Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Larissa
“God, he’s adorable,” I say, watching the sweet baby boy nestle in my arms.
Henry is Lucian and Madelyn’s son. He has his mama’s gorgeous blue eyes and his daddy’s dark hair.
“Wait until he screams,” Madelyn says dryly, although there is a gentle smile on her lips, and it’s clear she adores him, screams and all.
Their apartment is palatial, and, like Rhett’s, it takes up an entire floor of the building.
When I committed to this life where I would never set foot outside, I imagined something far smaller than what I got.
Not the space, but the circle of people I would know.
It turns out Lucian’s mate is a sweetheart who has shown me friendship and compassion.
She has her own past and demons, and a story dramatic in its own way.
She is inherently empathetic.
She is also a brat with her mate. And Lucian is utterly besotted with her, even if he does get a glint in his eye when she’s bratting. The kind that says he’s going to deal with her later… in the best kind of way.
It has opened my eyes to the relationships between alphas and omegas.
How they can be natural and fun.
How they can sweep you out of your comfort zone yet be so hot you fear you might spontaneously combust.
Fine, with that last part, I’m talking about Rhett and me, and the delectable push and pull between us.
Madelyn glances at the clock. “You’ve been here thirty minutes.” She raises her brow and smirks. “Pushing the boundaries, Larissa.”
I blush. “He needs to develop his tolerance,” I say, reluctantly handing the sweet, sleeping baby off to his waiting mother’s arms.
“Yeah?” She laughs. “He’s probably pacing the floor, getting all worked up… getting all hot and bothered.”
Maybe I have a little brat in me, too.
Rhett
She’s been gone for thirty minutes. I told myself I could do this.
Let her have some time with her new friend.
I mean, it’s good for her. She gets to hang out with Madelyn and Henry.
I fucking adore my new, few-week-old nephew and hanging out with him, too, but following Larissa everywhere isn’t practical.
Technically, I can, but it probably won’t win me any points.
Maybe they’re talking about baby things. I’m convinced I’m going to breed Larissa during her next heat, so it will be nice for her to have someone to talk to…
My eyes lower to my wrist. Thirty-six minutes. That’s fucking it. She promised she would be back in thirty. I stalk over and stab the elevator button. It springs open, and I nearly collide with Larissa.
My hands are on her as I drag her out. Touching her calms some of the crazy rushing through me. “What the fuck, Larissa? It’s been thirty-six minutes.”
What the fuck is wrong with me? I sound like a dick.
“Oh, has it?” she says just a little too casually.
My eyes narrow. “Playing games, baby?”
Her face flushes. So pretty.
“That was very naughty. You testing me? Wanting to find out what I would do?”
“No.” Her voice comes out a little high, and she shakes her head vigorously.
I smirk.
She swallows.
“Someone wants to be fucked,” I drawl. “You only need to ask.”
Her aroused scent hits me. I’m already hard. I have her bent over the back of the couch and my dick in her hot cunt before she can formulate a comeback.
“Quit wailing and pouting,” I growl. “Your pussy is a living lie detector, even if I couldn’t read your mind. All hot and wet and choking my dick like she’s missed him, or something. That sound about right?”
“God, Rhett,” she huffs as I set up a pounding pace that knocks on the door of her cervix.
The cute needy noises she makes, and her gushing pussy, say she likes this a lot.
“Thirty minutes, not a minute more, or you get fucked over the couch. A deep fucking that’s going to make your pussy ache.”
“God, I’m so close.”
“And while we’re on the subject of bad behavior.
You don’t clean your nest unless I’m there to get it good and dirty again.
You put fresh nesting without at least one of my shirts, you’re going to get deep fucked again, the kind that makes your pussy all sore inside.
The kind you feel for days. Am I making myself clear? ”
She comes.
I take that as her agreement.
She crushes the hell out of my dick, giving me no choice but to knot her.
It takes a good long while before I can think straight.
And then she giggles.
Damn, I love that sound. “You think this shit is funny?” I go for stern, but I’m sated, so it misses the mark.
“I love you, Rhett.”
My next breath is ragged. Damn, those words slay me every time. I’m not sure when I will feel worthy of them, but I’m claiming them anyway.
“I love you too, baby.” I’m obsessed with you. I go crazy when you’re not in my sight.
She peers back at me—still knotted on my dick—her eyes shining bright. “I know. I’m keeping you, crazy and all.”
We snuggle on the couch, where she’s all sleepy, contented kitten in my arms. Her mind is calm, and I love her like this. It makes me calm inside, too.
Opposite the couch is the window showcasing Chimera’s blue skies. I remember a time when I used to go out there. Not Chimera, but on a different world.
It seems so long ago now, more of a dream. I wasn’t always damaged. Once upon a time, I was just an ordinary kid hustling on the streets of Lyus. Then the war machine came through. They dispersed the virus, infecting our entire planet. It came in great clouds, billowing and choking.
It came from the sky.
I spent years in a coma, and when I came out the other end, I was different. I could no longer step outside without feeling that dark, pervasive sense of threat, without having the same choking sensation.
“Do you ever wish you could still go out?” she asks.
I glance down and smile. “Sometimes. But less often now... Have you been reading my thoughts?”
She nods. “I didn’t mean to. Your emotions were strong, and I think your shield just slipped. I’m glad. I’m a little obsessed with you, too, in case it’s not obvious. And I love learning more about you. Even the hard parts.”
Not for the first time, I remind myself how lucky I am. How fucking amazing and perfect Larissa is.
“What happened after? Will you tell me? I know you were in a coma for a time.”
“The government and its minions tried every kind of therapy on me, and then some. I would be a useful tool if only they could fix me. Turns out that when the virus activated my alpha traits, it also modified a connection in my brain, hardwiring an instinctive and irrational fear of the sky.”
“The sky, where the virus came from.”
“Exactly… To be fair to them, I had a lot of attitude. Lucian got me out of there, but he was in the military, and I was on my own. I got into hacking, I guess, as a way of getting one over the system that fucked me up.”
She kisses me, soft, lingering, full of her love and acceptance.
The one woman who sees all of me and loves me anyway.
I can never go outside without crippling fear.
She can’t go out either.
So here we are, together.
Perfectly imperfect. Trapped, but in a way that works for both of us, and that doesn’t feel like being trapped at all.
I lift her in my arms and carry her to the nest. Small, safe, intimate… and recently refreshed.
Time to get it all dirty again. Time to practice breeding my mate.