Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
MAYA
P oe’s lips crash into mine, a sudden, violent collision that sends electricity racing through my body. I freeze, momentarily stunned by the unexpected contact. The metallic taste of Darius’s blood mingles with his sea salt scent, and the combination is enough to make me lightheaded.
I should be disgusted. I should push him away. But I don’t want to, not with the primal energy crackling between us.
I return the kiss because I don’t have a choice. Because I could have died. Because he handed me a knife and didn’t flinch when I turned it on him.
A jolt of surprise rocks through him, but Poe recovers quickly. He immediately turns teasing, pulling back so I instinctively chase after him. His lips curve into a smile as they lightly cover my own.
It’s somehow sweetest kiss I’ve ever experienced, and there is a dead body cooling on the floor only a few feet away.
A feeling of invincibility rushes over me. If I can withstand this, if I can survive, then I can do anything. It’s that realization that makes me wrap my arms around his back and pull him closer until his leg slots between my spread legs.
I grind against the muscled wall of his thigh until sparks of pleasure shoot down my spine. His chuckle vibrates against my skin as his hands shift to my hips to encourage the movement.
I’m chasing the high because that is the only way to stave off an inevitable crash.
When Poe pulls back, his dark eyes bore into mine, unreadable yet somehow knowing.
“It’s natural,” he says, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through me.
“After a good fight. Your adrenaline is up, and your brain hasn’t caught up to the fact that you’re safe.
” His gaze drops to my lips, and he swipes at the corner of my lip with his thumb, coming away with a single drop of red.
“All that energy needs an outlet. It doesn’t have to mean anything. ”
His words are like a splash of cold water on my libido. Because that’s how he sees the entire world.
Nothing ever matters.
“Do you always kiss the women you save like you want to eat them alive?” I challenge.
Teasing warmth resonates in his voice. “You’re the first. I just couldn’t help myself.”
I’ve never seen Poe like this, loose and relaxed like the doesn’t have a care in the world. Killing must do something to dislodge the perpetual stick in his ass.
That doesn’t mean I should just forget what he is.
“You don’t feel bad at all, killing a bound man.”
“I feel bad about not thinking of bolting that chair to the floor.” Poe barely glances at the body. “Like you said, he got what he deserved.”
“What about you? You’ve done worse than he has, I’m sure. What do you deserve?”
His hand leaves my throat to tangle in my hair, pulling just hard enough to make me gasp. The sound seems to inflame him further. He presses his body against mine, pinning me to the wall with his hips. I can feel his hardness against my stomach, hot even through our clothes.
“Do you want to tie me to a chair and hold a knife to my throat? Is that it?” He licks a long stripe across my cheek with his tongue. “You want to make it hurt?”
Fuck. Why is that so hot?
It shouldn’t be, but the thought of having him at my mercy when I’ve spent all this time at his just does something for me.
A knowing smile brings a sensual curve to his lips. “I’ll let you, if that’s what you want.”
I lunge forward with enough force to make our teeth clack together. Poe’s laugh of surprise is muffled against my lips. He tries to gentle the kiss, mouth brushing lightly against mine as I yearn for a way to make him lose control in the way I have.
I want more. So much more.
Raging heat burns at my core, a yearning, an itch I can’t scratch on my own.
I touch his face, running my hand across his cheek and into his hair, using it as leverage to pull his lips harder against mine. He responds by nipping my bottom lip. The flash of pain is both a warning and a challenge.
A desperate sound escapes from my throat. Under other circumstances, it would be enough to embarrass me, but right now I don’t care about anything more than riding the rising tide of pleasure.
He uses the weight of his body to push me back against the wall, his hard-on a bulge against my stomach.
His hands brace my hips and lift until my toes barely skim the ground and the entire weight of my body is braced on the leg he has shoved between my thighs.
My body vibrates in reaction, humming and throbbing in every place he touches me. Hazy shadows throb in and out of my vision, matching the frantic beat of my heart. I feel combustible, a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit and primed for explosion.
