Page 62 of Queen of Diamonds

How many times had I circled back to this thought?

Sighing, I sat up, rubbing my eyes and trying to dispel the millionth hard on since seeing Kyan and Glade fuck. Sleep wasn’t going to happen, and this rut was fast incoming if I didn’t sort myself out. I got up and grabbed the hand wraps from the training bin.

I’d just finished wrapping my fists when I heard a faint thump, the clink of chains, then silence.

I narrowed my eyes, quietly stepping around the gym and reaching the open door to the inner living space. Sure enough, Glade was picking herself from the floor where she’d clearly just dropped down from Kyan’s pad.

I rolled my eyes, ducking behind the door and waiting until she arrived.

When she edged through, it was all too easy, with the cuffs, to snag the chain on her wrists.

“Fuck!” she hissed, but I had her pinned against the wall in seconds. Her eyes were wide as she took me in. “Do you not sleep?” she hissed, throwing her weight against me, but I didn’t shift. She might be a good fighter, but she was small and chained up.

“How did you get away from Kyan?” There was no way he hadn’t anticipated her running.

She eyed me for a moment as if unsure if she should reply. “You were right about the tasers.”

I almost laughed.

Served him fucking right.

“So you were going to run away in the middle of the night like that? You wouldn’t survive ten minutes.”

Her lips drew back in a snarl. “I can find myself some goddamned clothes.”

“I wasn’t talking about the clothes,” I snorted. “You’re like a walking hormone beacon, demanding to be fucked.”

“I am not.”

I raised my eyebrows, but stepped back, dragging her with me.

She absolutely was.

I knew because even being this close to her was soothing the edges of the brewing Alpha storm that was struggling to get out. A little part of me wanted to do exactly what Kyan had. Not doing so was making this all so much harder.

Actually… I had an idea.

“What are you doing?” she asked as I easily picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.

I didn’t answer, carrying her back past Kyan’s graffiti wall to the gym.

“You know what we can’t afford?” I asked. “The Brotherhood coming down on our heads when I’m in a fucking rut.”

“So… what?” she asked, looking startled as I grabbed one of the cords from the huge climbing structure and hooked it at the top—far out of her reach.

“What is this?”

“You’re going to sit tight while I sweat this rut out.”

“You can’t sweat a rut out.”

“I can if you keep giving off those…” I waved my hands vaguely. “Siren pheromones or whatever they are.” I adjusted the hand wrap that hadn’t been secured.

She shifted back, satisfyingly affronted. “You cannot use me like some Omega hormone Pez dispenser.”

I felt a smile tug at my lips as I tangled my hand in her hair. “You sure?” I asked, tugging her neck back briefly. “Seems to be working just fine.”

The more pissed she was, the more her hormones were leaching into the space. And fuck me—she was horny—even if she had been trying to run.

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