Chapter 13
Nik
I can’t believe what I walked in on.
If Mags had just held out a little longer, I could have taken care of her, like I always have. Why did she do that with Kip and Kaden?
Within an hour, we’ve got what few belongings we brought with us packed and ready.
I stand guard at the door while Kip, Kaden, and Mags slip out the back.
I’m sure the Donnellys’ security will be around any minute.
I left Threnody in her nest, naked and pissed, and it won’t be long now before everyone in the mansion knows what we’ve been up to.
Back at the rental house, tensions are high. The twins won’t stop blushing, and Mags won’t look me in the eye. I retreat to my room in a huff, unable to control my rage.
I know it’s not Mags’s fault. She had no clue what Dave Donnelly was doing to her.
So why am I this pissed?
I pace back and forth in front of my closet—Mags’s makeshift nest. My mind keeps flashing back to all the times I helped her, all the times I took care of her when her meds failed her. It should’ve been me in that room, not the twins.
It should’ve been my cock inside her, my knot easing her misery.
A knock on my door brings me back to the present, and I close the closet. That’s still Mags’s secret, something I have no right to reveal if it’s Kip or Kaden knocking.
Mags stands there in her PJs, head hung in shame, and fuck if I can’t help but feel like an asshole for yelling at her.
“What is it?” I say, all anger gone from my voice. All I have left is exhaustion.
She rubs her arm; her eyes fixated on the floor at my feet. “You, uh, seemed pretty angry back there. I just wanted—Fuck. I wanted to apologize for getting caught. For fucking up the grift.”
Oh, Lord, is she an idiot? “You think that’s why I was mad?”
“Well … Yeah, I mean, you had Threnody right where we wanted her. You were almost done, and I jacked everything up.”
I place my fingers under her chin and tip her face up. Her grey eyes swim with unshed tears. “Mags, I’m not mad about the job. I’m more hurt that you lied to me about being in heat. I could’ve helped you.”
She huffs out a bitter laugh. “Well, it all worked out. I mean, we’ve got two professional heat helpers in-house, so … they helped.”
“Is that all that was?”
“Huh?”
Yep. She’s an idiot. “Mags, you’re getting into dangerous territory. Kip is in love with you, and Kaden’s probably not too far behind. One of these days, you’re going to have to admit that you have feelings, too, and that means an end to the cons.”
The tears finally spring forth, and some of her old fire, her old defiance, comes back to her.
“Kip has feelings, huh? And Kaden … and me … But not you?”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Sure.” Mags pokes me in the chest. “This isn’t about you being a fucking hypocrite. You talk about us catching feelings, but the second you saw me with them, you exploded.”
I pull her into my room and check the hallway for the twins before slamming the door shut.
“Mags, I was fucking worried sick when Threnody told me what Dave did. Can you imagine how it felt to see you having the time of your fucking life when I was afraid I’d catch you and Dave—” My voice catches in my throat, and I swallow back a lump.
“Fuck, Mags, I thought he was going to hurt you.”
“Well, it wasn’t for lack of trying. If Kip and Kaden hadn’t walked into the pool area when they did yesterday, I might’ve been in trouble. Their timing was perfect, though.”
There’s that rage again. “What? He tried something?”
She waves dismissively. “Oh, yeah, cornered me by the pool. It’s fine; I’m fine. Just a jerk being a jerk. Besides, we’re done with them anyway. It’s neither here nor there.”
I almost wish I was there again. I’d fucking knock Dave into next Tuesday for that stunt.
“It’ll be different next time. I’ll lock up my meds, and we can—”
“Next time?” I can’t bear the thought of another close call like that. “Mags, there might not be a next time. Word is gonna spread about this. We fucked up, and it’s going to be hell getting another omega’s family to trust us again.”
“We just need to move quickly. We’ll be fine.”
I can’t do this. I can’t watch Mags put herself in danger again.
It worked out this time, but what about the next family?
What if there are two asshole alpha brothers, or three?
What if she finds a family that knows about her designation?
They could flip the script on us and try to trap her with a pregnancy, which I know for a fact she doesn’t want.
“There’s not going to be a next time. Not for me, Mags.”
She blinks up at me. “What? We can’t do this without you, Nik. These families want their omegas to bear heirs. Kip and Kaden can’t do that, not like you can. You’ve got the alpha juice, the breeding stock. The twins won’t pull in a job on their own. They—”
Before she can finish, I pull her into an embrace and shut her up with my mouth on hers.