He breaks the kiss as his lips move across my cheek and down to my neck. His mouth leaves a damp trail down my skin as he intersperses gentle nips and bites.
A small, desperate part of me wants him to bite me even if it’s a meaningless gesture.
His thigh presses up, grinding right against my aching clit. I pant and gasp, hips moving to chase the pleasure.
He pulls back enough to watch me grind against him, hands still gripping my hips hard enough to bruise.
“Look at that,” he growls, the words vibrating against my swollen lips. One hand rises to stroke the hollow of my neck before wrapping around it. “Are you going to come on my thigh like a needy little slut?”
I let out a breathy exhale because I’m no longer capable of coherent speech.
Poe leans in again, but this time I meet him halfway. Our mouths collide with bruising force, nothing gentle about this exchange. His hand tightens slightly around my throat, not enough to cut off air, just enough to remind me of his strength. The pressure sends a shameful thrill through me.
He is choosing not to hurt me, and I’m choosing to let this happen.
I taste blood again, but I’m not sure if it’s Darius’s or my own from biting down hard on my lip as I orgasm.
It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except this moment of pure animal connection—no bonds, no politics, no expectations. Just two bodies responding to the primal call of violence and desire.
He gives gentle licks at my lips as I slowly come back down to earth.
His fingers brush the corner of my mouth, wiping away a smear of my blood.
The hard length of him still presses against my inner thigh as he lets me slide back down the wall and back fully on my feet.
He kisses me once, hard and fast, before pulling back enough to speak.
“Tell me to stop,” he growls against my mouth, but his actions contradict his words as his hand slides under my borrowed shirt, calloused fingers tracing the curve of my waist. “Tell me to stop, or I’m going to fuck you right here.”
I don’t want him to stop. More than anything else, I want to lose myself in the midst of whatever twisted thing exists between us.
Which is exactly why I shove at his shoulders, knowing the weakened gesture is nowhere near enough to move him if he doesn’t want to be moved.
But Poe immediately drops his hands and takes a step back. The sudden absence of his body heat feels like a loss even though I’ve demanded it.
The surge of lust and violence hasn’t left his eyes, but restraint stiffens the set of his shoulders as he stares down at me.
“Is that stop just for now or is it for always?”
I haven’t forgotten that this is a game, that I have to do what it takes to stay close enough to find a weakness to exploit. But at this moment, I don’t have to lie to him.
“For now.”
“ W here the hell have you been?”
Logan is already waiting for us by the time Poe and I get back to the apartment. He stands in the entryway, arms crossed and a bullish expression on his face, with Cillian as a silent shadow behind them.
I hate them both so much that I can barely stand it.
Poe is relaxed enough to barely react, shrugging off the glare Logan levels at him. Our walk back to the apartment had been in companionable silence, as if all the tension has been drained right out of him.
Apparently, a little bit of murder and a rough make-out session does wonders for his mood.
Logan turns his attention to me, frown deepening as his golden eyes flash with barely contained fury. “What were you doing?”
I open my mouth to respond, but Poe beats me to it.
“Interrogating a prisoner. The guard who let the attackers in.” Poe’s tone is casual, as if discussing something mundane like the weather, instead of extrajudicial torture.
Logan’s gaze shifts between us, his nostrils flaring slightly. “Without informing me first?”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Always about control with him. Just once, I wish someone would tell him to go fuck himself.
“It was time-sensitive,” Poe continues, unperturbed. “We found out they were targeting Omegas in the palace.”
Logan’s jaw clenches. “And where is this prisoner now?”
Poe shrugs. “Dead. He tried to attack Maya.”
Logan’s eyes widen, his attention snapping back to me. “He what?”
“She was never in any real danger,” Poe says, a hint of pride in his voice. “She managed to stab him in the stomach before I finished him off.”
Ares, who I hadn’t noticed lounging in the corner, perks up at this. “What happened to the knife after you stabbed him?”
I shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny. “I might have left it in him. Out of surprise.”
