14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Dana
Beckett has fully succumbed to his heat. We've spent the last few hours working through his insatiable need, and we have at least another day ahead of us. Everything happened so fast that I haven't had the opportunity to really think about anything. So many changes, and they came on all at once.
I don't know him. I don't know anything about him. The few conversations we've been able to have weren't exactly get-to-know-you situations. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things; not really. We'll figure it out as we go.
Pierce complicates things. I might have hoped for and in a very vague way planned for having an Omega, but there was never a Valla in my plans. I never even considered the idea. Why would I? I didn't know any, hadn't grown up with any in my family. Valla are people whom you know exist, but they're so removed that you don't really include them in your everyday thinking. Now I'm going to have one, and he doesn't seem like the type to be left out of things. Pierce is the opposite of left out. I have the distinct impression that he's going to get under my feet if I let him.
Beckett is resting now. He's sleeping deeply enough that I'm able to untangle myself from him and leave the nest to walk around a little to ease the ache from my leg. Sex doesn't usually bother me, but hours and hours of it has brought on a tension that I need to address.
I also want to clean up a little. Not much, I don't want to upset Beckett by removing too much of his scent from me, but I need to at least brush my teeth and hair. I don't bother with a robe or a shirt after I slowly roll off the bed. We're a little past shy now.
That doesn't stop Pierce from looking at every single inch of me as I walk around the room. I don't try to hide rubbing my thigh and pressing the heel of my hand into my hip, and he isn't impressed.
“It's too much. Let me help.”
I cut my eyes at him as I go into the bathroom. “He isn't yours.” I shut the door before he can say anything else. Beckett is my Omega. I do not need Pierce to step in. It's only a couple of days; and it only aches like this because I'm so out of practice.
The mirror tells me that I don't look all that bad. My hair is wild, but it isn't the matted bird's nest I imagined it would be. I have a few small darkening bruises on my hips and thighs from Beckett's needy fingertips, but no other marks. He's covered in whelps and scratches, though; especially down his back. I wouldn't have marked him up so much, but he asked for it. He needed it, and I told him I would give him what he needed.
I turn on the water in the sink and don't give it time to warm up before I cup my hands in the stream and splash it on my face. I grab a cloth and wet it, then run it across the more sticky places and between my legs. Jesus. I'm going to have to walk carefully until his next heat. I'm so swollen and tender. It might be a relief when Beckett starts to wind down a little.
After I clean my teeth and deal with my hair as best I can, I take some of the anti-inflammatory meds from my toiletry bag. I'm going to be fine. We're all going to be fine.
I change my mind about that when I open the bathroom door to find Pierce leaning over the nest and looking entirely too closely at Beckett's unconscious form. We are all not going to be fine. Pierce is especially not going to be fine. “Get away from him.” My voice is low and a little too calm. There are three guns within reach, and I might use all of them.
Pierce turns his head to acknowledge my words, but stays bent over the nest. “What are we going to do about these bruises? Where did he get them? Did he tell you while I was out?”
Everything in me wants to let him know exactly how much it doesn't concern him. Beckett isn't his to inspect or make demands of.
Or give commands to.
And now I'm angry.
“Get away from my Omega and his nest,” I repeat, letting a growl fill my voice. “Now.”
His lips flatten and he gives me a flat look, but he steps away from the bed and sits back down in the chair. “When did you last eat something substantial?”
“I'm fine.”
“Just answer the goddamned question. You need to take care of him, right? Make sure he's fed? Warm? Sexually fucking satisfied? Right? Well, I need that exact same need in regard to you, sugar plum. Answer me.”
“Did you just call me sugar plum?”
“Yes. What was the last thing you ate and when did you eat it?”
My anger fades into mild irritation, but he's right. I won't argue for the sake of arguing. He is my Valla. I don't know exactly what that's going to mean for me, but it's still true. “I ate a sandwich for lunch before I checked into the hotel. I live on bagels and coffee, lots of coffee, with the occasional sandwich thrown in here and there.”