I pour all my unspoken feelings, all my pent-up emotions, into the kiss, purring like a motorboat.
Mags stiffens, then softens. She leans into me and kisses me back, her hands on my chest and my hip.
I moan into her when her fingers find my nipple.
“Fuck, Mags … Let me mark you. Please.”
To my horror, she hesitates. Did I fuck up?
“Th-that could bond us, Nik …”
She sounds nervous. Scared. Like bonding might hurt her. I’d never hurt Mags, though. I just want to forget that this is all a grift to her. Just for a little while, I want to pretend that she cares as much as I do.
“Please.”
Mags looks up at me through her long, dark lashes, then gives the barest of nods.
My teeth sink into her slender neck, and Mags gasps. She digs her fingers into my hips, panting, as I break the delicate skin. The instant her blood touches my tongue, something snaps into place. All of a sudden, several new emotions flood my mind.
Fear. Excitement. Longing ... and, unfortunately, denial.
I can feel her attraction to me, feel her affection, but I also feel her rejection of those emotions.
Mags doesn’t want to love me. She doesn’t want a bond.
What have I done?
I break contact and back away, wiping her blood from the corner of my mouth. Poor Mags has a dazed expression on her face. Her eyes glaze over, and she hums quietly.
“That was nice,” she says, but I know that, deep down, she doesn’t mean it. She’s caught up in the endorphins of the bond, in the pheromones between us. Once the shock wears off, she’ll regret it.
“Mags, I’m sorry …”
“What for?” She cocks her head inquisitively. Her pupils are dilated, though it’s not from heat. She’s feeling my attraction, my lust.
I’ve never bonded with an omega before. Even on the cons where I marked a girl, the bond never stuck. It was just a front, a game, a ploy to get more money from the family. I didn’t feel anything for them, so nothing ever came from it.
Mags takes a slow step forward. I back up, but she keeps advancing. Before I know what’s happening, she’s got me cornered, pressed into the closet door.
“Nik … Fuck, Nik, I didn’t know you felt this.” She runs a hand through my hair and tugs at the roots. The brief spike of pain makes my cock jump in my pants, and Mags giggles. “That’s so cool. I’ve never felt that before.”
Shit. She’s feeling everything. The bond is too deep.
My breath hitches in my throat as she toys with the hem of my pants. A purr rumbles through me against my will as our psyches blend and mix and I forget where I end and she begins. The next thing I know is that I’m opening the door to Mags’s nest and ushering her inside.
For the first time since we started hooking up, Mags takes control.
She pushes me down onto the pile of mattresses and cushions and straddles me, grinding her hips over my hard cock.
She moans and whines and whimpers, and her need is so strong that I rip both our pants in my haste to fulfill that need.
When she lowers herself onto me, I growl possessively and grab her hips. I have to turn this around before I lose my sense of self completely. I thrust up again and again, and Mags’s desire flows through me. I never knew my cock felt this amazing to her.
Bonded sex is the most mind-blowing thing I’ve ever experienced.
This isn’t working. I’m just becoming more and more entangled.
Rolling us over, I make one last attempt to regain control. Each pump of my hips makes her gorgeous breasts jiggle, and now I know how much that turns her on. I know how much everything I do turns her on, and the connection between us creates an endless cycle of passion and lust.
Then my knot inflates, and I think I’m going to fucking lose myself entirely.
When I feel my knot through Mags’s point of view for the first time, my eyes roll back in my head, and I let my lids drift closed so I can focus on the sensations.
Even before the knot, the fullness inside her from my cock alone was amazing.
I’ve had omegas tell me this, but I never knew until now.
There’s the saying that size doesn’t matter, but I can tell that there’s a difference to Mags.
As much as she loves Kip, his cock didn’t fill her the way mine does.
Well, that’s a realization I could have done without. I didn’t need to know that.
Sure, the way her walls hug me stimulates me like nothing else, but the way my knot rubs her walls and locks my cock in place … God, I could do this all night and never get tired of my knot.
To say that our shared orgasm is explosive would be an understatement. Her toes curl, my toes curl, and my cock throbs in sync with her pussy as I fill her to overflowing.
Normally, this would be when Mags gets up and leaves. Instead, she snuggles up next to me and holds me close. The euphoria of the afterglow engulfs us, temporarily soothing the pain of her eventual rejection.
“I love you, Nik.”
Rather than replying out loud, I let my true feelings flow through the new bond.
I know she’ll be gone in the morning, and I don’t want my last words to her to be ones that I regret.