Chapter 14 #2
“Conditioning,” Kian explained quietly, elaborating when Sky frowned at him.
“It’s when an alpha trains their omega to give set responses.
If I’d hurt you, given you only pain, your reaction would be to flinch away.
Your heart would be racing for a different reason.
But that’s not what I want. I don’t want to scare you, little omega.
I want your attention. Your devotion. Your acceptance.
I want you to want me. I fucked you enough times that your body has come to accept what your mind is still struggling to. ”
Gently, Kian untied the belt holding Sky’s robe together and slipped the silk off of his shoulders, letting the material pool around him.
“Before this, how many knots did you experience? You clearly didn’t stick with the same partner for long.
” His thumb pressed against Sky’s bottom lip.
“You took my knot over a dozen times. Add that to the fact that I was your first, and your body has learned who can give it what it craves. It knows who you belong to.”
Sky yanked his head away, but there was nowhere else to go with the alpha caging him in on the counter. “This is manipulation of my instincts. That’s illegal.”
“Tell me you don’t want me then.”
“I don’t want you.”
The corner of Kian’s mouth twitched. “Say it like you mean it, little omega.”
“Why?” Sky searched his gaze. “Would you reconsider if I did?” The alpha’s silence was answer enough. “I don’t care what you believe. I know myself better than you do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Care to put it to the test then?”
Sky hesitated, sensing a trap. That was only bolstered by the sound of Kian’s laugh.
“Afraid, little omega? Worried I’m right?”
“What’s the test?” This was a no-win situation. Either he played into the alpha’s hand, or his stubbornness confirmed that Kian’s accusation was true.
Of course Sky’s body still wanted him. Under better circumstances, he might even be elated by this turn of events, but as it were…Sky had more self-respect than that.
Didn’t he?
Yes. Yes, he had to.
“It’s simple.” He stepped back, giving Sky breathing room. “I won’t give you my cock again until you beg me. That’s what you offered earlier, isn’t it? You offered to beg.”
“That’s not at all what I meant, and you know it.
” Sky’s fingers tightened on the edge of the counter, and he exhaled, trying to remain calm.
He was naked, bruised, trapped, and his ass hurt from all the times it’d been forced to take a knot after years of going without the real thing. But this was still Kian.
Even if Sky didn’t know him as well as he’d thought, this was still the guy who’d stuck gum in Becka Michael’s hair on the playground after she’d pushed Sky off the swing set.
The one who’d smashed the taillights of Huxley D’Arnold’s hovercar the night he blew Sky off for Junior prom.
The same one who’d—
Wait.
Sky was sensing a pattern here he’d somehow overlooked in the past.
“You’ve always been violent and extreme,” Sky mumbled. “I just didn’t want to see it.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
Didn’t want to.
“But you will,” he caught on. “If you have to.”
“Don’t make me, baby.”
“That’s victim blaming.”
“Fright Night is coming up,” Kian switched the subject so fast, Sky almost got whiplash. “Come with me.”
Fright Night was the third major event for the month of Samhain and took place every third Saturday.
During the day, people flocked to the family-friendly corn mazes.
At night, those same locations were turned into haunted attractions, with jump scares and spooky music.
Sky hadn’t been to the latter in a couple of years, not since Elm had gotten the shit scared out of him by a scarecrow and had punched the worker square in the nose on reflex.
Guess physical aggression was an Erskine trait.
What would it be like to play with Kian? To get lost with him in a maze, under the cover of darkness?
The alpha snorted. “Having pleasant thoughts?”
With a start, he realized he’d let his mind wander and shifted on the counter with a scowl.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kian said. “Now back to our bet. Rules. You’re allowed to touch yourself as much as you want.”
“I can read between the lines. You didn’t promise you wouldn’t touch me, just that intercourse would be off the table.”
The alpha didn’t deny it.
“If you find yourself thinking about me when you come, won’t that be proof for you to drop the act?
You’re such a good fibber, Sky, lying to both of us that you don’t still want me, but all you’re doing is putting off the inevitable.