Pierce closes his eyes, pressing his thumb and pointer finger to his eyebrows as he takes a long-suffering breath. “Unacceptable.”
“Don't start.”
“What did you take in the bathroom?”
“That's none of your business.”
He cracks his eyes, daring me to not answer.
“An anti-inflammatory,” I huff. “That's all. For the leg.”
He opens his eyes the rest of the way and sits back against the back of the chair. “Lots of questions there, but we can talk about that later. Beckett will probably sleep for a little while, don't you think?”
I shrug, rolling my eyes as Pierce follows the movement of my breasts. “Maybe. He does seem exhausted for the moment.”
Pierce smooths his large hand down his thigh. “Come sit with me.”
“No,” I snort. I don't sit on laps.
“Don't be shy. I had to hand you over as soon as I knew you were mine. Surely, you can sit with me for a conversation. I can try to massage some of the ache away, if you'll let me. Come sit with me.”
“I can't.”
“Why not?” He gives me a crooked smile and it's a fight not to return it.
“Because I'm naked.”
He covers his mouth to keep from waking Beckett with a laugh. “Dana, I've been watching you ride that Omega for the past few hours. I've seen every bit of you and touched none of it. Come sit with me. I want to hold you and think about how this is going to work between the three of us.”
I cross my arms over my breasts and plant my feet. “I won't be cowed, Pierce. You might be an almighty Valla, but he's still my Omega. Not yours.”
“He will have to be ours, though, won't he? I can't see how it's going to work otherwise. Come here. Don't make me beg.”
“He's my Omega,” I repeat without moving a muscle. “Not yours.”
“Come sit with me, Alpha. You can sit on the arm of the chair, or even the dresser if you prefer. I just want to be near you.”
“I'll walk to you. I'll sit with you. But he is my Omega,” I declare. “Not yours, and not ours. Mine.”
“You are mine and anything that is yours is also mine.”
“No,” I argue, my previous anger returning. “He is mine alone. Mine to take care of. Mine to protect.”
“As you are mine to care for and protect.” He smiles patiently. “As I just said.”
“He is mine, Valla. Mine.”
“And how will you protect him? Are you strong enough? Fast enough?”
I bristle. “You mean my leg.”
“I'm sure you're capable enough, but I – ”
“He is mine. I am more than capable of protecting him, regardless of anything else.”
“Will you protect him from me?”
“Yes.”
“Come here, my pretty Alpha.” He holds his hand out to me, a clear command in his voice. “Come sit with me.”
“I will come to you. No need for you to command me to do it. I'm not so stupid or stubborn that I don't understand what's happening here between us. I will come to you. But I will not give him to you. You cannot order me to do that.”
“I can.”
“Don't.”
“Don't create a problem where there isn't one, Alpha.”
“Don't make me hate you, Valla. I might do the things you command me to do. You could force me to do many things, I am well aware of that; and I may even enjoy some of them. But I will resent you; and if you force me to give him to you I will hate you. I will hate you with every single breath I take. Is that the life you want for us?”
“I'm not going to take him from you, Dana,” he insists. “I'm only trying to share the burden if you want to share it.”
“It's up to him. If he ever wants you, then I will share him with you. I will not take that choice from him, regardless of the choices you might take from me.”
“I only want my Alpha to be well and happy. That's all. We can discuss our Omega – ”
“My Omega.”
“As you like. We can discuss your Omega when things are less,” he pauses to smile, “heated. Come. Sit with me. Tell me something about you that has nothing to do with Beckett or this situation. I won't bite.”
“That's exactly what you'll do.”
He covers another laugh. “Yes. But I will do my best to wait until you're ready for it.”
I sigh and uncross my arms. It's unavoidable. Inevitable. Pierce is my Valla. I felt the pull of his command. I would rather choose to close the distance and sit with him instead of being commanded to do it. The only commands I've ever issued have been out of dire necessity. Pierce tosses them around like they're nothing. It isn't even that I mind sitting with him. I want to sit with him. I just don't want to be told to do it. I have lived my entire life without being commanded to do anything, and I won't start allowing myself to be commanded now. “Is everything going to be a struggle?” I ask.
