Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Lizette
“ W hat?”
My voice cracks and the world with it. For a brief moment, the pain inside me is dwarfed by the agony caused by his words.
I don’t even know why it hurts. The lies Dad might have told me? The implacable truth of what he’s saying rings through me.
I stagger, but Dante makes no move to help, makes no move at all, just shows me his hateful, cold, impassive face. I grab at the bed then sink down, dragging the now cool water bottle to my lap and digging my fingers into the purple silicon, the water sloshing as I do.
It soothes a little, that sound, the feel against my fingers. But it’s a lie, a fallacy.
The pain is rocking through me. Both agonies now. Inside my body and inside my heart. And I squeeze my eyes shut to stop the burn and blur of tears. I’m definitely not going to cry in front of this demon.
I swallow. Hard. Over the hot lump that makes it hard to breathe.
Dad lied through omission all the time. I knew it. He had to lie. His past had been locked and bolted away, along with the truth about whoever my mother was. That she died is the only thing I know for certain. And to stop the Council from taking me, my father ran with me.
But dad was Connor. Connor Roth. Like I’m Lizette Roth. If he had another name, he’d have trusted me with it.
Right?
Right?
Elias Enver. The name’s known. A murmur and whisper. Passing conversation with peers of Dad’s. Just in earshot of me I’d hear it. But—and it’s a big but —they all called Dad Roth or Con. Or Connor.
If it’s true, it makes my life a lie. A joke. It makes me wonder what I don’t know.
I stare down at the water bottle.
“My father… Dad’s name was Connor Roth. He was shunned. We both were. Apparently now I’m not.”
“You know his real name.”
“It isn’t.” I push it out. And I know it’s a lie. It makes sense. And the grown-up part of me even understands it. But right now, the little girl who’s still crying for her dad is hurting over this. “I’ve heard that name. But everyone called him Con or Connor.”
Dante sighs, irritated. He doesn’t like me, I can tell. My body might want him like I crave him, and we haven’t even really touched, but I don’t like him right back.
“Elias Enver’s a wanted man,” he says. “He wasn’t shunned. He was on the run. Which you know.”
“I don’t…I don’t know anything. If you have a problem with him, it’s too late. He’s dead.” A tear escapes, and I smack it away.
“Doesn’t change the fucking fact you wandered in here and fucked the status quo. Fucked the equilibrium and probably would have fucked the pretty, curly haired asshole, too. Jesus, you already got him to mark you.”
Panic slams into me and my hand flies to my throat. The place that hurts and feels so good. I press into it. Feel the shape by the sensations.
Bite mark.
Oh, holy hell.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I say.
“You were humping him.”
“I’m not the only one involved,” I snap. “And I was drugged.”
Dante doesn’t comment, but the set to his mouth spikes my blood pressure.
“I’m not some kind of femme fatale,” I say.
“No, you’re definitely not.”
“Ass.”
“Here’s the deal. You’re in heat. So, you’re staying here, with us.” His gaze drops to the hot water bottle. “I’ll have another sent in. And some sourced omega blockers. That’s why you were in the Hollows that night?”
I nod, my chest tight. “How long will I be a prisoner?”
“Not a prisoner.”
“Unwanted guest,” I say, pushing the words out through gritted teeth. “How long?”
“Until I say so.”
Fury breaks free, burning like acid. I throw the water bottle at him, but he just looks irritated as he easily catches it. “Saves me the trip closer to you,” he mutters.
“You say that like you don’t want to come closer.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re a bastard.”
“And?” His gaze flickers over me. “You can like this arrangement or not. You’re here until I change it. ”
“You don’t want to come closer,” I snap. “I don’t want you anywhere near me. Who the hell do you think you are to take me prisoner—sorry, make me your unwanted guest—until you say so? Just because I came into your shitty establishment? What gives you the right to act this way?”
The corners of his mouth turn upward in a cruel little smile, and it makes my insides swoop and lust burst forth. I’m sick in the head and I know it. The other one, Knight…he was nice to me.
This one?
I’m sick with lusting for him. It’s my heat. That’s all this is—the heat puts hormones into overdrive.
“I’m one of the fucking alphas of the Unholy Trinity. I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Including kidnapping.”
“If I wanted to, yes. As it is, you’re a guest. Unwanted, but a guest. Consider it protection for what happened with that dick bag, Jake, on our premises.”
“Then just take it on the record,” I say, “that I don’t want to be here.”
“Great, because I don’t want you here either. I don’t need to babysit a fucking little drunk of an omega who’s recklessly trying to get herself a mate by hitting up bars. Or did you choose this one in the hope that you’d get one of us? Maybe this Jake actually helped you?”
“What?” I recoil from his words and grip the edge of the bed where I sit, every part of me hurting, vibrating with tension while he just stands there; relaxed, uncaring, hating me.
I didn’t do anything to him. At all.
“It happens, Lizette. Girls come in, Council plants or girls looking for what they think is going to be an exciting ride with one or all three of us. Those girls try to trap us. Fuck, omega men, too. Never works. ”
“What? The boys aren’t pretty enough for you?”
He doesn’t do anything but shrug. “The boys are not any of our type. It’d probably be easier. But then again, we don’t want those fucking girls, either. None of us wants to change our way of life. We’re a trinity, not a nursery. We trade in illicit goods, underground bars and clubs. Not Council fucking life. And we’re not splitting up. Go be a drunk elsewhere next time.”
“I’m not a drunk. I barely drink.”
Dante just laughs. “The empty bottles in your apartment suggest otherwise.”
I stare at him.
