm stretches on and on and on. Only when she’s sated and I’m happy she is do I let go, allowing my knot to push all the way into her and give into my own release.
This is how you worship your omega.