“Maybe,” he says. “I hope not. I don't want to struggle. I want to be happy.”
I want to be happy, too. I don't want to argue or defend every choice I make. I might be too independent to let him do too much, but it might be nice for someone else to wash the dishes after dinner. An image of Pierce in a pink, frilly apron crosses my mind and I smirk.
“What?” he asks.
“Nothing,” I answer. “I was just thinking you'd look nice in pink.” I cross the room and sink down into his lap before I give myself another second to think about it.
He puts his arm under my knees and turns me so that I'm sitting fully on his lap with my calves draped over his other thigh. I feel awkward because I'm still very naked and he's still completely clothed. He adjusts again, pulling me against his chest and I lose some of my stiffness. His warm, earthy scent envelops me and I breathe it in. Is this what it's like for Omegas?
“Oh,” he purrs, interrupting my revelation. “I like this. You smell delicious. Can I touch you?”
“You are touching me.”
“You know what I mean,” he says.
I nod, and he immediately splays his fingers around my thigh, stroking from hip to knee. “Tell me something, Dana. Anything.”
I blurt out the first thing I can think of. “I miss having a partner.”
“A mate?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. A partner. I'm a PI.”
“A detective? Like in the movies?”
I fight the urge to laugh. “Yes. Like in the movies. That's why I'm here.”
“You're on a what? A case?”
“Yes. I'm looking for someone.”
His hand moves up to bring a bit of my hair to his nose. “You didn't come to the Selection to find a mate?”
“No,” I answer truthfully. “I stopped looking for a mate years ago. Beckett is an accident. You are an accident. I wasn't looking for anyone like that.”
“Can you tell me about your case?”
I shrug. “There isn't much to tell. I'm still looking for a trail.”
“Maybe I can help.”
Now, that's a thought. He probably has all sorts of resources. Lots of contacts. Lots of money to bribe people with. Lots of weight to throw around. “I don't know. Probably not. If I let you help, then Beckett will want to help. And I won't put him at risk.”
“The case is that serious?” he asks, going from casually interested to alert in a breath. I can already hear him trying to order me to stay out of harm's way.
“Don't get any ideas. It's my job. I'm not giving it up.”
“Well,” Pierce says, but doesn't finish the statement.
We sit in silence for a while, just quietly getting used to each other's bodies and aura. Pierce feels so strong. I've been around Alphas my whole life and I have never once noticed any of them feeling strong. I honestly try to not notice them at all if I don't have a reason to. Unless they have something I need or information I'm looking for, I don't bother.
“You haven't marked him yet,” Pierce says, his lips moving against my temple. He's stopped running his hands over me and he's just holding me now with his arm around my back and one hand resting across my knees.
“I want to wait until he's less frenzied.” I look over at Beckett, still sleeping soundly. “I wanted him to have a chance at remembering it. I'd want to remember it. I thought about waiting until he's out of heat, but I don't like the marks he has all over him.”
Pierce gently rubs his jaw against my hair. “No,” he hums. “I didn't like them, either. I want to know what happened.”
I tamp down the anger that starts to burn in my chest. “He'll tell us. Anyway, that's another reason I wanted to wait. To offset the negativity of whatever happened. He needs the bond. I think he did something to bring on an early heat. When it first started, it wasn't typical; and there was an odd note to his scent.”
“He may have taken one of those hormone doses,” Pierce offers. “I've seen similar things happen with a few Omegas in the clubs.”
Anger about Beckett's bruises turns into jealous rage at the idea of Pierce, my Valla, in those clubs. Giving himself to the throng of greedy, desperate Omegas. I shove it back down. This isn't the time for jealousy to rear it's ugly head, especially when I'm trying to take care of my own greedy, desperate Omega and all Pierce can do is watch. Still … “No more clubs.”
