Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Roman strode into the living room dripping with blood and rainwater, his hair plastered to his face and his t-shirt framing every single muscle in his broad chest.
Sidian’s omega purred at the sight of him as he gripped the edge of the landing, pulling himself closer so he could peer down into the room below.
Dax lay in a heap, his eyes wide and disbelieving, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths despite the state of his body. He was still alive, the fucker.
Another cramp ripped a noise from Sidian’s throat.
He drew his knees up to relieve the pressure, aware of the needy throb between his thighs as his eyes were once again drawn to his mate.
Roman was alive and well and in one piece, and though Sidian could see what looked like visible bite marks, he walked as if he felt no pain at all.
His stroll was relaxed as he rounded the couch, his head tilting back as his bright forest eyes met Sidian’s from below.
The corner of his mouth twitched, a small sign of relief that had Sidian smiling down at him.
They were both alive. They were going to get out of this in one piece, weren’t they?
“Evening, darling,” Roman murmured, and Sidian’s smile widened. “Are you all right?”
He was about to shake apart at the seams if Roman did not get up the stairs and fuck him, and it was a miracle nothing was broken, but Sidian nodded anyway. “Yeah. I’m good. Sore, but good.”
Roman’s nostrils flared, and his pupils dilated. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I need you to fuck me as soon as you’re done with him,” Sidian said, and from the way Roman’s scent coiled thick and heady around him, he assumed the message was clear.
He stayed curled at the edge of the landing, peering down as he watched Roman turn his attention to where Dax lay.
There was an odd resignation on the alpha’s face as Roman stepped over him and then pivoted to kneel, his knees bracketing Dax’s hips as one big hand came to rest on the center of Dax’s chest. In any other situation, it might have seemed almost intimate, but there was a dangerous, rolling grace to every movement.
It was like watching a wolf play with its food before ripping out its throat.
“I killed your worthless excuse of a pack,” Roman said, his hand sliding up to grip Dax by the front of his throat. “I killed your disgusting freak of a father. And now, I’m being granted the opportunity to kill you. You should have kept your hands off my omega, Kincaid.”
My omega. Sidian bit back a moan at the words, sliding a hand down to press on his clit.
His alpha stood, and Roman’s eyes met Sidian’s once again for a moment before he turned his attention back to Dax.
The muscles in one powerful thigh tensed before Roman placed the sole of his boot where his hand had been just a moment before; the sight of him pinning Dax to the ground was satisfying.
That was how it should be, the inferior alpha put in his place.
It was an aphrodisiac unlike anything Sidian had ever witnessed, his omega whining for his mate’s attention.
“Rich alphas are all the same,” Roman mused, pressing down just enough to make Dax grunt, his head tilting when Dax let out a shaky little laugh. “Tell your father I said hello when you see him in hell.”
He raised his boot just high enough to stomp down with crushing force, the sound of bones snapping and crackling sending another rivulet of slick spilling down Sidian’s thighs.
Dax’s chest caved inward from the pressure, and he let out a short, sharp scream that cut, his hands flying to where Roman’s boot remained pressed into his chest. Something was wrong, and as Sidian watched, the alpha of his nightmares panicked.
Pink spittle frothed at the corners of his mouth as he bucked under Roman’s boot, but he failed to dislodge him.
One sharp cough sent a shower of bloody droplets spraying into the air above his battered face.
And Roman remained where he was, pressing down harder when Dax squirmed and gurgled, the wet choking noises among the most beautiful sounds Sidian had ever heard.
His hips bucked against the pressure of his own fingers as he watched more froth bubble out of Dax’s lips, his eyes widening as the front of his boxers grew wet.
Watching the bastard drown in his own blood was the sweetest gift Roman could have offered, and oh, did he offer it in style?
He stepped back only when Dax let out one final, rattling wheeze and then went still.
“Alpha,” Sidian rasped, and Roman’s head jerked in his direction, their eyes meeting, the connection between them sizzling like an exposed live wire. “Roe, please, fuck, I’m going to die if you don’t fuck me. I need your knot now.”
