Chapter One #2
“Good,” he breathes, his eyes gleaming. “You and I are going to be very, very happy together.”
I nod, trying to smile, but tears prick the back of my eyes, betraying how I really feel.
Please, don’t cry, I silently beg myself. Father would be livid if he knew I cried.
“You smell so sweet.” Mr. Sterling leans down, blocking out the rest of the room. His face fills my vision, then all of a sudden, his mouth is on mine.
His lips are hard and demanding, crushing me, but before I can adjust to what’s happening, his tongue pushes deep into my mouth. Everything he’s doing feels so strange.
I freeze, not sure what I’m supposed to do, but Mr. Sterling doesn’t seem bothered that I’m not moving.
“So fucking good,” he rumbles, then he tilts his head to one side, continuing to kiss me.
I stay still for him, my mouth wide open and arms hanging limp at my sides.
I’ve never kissed anyone before, and this is all so weird and sudden.
Am I even doing it right?
Do I even like it?
If I’m honest, it feels kind of violating, almost scaring me, but the desperate need to please holds me in place. But then, Mr. Sterling starts sucking, pulling my tongue into his mouth.
The urge to recoil hits me hard.
My tongue pulls hard at the back of my throat, and it takes everything in me not to gag. This is all so gross.
“Goddamn, omega.” Mr. Sterling pushes forward, forcing me backward until the backs of my legs hit the hard edge of my father’s desk.
I feel his alpha cock grind into my belly, a hard, insistent pressure that makes my stomach turn. He growls long and hard into my mouth, the sound vibrating straight through me.
And to my utter horror, my body responds.
I flash hot, a confusing wave of warmth washing over me, and for a moment, I don't understand what's happening.
Mr. Sterling rolls his hips against me, a slow grind, and my scent perfumes into the air between us. Shock rips through me, disgusted by how my body is reacting.
“There it is.” He pulls back just enough to murmur against my lips, “I can smell how much you want me, little omega.”
A fresh wave of panic rises in my chest as he kisses me again.
Some small, distant part of my mind knows this is natural. This is how things are supposed to work between alphas and omegas, but I can't help but be shocked and scared.
This alpha’s hands are everywhere, one clamped on my hip, the other sliding up my back to grip the back of my head. He squeezes me so hard it hurts, his fingers digging into my flesh like he owns me, and I hate it.
I hate him.
And I hate my own treacherous body for responding.
“Don’t fight it, little omega.” His voice is a low, possessive growl against my ear. “Give yourself to me.” He pushes his hips forward. “Your body knows who its master is."
My eyes go wide as heat blooms deep in my belly.
It spreads through my veins like a poison, followed by sharp, unwanted desire. It cuts through me like a live wire, sizzling along my nerves and making my muscles jump. The misplaced pleasure feels completely alien, like a violent hijacking of my own senses. And it scares the life out of me.
Frightened, a whimper jumps from my throat.
The sound seems to flip a switch inside him. Mr. Sterling reacts instantly, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he kisses me harder, deeper.
Why did I make a sound?
His free hand pushes at the small of my back, forcing me against his massive body. There’s no mistaking the hard, thick ridge of his erection pressing into my stomach through our clothes.
I want to scream and cry, but there’s a louder, twisted part of me that actually wants more.
What the hell is happening to me?
Mr. Sterling’s holding me so tight I can’t breathe or move. I can’t do anything but feel his cock pressed against my body. He moans into my mouth, and a small gush of slick pushes from my bottom.
Shock slams into me, and my mind scrabbles, trying to remember when my last heat was.
Is this alpha triggering my heat?
I normally take suppressants in the days leading up to my cycle, but I can’t remember how long it’s been.
It can’t have been three months already.
Can it?
Shit!
My mind spirals as I try to count the days in my head, but it’s so hard to concentrate with this strange alpha grinding against me.
The heat in my belly grows, an insistent, demanding pulse. And then my hole begins to open. Slick dribbles out of me, preparing me to be rutted and claimed.
Oh god. Oh god, no.
A swift wave of pain grips my belly right as Mr. Sterling’s tongue pushes further into my mouth.
I grunt in pain, and the doorknob rattles.
Mr. Sterling breaks the kiss so fast I gasp. The sudden rush of cool air on my lips is a shock. The alpha takes a half-step back, but his hand remains clamped on my hip, a brand of ownership.
Hot shame washes over me, and I drop my gaze to the floor. My cheeks burn as excitement grows deep within me, slick starting to drip into my shorts.