He chuckles and brushes my forehead with a kiss. “No more clubs,” he promises. “I won't need them anymore.”
I nod, satisfied.
Beckett stirs, stretching deliciously and groaning. His mouth forms a pout before his eyes even open. “Where did you go?”
“I'm here,” I answer. “You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you.”
He opens his eyes and takes in the scene Pierce and I make. I watch jealousy, irritation, want, lust, and more jealousy cycle through his expression. “Are you going to sit on my lap, too?”
I laugh. “If you want me to, I suppose I will. I've never been much of a lap-sitter, though. He bullied me into it.” I move my hips just a little and tilt my head. “It's not bad. It'll just take some getting used to.”
“I like lap-sitting,” Beckett says, a frown tugging at his swollen mouth. “Sometimes.”
He's taller than me, and heavier, but I can make it work if he needs it. I might need a heating pad afterward, but I can do it. “We can figure out a lap-sitting schedule, Beckett. Do you need anything? I can call for food. Would you like a shower or bath?”
His face draws into a wrinkled snarl at the very idea. “I'm not washing you off of me for the next week.”
I laugh loudly, and Pierce joins me. “We will all be showering before we leave this room, Omega,” Pierce purrs. “I refuse to allow Dana to walk around the city smelling like an Omega's heat; and neither of us are willing to risk your safety.”
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” I ask Beckett again. “What do you need?”
“Just you,” he says, reaching for me.
Pierce gives me a final squeeze, running his jaw against my skin again before helping me to stand. I only wobble a little as I gain my footing and I'm relieved when neither of them call attention to it. I normally wouldn't be so off-balance, but I'm not used to needing to exercise this particular muscle group as extensively as I have in the past few hours. The meds have taken effect, though; which I'm grateful for.
“I'm stepping out,” Pierce says, giving me a pointed look. “You need something to eat whether he does or not. I'll be back in a while. I'll knock before I come back in.”
“Thank you.” I smile at him and crawl back into Beckett's nest.
“I missed you,” Beckett says softly and rolls over me so that he's braced above me. He's so warm and smells so very good.
“You were sleeping, and I was just over in the chair. I didn't leave you.”
“You left the nest,” he counters.
I nod. “I needed to, for just a few minutes. But I'm back now. Are you alright?”
“I'm very alright,” he says, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
He lowers himself to kiss me, a sweet, thorough kiss. As his weight settles into me, I'm struck by the significance of this moment, the permanence of it. This is why Pierce left. Sure, he might feel some need to provide for me, it's only natural; but what he's actually doing is giving me time and space with Beckett. So that I can mark him as mine without an audience. The fact that he, a Valla, is willing and able to step away like this is astounding.
Beckett is hardening against my stomach already. He's only been awake for a few minutes, but this is the way of it. He kisses and licks down my neck, the scruff on his face scraping deliciously. When he gets to my shoulder, he lingers there, slightly turning his head from side to side, letting his lips graze the sensitive skin. “You smell so good, Dana. I can't get enough of it. I don't even mind that I can smell him on you. Not right now, anyway. It's all just so good.” His words drop into a purr. “I can't wait to get to know who you are. I'm sorry that it's like this. It's my fault.”
Ah. Here it is. “Your fault?”
He buries his face into my neck, muffling his response. “I did it on purpose. I wanted to go into heat during the Selection. I was just so tired of trying. I've been so lonely. And I've made bad choices because of it. I was just so … tired. Will you resent me?”
I drag my hands up his sides and around him to stroke his back. “No. I don't like that you felt you didn't have any other choice, but I understand it.”
He sags against me and kisses my collar bone. “Thank you.”
His scent picks up and he starts gently thrusting his hips, sliding his cock against me. Every time he makes a pass over my clit, my stomach clenches and I roll my own hips to meet his slow strokes, gasping and giving him the small sounds that urge him on. He's climbing toward another peak, but he isn't frantic with need, not yet. This is the time, before he's lost to his heat again.