It only annoyed a little him that Roman smiled, leaving Dax’s body on the ground as he rounded the bottom of the stairs. “When have I ever told you no, omega?”
There was a moment of sudden, sharp fear that stung Sidian like the injection had.
Roman had never seen him like that, the black nightie feminine and wrong on Sidian’s body.
The first time they met each other, he’d been wearing jeans and layers to hide as much of himself from view as possible, and the thought that Roman might look at him and not see him choked him.
Roman was the only person who had ever seen him for who he was.
And Roman didn’t even blink at him, hauling Sidian off of the ground and into his arms with a deep alpha rumble that eased Sidian’s cramps. “I’ve got you, darling. I’m here.”
He carried Sidian back downstairs, making a show out of stepping on Dax’s body to get to the plush couch stretched out in front of the TV.
As soon as he dropped Sidian onto the cushions, Sidian ripped the nightie off, snarling as he tore through the thin satin.
It fell into glossy shreds on the floor, and he trilled in satisfaction before leaning back, getting situated, spreading his thighs wide and bracing his heels on the edge of the cushions to present the fabric that clung to his slick, needy cunt.
Roman dropped to his knees, the good boy he’d always been, and pressed a kiss to the inside of Sidian’s thigh. “Tell me what you need from me.”
“I need your fucking mouth to take the edge off, and then I need your dick.” A wave of pain made him groan in discomfort, and Roman’s low, concerned growl buzzed beneath his skin. “Shot me up with some pseudo-heat inducer shit. I need you to fuck me through it.”
“Gladly.” Roman’s hands were so hot when they found Sidian’s hips, thick fingers sliding beneath the waistband before one quick twist had both seams splitting open so Roman could rip them off.
Sidian had the five seconds necessary to process how fucking hot that was before Roman’s mouth was on his cunt, nose bumping up against his clit while licking a hot path over his throbbing hole and then inside, his toes curling against the cushions.
His head fell back as he whined, hands sinking into Roman’s curls, twisting the wet strands around his fingers and yanking as hard as he could, grinding his cunt against Roman’s face to get what he needed.
It was so fucking good, the way Roman ate him out.
There was no hesitation, no uncertainty, no pause to see if he was doing it right.
No, Roman knew what he was doing as he folded his upper lip over Sidian’s clit and messily sucked, his tongue as deep as he could get it.
The noise was almost disgusting, but it made Sidian burn even hotter, his hips spasming as his eyes squeezed shut.
His alpha was right where Sidian wanted him, doing what Sidian wanted, obedient to a fault.
Roman was perfect. So fucking beyond perfect it was dizzying.
Mossy birch eyes met Sidian’s from between his thighs, pupils blown wide and staring straight through him as Roman pressed a kiss to his swollen, twitching clit.
Then he sucked it between his lips and closed his eyes, moaning into Sidian’s flesh as his tongue flicked over the far too sensitive nerves.
It was too much too fast, and Sidian arched toward his mouth, chasing the burn that threatened to immolate him.
The orgasm almost hurt. Every sore muscle twitched and spasmed with the force of it as Sidian wailed, his thighs snapping shut around Roman’s head as he fucked himself against his alpha’s face.
Slick soaked them both, but Roman only lapped it up, growling into Sidian’s flesh, the noise vibrating against his clit and sending another riotous wave of pleasure coiling through his body.
And Roman knew not to stop. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Sidian’s thighs and dragged him down, holding him aloft like it was nothing as Roman licked and kissed at Sidian’s soaking wet cunt.
His head spun as he pulled Roman’s hair, shuddering when all Roman did was grunt and lick his clit harder, fast and punishing flicks of his tongue. “Fuck, fuck, just like that, fuck!”
Roman didn’t come up for air. Didn’t stop.
Didn’t slow. He just ate at Sidian like he couldn’t stop, come to claim the prize the blood smeared across his skin demanded.