I’m so disgusting.
“Okay, you two.” My father steps inside the room. “That’s enough for one evening,” his voice is casual. Like he just interrupted a business chat. “You’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted after the mating ceremony.”
I shrink in on myself as the two alphas chat easily. Mr. Sterling talks about my “pleasing aroma" while my father guarantees that I’ll be “a good mate”.
Their laughter is a surreal soundtrack to my personal hell.
I need to get out of here before I embarrass my father.
“Come on, Bruce,” my father says, gesturing toward the hall. “Join me for a drink in the billiard room.”
“A drink sounds good.” Mr. Sterling’s hand flits, hooking under my chin. His grip is firm, forcing my head up until I have no choice but to meet his dark, predatory eyes. “I’m looking forward to our union, little omega,” he murmurs, a promise and a threat all in one.
I blink, not sure what to say to that.
“What do you say, Jude?” My father says with clear disappointment.
“I’m looking forward to it too, alpha,” I blurt out, hoping my father doesn’t yell at me later for being rude.
Mr. Sterling lets out a happy hum, then he leans down one last time, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. I flinch, trying to pull away, but his grip on my chin is like iron. “I can’t wait to see you again,” he whispers, his voice a low, intimate rumble.
The vibrations travel straight through my body, a seismic shock that makes me tremble uncontrollably.
A fresh, humiliating wave of slick gushes from me, soaking my shorts and rolling down the inside of my thighs.
I clench my ass cheeks, trying like hell to hold back the tide, but it’s a useless effort.
I can feel the dampness spreading, a shameful testament to my body’s complete betrayal.
Please don’t smell it. Please don’t smell it. Please don’t smell it, I chant inside my head.
“Do you still have that 60-year-old Macallan?” Mr. Sterling says as he finally releases me.
Father laughs as the pair makes their way into the hallway.
I hold my breath, not moving a muscle until the heavy office door clicks shut.
Then I break.
I scramble back, desperate to put distance between myself and the spot where the alpha just stood. My shoes slip against the sleek hardwood, and I nearly lose my footing before my back slams into glass.
Exhausted, I press my palms against the glass, bracing myself against the floor-to-ceiling window.
It stretches from polished floor to recessed ceiling, an uninterrupted wall of glass that makes up the entire outer side of the penthouse.
The apartment sits at the very top of the high-rise, so high the rest of the city feels unreal beneath it.
Beyond me, the skyline burns as the sun sets.
Skyscrapers glitter at eye level, their windows like constellations.
Far below, the streets look like thin ribbons of gold and red.
Cars crawl like insects. People are nothing but tiny specks drifting along the sidewalks, too distant to hear, too distant to matter.
From up here, the world feels small.
And I feel trapped.
Another wave of pain grips my belly without warning. It’s so sharp and deep I fold forward, one hand sliding down the glass as I double over, the other clutching my abdomen. A muffled cry tears from my throat before I can swallow it back.
My heat is definitely starting.
I can’t believe this.
I can’t go into heat with Mr. Sterling just a few doors down.
He’ll rip the door off its hinges and fuck me right here in this cold office. And my father will probably let him.
He’ll declare our union set, finalize whatever business deal he has tied to my body, then hand me over to Mr. Sterling with a smile on his face.
And there’s no one here to save me.
My mother died when I was a baby. I have no siblings, no friends who would dare cross my father.
There is only my father.
An angry, cold alpha who has been counting down the days until he can finally be rid of me.
Another cramp twists through me, deeper this time, and I press my forehead against the glass, the chill grounding and cruel all at once.
The aching emptiness grows inside me, a hollow, needy void that’s instantly terrifying. It’s a deep, pulsing want, a biological command to be claimed and mated.
I can’t believe I let my suppressants lapse.
It’s been so long since I’ve suffered through a heat that I forgot how horrible the pain is. It’s not just a cramp. It’s a soul-deep agony that’s only going to get worse.
I need to get out of here before my primal urges take over, and I fall to my knees and beg to be filled. The thought of being mated by the alpha down the hall is so repulsive that it makes me gag.
I don’t want him.
I don’t want any of this.
Moving slowly, I take a small step back from the window. My body trembles hard as I fight the growing pain inside me.
Desperate, I turn and run toward the door.
I have to get out of here before I lose what’s left of my mind.
I have to try to find an omega clinic, a place where they might help me ride out this growing need. It’s too late for a suppressant, but maybe they’ll be able to sedate.
Maybe…
I just pray no one finds me before I get there.