Chapter 16
Those fuckers.
His little prince was going to regret this later Sarang thought as he sat up and pulled his t-shirt over his head, tossing it to the side. He was covered in sweat from the heat pouring in through the vents, but his discomfort didn’t seem to be enough to convince Shiloh to cut the crap.
He, Bishop, or both, were most definitely watching from some hidden camera Sarang had been unable to locate, no matter how hard he’d tried this past week. Eventually, he’d given up, and now, his eyes wandered across the room to the water bottle sitting on the small wooden table.
If he drank, he’d be admitting defeat, but if he didn’t…
Dehydration was a real possibility at this point.
Every night, Bishop delivered the water bottle and left a piece of Shiloh’s clothing next to it. The clothing carried the omega’s smell, heavily scented with pheromones that were meant to incite arousal.
There was an obvious empty spot on the table tonight, however, and Sarang couldn’t figure out if it was an attempt at a trick or a warning.
Was Shiloh trying to get him to drop his guard and drink since the implication was there wasn’t a drug this time?
Or was the omega telling him he’d start taking things away if he didn’t start playing along?
If it was the latter, what was next?
Sarang held up the book he’d been pretending to read for the better part of an hour. Truthfully, he wasn’t able to concentrate on anything. He’d gone longer than this without stabilizing the life-bond, but he couldn’t recall the last time he and Shiloh had spent a full week apart.
He didn’t like it.
Which infuriated him and made him disappointed in himself.
The prince had locked him up, taken away his multi-slate, and was drugging him. This new version of Shiloh should turn Sarang off completely, and yet he still longed for the omega.
Longed to understand him.
To get to know him.
Maybe in doing so, he’d be able to shake this affection. There was no way of knowing until the two of them spoke again…Which was the whole reason he’d been holding out, but now it seemed like he was about to bested anyway.
Sarang slowly got off the bed and made his way toward the table.
If he drank, would Shiloh come?
One thing that hadn’t changed was the omega’s stubbornness. If he wanted something, he wouldn’t relent until it was his. That was how he’d pressured Sarang into turning the other cheek every disagreement.
Shiloh was exercising his control over him. Proving a point. The longer Sarang fought against it, the more time would pass with them apart.
Sarang picked up the bottle and twisted the cap off. He didn’t bother testing it for substances, tipping his head back and downing half the contents in one go.
As soon as the plastic parted from his lips, the air conditioning kicked on, a blast of cool air fanning him from all sides, causing him to shiver.
A crackling from over the bed came next, and he’d only just turned toward the sound with a frown when the omega’s voice trickled out of a hidden speaker.
“Was that so hard, alpha?” Shiloh asked calmly.
The sound was more soothing than the air conditioning, and Sarang momentarily allowed his eyes to slip closed, the ache in his chest briefly eased.
Before the effects of the drug hit him, instantly bringing him to his knees.
“Oh,” Shiloh said. “I upped the dosage.”
Sarang growled, eyes scanning for the camera even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to find it.
“Are you looking for me?” Shiloh taunted. “Do you miss me, alpha?”
“Get in here immediately, Prince,” he demanded, only for the omega to sigh in mock apology.
“What can I do? I’m halfway across the city at the moment. It looks like you’re going to have to take care of your needs on your own.”
“Where are you?” He wasn’t in the building? Bishop was. Was Shiloh being safe?
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“The second I find you, I’m going to put you over my knee.”
“Ironically, someone tried to put me on my knees a couple of hours ago,” Shiloh said, like it was no big deal.
“Was that in combat,” Sarang barely kept it together, “or in the bedroom?”
“Does it make a difference?”
“Loh, you’ve tested my patience enough, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Not particularly.”
Sarang felt the drug sweeping through his system, his cock pushing against the seam of his sweatpants. He shifted on his feet, unwilling to remove them just yet—even knowing they were headed in that direction and he was merely putting off the inevitable.
Sort of like he’d been doing with this whole situation.
If Shiloh wanted him, was there really a chance Sarang could get away?
His life-bond making him dependent aside, there was little chance Kian would side with him over his brother, even if Sarang was his underboss.
There were still too many financial burdens to take care of back home, with his family, for him to even consider quitting and losing the funding, and no matter how hard his mind tried to convince his body otherwise, his dick still got hard at the thought of taking the omega.
On his back and on his knees.