He reeked of death and dominance and, for the first time in his life, Sidian liked that scent laced through with Roman’s fiery, fragrant perfection.
It appealed to his needy omega side, soothing the fire in his gut.
The moment Sidian went limp against the couch, Roman leaned back to breathe.
His face was shiny with slick from the nose down, diluting some of the blood, and Sidian realized there were rusty scarlet trails of it along the insides of his thighs.
He purred at the sight and reached for his alpha, and Roman came up to meet him, their lips crashing together, all tongue and teeth.
“I need you,” Sidian told him between kisses, groaning when Roman kissed down to his throat, tongue rasping over his swollen scent gland. “I need your cock so fucking bad, alpha.”
“Anything you want.” Roman kissed him again and hauled Sidian down into his lap, caging him against the couch, and Sidian could feel the telltale swell of his erection through the wet denim of his jeans, the fabric cool and unpleasant and yet Sidian still rubbed himself against it like the bitch in heat he was.
“Talk to me. Tell me what you need. Tell me what you want.”
Sidian wanted so many things. He wanted Roman’s knot lodged so deep inside of him he forgot where he ended and Roman began. He wanted assurance that nothing could tear them apart.
But most of all, as he looked up at Roman, wreathed in violence and blood and death, he wanted Roman’s teeth. He wanted the bond that had only ever been a threat, a promise of forever, a scarred pattern of Roman’s affection for him because Roman belonged to him. They belonged to each other.
For hours, Sidian didn’t know whether Roman was dead or alive. Didn’t know if he was hurt. He didn’t know if he was okay, and he never wanted that to happen again. If any force on the earth ever parted them, then he wanted the assurance, the tangible proof Roman was all right.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and when Roman frowned down at him, Sidian leaned up to kiss the pout of his mouth, licking the taste of copper off of his lips. “All that shit I said to you. I’m sorry, Roe. It wasn’t your fault. None of this was your fault. You did nothing wrong. You never did.”
Roman’s face softened, and he curled himself around Sidian, warm and protective, shielding him, and Sidian didn’t need to be protected from anything or anyone, but he was more than happy to have Roman more than willing to keep him safe.
“It wasn’t your fault either. And you don’t have to apologize.
You never have to apologize to me. I know you, Sid. I’ll always know you.”
It hurt hearing those words. Hurt because it was all Sidian had ever wanted from the only person he ever wanted it from and he didn’t know what to do with it, the swell of emotion in his chest. So he leaned up and kissed his mate again, twining his fingers in Roman’s hair, gentle instead of rough.
He purred and dragged his cheeks over Roman’s, intent on scenting him, intent on ensuring that wherever one of them went, the other would always be present even if only in the wind's ghost.
“I love you.” Words he had never spoken before, not to anyone. Words he never thought he would speak. Not in his lifetime. Not in the next. “I love you so fucking much, Roe.”
Roman shuddered in his arms and squeezed him tighter, burying his face in Sidian’s hair, and Sidian almost thought he was about to cry when he heard a small, soft laugh muffled against the top of his head. “I love you, too. I think I’ve been in love with you since the day I first met you.”
“It’s an enormous commitment, loving my fucked-up ass. I want you to know that.” Sidian laughed when Roman scowled at him, then leaned back, schooling his features. “I have a daughter. Dunno about the other one, but I’m sort of hoping for a boy so I can have one of each.”
There was something so sweetly comical about the way Roman’s brows furrowed before his eyes widened, his mouth falling open on a little almost squeak of a sound that did not fit him at all. “You’re pregnant?” he rasped, his eyes falling to Sidian’s stomach as pure wonder filled his face.
It had been stupid to hide it from him after all. “You ready to be a daddy?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. No second guessing. Roman lifted Sidian off the floor and back onto the couch, pulling his blood-stained shirt up and over his head, muscles flexing with the movement. “In fact, do me the honor of letting me prove it to you.”