Chapter 29
Charlie
The words had barely left Vincent’s mouth before I slipped out of the room. His soft laugh followed me down the hall. It was warm and unexpected. It wrapped around me like a blanket I hadn’t known I needed.
Butterflies stirred low in my stomach, light and clumsy, enough to make me nearly trip over my own feet.
I moved quickly—brushed my teeth, used the toilet, and drank a glass of water. Every motion was precise. Not a hair out of place.
Vincent hadn’t said anything about my appearance, but that didn’t mean I could let it slide. Perfection was protocol. And protocol was safety. Beneath all of it, the training, the rules, was the quiet ache to serve.
To be useful.
To be wanted.
The first time I’d knelt at Vincent’s feet, everything inside me had gone still. Not like a slave. Not like property.
Just… settled.
Like I’d finally found the one place I wasn’t in the way.
By the time I got to the living room, Vincent was already there. He sat on the couch, slouched down a tad to where his head rested against the back of the couch. He looked relaxed, phone in hand, TV already on. Like this was an every-night kind of thing.
Maybe for him, it was.
I was the outsider. I didn’t know this man, other than the fact that he was an Alpha and he now owned me.
The ownership of Lockswell wasn’t on my body. Sometime during the past few days, the bracelet had been removed. But I was still marked. The dark soon-to-be scarred letter on my shoulder wouldn’t disappear any time soon. If ever.
The hate I felt for that Alpha was at an all-time high. He destroyed me in ways that would forever be lost. No amount of time would bring those pieces back. I wasn’t sure I wanted them back, either.
No matter what Alpha Vincent Harris said, I was still an Omega. That didn’t change. I was here to serve him. To meet his needs. That was the reason I existed. And I would do everything in my power to be the best Omega I could be.
The checklist he’d given me for tomorrow was…
different. Confusing. It asked for preferences, boundaries—things I wasn’t used to being asked.
But I’d fill it out. Because Vincent asked.
And if, somehow, I found something in it that felt good, something that felt like mine, then maybe that would be okay too.
Maybe.
Shaking the thoughts from my head, I got my feet moving once again. They led me right to Vincent. There, I gracefully fell to my knees right between his legs. It took seconds to settle, shoulder leaning against one of his legs.
Vincent’s hand found its way to my hair. His touch was gentle, light enough that I could pull away if I wanted.
I didn’t want to pull away, though. I wanted the opposite. I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to warm him, too, like before. I wouldn’t mind having the weight of him resting on my tongue.
A small part of me wanted the Alpha to force me closer. I wanted him to demand I do what I wanted.
Something had to be wrong with me.
Just days ago, I was flinching at the sound of his voice. Now I was here, kneeling between his legs, unable to look away.
I should’ve wanted distance. Should’ve wanted to be on the other side of the house, behind a locked door, buried in silence.
Instead, I was close.
Too close.
And my gaze wouldn’t lift.
Yeah… something was broken.
Maybe my brain got scrambled when they nearly beat me to death. Maybe this was what damage looked like, wanting things I shouldn’t want.
“What’s wrong?” Vincent’s hand slipped from my hair, settling beneath my chin. He lifted my face gently, slow enough that I could’ve refused. But I didn’t. And that scared me more than anything.
I swallowed hard.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t want to be here. Not like this.”
My gaze dropped again, but he didn’t let me hide.
“I was scared of you,” I continued. “Just days ago, I couldn’t breathe when you walked into the room. And now I’m—” I stopped. Because saying it felt dangerous. “I’m kneeling here, and I can’t stop looking at you. And I don’t know if that means something’s broken in me, or if I’m just… confused.”
The words felt raw. Like they’d been scraped out of me.
“I don’t know what’s mine and what’s training. I don’t know what’s real.”
I expected silence. Or correction. But Vincent didn’t speak. He just stayed there, hand steady, gaze calm. And somehow, that made it easier to breathe.
“You’re not broken,” he finally said. Just like that. No hesitation or pity. Just a fact like he knew it to be true. “What you’re feeling isn’t wrong. It’s unfamiliar. That’s different.”
I blinked, unsure how to hold the words.
He leaned in slightly, voice low. “You’ve been taught that wanting is dangerous.
That closeness means pain. So now, when something feels good, your mind scrambles to explain it as damage.
” He paused, letting the silence settle.
“But it’s not damage, Charlie. It’s healing.
And healing feels strange when you’ve lived in survival. ”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn't know how to believe him.