Like how someone else had apparently tried doing.
“I’m warning you,” he growled, “I will not suffer another Lane.”
“That game got tired.” Shiloh seemed to be reassuring him. “It was a drunk customer at the club. What would you have me do?”
He was at Caelum then. At least that place was protected. Safe. Even if the omega could fight, he’d always been terrible at taking care of his basic needs, and Sarang somehow doubted that part had been faked. At the club, someone would cook and provide meals. Wash his clothes and his bedding.
Had someone else brought him cake?
That’d always been Sarang’s job.
And some asshole thought he could swoop in and steal his position?
“Kill him,” Sarang said.
“Seems extreme.”
“Did he put hands on you?”
“Last I checked, there are no teeth marks on my neck,” he replied. “I remain unclaimed. Other alphas are allowed to touch me.”
“Only if you let them.”
“True.”
“So did you?” Sarang clenched his fists, a rush of aggression and possessiveness beginning to cloud his judgment. Entering the rut meant losing mental clarity and giving way to base instinct. It’d been so long since they’d last spoken, and he wanted answers before that happened.
Before he was reduced to a hormonal, territorial cliché.
“Careful, Rang, you’re starting to sound interested again. Remember, I really could kill him. I’m not the same Shiloh who struggled to land a good punch.”
He’d never pretended to be that bad at fighting, but Sarang didn’t bother arguing that point. It didn’t really matter. He was trying to rile him up, and it was more than working.
“Should I do it?” Shiloh continued. “Should I kill him and take pictures? How would you react to a picture of me painted in blood, wearing some poor alpha’s entrails like a necklace? I’ll tell you how I’d react. I wouldn’t so much as flinch.”
“Is that who you really are?” Sarang asked. “Have you been sneaking out at night all this time to—”
“Would you rather I say I was going out to get fucked by random men,” he cut him off crudely, “or does my being a killer suddenly sound more appealing? If I made you choose and said I would either bed the alpha from tonight or gut him, which would you have me do?”
Sarang stormed toward the direction of the speaker, catching himself just before he climbed onto the bed and snarled at the ceiling like a psychopath. Having one of them completely off their rocker was more than enough for this relationship.
There was a pause, and then the sound of a button being pressed.
“Tull,” Shiloh’s voice got a little further away, but was still clearly heard, “I ordered someone to follow that alpha from earlier. Can you send me his location?”
“Don’t you dare,” Sarang warned.
“Was that—” another click ended whatever Tull had been about to say.
“I told them you’re unwell from the accident,” Shiloh explained.
“Accident?”
“When our car rolled over.”
“It’s been a month.”
“Yes, well, that would be why Tull sounded so excited just now.”
A part of Sarang acknowledged he should be annoyed that the call had been ended before he could ask the other alpha for help.
But most of him was relieved it meant Shiloh wasn’t going to be getting that address.
“Come here,” Sarang ordered.
“I don’t think so.”
A blast of pheromones shot out of him, but they were useless with the omega so far away. “Get your ass over here, Loh, before you make things worse for yourself.”
“Plan on turning the tables and locking me up in your stead?”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I won’t need to bother with a locked door. After I catch you on my knot and breed you for a week straight, you won’t be able to leave the bed, let alone walk out of this room on your own two feet.”
There was another moment of silence and then, “You’re confusing me, alpha. When you say things like that, I can’t tell if you truly mean them, or if it’s because of the drug.”
“Does it make a difference?” he countered, taking pleasure in throwing the words back at him.
“How long do you think you’d be able to hold me captive before my brother and sister come for you?”
“Probably as long as you’re able to hold me,” he stated. “Kian will return and demand me back at my post.”
“Which I will allow, so long as you give me what I want first.”
“And what is that, exactly?”
“I want to be yours,” Shiloh surprised him with his bluntness. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Funny way of showing it.” Sarang couldn’t hold off any longer, slipping out of his pants and crawling onto the bed. He grabbed one of the fluffy pillows and shoved it beneath his hips, going from zero to one hundred in a flash.
“I want you to be mine as well,” Shiloh clarified. “And you will be. You are. Even if I have to keep you like this.”
“I’m not some pet you can lock up,” he hissed, grinding into the pillow in a way that completely contradicted his words.
“You’re not very creative when it comes to masturbation.”
So the little prince had been watching him.