“I figured. That’s a classic rookie mistake.” Ares barks out a laugh. First rule of hand-to-hand combat, never relinquish your weapon.”
“The Enclave taught us a lot of things,” I reply dryly. “Combat training wasn’t one of them. But I’ll try to keep that advice in mind for next time.”
Ares’s expression darkens at the reference to a next time. Considering everything I’ve already been through after just a few days at the palace, he shouldn’t be surprised.
“We should do something about that,” he mutters.
“There won’t be a next time,” Logan says dangerously, gaze fixed on me. “My Omega won’t be put in harm’s way again. Something like this happens again, and he’ll be lucky if I let her leave the bedroom.”
Ares gives him a strange look. “I think you mean our Omega. We’re still a pack, last I checked.”
“We’re a pack and I’m the pack Alpha, which you would do good to remember.” Logan gestures toward the door with his chin. “Don’t you need to be updating the firmware on the surveillance system, or is that already done?”
Ares takes a breath deep enough to swell his chest before stalking away, muttering under his breath as he goes.
Logan’s attention remains fixed on me, his eyes roaming over my body as if checking for injuries. Finding none, his gaze hardens again.
“Poe, you’re dismissed. We’ll have words about this later.”
Poe doesn’t move immediately. “It was my call to bring her along. She handled herself well.
Logan takes a step forward. “I said you’re dismissed.”
His eyes meet mine briefly before returning to Logan. “Just so we’re clear, I’m going to bond her whenever she’s willing to have me.”
The declaration hangs in the air between them, a gauntlet thrown down.
I should be outraged at being discussed like property to be passed around, but the cunning part of me is absolutely thrilled.
Logan’s lips thin with barely suppressed anger. “I am this pack’s Alpha.”
“I’m aware,” Poe drawls. “That’s why I’m making my intentions clear instead of planning something behind your back.”
Poe doesn’t seem to intend the words to be pointed, but Logan’s expression blanches. Before he can respond, Poe turns and leaves the room, the door closing quietly behind him.
The silence that follows is suffocating. I’m acutely aware of Cillian watching, his expression unreadable.
“Go to our room,” Logan finally says to me, his voice tight with frustration. “Get in bed.”
The fact that he thinks he has any right or ability to control me is laughable.
I lift my chin, defiance surging through me. “No.”
“Maya.” My name is a warning on his lips.
“I’m not tired,” I say, even though just thinking about lying down makes my limbs feel like they suddenly weigh a hundred pounds. “And it’s not our room. It’s yours.”
Logan takes a step toward me, and I instinctively back away. “I won’t ask again.”
“Good, because I won’t answer differently.”
His eyes flash dangerously, but before he can respond, Cillian’s quiet voice cuts through the tension.
“Maya, go to the bedroom and get in bed.”
The command ripples through me, my body responding to the bond before my mind can resist. I shoot Cillian a betrayed look, but he just shakes his head with a resigned impression on his face.
Asshole.
Coming between them is going to be harder than I thought and might even be impossible.
“Fine,” I mutter, hating how easily my will crumbles under his command. “But only because I want to.”
It’s a childish retort, but it’s all I have left as I turn.
“Seems like all the defiance you swallow is coming out in her,” Logan grumbles as I slowly turn away, still fighting the compulsion of Cillian’s soft command. “When she speaks, I practically hear your voice. It’s astounding.”
Cillian’s reply is dry. “The fact that you still think this is going to work is what’s astounding.”
The rest of their terse conversation is cut off when I turn down the hallway, but the trouble in paradise is obvious.
As I climb into the bed that smells too enticingly of Logan and Cillian’s combined scent, I grab a pillow to muffle the sound of the scream I can’t keep inside.
Raised voices come from the living room, and I feel the surging discontent through the bond.
The dogs didn’t stop fighting just because their chew toy was put away.
My rage has simmered into a startling clarity. If I can’t ever escape, then I can make them regret locking themselves in this cage with me.
The cracks are already showing. I just need to figure out what will make them break entirely.