When hands no longer satisfy you, and you’re left begging to be plugged by my cock, won’t that be proof enough? ”
Sky shivered but tried to keep it together, lifting his chin stubbornly. “I managed all this time without you or your stupid knot, alpha. I think I can manage.”
Kian’s eyes flashed neon for a second. “That was before you knew my touch. Even if I kept my distance, there’s no way you’ll be able to get away without thinking about me when you jerk off.”
“I just won’t masturbate then.” He wasn’t some sex addict. Sky could go without orgasming.
“Should we add that as a stipulation since you’re so confident? You aren’t allowed to touch yourself for the next four days.”
“What’s in four days?”
“Fright Night.”
He frowned. “Fright Night is on Saturday.”
“That’s four days from now.”
“It’s Sunday.”
“It’s Vinday, actually.”
Sky stared at him, momentarily stunned into silence. Did that mean…He couldn’t possibly be implying…
“If conditioning someone was as simple as screwing them one time, every alpha and omega on the planet would be someone else’s bitch,” Kian said, and when Sky’s shoulders caved inward slightly, he placed a comforting hand over his knee.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t think of you like that, Sky. ”
“What do you think of me?” he asked, hating that he wanted to know. “Don’t say you care. You don’t force a mating bond on someone you care about, Kian. You don’t lock them up or threaten to impregnate them.”
“I do,” he disagreed. “Can’t you just consider it my way of caring?”
Sky gaped at him. “No.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s not normal.”
Kian sneered. “Why would anyone want to be normal? Life is already boring enough as it is.”
“Excuse me for wanting a mate who is kind and gives a shit about my happiness.”
“I want you to be happy,” Kian said. “Just not at my expense.”
Sky opened his mouth and then snapped it shut.
It wasn’t like they were talking about anything as strong as love here, which meant there wasn’t much left he could contribute to the argument.
For now, the two would just have to agree to disagree.
The problem there was that it left him back at the beginning, stuck, with no way out.
“What do I get?” he asked. “If I can go four days without touching myself—”
“You won’t be able to. Word of advice? When making a deal, only set terms you’re confident you can meet.”
Whatever the hell that meant. He almost rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
“If you can go the rest of the week without thinking about me pounding that tight ass of yours, I’ll promise not to fuck you again until you do.”
“That’s all you're offering?” Sky snapped. “Wasn’t that already the basis of the deal?”
“All right. I’ll give you the big white wedding you’ve always dreamed of.”
“That’s not what I want.” Even if his traitorous heart had just constricted all over again at the promise.
“Do you think I’d give you freedom?” He shook his head. “The claim has been made. You’re my omega now. That’s non-negotiable.”
The bond could be broken. All Sky had to do was find a really good plastic surgeon to rid him of the mark. But that was the least of his concerns at the moment. Forget finding a doctor, first, he needed to find a way to escape from the controlling alpha.
Was this an example of “careful what you wish for”?
What had Sky done to so royally piss karma off?
“That’s still not a fair offer,” he found himself saying. If Kian insisted on this game, then Sky had no choice but to play. Instead of whining, he needed to get smart about it. “What happens when you enter a rut, or I go into heat?”
Toys had worked fine before, but a mated omega wouldn’t be satisfied with dildos. For all his bravado, they both knew it to be true.
“Even if you completely turn me off the rest of the time, I’ll want you when the heat takes.”
“Despite my teasing about it, I don’t like it when you lie, Sky,” Kian replied. “I turn you off? Okay.”
Sky was picked back up and brought over to the tub once more.
This time when he was dropped into it, the water temperature was pleasantly hot but not enough to burn.
He almost sighed from the feel of it, allowing Kian to capture his waist and ease him down until he was sitting in the soothing water.
When he pushed against Sky’s shoulder, urging him back, Sky went, settling comfortably against the curved basin.
The second Kian stood and started to strip, however, Sky sat back up, earning himself a warning growl.
“You said—”
“We’re bathing,” Kian told him. “Nothing more. Lie back, little omega. Let me show you how I can care for you.”