“I love how wet you are for me,” he breathes, pushing just the head inside and stilling for a moment before pulling out. “I love how you taste.” He dips his hips again, starting a rhythm of shallow, frustrating strokes. “I love the sounds you make, and how you look at my body.”
I let him play at fucking me until his strokes begin to stutter, then I push his shoulders, flipping us so that I'm riding him, enjoying his look of surprise. I don't immediately take him fully inside me, I keep my movements just as infuriatingly short as his were. “I like looking at your body, and the sounds you make. I'm going to take such good care of you.”
I've been trying to say all the things Omegas like to hear. Male Omegas are tricky. They love all the things all Omegas enjoy- praise, compliments, listening to the ways their Alpha is going to take care of them and make them happy; but a lot of them need those things to be presented in a way that doesn't make them feel small. Beckett is one of those. He needs to feel strong. He needs his confidence in himself strengthened more than he needs his ego stroked. He needs to be taken care of while also feeling like he's taking care of me. I can do that.
I can still hold him down, though. Regardless of his beautifully assertive temperament, he has a delicious response to being held down. I grasp his wrists and pin them above his head, using my weight to keep them there. His eyes flash and his breath hitches as I slowly slide down his length, not stopping until my clit is scrubbing against his pubic bone.
“Oh god,” he gasps. “Don't stop.”
I smile down at him and raise my hips, leaving just the tip of him inside me and pausing before I sink down again. I do it again and again until he's meeting me thrust for thrust and he's almost lifting both of us from the mattress. Then I release his wrists and grip his shoulders, leaning back and adjusting my legs to wrap them around him.
The difference in position pushes him deeper and it almost takes my breath. “So good,” I groan. “You're so deep inside me, Beckett. It feels so good.”
“Yes,” he grunts, thrusting up, causing me to bounce a little. “Yes. So good.” He lowers his head to lick across my nipple and thrusts again. “Yes.”
I can feel him starting to catch on my lock, the pull and tug of it making my eyes roll as I anticipate how good it's going to feel when he cums. “Can you feel it?”
“Your lock?” he asks harshly. “Yes, I feel it. Give it to me.”
I kiss him, grinding and circling my hips to nudge him just a little deeper and he groans. Beckett's hair is a little longer on top than the back and sides, and I slide my fingers through it for a moment before I tighten my fist at the roots. “Take it then, Omega.”
His breath hisses from him and he wraps his hands around my hips, shoving me down on him. “Going to cum,” he pants. “Going to cum. Please, Dana. Please. Give – ”
His words cut off into breathlessness as his orgasm rushes through him and my body starts milking him, tightening over and over as his muscles bunch and shudder beneath me. I use my hold on his hair to jerk his head back and to the side and sink my teeth into the flesh just under his ear and behind his jawbone, right where his scent is strongest. Every single time I take his scent, pleasure and want is going to flow through him, something I intend to take advantage of regularly.
“Oh god!” he shouts, and repeats the words again and again as I grind against him, feeling our bond building itself between us as my own orgasm crashes through me.
I release my bite and lick the mark while we come back down to earth. Only when I'm satisfied that the mark I put on him has stopped bleeding do I stop licking and kissing it. I pull back just a little to look into his blissed-out face. Beautiful. “You're mine now, Omega.”
“Yours,” he repeats and lays back, pulling me with him so that I end up draped over him. The only word I have to describe how our bond feels is complete . Beckett is utterly satisfied, which pleases me so much that I might actually be preening and I'm glad no one is here to witness it.
We drift in that sea of satisfaction until a soft knock sounds on the door. “Come in,” I call, knowing full well that it's Pierce returning from his foraging mission.
The scent of fruit filters through the room but I don't open my eyes or sit up to see the source. I listen as Pierce puts things down and into the small refrigerator, still unwilling to let go of the warm fullness of my Omega.
After a few minutes he approaches the bed and I still don't stir. He doesn't do anything more than brush my hair from my face. “Good,” he says, quiet and firm.
Good.
Yes. Yes, it is.