“Yeah,” he says, “we searched it. Reaper did.”
My head’s starting to spin. It’s not that sense of betrayal. It’s him, my body, it’s the fact I want to launch myself at him, lick him all over, and offer myself to him like a willing sacrifice.
It’s almost enough of a shocking thought to drag me back from the edge, but it’s the heat, and the fact that this might be the first time I’m plunging in without drugs.
Bad enough I only had one O-blocker. The booze helped. And, like it or not, the drugged food did too. But all that’s faded.
And for the first time, I’m left with the real force of being in heat. My thighs are wet, and I’m hot, feverish, my clothes are both too much and not enough. I start to clench at the material of my skirt, hiking it up to mid-thigh.
“I’m not a drunk. I’m in heat and I don’t…I don’t know why you hate me. Why you’re repulsed by me.”
“Fuck.” He rubs a hand over his eyes. “I think we’re done talking. Darcy will be in with some drugs, something to knock you out until we can get the blockers.”
“I don’t want drugs,” I snarl.
“You drank a shit ton of booze. That’s a drug. So are the O-blockers you went to the Hollows to buy.” The nasty smile appears again, and I want to run my fingers over his shadow of a beard, his lips, dip in.
I want to run my fingers over him, rub my slick over his mouth. I want to grind into him, drown in his heat, his touch, let him do what I know he can: stop the pain and make me feel good.
“If you don’t want me, Knight does.”
I rise.
“Oh, fuck.” He points the hot water bottle at me. “Stay the fuck down on the bed.”
“No.”
I cross to him, and the closer I get, the more that intoxicating scent of secret places, earth, salt, and rain. All of it comes together and whispers sex to me.
The closer I get, the more soothed I am. And, at the same time, inexplicably, more feverish. I stop right in front of him and look up.
Everything spins in me.
Oh, this man is handsome, hard edged, dark souled and I can’t help but want to drop down and offer myself to this god-like creature, have him make me his slave. Do with me what he wants.
“Back the fuck off.”
It’s a warning, a challenge, a taunt, and to my fever and heat fueled brain, a come on.
I put my hand on his chest.
Electricity sparks through me, lighting me up.
He’s hot. Beyond hot. Fire itself. From hell. From the heavens. From all the secret places.
I’m fused to him in a way that doesn’t involve the physical self. And the slight parting of his lips, flare of his nostrils, they tell me he feels it too.
“I just need…I need…” I rise on my bare toes to kiss him, one hand reaching for his cock .
Suddenly, I’m slammed hard against the wall, wrists in a tight grip above my head.
The world spins, and when it stops, when I can breathe, all I can taste and feel and smell is him. I whimper.
“Listen up, little omega, and listen good, because I’m only fucking saying this once.” His gaze drops to my mouth and the hunger in it makes a liar of the harshness in his tone. The rejection.
“You want me,” I whisper.
“No. This is heat. Omega. Alpha. Fucking nature and base animalistic needs we feed into because that’s all society can be bothered to cling to. Because it’s easy to control people when you set up rigid rules and ways. I don’t want you. My body might, but fuck that.”
“Fuck me .”
“We don’t need groupies like you hanging around, squeezing out our kids, tying us to a life we don’t want,” he murmurs. “The norms and restrictions and all that fucking bullshit the Council pushes on people.”
“I’m not a groupie,” I say.
“Then don’t fucking act like one.”
He comes in close, his mouth a whisper from mine.
“Please…”
His lips come closer still and every single part of me zeroes into him, into the kiss that’s going to happen.
“Please what?” His free hand comes up to take my throat, closing around it, and stopping me from moving forward, into the kiss he’s refusing me.
His hand vibrates, both hands do, with the effort of holding himself back.
I shouldn’t know that.
But I do.
I feel his effort pulsate from him into me. Like telepathy. Like wishful thinking .
“Take you? Fuck you, knot in you? Kiss you?” His breath paints my lips in a warmth I want to curl into. “Not happening, Lizette. Not here, not with us, but you do prove one thing. You’re in heat now, and you can’t be out there alone. You’ll be eaten alive.”
“But—”
“I’ll send in Darcy with something to knock you out. And a fresh hot water bottle. You’re going to lose your appetite, and probably not want to drink. I’m not up on the ins and outs. I don’t have nor have I ever had an omega, but clearly, I know more than you. Elias didn’t teach you better?”
“My dad got me blockers. And I just…”
“Started. Your second one? Third? Fourth?” He meets my gaze, and I try to move into him but I’m pinned and my hips connect with his.
He grinds into me and sparks ignite inside me. I shudder from the sweep of euphoria. I want him inside me. I want Knight. I want the other one. I want them all.
I should be shocked, a part of my brain whispers. But I’m not. The thoughts fall through me. So many random and hot thoughts. Naked. Sweat. Cocks. Men in me. I’m drowning because this one is denying me what I want.
Oh, God, why?—
“You’re experiencing it unaided. So, we’re going to aid you. Not with a knot though, so don’t even go there. And when you’re through this?—”
“You’ll send me home.”
“We’ll continue the conversation,” he says. “We need to get that damn mark removed.”
My head spins trying to keep up with him. I don’t want to talk. I want to fuck.
“Then home,” I say, almost delirious. “No sex. At least, not between us.”
His eyes narrow, and he steps back, letting me go. My legs give way and I slide down the wall .
“You’ll stay here until you’re through it, and then we’ll talk. Basically, you’re here until I say differently.”
“Please…”
“Oh, one more thing. Touch me again, and I’ll make sure you’ll fucking regret it.”
With that, he walks out, the door locking behind him.