Chapter 23
SIN
They'd given us the usual metal table in the cage—which wasn't a bad prop.
When I stepped in, it was with her in my arms.
The lights above were bright, and the rest were turned off, which meant it was hard to see the onlookers.
That would help if she ever opened her eyes by accident. I didn't want her panicking.
It also meant I couldn’t see my pack out there.
Dominic had promised they’d be present. I caught the faintest trace of ironwood and ember, something more charred about it than usual.
And then gunmetal and salty air. I sensed Crescent’s anxiety unwind a bit, too, meaning she’d caught our pack's scents as well.
It was not like my usual performance, and the audience was a lot bigger. When I fucked a pack’s omega, it was usually open to that pack and whoever they wanted to barter with for a spot. But this was Dominic's show, not mine, which meant there were a lot more eyes I wasn't used to.
The other difference was the pace. I was usually vicious, pinning Justin over the table or against the floor as I wrecked him, and he had no problem with that. But Crescent was far too fragile.
She wasn’t as frightened as I expected, and since she was terrible at keeping the bond locked down, I was sure about that.
I started by drawing her into a kiss, my fingers finding the hem of her shirt. Her lips were soft against mine, and every touch was so earth-shattering it might be easy to forget we had an audience.
I dropped her top to the floor, ignoring the crowd's sounds as the sight of Crescent in a black lace bra was on display for the whole room.
Her head was tilted toward me as if she knew exactly where I was. I leaned down, kissing her again as I dragged her against me by her hips. Her legs wrapped around me, fingers tangling in my hair as I kissed her again.
There was a low groan in my chest at the contact she initiated, and I was lost for a moment with her. I stood, lifting her up, letting her cling to me as I turned, leaning back against the table instead and slowly drawing out of the kiss as I lowered her down, letting her find her footing.
I nipped her on the ear. “Deep breath, baby, you're doing so well.” My hands found her ass, and I squeezed before shifting to the hem of her pants. She nodded as if she knew what I was going to do.
I was slow in how I lowered myself, kissing down the pale skin of her body—her breasts, her stomach—as I carefully dropped my hands down her legs, taking her pants with them. She was more exposed than she'd ever been—to people she didn't know—but it felt like it was just us.
She was doing that.
With every touch, her reaction down the bond was a bolt of lightning, full of need, her nerves melting away like we were the only ones in the universe.
I was kneeling before a goddess.
“Fuck the little slut already!” A shout from watchers I’d almost forgotten about shattered the magic. Crescent's fist tightened on my shoulder as she heard that, her want for me breaking into a million pieces.
I growled, fury flaring as I got to my feet. I leaned close, my voice a whisper just for her. “Do you want that alpha watching while I claim you?”
She tilted her head toward me as I drew back. With her eyes squeezed shut still, she shook her head.
“Your wish is my command,” I breathed as I broke our kiss. She frowned, head tilting, though she still didn't dare open her eyes.
I turned us both, lifting her and setting her on the table, then stepping back.
I approached the crowd, gripping the bars of the cage, pressing my forehead to them as I stared out into what was mostly darkness.
“I won't touch her until that cunt is out.”
There was a groan or two, but then I heard a shuffle. “Get your performers under control, Dominic,” someone said.
There were a few laughs, and then Dominic stepped up to the cage. He flipped a blade in his fist, pressing the tip beneath my chin through the bars. There was smoke between his lips and a crooked grin on his face. “Are you refusing to perform, Sin?”
“Looks like it.” I tilted my head, letting the edge of the blade slice just a little through my skin across my jaw. The pain sent a shot of adrenaline through my veins, a spike of the fury I'd felt since I'd heard that voice. “She wants him gone, and she gets what she wants.”
It was a gamble but worth it, and I knew that this was the most unique show they'd ever hosted. There was no way I wouldn't leverage that.
Redgrave considered me for a long moment, eyes tracing the knife, then the conviction in my eyes.
“My omega. My show. My fucking pace.”
Dominic chuckled, turned around, and waved at someone in the crowd. I rested my forehead on the bars, waiting until the furious prick had been dragged out.
I glanced back. Crescent was clutching the edge of the table, her eyes squeezed shut. “Anyone else want to tell me how to fuck my omega?”
There were a few laughs, but no one said anything.
I let go of the bars and returned to her.
Finally, a pretty golden eye shone through a break in her lashes as she looked up at me. That colour was beautiful and so bright in this dark, cursed place.
I’d dreamed of them like little lanterns in the darkness every night since we found her.
“You're mine, little firefly,” I told her, a perfect name finally rolling from my tongue. “And this is ours, not theirs.”
I shifted her back on the table further before jumping on after her. Then I lowered her back, palm cupping the back of her neck as snow-white hair splayed around her, almost glowing in the white lights. Her chest heaved as I pressed her against the table, caging her in.
“All you have to do is lie like this and let me take care of you,” I whispered. She nodded, and again I felt a flood of relief breaching her nerves through the bond.
I reached down to the lace, pressing my finger beneath it and cupping her heat. I heard her breath hitch, head shifting a little, as if unsure what to expect.
“You're soaked.” Her pale cheeks flushed crimson. I loved the contrast of her unusually light skin and rouge blushes dappling over her skin and giving her nerves away. She didn’t look like anyone I’d ever seen, with moonlight hair that matched even her eyelashes and brows.
But we were an oddball pack, feral alphas, an omega with crimson eyes, a seer… she was a perfect fit for us.
For me.
She let out a little gasp as I pressed a finger into her.
“Sin,” she breathed, fingers lacing into my hair.
“Yes, firefly?” I asked.
I felt a little flare of warmth from her in the bond at the name. “More,” she whispered.
I grinned, speeding up, slipping a second finger into her and working her to the core.
“See, baby, you know exactly what to do.”
I wasn't as furious now we were here. Not like I'd felt when Dominic had dragged us in.
Her fingers wove through my hair, digging in as I drove my fingers into her cunt, and it wasn't a lie.
This was ours.
She was my omega, and it felt as though I was staking that claim before the whole of Anarchy in a way that they'd never forget.
The desire was so strong it felt like it consumed me, but that happened sometimes.
I burned with instincts that, in practice, I could never understand.
I'd been born an omega, with no way to follow up outside of performances in cages. Forever, it felt like I’d be on the back foot, without a way to protect myself—or her—if any one of the many webs of control broke down.
And yet, this possessiveness choked me; I felt it with her as I did with my pack.
Incongruent with the reality I was given.
But that desire to claim—it was different now. The cage was the claim this time—not the means to protection I couldn’t offer any other way.
I watched her shiver. “That's it, Little Firefly, come for me.”
A whine echoed through the room as my thumb found her clit, and she crested an orgasm beneath my touch—without even needing a dark bond command.
This cage didn't lock us in; it kept them out, as I made sure they all knew who she belonged to.