His eyes looked too close together. He saw too much, and there was nothing I could do to hide myself. Not from him.
As his thumb swiped over my bottom lip, a reflex more than anything else, he spoke. “What is it that you want? Right this second?”
Too much, I thought. But also, not enough. Push me. Make me answer. Make me your slave where you just can’t live without me in your presence because that’s what I’m almost at.
The thoughts ran on top of one another. A jumbled mess that was more than enough to prove I wasn’t normal.
I opened and closed my mouth, no words forming.
“Is it something you’ve done for another before?” Vincent asked, no jealousy lacing his tone. Just easy words like he was talking about the weather.
I managed to shake my head. No client had ever just wanted me to kneel for them and look pretty while holding something in my mouth. I was never treated kindly like the way Vincent was treating me right at this very moment.
“Is it something we’ve done before?”
Yes, I breathed with a small nod, unsure if it was right.
“Why do you want it?” He didn’t say what it was, but he knew. There was only one thing we’d done. The task that he asked of me.
But how could I put into words what I wanted?
It was more than just the desire for the weight of him in my mouth. And maybe it wasn’t even the act itself, but where my mind went during it.
It’s like slipping underwater. Not drowning. Just… quiet. Everything slows. The noise in my head. The rules, the posture checks, the fear, fade.
How could I put that into words to voice?
“Is it something you want, or the effect you get from serving me?” Vincent shifted again, eyes intense like he was attempting to read my mind.
“Peace. I…get peace from serving you.” I whispered, fearing that if I talked any louder, it’d break the moment.
“You are precious.” He gave me a soft smile, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Do you need orders to do what you want, or are you brave enough to make the move, to take what you want?”
My eyes widened slightly.
Make me, please, Sir.
I wasn’t brave.
“Green if you want me to order you. Yellow if you want to be brave. Or red, if you simply want to stay right where you are.”
“G-green, Sir.” Why had that been easier to say than I actually thought?
“Remember those colors.” I nodded. I knew their meanings; they were explained in the book. That was right after a long chapter about trust. “Use them. As often as you need to I need to know your colors.”
“Yes, Sir.” Thank you, I added mentally.
“Now be a good boy and hold my cock. You did an amazing job last time.”
Thank you, I sighed.
Vincent let go of my face before shifting enough to pull his sleep pants down enough that his front was uncovered. My mouth watered, just remembering how my mind had gone silent that first time.
I didn’t move until the Alpha told me. While my mind wanted to shove him into my mouth, my body remembered to be gentle.
I shuffled closer, then leaned over enough to fit him into my mouth.
I couldn’t stop the hum of contentment as he rested along my tongue. Slightly salty. His pubic hair tickled my nose until I pressed forward, so much so that there was no inch of space where he ended and I began.
“Good boy, Charlie.”
I hummed, almost a purr, at the praise. But with it, came the thought that I wasn’t Charlie. I was something else that I couldn’t put a name to.
Vincent’s hand found my hair again, this time slightly tighter instead of just resting there.
It was exactly what I wanted but couldn’t put words to.
After a full minute, my mind settled. Not close to where I had been before, but that was okay. I was serving my Alpha. I was offering my services.
“Subspace isn’t always going to be found, or easy to achieve.
There are many factors that go into it. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t reach that mindset every time.
Just like it’s normal if you do. Every sub is different, therefore each moment is too.
” His hand didn’t move as he talked. The words settled into me in a way that calmed me further from my thoughts.
This was okay.
“I think,” he went on, loosening his grip on my hair enough that he was no longer holding me where I desperately wanted. “After you fill out those papers tomorrow, we are going to sit and talk about some things that you need from me. Like your desire to kneel at my feet and serve me.”
I blinked, staring up at him. Whatever he saw in my eyes was enough to keep him talking. His voice wrapped around me like a blanket on a cold winter day.
“You crave things, to feel needed. To serve me, don’t you, sweet Omega.”
I would have nodded if my mouth wasn’t busy. Because I did. I needed to serve like I breathed. But I didn’t have to say that.
Vincent saw it. He saw it all.
Soon enough, Vincent turned to the TV, putting on what sounded like the nightly news. His hand never left my head. His fingers would switch from scratching my scalp, to playing with an ear, to just resting there, like an anchor holding me right where I wanted to be.
And for once, I didn’t fear the unknown. I didn’t fear what the night would bring. I didn’t fear what other Alphas would want of me.
There was just an Alpha enjoying his Omega.